Dear Partners in Ministry,

    THE POWER'S ON! All of us have been impacted by Hurricane Irene to at least some degree. Many of our sisters and brothers in communities all over New England have had serious damage and/or flooding. Our home, and many, lost power.... some still do not have power. As I write this, we are still assessing the damage to our churches and parsonages... so far, none have been a complete loss. We are all praying for those who have suffered major losses, including that of life. I am grateful for the churches that are already volunteering teams to help with clean up in communities and other churches. Our disaster relief coordinators and Volunteer in Mission Team organizers have been at work already (check with your DS or the conference office if you need help... or want to help).

    For those of us who have lost power for any period of time, we are reminded how much many of us depend on electricity: lights, stove, hot water, TV, garage door opener, can opener, well water, hair dryer (well I didn't have to worry about drying my hair, but I did have to scramble around to find a manual toothbrush... I had forgotten how good it feels...really, how lazy have we become?). We take it so for granted. It was sooooo dark as I stumbled around looking for a flashlight. And what about all the food in the fridge? And how do you recharge the batteries needed for your cell phone, and computer,.. and toothbrush? Life seemed pretty limited.

    One person told me that after several days without power in their neighborhood, they were out on the deck cooking on the grill when they heard someone several doors up yelling. They listened more closely, and other neighbors could be heard shouting and cheering.... soon all over this otherwise reserved and quiet neighborhood people were coming out of their homes exclaiming the good news, "THE POWER'S ON...THE POWER'S ON!”

    I thought of the power of Christ in our lives...the power of hope, peace, joy, love, faith that energizes our lives as they are connected with Christ and each other. What Good News for anyone living a dim, limited existence and stumbling around looking for the shining light of life that Christ offers. The Power's on! How can we keep that Good News just to ourselves?

    "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it!" (John 1:5)

    Help someone who is recovering from Irene.... and share the Good News..."The power's on!"


  Grace and Peace,

  Pete