Four Ways from Northbranch

Becky Pihl was a recent visitor of her parents, Maurice and Earlene Jeffery. Her sister, Susan Janda, also joined them.

Last week Sam and Alyce Gillett took Lily and Claire Walker to Mankato to eat for a late birthday celebration honoring Claire. Before eating, the girls shopped for gifts to put in their Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. They had fun picking out the toys. This week it was Wyatt’s turn. Alyce took him to select gifts for a young boy. At 4 years of age, it was not totally sure that he understood he was giving all of them away!

Plans are in place for the upcoming “Run for Missions” Friday when the 100 mile trek from Wichita to Haviland will be completed relay style. Each of the areas of Mid-America Yearly Meeting has been assigned a 10 mile section to run. Pastor Jon will be joining six other runners from our area.

Although few were in attendance, the Sunday morning worship service opened with Pastor Jon giving a welcome, followed by announcements. Emily Harkness gave an updated Missions Moment regarding missionaries in Buthan. Prayer concerns were noted but a time of special prayers. This being the first Sunday of the month, Jon and Emily, with Jon’s guitar accompanyment, sang several contempary songs. Serving as ushers were Brad Jeffery and Tim Warner. As the ‘noisy offering’ was taken, the whole Harkness family sang “I’m Gonna Follow,” a video of the song accompanied them. Ephesians 6: 10-12 was the pastor’s text as he continues to lead through the book of Ephesians. The theme for the message was about putting on the full armour of God. As Christians we are called to love and to be strong in the Lord. We prepare ourselves for what can be seen, but are we prepared for what is not seen? God gives us the tools to fight the enemy. There will be battles but they are worth fighting for the kingdom of God. We are admonished to put on the whole armor of God. A quiet time of reflection was observed, followed with closing prayer. Kenny Austin was a welcome visitor.

There are still a few boxes available that can be filled for the Operation Christmas Child – Samaritans Purse, which is a program through the Billy Graham Foundation. Expectations are that these boxes will reach 11 million children around the world.

Grant Davis and his girlfriend, Kim Brown, stopped Sunday afternoon and visited with his grandmother, Jean Davis. Grant enjoys his job at a bank in Beloit and recently has worked at the bank in Esbon.

Northbranch Friends will be hosting the community Thanksgiving worship service on Sunday evening, Nov. 22. Everyone is invited to join in as we celebrate God’s goodness to us.

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Social Distancing...

How long is this social distancing supposed to last? My husband keeps trying to get into the house.

Day 90 of social distancing ...Struck up a conversation with a spider today. Seems nice. He’s a web designer.