HUMC Mountain Messenger...games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity. Aesop responded by picking up a

Hiawassee United Methodist Church 1139 U.S. Highway 76 P.O. Box 609 Hiawassee, GA 30546

Sam Hamby, Pastor

Our Mission: Worship Jesus Christ;

Grow as Disciples;

Serve Others

Web : www.hiawasseeumc.org

Ema i l : [email protected]

Phone : 706.896.2818

Of f i c e Hour s : Monday—Thursday

9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Resting In Him

A few months ago, my life seemed to get busier than before and I began feeling like I just couldn’t keep up. It started about the time our daughter, Amelia was born and seemed to grow from there. I thought I was just trying to accomplish the normal tasks of daily life, but I felt like I was just sur-

viving life rather than thriving. Have you ever felt like that? Maybe you feel that way now. You are busier than you’ve ever been, you see no end in sight, and you feel you are spending a lot of time

and energy accomplishing little. I can tell you that all the things I am doing are good things, but how will I take the time to enjoy this season of life? Am I to enjoy any fruit of my labor? Is there any rest for the weary? Recently, I came across a devotional from a 1994 edition of Our Daily Bread. After reading it, I had to pause and consider my daily routine and how rest fits into my life. Here is the story below:

According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity.

Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical Athenian, "Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bows implies."

The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make. Aesop ex-plained, "If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it."

People are also like that. That's why we all need to take time to rest. In today's Scripture, Jesus prescribed time off for His wearied disciples after they had returned from a prolonged period of ministry. And in the Old Testa-ment, God set a pattern for us when He "rested from all His work" (Gen.2:3).

Shouldn't we take His example seriously? Start by setting aside a special time to relax physically and renew yourself emotionally and spiritually. You will be at your best for the Lord if you have taken time to loosen the bow.

Do you set aside any time to rest and allow your body and mind to be renewed and enjoy all the blessings God has given you? Do you allow the opportunity for your soul and spirit to rest in the Savior? There are so many

good things in life to choose and focus on, but God wants us to rest in Him so He can direct our paths to the things He is calling us to. He knows our best better than we do. Don’t forget to rest in Him!

Blessings,

Pastor Sam

HUMC Mountain Messenger

Director of Music & Worship: Hope Horkavy

I received this recently from our missionary in Uganda, Robin Broom:

We have a few young men who have gone to Bible school and are now either serving

with our ministry or in University and come and serve during their breaks from

school. There are a few who are talented with music. One especially, but the others have such a huge

heart for praise and worship and music. They approached me and want to begin something and asked

for my help. So I have prayed and love their idea but I would need some help in order to help them. I

immediately thought about you, HUMC Choir, and all of your hearts for music and praise and worship

and your beautiful hearts to empower others.

These young men would like to start some praise and worship nights called "Come and Sing". The first

would begin here in our village at our church (outside in our prayer garden), then on to other venues as

the Lord leads. They do have some needs and I wondered if you would consider praying and helping

with anything God lays on your hearts. So I am copying the list he gave me of their needs. I have no

idea about these, and can ask specifics if you need more info, but here is the list he gave me:

Instruments:

Piano, pedal for piano, stand for piano and combo

Guitars (bass guitar, rhythm, electric acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar pedals)

Drum set( microphones for drum set, combo)

Combos for guitars (bass guitar and rhythm)

Stands for microphones (10)

Do you have any used instruments or equipment in good condition that you are willing to part with? Or do you want to donate to this good cause? We have a way to get the items to Robin if you can contribute. Email the office or talk to me

with your thoughts. Blessings, Hope

Going Solo Ladies Group

ATTENTION ALL SINGLE LADIES:

For our August 2nd gathering we will

have a “Low Country Boil” at

Fairy Jackson’s house.

Growing Christlike, Having Fun and

Serving Others!

The combined UM churches of Towns and Union Counties

proudly present the

5th Annual Great Night of Music

August 11th at 6:30 pm! Each church brings musicians to lead us in a time of praise and fellowship. There

will be great music, good jokes, and a special atmosphere of fun and fellowship.

We have outgrown HUMC, so we have moved this wonderful event to Sharp

Memorial UMC, where there are more seats and better parking!

There’s always a great variety of musicians from choirs to individual singers and

instrumentalists. This year HUMC is sending our Handbell Choir to play and Kim

Perren will play flute. We also claim “part membership” of Cottonwood Bluegrass

Band, who will do a couple of tunes.

This is a great opportunity to meet our extended church family members and

spend a couple of hours praising God together! Mark your calendar!

8/2 @ 6 pm Going Solo Single Ladies Meet 8/8 @ 2 pm Finance Meeting 8/11 @ Great Night of Music 8/17 @ 9 am HUMM Breakfast 8/18 @ noon Fellowship Luncheon 8/24 9 am—5 pm Emmaus Meeting 8/31 @ 7 pm Desserts @ the Square Weekly: Tuesdays @ 10:45 am Bell Choir Wednesdays @ 11 am Ladies Prayer Wednesdays @ 6 pm Bible Study Wednesdays @ 7 pm Choir Practice Thursdays @ 9 am Men’s Prayer Thursdays @ 10:30 am Bible Study Thursdays @ 3 pm Single Board Meeting

Back to School Supplies We want our Towns County students to be well pre-pared for going back to school. HUMC is again collect-ing school supplies so each student will have what they need to succeed. A bin is located in the main hall-way for you to place your donations. The last day for collection is Monday, 8/12. See the flyer insert with a list

for both the Elementary School and the Middle School.

Fellowship Contest Chili Cook Off & Car Show

HUMC will be participating in the

Fellowship Contest; Chili Cookoff & Car Show

September 7th

12 pm to 2 pm

Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds

(upper parking lot at Hamilton Gardens)

Over 13 churches from Towns, Clay & Union Coun-ties will be dishing out chili samples, making con-nections and increasing our community awareness.

100% of proceeds to DFCS in Towns & Union & DSS in Clay County.

This is a great opportunity to meet & greet the community and to advertise the November HUM Men’s Chili Supper.

Watch for more information about this event!

We have one more night to meet,

greet & sell baked goods at

Music on the Square

Saturday, August 31

Sign up if you can work and/or provide

homemade baked goods

for this community project.

Sign-up at the side table

in the Welcome Area.

Call Betty Leduc with any questions.

On The Move: Rearrangement of Rooms

On July 14, a called Admin Council meeting was held immediately after the church service to hear a proposal from the Office Relocation Committee. This Ad Hoc committee was formed in April 2018 at that Admin Council meeting because concerns had been expressed about safety issues with the Nursery being so close to the front doors, especially in light of recent shootings. As the study progressed, The committee, comprised of Carol Simpson, chair (Worship Committee), Con-ley Carter (Trustees), Dawn Lamade (Finance), and Sam Hamby (Pastor), it was expanded to look at the use of rooms throughout the church building. It was noted that in addition to concerns about the current location of the Nursery, that the Children’s Room, and the Library/Conference Room were being minimally used and that most meetings, large and small, are being held in the Fellowship Hall.

Other needs that were brought to the committee were as follows:

• The Administrative Assistant and Finance share a space that is not sufficient for those activities together. Each needs more space to work efficiently.

• The Administrative Assistant interviews community people who come seeking help with bills. There is no private place for her to hold those interviews, especially when Finance people are using the same area.

• The Finance team also needs a confidential area for work.

• The Pastor needs to have more privacy to talk with people and not to have to listen to what may be happening in the Library.

The Ad Hoc committee’s proposal to the Admin Council is as follows:

• Move the Pastor to what is currently the Administrative/Finance office. This would give him more privacy.

• Move the Administrative Assistant to the current Pastor’s Office.

• Move Finance to the current Library. This would give workspace, storage, and privacy to both the Administrative Assis-tant and the Finance team.

• Move the Library to the current Nursery. The Library would also serve as a small meeting room and would be open on Sunday mornings for use. The second copier would be located here.

• Move the Nursery to the current Children’s Room. The original proposal calls for no access to the little bathroom from the new Nursery location.

• Children/Youth Room would be upstairs.

The plan involves painting four rooms, none of which have been painted since moving into the church building in 2006; moving furniture, moving security camera monitor into the new Administrative Assistants office; moving the copiers. In this plan, there are no additional holes in the walls.

The cost for this is approximately $2020. A fund has been started that will cover the majority of the costs.

There was excellent discussion of this proposal at the called meeting. As a result of the discussion, it was decided that there should be a door between the new Nursery and the existing bathroom. With the addition of this door, the proposal was accepted by the Admin Council. The committee will move ahead with implementation.

Remember: For Current Directory Information, go to our website and click on CTRN Online Directory. Call the office if you need help logging in.

You can also use the Online Directory on your smartphone by installing the AP. Call or come by the office if you need assistance with Passwords.

Find us on Facebook as Hiawassee United Methodist

Church. Please LIKE and FOLLOW us. www.hiawasseeumc.org

Online Giving

now available for

Credit Card

Debit Card

ACH transactions

Church Member Services Directory Massage Contact: Geri Baker 706-896-6108 Coin Collecting Club and Stamp Collecting Contact: Tayo Leduc 706-896-6001

New in the HUMC library for August, 2019:

Pingry, Patricia. The Story of the Bible. (Bible Study). With scenic views of the Holy Land and paintings of the writers of the Old Testament, this book opens the world of the Bible for readers, spanning the time from the pyramids to the present day, from the writing of Genesis to the story of the Bible and the Guten-berg press.

Peale, Norman Vincent. The Positive Power of the Bible. (Inspirational) Life-changing adventures in faith.

Shook, Kerry and Chris. One Month to Live. (Inspirational). With eye-opening insights and soul-inspiring truths, One Month to Live will challenge you to embrace the life God has entrusted to you and you alone, and to live it out moment by mo-ment with wholehearted authenticity, honesty, and integrity.

Harper, Lisa. The Sacrament of Happy. (Inspirational) In The Sacrament of Happy: What a Smiling God Brings to a Wounded World, Lisa Harper unveils an extravagant, unexpected surprise, declaring that happiness is a gift from God that we can unashamedly enjoy.

Lockyer, Herbert. All the Women of the Bible. (Reference). Herbert Lockyer provides a convenient commentary on all the named, and unnamed, women of the Bible, from Abi to Zipporah.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Psalms: the prayer book of the Bible. (Devotional). An illuminating study of prayer using the Psalms as a guidebook.

Please check out your book or movie and leave the card, found in the back of the book or movie, in the box in the library on the shelf near the return box. This gives us an opportunity to find out what is being used and we can send you a gentle reminder if

you have forgotten to return a book or movie.

A listing of titles in the library is now available online. Go to our website for a direct link under “News” then click on Library and choose either Books or Movies.

HUMC Library Notes: Dawn Lamade

In the 12th century B.C. this king of

Moab allied himself with the Ammo-

nites and Amalekites to attack Isra-

el. He crossed the Jordan and captured the land

around Jericho, then penetrated farther into Israel sub-

jugating the tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim for 18

years. His name means “Young bull” or “circle”, his

oppression was terminated when Ehud, a Benjaminite,

assassinated him by burying his sword in the king’s fat

belly. Who was this king of Moab?

Financial Reports are available after the 1st of each month. Call the office if you would like to have a report.

The tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Den-mark, was written by William Shake-speare between 1599 and 1602. Act 3, Scene 1 contains Hamlet’s famous soliloquy which includes ….”To sleep,

perchance to dream….” Then, and even today many people believe dreams are omens of future events. A visit to most any news stand will produce books con-cerning the interpretation of dreams. Even in Shake-speare’s time believing in dream interpretation was not new.

The ancient people of the Near East believed dreams were real. They were not the result of the con-scious or unconscious mind. Dreams were the realm of the divine or the demonic. Dreams had meaning. They often predicted the future. Dreams of common folk were important to them but, the dreams of kings and holy men or women were important on a national scale. Many nations had religious people skilled in interpretation of dreams on the payroll and their advice (interpretation) of a dream was sought for important decisions. Israel was forbidden to use many of the di-vining practices of her neighbors, but on more than a dozen times in the Old Testament we find God reveal-ing something in dreams. Not every dream was from God and not every dream was important and not every dream needed an interpreter.

For example, in Matthew 1 and 2 Joseph had no trouble understanding his dreams concerning Mary and Herod. Sometimes dreams had simple symbols clear enough that the dreamer could understand them. See Genesis 37 and Joseph’s (the earlier Joseph) dreams that upset his family. Then, there were the dreams con-taining complex symbolism like those he interpreted for Pharaoh and the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar which Daniel had to interpret (See Daniel 1 and 2). Sometimes the symbolism was so complex divine interpretation had to be sought (Daniel 8).

Even so, dreams were not always reliable and both the prophets Jeremiah and Zechariah warned against relying on dreams to know the will of God.

So, as you lay yourself down to sleep and pray the Lord your soul to keep may you sleep, perchance to dream. God bless you.

This summer has been filled with activity at Ms. Elaine's House. Just this week a mission team from South Georgia visited us again to help with maintenance on the yard, repair a water leak, and have bible study with the

women. Of course this was the conclusion of summer to date. One of the women who had moved out to take care of an elderly friend moved back because he passed away. Almost immediately she found out that her sister, who lived in Douglasville, was not expected to live. The Van from Drug Court took her to the hospital for a visit. Same girl has now fallen and has a broken foot so she cannot work. I am asking for special prayers for her. Another girl who had not been feeling well found out she was expect-ing a baby. Still another girl discovered that her father had been hospitalized. Psalm 23 says even though we walk through the shadow of death, we shall fear no evil. Then it does not say we will feel no pain. All of these situations were effectively handled by our House Mother. On a lighter note, one of the women at the jail asked me to pray for her "breakthrough". I was not familiar with that word so I had to check it in scripture. Imagine my excite-ment when it is all through the bible using different ex-pressions. My favorite was in the Amplified Bible Micah 2:12-13 where it uses the words break through. I was able to tell her that if she had accepted Jesus then she already has break through in her heart. That also left the door open for me to ask the other girls, "Have you received your break through?" We rarely ask why they have been charged with a crime but we listen if they want to talk about it. There are those who are there for more serious situations but some are as simple as walking across the street after having too many beers at a local bar. My answer is a word of encourage-ment by saying, "You were not arrested, you were res-cued." No one knows what might lie ahead. That is espe-cially true when there is an addiction problem. Let me thank you again for all that you do and especially the encouragement that you give me. Yes, it can be very frightening; this summer was the first time since we start-ed that we have not been able to pay our bills. Insurance and maintenance fees often escalate without warn-ing. Support does come but sometimes at the last minute and miracles happen like the Mission Team coming to clean the yard and fix the water Leak and last year the out-side light donated by Perry and Jan Bush. So many more that I cannot name them all. In Jesus’ love and mine,

Ms. Elaine

Jail/Prison Ministry: Elaine McEver From Our Lay Leader: Dale Gardner

Missions Ministry …...Robin Broom Quiz Answer: EGLON

Each time I begin to write an update about my days here in Uganda, I desire to share the great and glorious stories of all the good that God is doing here in the lives of others. And those testi-monies are countless! I also find myself wanting

to share a piece of my heart and the great and glorious things that God is doing in me too. So this newsletter update will be no differ-ent. Many of you already know that I had malaria again last week. I began feeling bad on Wednesday the week before and by Tuesday of last week ended up in the clinic with IV treatment. I don’t tell you this for sympathy, but to share the goodness of our Lord, how He can and does work in every situation in our lives if we are living for Him. I spent many days in bed and resting and had much extra time to focus on Jesus. And those days were a gift. Once again I am reminded of His goodness, of His love, and His faithful, tender care

in my life.

I explained to someone that I felt as if God had my heart in His very hand, but it felt like it was in a meat tenderizer at the same time. How is that possible? I felt His sure love at each moment that I was shivering from fever and my body aching all over. And I felt His ca-ress as the tears fell in fear of the unknown in the moment and the feeling of sheer helplessness. I found myself at my end. There was nothing left, no strength, nothing at all that I could do—just rest, just trust. I saw God’s hand through others, although not the ones I ex-pected. My dearest Ugandan friends were the ones who never left my side, literally. From Joshua who is 4 crawling up in my bed with me and just laying there, to Salume coming and kneeling and crying out to God on my behalf, to Loyce saying, “Mom drink, drink”, as she handed me some hot tea. And also my dear Bolivian daughter Ana fulfilling any request. Then my sons coming and taking me to the clinic to receive treatment and sitting there until I was ready to go. I love seeing the Body of Christ, I love knowing God uses others to

share His unfailing love with me, especially in my weakest moments.

Speaking of weak moments, isn’t that where God wants us? I keep thinking how strong I need to be, especially for everyone around me who needs my help. And then I get buried in pride and what I can accomplish. Sometimes I am pretty stubborn and need some help remembering. Being that sick will remind you very quickly just how frail we really are. It is these moments of our weakness that HIS power works best. 2 Corinthians 12:9—Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” I got to experience that power firsthand this past week. On Wednesday in the midst of my sickness I found out that one of my dearest youth and Esangalo leader’s father was tragically killed in a car accident. The burial would be on Friday in Mbale, a town about 2 hours away. I knew I wanted to go, but wondered how? I thought to myself, if I

can just ride in the car, go into the burial and sit and then back to the

car, I could do it. God could give me strength.

So I woke up that morning with that plan, my plan in mind. I began to pray. I remembered a scripture that has been rolling around in my head lately and so I grabbed my Bible and read it again. Gideon had been questioning God’s call on his life, wondering how some-one so weak as his self could accomplish anything the Lord was asking of him. Judges 6:14—Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites, I am sending you!” I took it literally and knew that if I could muster up even a little bit of strength that God would do the rest. I would go with the strength I had. So we got in the car and drove to Mbale and then came to a smaller town outside of Mbale. They said we would have to park here. What did they mean park here? Weren’t we here? And then we all got out of the van and began to walk. Then someone pointed out where we were going. They pointed up, up to the top of a mountain, and we were to hike up to reach the burial. I looked up and said, “Ok Lord, this one is all You!” We would walk some distance and when I thought my heart would pound out of my chest, we would stop for a few minutes and then we would continue. One and a half hours later, after hiking straight up, we reached the top and I saw Sharon. She came out to greet us (me and many of her friends) and she just fell in our arms. It made any bit of struggle

more than worth it, just to be there for her and her family that day.

Sometimes, well most times, it isn’t about anything we can offer the Lord—except us, broken and weak, but willing. Here are a few pho-tos from that day. I have never in my life seen such beauty at every turn. Our God, He is truly indescribable. I got to experience Him afresh during this difficult time. His strength in me. His love, like none I have ever known! I love this journey called life! I love living here in this foreign land which becomes more and more like home every day. No matter the struggles, the joy and peace HE brings far

surpasses them all!!!

Mail Tax-Deductible donations to:

Answer God’s Call Ministries 215 W. Mesa Ave.

Gallup, NM 87301

(Include a note for Robin Broom-Africa)

I thank God that you are a part of my journey! May God bless you! With Much Love, Robin

Ana and

at the top!