Congratulations: You are officially a Hoosier.

Hello, Hoosiers.

Yes it's official as of yesterday: people who live in Indiana are Hoosiers. The Federal government style manual. Since as early as 1826 written correspondence have referred to the people of Indiana as Hoosiers and not Indianians (I have only heard that from a friend who lives in Ireland--really?) To read more about this check this article in USA Today.

How have you been doing with the roller coaster temperature ride?  Winter is a big season for all kinds of flu and sick stomachs. Every one, please stay warm and away from cooties...use your hand sanitizers!   :)

On the MLK Day, many museums and zoos are having a free admission day. If you have kids, seize the chance! Check our Things To Do page for some resources and information for summer camps and other programs for your kids.

Meanwhile, in case you don't know yet, the writing class on Thursday morning is a good choice for everybody who wishes to challenge him/herself in writing and deeper conversation. You are welcome to come and try it out! 

International Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:30-10:30 in room 100
Who doesn't love a magician? This week we read the story of Simon the Magician in Acts chapter 8. He was one of the citizens of Samaria who believed what Philip proclaimed about the good news of the kingdom of God. He believed in Jesus as the Messiah and was baptized. Later he offered money to Peter and John if they would lay their hands on him and give him the gift of the Holy Spirit so that he, in turn, could lay hands on others and impart the Holy Spirit to them. Did he view this as a new, really impressive magic trick? Peter scolded Simon for trying to buy this gift. He urged him to repent of his sin and get rid of the bitterness in his heart. Simon asked the Apostles to pray for him.

The Holy Spirit's gifts are many, and we don't all manifest the same gifts. We may not, for example, have the gift of healing, but we can pray! If it is God's will He will heal in the manner and timing he knows to be best.

We also had a wonderful conversation about how often we pray. We talked about "formal" and "informal" prayer. Formally, we try to focus on prayer several times each day, when we wake up, at mealtimes, during our time of devotional Bible Study, and when we go to bed at night. Informally, we might pray hundreds of times a day: little conversations with God that go on all day long! What a privilege to be able to talk to our loving God at any time!
January 17: Please join as we finish Acts 8:26-40 with the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.

International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:30-12:00 in room 100
This week we met to catch up with each other and to plan for the upcoming months. We had a great time coming up with ideas and sharing our interests and talents. Check our schedule to see what we will be up to over the next few months.

January 17: Join us for swearing class. Come and learn common salty and rude words and comments and join our discussions for words and phrases in your home languages that may sound similar to English speaking ears.

Open Conversation: Wednesdays, 4:30-6:00 in the upstairs classroom

We worked on some pronunciation and prepared for

English Classes: Wednesdays, 9:30-12:00 in the upstairs classrooms

This week we met to catch up with each other and to plan for the
upcoming months. We had a great time learning more about each other and our gifts and talents. Thank you to those of you who are leading us.

Thank you to our contributing authors this week: Fangling and Jan
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roller coaster temperature ride: quick and varying ups and downs in temperatures

all kinds of: many

cooties: a fictional childhood "disease"

MLK: Martin Luther King
try it out: attempt
in turn: also
lay hands on: give a blessing through touch
manifest: to make known; to show plainly
formal: being in accordance with the usual requirements, customs, etc.
informal: without ceremony; casual
devotional: used in religious worship
privilege: a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most
upcoming: occurring in the future

salty: swearing, rude or bad language (not just too much salt in food)

check: look at

what we will be up to: what we will do

over (the next few months): occurring (during a stated time frame, in this case more than one month)

contributing authors: people who write articles