dismay, confusion, heavenly bodies

shaken. When those around us seem

swallowed by deception, drunkenness,

and the anxieties of life…STAND. ( How?)

…and as we STAND discover a new di-

mension in life called faith and trust.

Being REFINED is a very disruptive pro-

cess. It involves grinding. It requires

heat. By the time I reached the Silver

Valley of North Idaho in the late 1980’s

the ‘veins’ being mined were as much as

6,000 feet down and could no longer be

detected by the eye alone. Much

‘concentrating’ and ‘refining’ was need-

ed to reveal the silver, lead and zinc.

Mickey Mantle once wrote that any

player who makes it to the Major League

level is a great athlete. What separates

out the superstars is a willingness to

devote themselves to the refining of

skill, which is usually a very disruptive

process. If you have ever lived through a

remodel of your house, you know that

the process is inconvenient and disrup-

tive. So, if your life and your church

feels like a construction or reconstruc-

tion zone, that could be a very good

SIGN.

I believe it was Einstein who once said

we never truly understand something

until we can explain it to a child, see it

through their eyes. So this Advent we

will take a Sunday to do just that. That is

another SIGN of the growth I am seeing

in us.

Continued on pg. 5

Pastor’s Pen...

1

Inside this issue

Pastor’s Pen…..……………..…..1, 5

December Special Events ....….2

Birthdays and Anniversaries....2

W.H.Y. “Merry Ghrinchmas”....2

Mission Trip Giving...…………....3

Care Bears…......………………….…3

Missions Moment………....….....3

W.H.Y. Ministry & Events.….....4

Meet Our New Members.....4, 5

Boy Scouts..……………………….….5

We at West

Highlands UMC

Welcome everyone,

Worship God,

Study God’s Word,

and Serve others.

West Highlands United Methodist

17 South Union St , Kennewick, WA 99336 PHONE (509) 783-3012 FAX (509) 374-1772 E-Mail whumc@frontier.com

2018 Newsletter

There will be SIGNS…and they are important

because they help us navigate from here to

there. Along the highway they tell us where

we are (mile post XYZ on interstate Q), and

the direction we are headed (interstate Q

North). They point out things of interest

along the way (fuel, food, rest stops; historical

markers; towns and villages along the way).

There are SIGNS that we look to in our jour-

ney through life. There is the old adage,

‘must be a good day, I’m upright and taking

nourishment!’ There are the ‘vital signs’ that

keep you awake most of the night during hos-

pital stays because the nurse is in ‘taking

them’ every few hours. There are degrees,

credentials, or awards that tell the world we

are off to a good start, well on our way, or

have reached important goals.

There are SIGNS to which we can look in our

spiritual journey as well. Some are unwel-

come, uncomfortable and unsettling; like the

images coming out of the texts for the first

two Sundays in Advent. Finding the strength

to STAND when what we see in the world is:

2

2

December Special Events

Saturday, December 1, 1:00p - 3:00p

Church Christmas Decorating

Wednesday, December 5, 7:00p

CHARGE Conference in Main Sanctuary

Saturday, December 8, 10:00a - 2:00p

Scouts Planning Meeting in Fellowship Hall

Saturday, December 8, 5:30p

NILE Holiday Potluck

Wednesday, December 12, 6:00p

UMW Christmas Party and Dinner

Sunday, December 16, 10:00a

Annual Christmas Play

Sunday, December 16, 11:30a

Annual W.H.Y Baked Goods Auction

Sunday, December 16, 5:00p - 8:00p

W.H.Y. “Merry Ghrinchmas” Party

Friday, December 21, 9:00p

UMW Pie Baking for the Mission

Monday, December 24, 7:00p

Christmas Eve Service

W.H.Y. Christmas Party

- Merry Grinchmas

We will have our joint

Christmas party on

Sunday, December 16

from 5:00pm - 8:00pm

@MSPC.

It is sure to be a night of fun

and fellowship!

Wear your holiday gear,

bring a wrapped present for

our white elephant gift

exchange, and invite your

friends to join this super fun

night filled with games and

prizes! If you are unable to

bring a gift for any reason

don't worry, Beth will have

extras on hand.

Church will provide dinner

(taco bar). Food and drink

donations are welcome.

Adult volunteers

are needed.

Happy Birthday!!! 12/05 Colin Branham

12/10 Beth Randle

12/11 Alison Chadek

12/11 Shirley Livermore

12/13 Temperance Williams

12/18 Steve Buckingham

12/22 Danny Johnson

12/22 David Johnson

12/27 Allie Petersen

12/28 Nancy Maxson

12/07 Frank & Sue Orsag

Happy Anniversary!

“The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away.” -Dorothy Day

Two ways you can give towards our Youth Group

Mission Trip 2019, at no cost to you!

Amazon Smile Please consider choosing WHUMC Youth

as your charity when shopping with

Amazon! The funds earned will be used

for the W.H.Y. Summer 2019

Mission trip. Here is the link to Amazon:

https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-6190956. Search for: “West Highlands United Methodist Church”.

FlipGive Help make our

fundraising efforts a

lot easier by using this

fantastic service! With FlipGive

we can request donations, shop

online with popular brands like

Walmart, Apple, and Under Armour,

or buy gift cards to stores or restaurants,

and our team will earn cash!

Join our team now using our invite code

MCOBWT in one of 2 ways:

1. Download the FlipGive app at https://

www.flipgive.com/app?joincode=MCOBWT

The Care Bear says: “When you think

a grateful thought

toward heaven,

it is a beautiful prayer.”

There will be no

Care Bears Meeting

in December.

Merry Christmas!

The end of 2018 is drawing to a close,

and we are beginning to look at Missions 2019!

And even though it seems we just finished our UMCOR West Trip only 1

short month ago, it does take a priority seat in our planning. We must be reg-

istered and have our deposit paid for UMCOR 2019 by mid-January.

We would love to have you join us! It is a busy 5 days, but there are jobs for

everyone. Those who need to work sitting instead of standing, can do so.

The dates for UMCOR West are October 28 – November 1, 2019. After

Christmas, Lori Chadek will have registration information available If you are

interested or have any questions, please contact Lori Chadek or Claudia

Moore.

Life Center - This next Sunday, Jean Robinson, will have our Christmas tree

with gift tags ready for Life Center persons in need of some tender loving

care. These are usually persons who receive few or no gifts, don’t have fami-

ly in the area or special considerations. What a joy it is to see their faces light

up when we bring them a wrapped Christmas gift from you. Please pick a tag

from the tree and return it with a wrapped gift for one of God’s beautiful chil-

dren.

Fair Trade Cart – Thank you so very much for your continued support of our

coffee, teas, chocolate and snacks and especially for reaching out in God’s

name. Also a very special thank you to Ben Wade for using some of our Fair

Trade items in the yummy refreshments he makes for us to enjoy after church

service. Thank You, Ben Wade!

If you are interested in helping with the cart on Sunday after service, please

contact Claudia. We would appreciate some help.

Have a blessed Christmas! And thank you so much for your Faith Promise gifts and

participating in West Highlands UMC Mission opportunities!

Missions Moment

3

5

W.H.Y.

David Johnson moved north to

join his parents and began attending services here with his

father and brother. David left a career as a long-haul trucker to relo-

cate here and drive locally. David, too has had various church expe-

riences, but had a life changing experience as a part of a Salvation

Army church in California. He will be transferring his membership

from there. He and his father share a love for music and Dan has

joined the Song Team with David, playing bass guitar most Sundays.

Jack Poole began attending here at West Highlands at the invitation

of the Johnson family. Jack has found a home among us and decid-

ed to join along with Dan and David.

Sue Styve moved from Wisconsin along with her son to help him in

his career path. Sue has experienced church as a Lutheran and with

the United Church of Christ, but never stayed long enough to join.

She has found a home here with drama and our Sunday School pro-

gram.

Ryan Clair grew up in United Methodist Churches in Alaska and Cali-

fornia. His mother is a retired pastor. For a few years his parents

managed a United Methodist Camp in Alaska, so Christian Camping

is a passion of his. Ryan and his three children have blessed us with

their energy and enthusiasm already, and he is ready to call West

Highlands UMC ‘home.’ He works in HVAC locally and is settling in

with our Christian Education program.

Continued on pg. 5

Meet Our New Members

4

Seven new members were

welcomed into the life of West Highlands UMC on the last

Sunday of November. Let me introduce them here:

Ramon Barajas and his wife Kathryn have been working their way

into our hearts over the past year. Their three children have given life

to our Nursery and Sunday School program and have become a wel-

come sight. Ramon comes to us from a background in the Roman

Catholic Church where he was baptized as an infant. Kathryn grew

up in the Connell United Methodist Church and is transferring her

membership from there. After years working in and then managing a

Mexican Food Restaurant in the Bellevue area Ramon is searching

for a new career while he watches over the young family. Kathryn

continues in Human Resources with a large Motel/Hotel chain and

commutes some days to her office in Bellevue, but usually works from

home.

Dan Johnson grew up on a family farm in southern Idaho, but moved

with his family to the Tri Cities as a youth. It was then that he met

Ron Hartley. The two have been friends since their youth. When

health concerns kept Dan and his wife in the Tri Cities over the winter

after 10 years on the road in their motor home, he and Ron recon-

nected and Dan began joining Ron in worship. Dan began his faith

journey as a Lutheran, but has called several churches ‘home’ over

the years. His working years were spent as a cook and food service

manager and he has joined Ben Wade is preparing snacks for coffee

hour.

Upcoming Youth Events: 14 - Prep for Baked Goods Auction | 4:30pm – 8:00pm 16 - Youth Christmas Auction (directly after service) 16 - No WHY 16 - Youth Christmas Party | 5:00pm - 8:00pm @MSPC 23 - No WHY (Christmas) 26 - No Coffee Crew Bible Study

Stay up to date on everything that is happening in the youth ministry!

Pick up our fall calendar in the Narthex or follow us on Facebook

(https://www.facebook.com/groups/westhighlandsyouth) or westhighlandsyouth on Instagram

Christmas Baked Good Auction Sunday, December 16 Planning is underway for the 2019 WHY mission trip! Join us

on Sunday, December 16 after service for our annual baked goods

auction! Please see the information kiosk or ask a youth member

for more information or if you would like to donate treats.

Ways to help the youth group:

Prayer-

Please continue to pray for our students to grow in God

and be lights for Jesus wherever they go. This ministry is

not possible without lots of prayer support.

Sunday Volunteer Team-

Spend time with our students at youth service! Sign up for

one service or become a regular volunteer, there are lots of

ways to help! Hang out with teens, play games, help put

out snacks, chaperone; we need people of all ages and

stages of life to speak love, wisdom, and support into our

Give - At Not Cost To You!-

Two ways you can help support our W.H.Y. students go on

their Mission Trip 2019 are described on page 3 of this pub-

lication. FlipGive and Amazon are convenient services that

you can use during your Holiday shopping and beyond!

W.H.Y. will hold a raffle in Spring 2019 to raise money for their summer

mission trip to Ica, Peru. We are currently putting together the raffle prize:

a basket full of gift cards (aiming for a value ~$800) for a variety of local

businesses. Our goal is to get a majority of gift cards donated by business-

es, however, if you have gift cards you don’t plan to use, please consider

donating them to our basket. Any amount or business will work! Gift cards

can be left in the office, marked for WHY (please include the amount if not

printed on the card). Feel free to contact Beth Randle or Dena Peterson

with any questions. Thanks for your support!

PLEASE PLACE STAMP HERE

West Highlands United Methodist Church

17 South Union St , Kennewick, WA 99336

PHONE (509) 783-3012

FAX (509) 374-1772

E-Mail whumc@frontier.com

Website www.westhighlandsumc.com

Pastor: Ben Moore

Worship Schedule

8:30 am—Adult Sunday School

10:00 am—Worship Service

10:15 am—Children’s Sunday School

11:30 am W.H.Y. (Youth Group)

5

Calendar:

December 3 @ 7:00 pm Boy Scouts Troop 126 December 8 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Boy Scouts Troop 126 Planning Meeting December 10 @ 7:00 pm Boy Scouts Troop 126 December 11 @ 7:00 pm Boy Scouts Troop 126 Adults December 17 @ 7:00 pm Boy Scouts Troop 126 December 18 @ 6:30 pm Cub Scouts December 19 @ 7:00 pm Cub Scouts Adults December 31 @ T.B.A. Boy Scouts Troop 126 New Year’s Eve All-nighter

I have shared before Dayton Edmund’s great quote about his work in

the isolated Okanogan Valley of our State. “I do what I do because I can’t

not do it.” Even in the difficulty of learning to STAND and being REFINED

there is a sense of WELCOME, of rightness, of fit…and we realize for all its

challenge, there is no place we would rather be. Is it not like God that

from Bethlehem (house of bread) comes bread for the world? WELCOME

nourishes the soul. WELCOME is genuine interest in everyone. WELCOME

is a thousand little ways to say I am blessed by meeting you, and we are

blessed, lifted, encouraged, renewed as we join in the journey.

It is time to hear the story again…shepherds, angels, wise men. Amid

the business of Empire, in a back woods back yard God’s greatest SIGN

was about to appear. Has it touched you? Then share it. Does it beckon

you? Then follow. On nights like this, in those days and in these days, the

world hangs in the balance. Follow the star. Hear and heed the angel

voices. Change the world…

See You in Church.

Boy Scout Troop 126 Calendar...

Meet Our New Members...Continued

Pas

tor’

s P

en…

co

nti

nu

ed

They join Howard Skavdahl who decided to become

an affiliate member after attending for some years.

That means that Howard will retain his membership

in Harrison UMC, Harrison , Nebraska, but also be a

part of our ministry in this formal way.

And Moses and Riham Jaryasi who have requested

to be reinstated as members here at West High-

lands UMC. Some health concerns and career chal-

lenges have kept Moses and Riham from participat-

ing as they would like, but with health concerns be-

hind them and career challenges diminishing, we

hope to see more of them in the near future.