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National MENA American Heritage Month
In 2017 Congress formally recognized April as National Arab American Heritage Month. However, this does not include the diversity within the region and excludes the cultures that do not speak Arabic. As a result, there is a movement to recognize April as National Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) American Heritage Month, a more inclusive way to acknowledge our friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors with Middle Eastern and North African heritage. So many key people in the Bible, including Jesus and his family, have a MENA heritage. Learning more about these cultures and heritages is important to better understand the Bible, Jesus, and so much more. Culture, heritage, ancestry, country of origin, and more impact how we live, experience things, and our perspectives and relationship with God. It requires humility on our part, and curiosity, to understand our differences so that we can better love, appreciate, and admire what God has created in every one of us. So to all of our family and friends who identifuy as MENA, happy National MENA American Heritage Month! |
Weekend of Hope - HOPE worldwide Bay Area Service Events For Earth MonthServing our communities in honor of Earth Month- Saturday & Sunday, April 27-28, 2024 Earth Day is all about making our local community a better place to live. This year HOPE worrldwide is honoring our planet by hosting a community clean up on the East Bay and the West Bay. SATURDAY, APRIL 27th COMMUNITY SERVICE - HOPE Bay Area will be commemorating Earth Day on Saturday by partnering with Downtown Streets to help clean up our communities in Hayward and San Jose – 9am to 11am with lunch provided immediately following. Please sign up by clicking the button below. COMMUNITY AND GLBOAL IMPACT WORKSHOP - On Saturday afternoon at 3pm in South SF's Holiday Inn Express, there will be a special program for our younger adults - a HOPE Volunteer panel and interactive session with Matt Rollins, US Director of Youth Programs. Network with your peers and explore various ways to have a greater impact in our community and in the world at large. There is no charge so invite your friends too– You don’t want to miss this opportunity! Please sign up by clicking the button below. SUNDAY, APRIL 28th All Fellowship “Weekend of Hope” Sunday Church Service! For more infomation visit:
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Our Global FamilySharing from Jason and Dianne We are blessed to be able to travel in part because our families live in different countries, but also because it is something we like to do as a family. Travel teaches you a lot about yourself and others. Often the highlight of any trip is visiting our sister churches and getting to know some of our brothers and sisters in these various congregation. We recently attended our niece’s wedding in Hong Kong, who are both disciples, and our son, Ethan, was able to deliver a communion message and share about HOPE worldwide (HWW) success stories to date. We also took a side trip to Malaysia where we met several of the HWW Malaysia leaders. HWW Malaysia has been around for almost twenty five years and it was amazing to see the impact they have had on the community. Many of the children they originally served have come back to volunteer their time and one volunteer is currently studying to become a doctor. They have built such a great reputation that many global brands have worked with them (e.g. Starbucks, Dow Chemical and Adidas). Finally, most recently the band Coldplay chose HWW as 1 of 2 non-profits that they wanted to work at their concert to promote their community service project. It was amazing to see how God has used HWW to impact many all over hte world. - Jason and Dianne, Oakland/Alameda Fellowship Group |
The Women's Service Team of the International Churches of Christ (ICOC) Need Your Help In Filling Out A Survey
The Women's Service Team is a true global team of women. Out of the 17 core members, 12 are sisters from outside the USA. We have 5 subcommittees that run their own team of additional members. Thier five subcommittees are: Website Committee, Prayer Committee, International Women's Day Theme Committee, Crucial Conversation Webinar Committee and the Conference Planning Committee. The Crucial Conversations Committee is responsible for hosting webinars to expound on unique and delicate topics specific to women. Most recent was Oct. 2023 with “Beloved & Dignified,” an online conference to nurture women who live in war torn countries and have experienced trauma. This committee is now conducting a global survey to get feedback on future webinars that they would like to provide for sisters in the ICOC. They believe that each individual is Holy Spirit led and they would like to know what women are experiencing and needing. They strive to mature into Chris's likeness together. If you are a woman and would like to fill out the Crucial Conversations survey, please click on the button below. The deadline to do so is April 15, 2024. For more infomation visit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfSki7Nr9ZHm4azcXgoxeKxs4smg5ZQIdnOZOZa2fJYLISZYA/viewform
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Join Us!
Join us for one of our Sunday church services around the Bay Area. Next weekend, we will have services in Oakland/Alameda, Tri-Valley, the South Bay, Peninsula, Palo Alto, and SF City. Our Winter Midweek Classes are coming to an end soon, but two of our sessions will meet this upcoming week. The session about prayer and the one about the Holy Spirit. Please go to our website for more information. The Families of Vision Monthly Meeting is on the third Sunday of the month between 1:30 - 2:30 pm over Zoom. This group is for families who have family members who have been diagnosed with mental health challeges and is facilitated by NAMI-trained parents and follows the NAMI FaithNet model for the support group. We have these events and more happening with us at SF Bay Fellowship, and we hope you can join us soon! Please check out the information above and more by clicking on the button below. For more infomation visit:
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