Outreach Center Network News Letter

August 2016

In this issue:

Run the Race - A Devotion

This Month’s Focus

Braille Books Have Found a Home

Notes from Centers

Ice Cream Trivia

Final Thoughts

Each article will begin with ###. You may move to the next article by searching for this.

### Run the Race

I am guessing that many of us have been watching the Olympics to some degree. How can we not know about it. Its being covered and in the news.

The writer to the Hebrews in chapter 12 uses a similar picture of a race or athletic event.   The  course  is  laid  out  for  the participants  and as with any such event the goal is  to  finish the course.  

This race pictured is life itself.   It is not an easy race.  It is filled with pitfalls, traps, snares and other hazards which slow down or hinder the runner.  

Hebrews 12:1; “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.”  Let us throw off, discard, remove or put off.  

Several years ago one of the Olympic runners gave partial credit for his win to a man who worked on his shoes, making them several ounces lighter.   An ounce or two might not seem like very much but when your legs have to lift it step after step, mile after mile, the ounces add

up to pounds, and the pounds add up to fatigue and weariness. 

Spiritually the same holds true.  If we carry  the  weight  of guilt,  the  weight of fear, the weight of  worry,   the weight of  anxiety, the weight of  doubt or pride, the weight of  troubles of this world, they will wear us down and wear us out before  we finish  the  race.  

The writer said we are to throw aside, put off sin that so easily entangles.  Sometimes we think that dabbling in this sin or that, just this one time, will not matter. On some home repair jobs I use liquid nail.  Because I cannot see where to apply the glue I use my fingers to guide me.  Needless to say I get some on my fingers.   The harder I try to wipe it off, the more a mess I make.   It doesn’t wipe off but only spreads.

This is how sin is.  You can't just dabble with it, play with it or do something wrong and think you can then be clean of it.  It sticks to us, spreads and makes a bigger and bigger mess of our lives. 

Is the type of race we run a race we can not finish? Is the type of race we run a race with a fate of certain doom and failure?  At times it may feel like this.

Jesus ran the same race we are running.  He faced every problem, pitfall, snare and trap.  For a short time it look like he too failed to finish as the yawning pit of death had swallowed him up.  He climbed out of the pit called death which had caught all who preceded him. He had finished, he crossed the line and completed the race. 

He now is the pioneer and perfector of our faith.  He now comes to you and me and peels off that thick layer of sin, throws it away and wraps us up in his arms of love and forgiveness.  He now walks with us on our way, pointing out the pits, turning us from the traps, and forgiving us when we do fall.  He knows the paths, he traveled them all, and so is the pioneer of our faith. 

As we look to Jesus, fixing our gaze and attention on him, we are assured of a certain and good finish to our race.  We know this because of faith, a faith which trust in Jesus as it says just one chapter earlier, chapter 11:

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old received divine approval.

By faith Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Rahab the harlot who lived in the fallen city of Jericho, and still Others are mentioned in chapter 11. They lived by faith, trusting God at his promise even when all odds were against them. 

They too ran a rough race but made it by the grace of God.  

 We too, though the running be rough, run with perseverance given

us by Jesus.  For Jesus persevered the cross and overcame sin,

death and the power of the devil for you and me. 

Pastor Dave

### This Month’s Focus

This month’s focus highlights “real” and “felt” needs of people. Knowing and distinguishing between these can help.

PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND WILL COME TO THE CENTER BECAUSE

They are accepted there.

It is a safe environment.

They experience human care and compassion__a direct result of God's care and compassion.

WHAT ARE NEEDS EXPERIENCED BY PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND

Listed here are some everyday needs of people who are blind.

† Transportation

† Funding or the lack of money to get or do things 

† Adequate equipment 

† People treating them like second class citizens, without courtesy nor helping with simple communication needs

FELT NEEDS OF BLIND PEOPLE

These are the emotional needs which people who are blind experience.

Because of their situations: little money, oppression, overprotection etc. many people who are blind experience feelings of anger, loneliness, hopelessness, and isolation, dependence, and lack of control in their lives.

## Braille Books Have Found a Home

A home was found for the Braille books from the outreach center in Grand Junction Colorado. From time to time I get contacts from individuals who have materials to share. I would like to know who out there are interested in learning of materials.

Also, I would like to know if any centers have materials available either as a library or to give away. Please email me back and let me know. Thanks.

Pastor Dave

### Notes from Centers

The Lebanon Missouri  center opened November 2006. It meets on the third Thursday at noon. The community is small, 10,000 people but reaches people for miles around. Even after all these years, after many funerals, the group continues to draw about 15 people each month.

The Midland Michigan center opened April 2008. For the next five years it served this northern Michigan City from the Lutheran Church. About the time the pastor went to a different congregation, it was decided to move the gatherings to the united Methodist church in town. By the willing help of the volunteers of this congregation, the outreach continues. Interestingly, all who attend, about 15, go to a church   on a regular basis.

The Newland   North Carolina outreach center Opened May 2008. This is a small town in the hills of NC. The gatherings see 10 to 15 blind and visually impaired people each time. The center has also started Braille classes for children of the community as no teacher could be found. At Present three children attend.

### Ice Cream Trivia

Ice Cream Trivia

Here is some trivia along with some history and facts mixed in. You might want to use this at the outreach center gathering.

In the Persian Empire, people would pour grape-juice concentrate over snow, in a bowl, and eat this as a treat, especially when the weather was hot

In 400 BC, the Persians went further and invented a special chilled food, made of rose water and vermicelli, which was served to royalty during summers

What is the first reference to anything resembling ice cream within 200 years?

Answer: a frozen mixture of milk and rice was used in China around 200 BC

The Roman Emperor Nero (37-68) had ice brought from the mountains and combined with fruit toppings.

Arabs were perhaps the first to use milk as a major ingredient in the production of ice cream. They sweetened it with sugar rather than fruit juices, and perfected means of commercial production.

In the sixteenth century, the Mughal emperors used relays of horsemen to bring ice from the Hindu Kush to Delhi, where it was used in fruit sorbets

The first recipe in French for flavored ices appears in 1674

When did ice cream come to North America, within 50 years?

Answer: Ice cream was introduced to the United States by Quaker colonists who brought their ice cream recipes with them: 1725?

Who was president when the first ice cream was served at the Whitehouse?

Answer: Dolley Madison served ice cream at her husband's Inaugural Ball in 1813.

Within 50 years, what is the first U.S. patent that had anything to do with ice cream?

Answer: In 1843, Nancy Johnson of Philadelphia was issued the first U.S. patent for a small-scale hand cranked ice cream freezer.

What invention made ice cream popular and common throughout the world?

Answer: Ice cream became popular throughout the world in the second half of the 20th century after cheap refrigeration became common.

Why does Baskin-Robbins have 31 flavors of ice cream?

Answer: Baskin-Robbins made its 31 flavors ("one for every day of the month") the cornerstone of its marketing strategy. The company now boasts that it has developed over 1000 varieties.

How is soft ice cream made?

Answer:. A chemical research team in Britain (of which a young Margaret Thatcher was a member)[20][21] discovered a method of doubling the amount of air in ice cream, which allowed manufacturers to use less of the actual ingredients, thereby reducing costs.

When and where were ice cream cones introduced?

Answer: According to legend, at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, an ice cream seller had run out of the cardboard dishes used to put ice cream scoops in, so they could not sell any more product. Next door to the ice cream booth was a Syrian waffle booth, unsuccessful due to intense heat; the waffle maker offered to make cones by rolling up his waffles and the new product sold well, and was widely copied by other vendors

How are Dippin' Dots  made?

Anser: Dippin' Dots is ice cream that is frozen quickly with liquid nitrogen.

What was the first brand-name ice cream to go into space?

Answer: Ben & Jerry's was the first brand-name ice cream to be taken into space aboard the Space Shuttle

Ben and Jerry's renamed a flavor, Yes Pecan, in reference to Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election

When and in which state was the first Dairy Queen store? (Within 25 years)

Answer: The first Dairy Queen store opened in 1940 in Joliet, Illinois

Which state has the most Dairy Queen restaurants?

Answer: The state with the most Dairy Queen restaurants is Texas

Dennis the Menace appeared in Dairy Queen marketing from 1971 until 2001

### Final Thoughts

In upcoming issues we can and will look at many of the same topics as well as others. If you have questions, thoughts or suggestions, please post them on the blind ministry email list.

Pastor Dave

Rev. Dave Andrus

Not Alone Internet Ministry (NAIM)

http://www.not-alone.net