Our Kids Need Us (Jan Baumann)

It is important for children to learn to build relationships with other adults who see the good in them and believe in them. They should know other adults who will listen to them and care about them. There are opportunities for those kinds of rich connections at Westminster in all of our children’s and youth programs. After our vacation Bible school (Barefoot School) this past summer I spent time r…

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Wipe Every Tear

They say that if you want to be successful with a project, you ought to begin with the end in mind. This has proven to me to be good advice, as I am one who typically picks up a hammer and nail and dives into a project without so much as thinking about the directions, let alone read them. Typically this leads to hurt fingers, curse words, and tremendous frustration, as I will have to undo 30…

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Why we don't volunteer (Jan Baumann)

The real reason people don’t volunteer is because we don’t have enough people who ask them. I love this quote because it is so true. Volunteering has historically played an important role in the United States. Volunteers are wonderful people who are necessary for the health of our society. The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is celebrated as a national Day of Service. We are also a country whe…

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Imagine Yourself a Missionary (Don Dawson)

Imagine yourself a missionary. Though you probably value and support missionaries, it is too far out of your comfort zone. It looks too much like difficult living conditions and too many sacrifices. When I was young I thought I wanted to be a missionary going to some distant land. Little did I know that God was already using me as a missionary. Clifford Taylor was our old bachelor neighbor. …

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Produce to People (Jan Baumann)

Produce to People is the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank’s large-scale produce distribution program. They operate 17 distributions each month at 17 different locations. Each family receives 30-50 pounds of food, mostly fresh produce. Westminster provides all of the volunteers at the north side location 3 Saturdays a year and has done so for at least the past 9 years. We register folks, pr…

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