Booking a VIM Team for 2023
Volunteer in Mission (VIM) Teams are invited to serve McCurdy Ministries from mid-February until mid-November. There are still several weeks this year that are available to help.
Volunteers in Mission (VIM) team members can help complete a wide variety of work tasks. Work projects can be adapted to any skill level. Lighter tasks include general cleaning, data entry, general office work, and assisting with McCurdy’s After-School Care program (school year) and Camp Stars (June and July). Volunteers with construction skills can assist with renovation and rehabilitation projects throughout the existing campus. And, of course, there always is a need for volunteers who can help with general maintenance and lawn care. Whatever your ability, there’s a job for you!
Some spring/summer weeks that are still open include:
- March 26-31
- July 16-21*
- July 23-28*
* Special Note: During these two weeks in July, there will be opportunities for some team members to help with the Camp Stars summer program.
If you are considering scheduling a team in 2023, please contact our Volunteer Registrar Eufemia Romero by phone at 505-753-7221, ext. 210 or by email at eromero@mccurdy.org to schedule a week of mission.
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"Monumental" Help for Camp Stars!
Next week we will be sending out an invitation for up to six church groups to help prepare for this year’s Camp Stars program. Camp Stars is a six-week (35 hours per week) summer educational enrichment camp for K-6 students that includes STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning as well as faith sharing through VBS fun and service. This vital program was created to help combat the summer slump and will be using the VBS Monumental curriculum, this year.
A special edition volunteer newsletter will be sent out with details on how your church groups can help McCurdy by preparing make-and-take crafts, donating relevant children’s books, designing bulletin board materials, etc. Gather a few friends, especially those who can’t travel to McCurdy in person, and help this important summer program “from away”!
(Side note: “From away” became one of our family’s sayings when we heard about an experience my in-laws had after visiting a museum in another community. When they entered a downtown café to have some lunch, they said that the locals stopped their conversation to check them out. Then they overheard someone telling another that, “They must be from away!” It’s been a family saying ever since. 😊)
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Valentine Kindness!
“Valentine Kindness” prevailed this week as you can tell from the pictures of our After School Program students. They made beautiful Valentines to take home to their family. They also delivered a handmade flower pen and a valentine that included a sucker to all the Admin staff. It was so appreciated by the staff as you can see by Admin. Assistant Eufemia Romero's beaming smile.
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Two Special Opportunities in February |
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Free Lenten Study via Zoom
Each year the Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday observances on February 22. This year, Sarah Allen is offering a special Lenten study for our friends, starting on Sunday, February 26, at 4:00 p.m. CMT (5:00 p.m. CST) via Zoom and ending on Sunday, March 26. This Sunday evening study will be based on Adam Hamilton’s book, Luke: Jesus and the Outsiders, Outcasts and Outlaws.
If you are interested in participating is this 5-week study on Sunday evenings, please email Pastor Sarah Allen at sallen@mccurdy.org to register for the free Zoom link and handouts. The book is helpful and is available at Cokesbury for $11.49.
For more information or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Sarah at 928-691-6471.
Special note: The New Mexico Annual Conference is providing a Certified Lay Minister and Advanced Lay Servant Continuing Education Certificate for those who attend all five classes.
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2023 SCJ Mission Academy
There is still time to sign up to attend this year’s South Central Jurisdiction Mission Academy. Join Sarah Allen, McCurdy Director of Development, and Linda Polson, McCurdy Board Member, for this mission conference on February 26-28, in San Antonio.
A few of the workshops being offered include:
- Fundraising for Mission
- Opportunities for Youth in Mission
- Using Social Media for Mission Programming
- The Transformative Mission Experience
- Volunteer Recruiting and Retention
- Creating Cultural Awareness
We hope you will consider joining us for this special mission event!
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Amazon Wish List
Another great way to help McCurdy Ministries “from away” is to simply select an item or two to purchase from our Amazon Wish List. It operates like a wedding registry site. Simply view the list online and select an item from basic school supplies, cleaning products, snacks, etc. Your purchase will help McCurdy serve the children and families in the Española Valley.
Just remember to select McCurdy Ministries Community Center on the address list at checkout so your items will ship directly to Española.
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Looking for something new and easy to make for your family this week? Then check out this recipe for Carne Guisada, a Latin staple that kicks the traditional American beef stew up by about 15 notches.
This recipe is another one from McCurdy’s very own collection, Recipes of a Century Past, published in 2012 to celebrate the ministry’s 100th anniversary. The recipe was shared by Laura Rush Helton Killingsworth. Enjoy!
Carne Guisada
Ingredients:
- 3-4 pounds roast or stew meat, beef or pork
- Flour
- Oil, for frying
- 1 (10-ounce) can Ro*Tel diced tomatoes
- 1 (7-ounce) can chopped green chilies
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons chili power
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 2 tablespoons cumin
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- Water
Cut roast into bite size pieces, coat with flour and brown in oil in a large skillet. Place meat n crock pot, add tomatoes, green chilies, garlic, pepper, chili powder, oil, cumin, and salt, cover with water and cook 4-6 hours.
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What Holds the Key to Your Heart?
by: Lysa Terkeurst
“I long to be a woman who follows hard after Jesus.
I want the kind of soul-satisfying closeness that can only come from daily keeping pace with Him, not a life full of ‘good Christian’ boxes I check off.
The checklist can be such a tempting routine to fall into, can't it?
Rules and regulations were an everyday reality for God's people in the Old Testament. There were lists of do's and don'ts to help sinful people maintain fellowship with a holy God. First the Ten Commandments. Then law after law about sacrifices and ceremonies, food and cleanliness.
But in the New Testament, Jesus fulfilled the law (Matthew 5:17-18) and turned everything upside down with His message of grace. A message that declares, ‘Following rules won't get you into heaven. Being good won't earn you bonus points. Lay down your checklists ... your agendas ... everything ... and follow Me. Believe in Me. Receive Me. Live like Me.’
It was a complete shift in thinking. One that left people perplexed, like the rich ruler in Luke 18.
We first meet the rich ruler when he approached Jesus with a question: ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ (Luke 18:18, NIV).
Jesus, already knowing this man's checklist mindset, began naming several of the Ten Commandments. It was a list the rich ruler felt he had kept well. But Jesus had more to say: ‘You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ (Luke 18:22).
It would be so easy to gloss over this moment and think Jesus was simply talking about money. But the words in this conversation are actually talking about something much deeper. The core issue Jesus was getting at is this: What holds the key to your heart?
Oh, how I want my answer to be this: ‘Jesus.’ I want to want Him the most. To live completely captured by His love. Enthralled with His teachings. Transformed into living proof of His Truth.
There have been others who have gone before me desiring this as well. Imperfect heroes of faith we read about in the Bible who, despite their shortcomings, pleased God through faith. (Hebrews 11) It wasn't perfect actions that carved a path to God's heart. It was something else. Something less defined that couldn't be outlined or dissected. Something that was sometimes messy and offensive. But something so precious at the same time ...Surrender - letting go of anything pulling them away from God.
It's a word used to describe a little girl leaping from the bed's edge, completely confident her daddy will catch her. It's the same thing that fueled David's courageous run toward Goliath with nothing but a sling and five smooth stones. It's what fueled Joshua. And Moses. And Noah. And Paul.
And it's the one thing Jesus was asking of the rich ruler. Not a life lived perfectly but a heart of perfect surrender. So this is the prayer I'm saying today:
Everything I have. Everything I own. Everything I hope for. Everything I fear. Everything I love. Everything I dream. It’s all Yours, Jesus. I trust You in complete and utter surrender…
Sadly, this was the one thing this man felt he could not offer. He stood on the edge of everything uncertain, with the arms of all certainty waiting to catch him. And he just couldn't jump; he lived his life entangled in lesser things.
He was not captured by, enthralled with or transformed into living proof of the reality of Jesus. And so he walked away from the only One who could ever truly satisfy his soul.
Oh, friends. Let's not allow this to be the tragedy of our lives. Let's be captured by Jesus' love, enthralled with His teachings and transformed into living proof of His Truth. Let's live with abandon and fully trust Him.
The life that follows Jesus with surrender and trust is the life that gets to experience His presence, His provision, His promises, His soul-satisfying abundance.
Father God, please forgive me for all the times I have settled for lesser things. I want to want You most. Today, I am handing You the key to my heart. The key to everything in my life. I love You. I need You. And I want to follow hard after You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.”
To read the full devotional: LINK
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Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty
by: Reginald Heber
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
“Holy, Holy, Holy by Reginald Heber (1783-1826) is unique in many regards. Indeed, it spans many Christian traditions and centuries, unifying them in four timeless stanzas. Not only that, but Heber was an Anglican bishop whose ministry spanned continents and races, placing him as one of the heroes of the Christian faith.
Perhaps the most intriguing characteristic of the hymn is how the text does not initiate praise, but instead encourages the singer to join in an endless song. Both Isaiah 6:1-5 and Revelation 4:2-11 inspire this hymn, spanning the Testaments, reminding us that the Trisagion (thrice holy) has been uttered in worship for centuries. Isaiah received his vision in the eighth century B.C.; John the Apostle recorded his revelation in the first century C.E.; while Reginald Heber composed his hymn in 1826, in the nineteenth century.
Congregations continue to be inspired by Heber’s text in the twenty-first century. It is safe to say that songs of praise, begun by the seraphim and cherubim, have been echoing throughout the millennia through the voice of the people.
What makes this hymn so special? First, the rhyme scheme is unique since all four lines of each stanza rhyme with the word ‘holy.’ One won’t easily find another hymn written this way. Another reason why Holy, holy, holy is such a timeless hymn is its pairing with the well-known tune NICAEA. Written by John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876), NICAEA has a unique elegance and magnificence, which in turn complements Heber’s stately language. There’s no cheap emotionalism and subjectivity apparent in the music or the words...
Heber is careful to describe the Trinity without encroaching upon its mystery. This is especially evident with the phrase, ‘though the darkness hide Thee’ in stanza 3, and this separation between God and man is exacerbated by sin (‘though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see’). Though we may not see or completely understand the Trinity in its fullness in this lifetime, Heber’s and Dykes’s collaboration reminds us those are not reasons that preclude our worship of the Triune God…
Heber intended for Holy, Holy, Holy, written for Trinity Sunday, to be sung between the sermon and the creed by his parish in Hodnet. This was iconoclastic at the time, since hymn singing was prohibited in Church of England liturgies. In contrast, the Methodist societies in the eighteenth century were known for their hymn singing, along with the dissenting churches that had been using the hymns of Isaac Watts for nearly one hundred years...Unfortunately, he failed to persuade church authorities within the Church of England to grant permission for hymn singing during Sunday services while he was alive.
In 1826, Reginald Heber died in British India from a stroke while bathing (often referred to in India as coup de soleil), leaving an impressive legacy within Christianity. That was because Heber was the Anglican bishop over all of British India from 1823-1826. He worked tirelessly to build a training school for local clergy and traveled extensively around India preaching the gospel...
To read the entire article, go to: LINK
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McCurdy Ministries Community Center creates hope and empowers the lives of children, youth, adults and families through education, life skills, and faith-based programs in Española, New Mexico.
On behalf of the McCurdy Ministries Community Center Board and staff as well as the children, youth, adults, and families MMCC serves in the Española Valley, we hope you and your family had a Happy Valentine’s Day! May we each reflect God’s abundant love to each other every day throughout the year!
McCurdy Board and Staff
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Through our Volunteer Newsletter, we are providing the latest information about volunteer opportunities at McCurdy Ministries Community Center and sharing helpful tips about planning a mission trip to Española. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or suggestions about articles or resources. Send your suggestions or questions to Linda Polson at lpolson1966@gmail.com. Linda is an MMCC Board Member and experienced VIM Team Leader.
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McCurdy Ministries Community Center creates hope and empowers the lives of children, youth, adults and families through education, life skills and faith-based programs
in Española, NM.
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