SPIRITUALLIFE Saturday, November 3, 2018

NEWSOK.COM | OKLAHOMAN.COM
D

Lets talk turkey The Gift Goes On

The Jesus House is seeking Katie Harder and her family
donations of turkeys and other will be among the families and
holiday food items for its annual organizations that have a booth at
Thanksgiving food basket the holiday shopping event called
distribution to the needy. The Gift Goes On. 

PAGE 5D PAGE 5D

CHIPPING IN
ABOVE: Brandy Romine and Rhonda Hefton pose for a photo in a vacant house that HopeHouse OKC plans to renovate for a partnership project with ReMerge. [PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER,
THE OKLAHOMAN] BELOW: A side view is shown of a house that HopeHouse OKC plans to renovate in partnership with ReMerge. [PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN]

HopeHouse OKC wins money from

contest launched by ‘Fixer Upper’ star
T
he faith-based nonprofit
HopeHouse OKC has big
plans to fix up a house in
desperate need of a makeover.  chinton@
The organization recently
connected with some folks who
know just what to do with a fixer
upper.
HopeHouse recently received
$25,000 to start its renova-
tion project after being named a
winner in the 2018 Chipstarter
competition. The contest was
launched last year by Chip
Gaines, one half of the famous
power couple behind the hit
HGTV show “Fixer Upper.”
According to the Chipstarter.
com website, Gaines came up
with the idea for the competi-
tion while working on his book
“Capital Gaines.” The prem-
Carla
Hinton
oklahoman.com
RELIGION EDITOR
ise for the contest was simple:
People with a dream they were
passionate about were invited to
film themselves discussing their
mission, their specific action
plans to make it happen and how
much money they would need to
accomplish it.
Rhonda Hefton, a founding
board member of HopeHouse
OKC, said she has been a fan of
the Gaineses and their renova-
tion reality show since it began.
(The show ended its five-season
run at the end of the 2017-18 sea-
son at the Gaineses’ request).
Hefton said she found out
about the Chipstarter com-
petition at the last minute but
decided to enter anyway. The
metro-area woman wanted
HopeHouse to get a much-
needed boost in its efforts to
renovate a northeast Oklahoma
City house.
With a project cost of
$80,000, HopeHouse plans to
remodel the structure for use
as a home for pregnant inmates
participating in the ReMerge jail-
diversion program.
Hefton said she asked Brandy
Romine, HopeHouse’s program
SEE CONTEST, 2D

After massacre, painstaking and painful care for the dead

BY ADAM GELLER
The Associated Press
PITTSBURGH — As the
first funerals for the vic-
tims of the Pittsburgh
massacre began, two
rabbis and five other vol-
unteers approached the
sawhorses cordoning off
the Tree of Life syna-
gogue, and an FBI agent
led them into the crime
scene. Inside the des-
ecrated temple, the men
donned white forensic
coveralls, face masks and
gloves, and set to work.
Judaism asks the living
to take special care of the
dead, and this group had
a last, sacred duty to ful-
fill: gather up every drop
of blood and other bodily
traces of the 11 people
killed in the deadliest
attack against Jews in
U.S. history.
“The Jewish law is that
everything that belonged
to the body needs to be
buried, so we do our
best,” one of the group’s
leaders, Rabbi Elisar
Admon, said Tuesday.
The work is meticulous
and mentally taxing, car-
ried out with implements
as ordinary as wipes and
paper towels.
Judaism is very specific
about death and how it
should be handled, what-
ever the circumstances.
When a loved one dies,
religious law requires
that representatives of
the living accompany
the body until burial. In
a ritual known as tahara,
the remains are carefully
washed and placed in a
white shroud. Jewish law
mandates that the burial
take place as soon as pos-
sible.
But the scale of the
violence wreaked by a
gunman on Oct. 27 has
placed an extraordinary
responsibility on those
dedicated to this work, all
volunteers. The victims
included one of their own,
Jerry Rabinowitz, a doctor
who had worked with the
group in the past to pre-
pare bodies for burial.
Recovering and pre-
paring a body for burial
A makeshift memorial stands Monday outside the Tree of Life synagogue in the aftermath
SEE MASSACRE, 3D of a deadly shooting at the Pittsburgh house of worship. [AP PHOTO]

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US P.O. Box 25125, Oklahoma City, OK 73125
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Gift Goes On event to aid adoption fund
FROM STAFF REPORTS
BETHANY — More than 100 children
have found families through the Karis
Adoption Fund, which provides funds
to Christian families adopting children
both domestically and internationally.
A holiday shopping event called The
Gift Goes On is a fundraiser for the spe-
cial fund. The 2018 event is set for 6 to
9 p.m. Tuesday at The Cube at Council
Road Baptist Church, 7903 NW 30.
Shoppers will be assisting the Karis
cause with every purchase because a
portion of the proceeds will go to the
adoption fund.
For the second year in a row, Katie
Harder will set up a booth at The Gift
Goes On. At her booth, called Miles to
Millie, she sells handmade items — like
body scrubs, candles and lip balms —
made by the Harder family.
Harder and her husband, Matt, and
their two sons are anxiously waiting
to hear about the arrival of their new
daughter from China.
“Millie is the name we have chosen
for her (their adopted daughter), and we
would travel as many miles as it takes to
meet her!” Harder said.
Karis has awarded the Harders a
matching grant toward their adoption
expenses.
“My heart began yearning for a
daughter in April of 2017, and God made
it clear to me from the beginning that
it would be through adoption. But how
could two people working in education
afford an adoption? We believe that
adoption is a clear picture of the gospel,
and we have had complete faith that if
we answered the call to adopt, the Lord
would make a way for us financially,”
Katie Harder said.
About 40 vendors are participat-
ing in The Gift Goes On. They will be
selling clothing, jewelry, bath & body
products, hand lettering, decor, leather
goods, photography, food gifts, coffee
and more. A silent auction and a raffle
also will be held and food trucks will be
on hand.
Idea comes from Scripture
The Karis Adoption Fund began in
2012 with support from Council Road
Baptist. Carisa Wilsie, The Gift Goes
On and Karis Adoption Fund chair-
woman, said the fund’s premise comes
Men pray in a room in the back of a truck. The mobile mosque is equipped with four air
conditioners. [PHOTO BY JAPAN NEWS-YOMIURI]
Mobile mosque
takes ‘omotenashi’
hospitality everywhere
BY JAPAN NEWS-YOMIURI
URAYASU, JAPAN — A “mobile mosque”
was unveiled in Japan’s Chiba Prefec-
ture, in late September, with Muslim
residents of the Kanto region coming to
say their prayers. Capable of being sent
anywhere, this mosque on wheels was
created with an eye on the 2020 Tokyo
Olympics and Paralympics, as well as
other international events that will be
held in Japan.
The mosque looks like an ordinary
truck, about 39 feet long and about 8
feet wide when it drives on the road.
Within several minutes of parking, the
sides expand to the right and left, ren-
dering the truck about six meters wide.
The vehicle has now become an approxi-
mately 157-square-foot prayer room
that can accommodate more than 50
people at once.
The prayer room has four air condi-
tioners. It’s also equipped with water
tanks and outdoor faucets so the faithful
can wash before making their prayers.
A Tokyo-based event organizing com-
pany and others came up with the idea for
the mosque, in a bid to provide omote-
nashi Japanese hospitality for Muslims.
It was created by the executive commit-
tee for the mobile mosque project.
“Infrastructure is being improved
to accommodate visitors to Japan of
various nationalities, cultures and reli-
gions. However, the nation is short of
The Harder family’s Miles to Millie booth is shown at a previous The Gift Goes On holiday shopping event. [PHOTOS PROVIDED]
Matt and Katie Harder are shown with their two sons.
from Scripture, which says that God has One adoption can cost a family up
given the church a mandate to take care to $50,000. Depending on the fam-
of orphans. ily’s need, Karis gives grants, matching
Jesus House seeks
donations for
Thanksgiving baskets
FROM STAFF REPORTS
The Jesus House has had
a busy year commemorat-
ing its 45th year serving
Oklahoma City’s homeless
and those battling addic-
tion.
Now, the charity is seek-
ing donations for its annual
Thanksgiving food basket
distribution.
“Last year we were able
to give away more than
1,500 food baskets that
fed more than 6,000 peo-
ple,” said Mike Bateman,
the nonprofit’s executive
director. “We’re hoping
this year to give out 2,500
food baskets to those low-
income families in our
community. The grace of
places of worship for Islam — one of the God and the love and gen-
three major religions in the world,” said erosity of the Oklahoma
Yasuharu Inoue, head of the Tokyo- City community make it
based committee. “I’m a Buddhist, but I possible for us to reach so
wanted to create an environment where many in need and make the
everyone can say their prayers at ease.” holidays special for every-
The mosque is expected to be leased to one.”
event organizers and dispatched to loca- Also, Jesus house fed 300
tions that don’t have sufficient rooms additional needy Oklaho-
for prayer, such as gyms, stadiums and mans at the 2017 Commu-
tourist facilities. nity Thanksgiving Meal at
“There were very few places for wor- its facility.
ship for Muslims and they had to avoid The organization is
people’s attention when I came to Japan seeking donations of the
30 years ago,” said Sandha Saleem, a following items: frozen
visitor to the mosque who is from Paki- turkeys or hams, boxed
stan and currently living in Adachi stuffing mix, chicken
Ward, Tokyo. “The number of prayer
rooms has gradually increased in Japan,
but even today, there aren’t many. So
mobile mosques like this will make Mus-
lims visiting Japan feel at home,” he said
after prayers at the mosque.
Since the completion of the mobile
mosque was announced to the press
in July, the executive committee has
received inquiries from more than 45
countries, and some event organizers
are considering using it at international
events.
“The mobile mosque is seen as very
unique to Japan. Surprisingly, it’s get-
ting a lot of attention from Islamic coun-
tries, where there are many mosques,”
Inoue said. The committee has set out to
create a second mobile mosque.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2018 5D
Holiday decor is among the items sold at
the Harder family’s Miles to Millie booth at
The Gift Goes On holiday shopping event.
grants or no-interest loans for an adop-
tion.
Wilsie said $75,000 was raised
through The Gift Goes On last year. The
fundraising goal this year is $85,000.
There is a suggested $5 donation at the
door for those who attend The Gift Goes
On. For more information, go to www.
thegiftgoeson.com.
A woman thanks as volunteer as she accepts a sack of gro-
ceries at the 2017 Thanksgiving food basket distribution at
the Jesus House, 1335 W Sheridan. [PHOTOS BY JIM BECKEL, THE
OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES]
broth, turkey or chicken 60369 Oklahoma City, OK
gravy mixes, instant 73146.
mashed potatoes, canned Food baskets will be dis-
cranberries or cranberry tributed starting at 8 a.m.
sauce, canned yams and Nov. 19 and 20. Distribu-
canned vegetables. Dessert tion will continue both
mixes and pie fillings also days until the designated
are appreciated. supplies are exhausted.
Donations may be Those wanting a food bas-
dropped off from 7 a.m. ket need to provide a state-
to 7 p.m. seven days a issued ID and proof of resi-
week at the Jesus House, dence such as a utility bill.
1335 W Sheridan. To For more information,
make a monetary dona- contact Alfreda Doon-
tion, write “Thanksgiv- keene at 232-7164 or
ing food baskets” in the visit Jesus House online
check’s memo line and mail at www.jesushouseokc.
to Jesus House at P.O. Box org.
Workers
add more
turkeys
to the
selection
at the 2017
Thanksgiv-
ing food
basket
distribu-
tion at
the Jesus
House in
Oklahoma
City.