THE TRUMPET CALL 1

Our Mission: To love Jesus Christ and to share His Love

Our Vision: To be a Christian community where Christ is transforming lives
East Stroudsburg United Methodist Church Volume V Issue 30 August 4th, 2019

It is always a special blessing when God’s people work together in mission! I was reminded of this
recently when the Rev. Kofi Ashley and his mission team returned from Ghana in West Africa (Kofi’s
home country). Kofi serves as pastor of Mt. Pocono UMC, and as many of you know, he got his start in
ministry here at ESUMC. There has always been a special link between our church and Kofi, and now
that link extends to Mt. Pocono UMC as well.
When Kofi approached me in the spring about our church helping to send his mission team to Ghana
this summer, I told him I’d have to take the request to our mission team. Our mission team, under the
direction of Pat Braun, agreed to give Kofi’s group $2000 from the Kistler bequest. Two years ago when
the Kistler bequest was received, it was agreed that 10% off the top, a tithe, of the almost $2 Million given would be set
aside for mission, and your mission team has been working hard since that time to give it all away to our mission partners
for special projects.
When we heard that Kofi’s group was going to Ghana to do dental care, it moved the hearts of those on our mission team.
The goal before they left was to give dental care to at least 1000 children who had never seen a dentist in their lives. As it
turns out, more than 1200 children and 600 adults were seen by the dentist and dental assistant Kofi took with him, Dr.
Venkat and Chris Damaraju, from a local dental practice in Mt. Bethel, PA.
Out of those 1200 children, it turns out that only 34 had problems which needed to be addressed as soon as possible. Dr.
Damaraju attributed that low number to the fact that most children in Africa have less access to sugary drinks than children
in the US. At the end of the trip, Dr. Damaraju donated some of his own equipment to some dentists in Ghana to continue
the work. The other amazing story is that a local hospital and dental clinic in Ghana had been saving up for a $1500 dental
curing light, which was donated for free by a woman from the Mt. Pocono Church, allowing the hospital to use the funds for
other needed supplies and equipment. All told, the group donated $3000 worth of supplies; praise the Lord! Thanks to our
local mission team at ESUMC for believing that God was going to do great things through the Mt. Pocono mission group.
God is not done with this mission partnership! It was Dr. Stan Menking and the mission team from Mt. Pocono UMC which
initially got our church connected to the Russia Initiative, which started our partnership with the Rev. Valeri Patkevich and
the people of Transfiguration United Methodist Church in Volgograd, Russia. In exactly one week from this writing, eight of
us will be getting onto a plane to visit our friends in Volgograd. One of those eight will be Ms. Kristin Grubb, a member of
Mt. Pocono UMC, and Mt. Pocono generously sent a check to our church to help pay for all of us to get to Russia. Thanks
to all of YOU for your support of our trip! We will keep you updated as we are able, and so please pray not only for Kristin,
but for all our participants: Peggy Strack, Bobbi Snyder, Nee Dodoo, Alberta Deiter, Mike Ragonese, Karen Todd, and me.
At both services this Sunday, Aug. 4, we will ask God’s blessings on those who are going. God’s Peace, Pastor Jim

Dr. Daramaju examines a young patient Kofi with children from the Gbawe Methodist School Children show off their toothbrushes with the mission
 Clean for a cause! Linda’s Bargain Box Sale needs
donations! Everything (EXCLUDING books, clothes
and electronics) accepted!!! Drop-off on Sunday,
Aug. 4th (after Church) to the Bell Choir Room, or
Wed., Aug. 7th to the Fellowship Hall between
8:00AM and 3:00PM!
Volunteers still needed to help prepare, work, and
clean after the event and to bake for the goodies
sale! If you have interest in helping, please contact
Ginny Levanowitz at (570) 992-7290 to serve, or Pat
Fish at (570) 223-8438 to bake. The sale will be Fri.,
Aug. 9th from 8:00AM-3PM, and Sat., Aug. 10th,
from 8:00AM-1:00PM. Please drop off baked goods
to the Fellowship Hall on Fri., Aug. 9th at 9:00AM.
Join ESUMC’s Older Kids, ages 55+, for BINGO and
a salad lunch Wednesday, August 14th at 11:30AM!
All participants are encouraged to bring a salad and a
small gift item to contribute to the BINGO prizes. To
RSVP for the event, or to inquire which salads types
are already “spoken for,” please contact Erma Powell
at (570) 421-1422 or epowell@ptd.net.
Dear Church, our Mission Team departs this Thursday
for JFK and Volgograd, Russia! Please keep the Team’s
safety and ministry in your prayers, and pickup a team
prayer booklet this Sunday in Church! Thank you!
Back to School Blessing Sunday
Sponsored by ESUMC and Legacy Barber Shop of
Crystal Street, Back to School Blessing is an event
designed for Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg
Elementary, Middle, and High School students!!! On
Sunday, August 25th, all teachers and students are
invited to attend ESUMC’s Contemporary Service to
be recognized, prayed over, and blessed before they
head back to school this coming Fall. Then, the
service, a special Back to School event will take place
from 12:00-3:00 PM in the gymnasium. Thanks to our
friends at Legacy Barber Shop, we’re excited to
provide FREE haircuts (for K-12 students) and school
supplies! Interested in how you can help contribute
and promote this cause? Help us collect NEW
backpacks, notebooks, pencils, and other school
supplies to give out that Sunday! For more
information, please contact Youth Director, Scott
Kuhnle, at (610) 368-1240 or skuhnle@esumc.net.
Do you receive our weekly newsletter? If so, please anticipate
a change to our eNews delivery provider as of Sunday,
August 18th! With our Data Management System change
(from ACS to ServantKeeper), we recently learned that
MailChimp functions better in conjunction with ServantKeeper
than our current provider, Constant Contact, does. We
apologize for the inconvenience of this change, and thank you
for your patience. Should you have any questions regarding
this switch, please contact our Director of Communications,
Bethany Mills, at bmills@esumc.net
 THIS WEEK AT ESUMC Recovery
Meetings
3
at ESUMC
All meetings are
held downstairs in
the Community Room of
the Education Building
*excluding GriefShare*

AA
Keep It Simple
Thursdays &
Saturdays
8:00pm-9:00pm

Serenity House
Saturdays
5:30pm-6:30pm
Sundays
4:30pm-6:30pm

NA
Just For Today
Monday-Saturday
12:00pm-1:30pm

New Beginnings
(Women’s Group)
Wednesdays
6:00-7:30pm

OA
Wednesdays
Help needed for ESUMC’s week for Family Promise.! Please sign-up using the link below!
8:00pm-9:00pm
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mS70na_Wrz3iu2EoiRTwPAAlG6a2o5reyhR4b8hGsD0/edit

RESOURCE DIRECTORY
church@esumc.net Official Church email
GRIEF
communications@esumc.net Communications questions, requests and suggestions SHARE
Thursdays
prayer@esumc.net Prayer requests (for our phone, text, or email prayer chains)
3 6:30-8:00pm
servantkeeper@esumc.net Servant keeper questions or help Oberholtzer Hall
Church Building
trumpetcall@esumc.net eNews requests; TC articles DEADLINE: Wednesdays, 12pm
 5

SPOILER ALERT: The Joneses are broke! That

means keeping up with them will only get you into
MORE debt! It’s time to run hard and fast in the opposite
direction, and Financial Peace University can show you
how! FPU is a 9-lesson course utilizing biblical wisdom
and common sense to help you tackle budgeting, pay off
debt, and make your money work for you! FPU includes
your member workbook and a year of free online
resources through Financial Peace Membership. Join us
for our next Wednesday night group at East Stroudsburg
United Methodist Church, from September 4th—October
30th! Questions? Email fpu.esumc@gmail.com, or if
you’re ready to commit to tackling your debt now,
register today at: www.fpu.com/1089706.
New Faces at ESUMC
Have you ever walked into a room full of people you
didn’t know (or didn’t know well)? What did that feel
like? Was it awkward, weird, or unsettling? What about
the reverse? Have you ever been in the “crowd” and
thought: Should I go talk to them? …It’s not really ‘my
thing.’” “I wonder if someone going to greet them?”
Friends, if you’ve thought any of those things, you are
not alone! Welcoming others can be unnerving, or
uncomfortable, but it’s SO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT!
As Christians, we believe that we are made in God’s
image. And as such, we’re called to be imitators of Him.
The Bible specifically talks about hospitality:

Thank You from Norman & Pauline Fox “... love the stranger, for you were strangers in the
land of Egypt.”
Dear Church, (Deuteronomy 10:19)
Norman and I were delightfully surprised by the beautiful
farewell to us last Sunday. We thank you for all your “...love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all
your soul, and with all your strength, and with all
amazing gift and cards. We’d also like to thank everyone
your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
who helped to prepare the event, and those who (Luke 10:27)
participated and supported church music during our
years of service at ESUMC. May God’s generous “Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show
hospitality to strangers for by doing that some have
blessings continue with you! - Norman & Pauline Fox
entertained angels without knowing it.”
(Hebrews 13:1 )
A Note to Our O.K.s
“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty
Due to a lack of attendance at our Older Kids (OK) and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and
events and meetings, there is a possibility that the OK's you welcomed me.”
(Matthew 25:35)
will cease meeting after their December event. As a
Church, we celebrate the commitment of OK Leaders, So, the next time you see an unfamiliar face, stop and
Erma Powell and Karen Dudley, for ceaseslessly think about how YOU would feel if you were the new
planning and coordinating for this group. However, we person! Wouldn’t you want to have someone come
also acknowledge the challenge of organizing events for introduce them selves? Or, at least, offer a smile and a
a group that has continued to decrease in attendance. hearty handshake! It may be a little out of your comfort
Should you, or someone you know have any questions zone, but we are called to hospitality! And being a
about this potential change, please contact our Director 5 welcoming congregation is certainly part of that. Give it a
of Congregational Care, Rachel Thompson, at: (570) try! You might just meet a new friends an encourage
421-3280 ext. 1011, email rthompson@esumc.net someone to come back and visit again.
 Tape Here
Postage
Here

EAST STROUDSBURG
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
83 SOUTH COURTLAND STREET
EAST STROUDSBURG, PA 18301

Esumc.net East Stroudsburg United Methodist Church EastStroudsburgUMC @ESUMC ESUMC

S U N DAY S E R V I C E S & T I M E S
8:30 AM Traditional Worship 9:45 AM Equipping Hour 10:45 AM Contemporary Worship

Church Office Director of Student Ministries Director of Congregational Care

Monday-Friday, 9am-1pm Scott Kuhnle Rachel Thompson
church@esumc.net skuhnle@esumc.net rthompson@esumc.net
(570) 421-3280 Ext. 1013 Ext. 1011

Pastor Director of Children & Family Ministries Audio/Visual Technician

Jim Todd Erica Dorsch Charles Rajnai
jtodd@esumc.net edorsch@esumc.net charlesrajnai@gmail.com
Ext. 1014 Ext. 1017
Financial Secretary, Accts. Receivable
Church Administrator Director of Traditional Music/Organist Christine Uporsky
Rich Poole Accepting Applications cuporsky@esumc.net
rpoole@esumc.net esumcjobs@gmail.com Ext. 1012
Ext. 1015
Director of Contemporary Music Financial Secretary, Accts. Payable
Administrative Assistant Doug Malefyt Bruce Osbun
Kathy Ravago dmalefyt@esumc.net bosbun@esumc.net
kravago@esumc.net Ext. 1012
Ext. 1010 Director of Choir
Joe Dorsch Weekday Sexton
Director of Communications josephdorsch@gmail.com Bob Lee
& Spiritual Life Development rlee@esumc.net
Bethany Mills Director of Bells
bmills@esumc.net Chris Perfetti Sunday Sexton
Ext. 1023 perfetti3@ptd.net Craig Banner