Next Park Days, Wed. June 30 @ 11 am

Park Days meets this Wednesday the 30th at 11 am. Park Days is a fun time to meet with other parents and their kids to play and fellowship at Farquar Park in Apple Valley. Parents and kids meet at 11 am to whenever you need to leave. Pack a lunch and stay awhile! Park Days provides the perfect opportunity to invite friends and neighbors who are not from SSEFC to a casual and fun setting. So mark your calendars, invite some friends and see you at the park the remaining meeting dates: Wednesdays, June 30, July 14, 28, August 11 & 25.

Let's Have Coffee! Tuesday, June 29 @ 7 pm

It's time for another Let's Have Coffee! We will be meeting at Donna Morrison's home (16815 Edinburg Way, Farmington, 55024) Tuesday, June 29 at 7 pm. These gatherings are a great opportunity to meet new people and make some connections so please come....and be sure to invite other ladies to join you. No children please.

Watch this blog and the bulletin for future locations for these gatherings over the summer months. The next July gathering date and location is TBA. Contact Sue Peters via the directory with questions.

Next Book Club Meeting: Mon. Aug. 2 @ 7 pm

The first SSEFC Women's Book Club meeting was a success! 12 ladies participated ranging in ages from teen to 50! That's tremendous interest and involvement! In Search of Eden was well liked by everyone - 4.25 out of 5 stars! The character development and the relationships were highlights of the book.

Next Book Club Meeting: Monday, August 2 at 7 pm at Pardon My French in Eagan. Join us for another great evening as we discuss our next novel, The Heavens Before by Kacy Barnett-Gramckow. "Marginalized by society and mistreated by her own family, Annah befriends a young man she's never seen before. Shem is captivated by Annah's courage, and he risks everything to help her gain her freedom. Trusting in the Most High, Annah marries Shem and joins her strange new family in their solitary faith that will ultimately separate them from an ancient world of amazing beauty and appalling violence -- a world fast approaching the unimaginable catastrophe of the Great Flood. Out of this chaos, only eight people will survive. Their world is our world. Their future is our own."

Hope to see you at Book Club! Bring a friend or two! This book club serves as a great opportunity to invite friends and neighbors who don't attend SSEFC but love to read. Contact Sharon Moore with questions.

Go Door to Door for VBS! Sunday, July 11!

Calling all Hometown Heroes! Join forces on Sunday, July 11, to walk door to door in our SSEFC surrounding neighborhoods and invite our neighbors to Hero Headquarters. We will meet in the quad area by the East entrance at 1:30 pm to pray and receive the VBS invitations then go out to distribute them in teams. We will return for ice cream sundaes at 3:30 pm. Here is a great opportunity to take the Church to the streets and give our neighbors a warm, personal invite to join us for VBS!

Please consider donating a snack item to our Hero Headquarters VBS by taking a paper cape from the board at the VBS registration table in the foyer and bringing the item labeled "VBS snack" to the box at the same table. Refrigerated or frozen items can be labelled and placed in the upright fridge or freezer in the kitchen. New flip flops can also be donated and placed in the labeled box by the Welcome Desk. For a VBS craft, kids will be decorating them and sending them to Haiti with the Flip Flop Fleet.

Have you registered your children for VBS yet? Please do so soon either online or by filling out a form. Don’t forget to REALLY be a Hometown Hero and bring at least one child per family that needs to hear the gospel message. Remember, VBS is ALL about OUTREACH!

Can you serve at VBS? Areas for service are still available. We are especially in need of Crew Leaders. Please see previous blog post with details on the Crew Leader position and for ways you can be praying for VBS. See Jeff Larson or Stephanie Buckland with questions. Thank you!

Reminder: Dates for HHQ VBS are July 26-30, 6-8:30 PM!

Summer Women's Bible Study!

A women's Bible study will be held this summer at SSEFC on Tuesday afternoons from 2-3:30 pm. The first meeting will be held on June 22. We will be going through the book, Being Yourself: How Do I Take Off the Mask? from the Women of Faith Series. Childcare will be available. Sign-ups have begun! Visit the registration table outside the main worship center next Sunday, June 20th. Questions? Contact the leaders, Janice Krall and Marth MacAlpine via the church directory. Hope to see you at Bible study this summer! Friends welcome!

Take the 30 Day Challenge this Summer!

We are commanded in God's Word to love one another. If you are looking for some practical, easy ways to take the Church outside the walls, then take the 30 Day Challenge this summer! Below is a list of easy, tangible, loving ways to minister to those around you. In any order, pick 30 days out of the summer to complete the following 30 acts of kindness. You will be amazed at how these simple things will impact people. In fact, you might discover that YOU are the one who is the most blessed. Imagine the impact for Christ we could have if many people from SSEFC were committed to completing this challenge? Imagine the stories that we could encourage each other with?

Want to pass this challenge on to a friend? Click on the "white envelope" at the bottom of this post and forward it to a friend. Enjoy the challenge! (Idea: Print off this list and carry it with you this summer!)

1. Walk your neighborhood and pray for each neighbor as you pass their house.
2. Offer a popsicle to a neighbor kid on a hot summer day.
3. On trash day, put someone’s trash can back by their garage.
4. Leave an ice cold drink for the garbage collector or mailman.
5. Share something from your garden with a neighbor.
6. Smile at a cashier and tell them to have a GREAT day!
7. Offer to drive a neighbor kid to an activity.
8. Give your place in line to someone behind you.
9. Go watch and CHEER loudly for a neighbor kid at a sporting event.
10. Leave candy on a neighbor’s doorstep or a coworker’s desk.
11. Hold the door open for the person behind you.
12. Smile at someone you don’t know.
13. Pull some weeds in the neighbor’s yard.
14. Send a “thinking of you” note to someone you haven’t seen in a long time.
15. Offer to help a neighbor with an outside chore.
16. Give a book you’ve read to someone who loves to read.
17. Celebrate summer with root beer floats for the neighborhood.
18. Invite someone to go on a walk with you.
19. Offer to pray for someone you talk to today.
20. Walk a neighbor’s dog when you walk yours.
21. Bake some cookies for a neighbor or coworker.
22. Pick some flowers from your garden and give them away.
23. Write a note of appreciation to your child’s teacher, coach or someone special to you.
24. Offer to watch someone’s children so they can have a night out.
25. Next time you are in a drive thru, pay for the person behind.
26. Take a picture of other kids at an event and send it to them.
27. Leave an extra tip and a personal note for a server.
28. Bring dinner to someone who has small kids..
29. Wave to someone when they drive down your street.
30. Call a friend just to see how they are doing.

Sparkle Conference 2010!

The 2nd annual women's conference, Sparkle, is coming again to River Valley Church in Apple Valley Friday & Saturday, September 24-25. The 2010 theme is Love Revolution. Please check out the conference website for more details. Let's get a group of ladies from SSEFC and your friends to go! Contact Audrey Cole at audreycole@charter.net with questions or if interested in going.

Next Jubilee Planning Meeting - Tues. June 8

The next Jubilee planning meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 8 @ 7 pm at South Suburban. Dates for subsequent meetings will be decided at Tuesday’s meeting.

There are leadership positions available in:
Communication & Design
Marketing, Community Communication, Public Relations
Commerce/Household
Consumable/Guest Food Service
Dessert Tent
Grocery Tent
Security Team
Volunteer Coordination for other churches and organizations
Youth Rally/Uprising

The following areas are looking for help NOW in the planning stage:
Administration & Finance
Communication
Marketing
Volunteer coordination
Donations and solicitation

If you have an interest in any of these opportunities but are unable to attend the meeting, please let Susan Holmen know (spholmen@comcast.net). She can help get you connected with other leaders or get more information. Thank you!