Saturday, April 15, 2017

Whoa! Look at all the flowers!

Hello, Friends,

We finally made it to spring. It is bustin' out all over! Did you notice the purple flowering trees. They are called red buds! The birds are virtually shouting every morning. What could be better? I know! Burgers on the grill, baseball and the top off my Jeep! The first two are doable today...We'll see about the Jeep.


bustin' out all over: a saying made famous with the song June is Bustin' Out All Over by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
reD buD: Here how these end? In this is one of the poetic devices that makes English sing.
doable: something that can happen



Please take time to go to Easter Worship this weekend. It is definitely something you will enjoy if you haven't ever been. Cornerstone Lutheran Church offers services at three sites: Carmel, Fishers and downtown Indy. Here is the schedule and information.

You can read the story of Holy Week in the book of John 19-20. By the way, this site is a great resource because you can read side-by-side in English and many other languages to enhance your comprehension. You can also listen to the story read and read along to polish your listening skills.


International Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:30-10:30, room 100
It was good to be back after a refreshing spring break! Our group read and discussed Acts 15: 22-41. We discussed how the leaders of the early Church resolved the issue of whether or not new Gentile Christians should be forced to follow the Jewish rules about circumcision and other Jewish customs. After meeting and discussing, the leaders sent a letter with Paul and Barnabas, along with Judas Barsabbas and Silas, to the Gentile Christians in Antioch. The letter basically said that new Gentile believers should not be burdened with Jewish customs, but that they would be wise to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality, all of which were customs that had become part of the rites of worship of pagan gods. The final portion of chapter 15 explained that Paul parted ways with Barnabas, and instead chose to travel with Silas, because Barnabas had suggested that they take John (also called Mark) with them. Apparently, Paul was unhappy with Mark because he had fled from them on the first missionary journey. Barnabas then decided to travel with Mark himself, and church history tells us that St. Mark established the first Christian church in Alexandria, Egypt, around the year 42 A.D.  God can even use discord in the Church to advance His Gospel!-Jan Heimann

This same Coptic Christian Church was in the news, when ISIS suicide bombers blew up two churches in the Nile Delta, killing more than 40 people and wounding more than 100 others during Palm Sunday services. If you are interested in learning more about the Coptic Christian Church in Egypt, you can use the following links:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_Orthodox_Church_of_Alexandria
http://www.coptic.net/EncyclopediaCoptica/

abstain: to hold oneself back voluntarily, especially from something regarded as improper or unhealthy
pagan: a word for religions that worship gods that aren't from the tradition of Abraham (Jewish, Christian, Islam)
discord: disagreement; difference of opinion


International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:30-12:00, room 100
This week we colored Easter eggs. This is a great tradition. We learned that the brightest colors are made when you mix vinegar in the dye. We also learned that the dye is food safe (but I don't think I would want to drink it), feel free to enjoy your eggs! This is always a crowd pleaser! We shared our family traditions for Easter. How the Easter bunny leaves treats varies from house to house. Sometimes he leaves a basket of goodies, other times he stashes treats outdoors, and then there are the indoor stashes. At our house, the bunny hides things indoors. There are plenty of stories in our family of how we found candy months after Easter had passed. There are no : Let's enjoy an English Tea. Dress in your finery and meet at the church at 10:15 to carpool to the tearoom or meet us there by 10:30.

crowd pleaser: something that makes everyone happy
finery: fancy clothes

April 18: Let's enjoy an English Tea. Dress in your finery and meet at the church at 10:15 to carpool to the tearoom or meet us there by 10:30. The cost is $12.00. Please bring cash to make it easy to pay. Friends are welcome. Contact Carolyn to RSVP.

Tina's Traditional Old English Kitchen
30 N Rangeline Rd, Carmel, IN 46032

Conversation: Wednesdays, 4:30-6:00, room 201
Conversations continued. We briefly talked about all of the events in April that are found in the Easy English news. We talked about poetry and the poet featured in the paper. We talked about the different ways to make poetry sing. We struggled a bit about the use of the word "symbols" because we got fixated on the idea of symbols as visual images (like signs) and not as verbal ideas. We got that straightened out when we listened to an Iranian poem recited and then distinguished between imagery and symbolism.

April 19: Let's talk about the articles in the Easy English News about elephants and exercise.

English Classes: Thursdays, 9:30-12:00, upstairs classrooms
Time is running out this year. Make the best of our classes! I hope to see you. It is also a great time to invite friends to try our program out.




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