Mar Thoma
MAR THOMA NEIGHBORHOOD MISSION NEWSLETTERIssue 2Mar ThomaNeighborhoodMissionNewsletterPurpose of the es of the parishes in differentregions of our Diocese. Each issue of thenewsletter will focus on one region’sneighborhood mission activities. Wehave eight (8) regions in our Diocese.DIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA & EUROPE - FEBRUARY 2015for publishing initial newsletter inDecember 2014. As part of our Diocesanby Rt. Rev. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius Episcopamissionactivities,“MarThomaNeighborhood Mission” is also working tobring the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ toour neighborhoods. Our church is enteringinto an important liturgical season thismonth. The Great Lent (Valiya Nombu)begins on February 15. The Great lent orthe fifty days of lent is observed as apreparation for our Lord's death on the"When Jesus saw the crowd in thecross and His resurrection. It’s a time ofwilderness, He had compassion on them,self-discipline, in which we deepen ourand asked the disciples to give them food.union with our Lord Jesus whileHe said, “My food is to do the will of Himremembering His suffering, crucifixion,who sent me and to finish His work”death, and resurrection. During this Great(John 4:34). We are called for thisLent neighborhood mission is encouragingministry." g our parishes to get involved throughMar Theodosius November 2014.volunteerism in their local neighborhoods.We share in the suffering of Christ in thisworld by serving God’s creation in need.When we serve the needy in ourFrom the Convener’s Deskneighborhoods we identifyby Rev. Biju P. SimonJesus’s life, ministry, passion, death,resurrection, ascension and promise of hissecond coming. Let us continue ourdedicated journey with Christ.IN THIS ISSUEBishop’s MessageGreetings to you in the name of our Lordand savior Jesus Christ!I am happy to greet you through this secondNeighborhood Mission newsletter. We havereceived a warm welcome by the readersNortheast RegionBrief summaries of some of the work the parishes in thenortheast region are doing in their local neighborhoods.With prayerful regards,Rev. Biju P. Simon achenConvenerLet’s light our neighborhoods with thelove of Christ.
MAR THOMA NEIGHBORHOOD MISSION NEWSLETTER Issue 2sharing the love of Christ. You can getmore information from your diocesanassembly representative or any of theneighborhood mission subcommitteemembers listed in this newsletter.Northeast RegionMar Thoma Urban Mission Trip2015– San Francisco, August 16-21The majority of the parishes in ourdiocese are situated near major urban citycenters. So the Diocesan NeighborhoodMission Ministry is pioneering a newproject, “Mar Thoma Urban Missions2015”. For the first time, the diocese isorganizing a one week long mission triptargeting an urban center of a city with aMar Thoma presence. For this first MarThoma Urban Mission trip, we have chosendowntown San Francisco and are partneringwith the non-profit Christian organization,City Impact. This mission trip is open toall active members of a parish, age 14 andabove. It is our hope that a broad crosssection of members of all ages will be ableto support this mission project. Weunderstand that there is a significantfinancial commitment associated with thisweek long project, so we encourage theparish or its organizations to plan ways toassist in whatever way it can to financiallysupport a missionary from your parish thatis willing to attend. There are also grantfunds available as well for non-workingstudents who register early.Moreinformationisavailableat www.mtcurbanmissions.org or you cancontact your Diocesan Assembly Rep withany questions.Great Days of ServiceAs time nears for Great Lent, theneighborhood mission subcommittee isencouraging each parish of the Diocese ofNorth America and Europe by introducingan initiative called Great Days of Service.The great day of service is an effort toencourage all parishes to planneighborhood mission projects in yourparticular communities to be implementedduring the 50 days of lent. Our aim is tohave each Parish collectively accumulate aminimum of 100 hours of voluntaryservice. As we enter into the season offasting and repenting, we hope and praythat each parish will identify at least onesuitable neighborhood mission activity inyour area and work towards making thecommunity we live-in a better place byby Ron JacobDear Members of the Diocese of NorthAmerica and Europe,Thank you to all the parishes in the NorthEast Region who have faithfully served inour neighborhoods and provided valuableinformation for this newsletter.Mission work is especially close to thehearts of our second generation membersand I hope we use this newsletter to shareour "best practices' and to encourage oursister parishes to establish long termpartnerships with local charities andmissions.I pray the Mar Thoma Churches in ourDiocese can show the love of Christ tothose in need.Saved to Serve,Ron Jacob2
MAR THOMA NEIGHBORHOOD MISSION NEWSLETTER Issue 23Northeast RegionNorth East Regional Youth Fellowship(NERYF):Throughout the past 7 months, youthsfrom the North East Regional YouthFellowship, from Boston all the waydown to Eastern Long Island, have takenone day a month out of their busyschedules, to come and help serve ourbrothers and sisters in Christ throughoutthe New York City Area. This all beganwith the vision of our very own YouthChaplain, Rev. V.M Mathew Achen. Thisled to the beginning of our partnershipwith NYC Rescue Mission; a facility forthose individuals who need a helpinghand. Residents of the 9 month programlive within the facility and are guidedthrough Christ and the help of full-timevolunteers who assist in bringing themback on their feet. We have our FoodTeam who is responsible for buying,cooking and serving food for more than300 individuals at a given meal. We haveour Men’s Hygiene Team who is incharge of cutting the hair of men whohave signed up previously. Our thirdgroup is our Praise and Worship teamwhich sings hymns, reads short biblestories and have opportunities formeditation for all residents and outsiderswho are waiting to be served. NERYFalso takes the responsibility of raising 750-1000 monthly to cover the cost ofeach mission event. Recently, NERYFhad created a Missions Committee tohandle all the month responsibilities oforganizing this event. This team isresponsible for the progress andupcoming of the missions. We encourageeveryone in our region to sign up,participate in and support the mission.Bethany MTC, Orangeburg,NY:1) The Sunday school participated intheir ‘It’s In the Bag’ program whichprovides a weekend’s worth of food to achild in need. It’s In The Bag provides atrisk children with nutritious and easy toprepare foods for the weekend. It’s InThe Bag is making a significantdifference in the lives of our mustvulnerable children.2) Breast Cancer Awareness: Youth andSunday school raised and donated moneyto Cancer Support Community of CentralNew Jersey.3) Our Parish has also participated in aSalvation Army Food and Clothingdrives.Carmel MTC, Boston , MA1) During the XVIII Diocesan LeadershipConference, the delegates participated ina Service Project where they sent letters,jewelry, and donated goods to shelters forwomen and children in Worcester, MA.The two shelters we worked with wereAbby's House and Friendly's House.Carmel MTC Youth Group had beencollecting new/used clothing items,books, school supplies, toys, shoes, etc.Delegates were split up into 5 groups andwere assigned a section to clean, packand sort toys and clothing. Anothersection made arts and crafts and anothersection wrote inspirational letters. Wehad a Praise and Worship Team that sangsongs throughout the Service Project. 10conference delegates were chosen to goto both shelters to drop off all the items.The delegates were able to meet familiesand learn more about the history of eachshelter.2) Cradles to Crayons is an organizationthat serves homeless and low-incomechildren in Boston. Our Sunday schoolkids led a church-wide drive to provideessential items that these children need tothrive and progress in their home andschool environment. A few of the Sundayschool children, teachers, and parentswere able to go on site and serve on theteam that assembles the packages. Wewere in charge of shining and rebuffinggently used shoes!3) Friendly House and Abby's House aretwo shelters located in Worcester that ourchurch has worked with multiple timesover the past few years. We hostclothing, books, and needed goods drivesin hopes of lessening their burden.4) Rosie's House is a shelter in Bostonthat the youth group is involved with.Five members of our youth fellowshipwent to Rosie's house once every twomonths to prepare and share a meal andfellowship.5) Love in Action is a program run by theGrace Baptist Church, our neighborsdown the street. We have the opportunityto work with them on the secondSaturday mission. On every secondSaturday of the month, members ourchurch join members of the Hudsoncommunity in serving people in need.This may mean assisting older people inthe community, being prayer warriors,
MAR THOMA NEIGHBORHOOD MISSION NEWSLETTER Issue 2assisting in renovating a run-downchurch, providing meals to the homeless,or caroling to residents in a nursinghome. This has been a very consistentservice project that has become a blessedexperience for members old and young inour church.Ebenezer MTC,Port Chester, NY1) Our Parish has been activelyparticipating in “NeighborhoodMinistry”. The Parish has beenparticipating over the past fewyears in clothing drives. Plentyof people from theneighborhood came forward totake benefit of this missionproject.Long Island MTC, NY1) In November 2014, LIMCYoung Families Fellowshipcontinued its communityinvolvement and charity workby participating in OperationChristmas Child.Our YFF cameout for an afternoon to pack andgift wrap shoeboxes filled withgoodies to be sent to kids inneed. We purchased a variety ofgifts for boys and girls ages 2through 14 including personalhygiene products, games andtoys, educational items, candy,and clothing. We packed 65boxes - which we considered ahuge success for our first yearand were able to track theirarrival to deserving children inColombia and Honduras! Inaddition to the shoe boxes weoffered a 200 donation toSamaritans Purse towards theshipping of these gift filledshoeboxes.It was a wonderfultime of community andfellowship as an up and comingYFF organization. Pleasevisit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ for more information onSamaritan’s Purse to get yourchurch involved this upcomingholiday season!2) Our YFF also participated inRun or Dye. Run or Dye is THEultimate celebration of life,friendship, fitness, and fun.andyou make memories that willlast a lifetime. Proceeds benefitBig Brothers & Big SistersCharity.St. Thomas MTC, Yonkers, NY1) Elevate - In April, our YouthFellowship started our first everELEVATE service. Elevate is anew evening English worshipservice held every third andfourth Sunday in our church.This service is a new vision ofthe St. Thomas Mar ThomaChurch as a whole. Our aim is tobring the love of community tochurch, and create a home formany. To date, we have hadover 15 churches from differentdenominations and variouscommunity members, activelyparticipate in this service. Wethank our Youth ChaplainRev.VM Mathew for hiscontinued support in this effort.2) Light the Night Walk On October 18th, Youth andYoung Families from ourChurch participated inthe Light the Night Walk for theLeukemia and LymphomaSociety held in Provident BankPark, Pomona, NY. Our YouthFellowship raised over 5,000,and we were number 8 in the topten teams to fund raise for thisevent. The highlight of the daywas spending time in fellowshipwith other teams, andparticipating in a great causethat we will never forget. Wewould have not been able to dothis event without the generousdonations we received.3) Operation Gobble Every year the YouthFellowship and Sunday Schooloffered to provide a free4Thanksgiving Basket to anyonein the community who signedup. On November 23rd, everyfamily that signed up received abasket with an entire turkeymeal for their families. All 30turkey baskets and associatedcosts were donated by Youth,Young Families, Sunday Schooland parish members.4) Operation Toys for Kids –On Christmas Eve, our YouthFellowship along with our friendfrom the North Pole, Santa,visited Leake & Watts inYonkers, NY. Leake & Wattsprovides services to individualsand families dealing withpoverty, disabilities, lack ofaccess to education and basicwelfare services. We created 40gift boxes for the children at thisfacility. All toys were donatedby our Sunday School classesand Youth Fellowship members.It was a blessing to be able toshare the love of Christ to thosein need.5) Christmas Caroling - OnDecember 24th, our YouthFellowship along with ourYouth Chaplain went Christmascaroling at St Joseph’s Nursinghome, followed by RichmondChildren’s Center in Yonkers,NY. This is an event that weparticipate in every year. Wetruly cherish the fellowship andlove shared by the residents ofboth of these facilities.St. James MTC, Spring Valley, NY1) During the Christmas season,our Parish conducted a fooddrive and a toy drive under theleadership of our SundaySchool. We collected anddonated food along with the newtoys to “People to People”, anorganization working among theless fortunate children. All
MAR THOMA NEIGHBORHOOD MISSION NEWSLETTER Issue 2Sunday school studentsparticipated in it. For more thana year we have been supporting“People to People” throughfrequent food drives, donation ofschool supplies and toy drives.5members volunteered their timeand energy at the mission.St. Andrews MTC, Yonkers, NY1) The St. Andrews MTC partneredwith The American Red Cross tohost a Blood Drive in our parishbasement on October 25th. Thisevent saw a great turnout withparticipation from parishmembers and neighbors. Ourblood donations was able to helpsave the lives of 63 patients inneed.2) We also held a clothing drive atour church which saw a largequantity of donations fromparish members. Hundreds ofclothing items were donated toThe Sharing Community inYonkers, which is anorganization that providesservices and care to thehomeless people in our localcommunity. Our donations weremade in time for a harsh winterand were able to help numerouspeople who are less fortunate.Epiphany MTC, Ozone Park, NY1) The Parish arranged a Christmasget together for ourneighborhood on Sunday,December 21, 2014. Our YouthFellowship and Young FamilyFellowship performed Carolsand other programs for ourneighbors.Salem MTC, Eastern Long Island, NY1) Salem Mar Thoma ChurchSunday School and YouthFellowship actively participatedin the NY Rescue Mission onNovember 8th. Our teachers,students and other parishThe next issue will highlight the neighborhoodmission activities of the southern region. Weencourage all churches to contact a subcommitteemember from your region to include your missionwork in our newsletter.The Northeast Region consists of the following churches:1)2)3)4)5)6)7)8)9)10)Bethany Mar Thoma Church, NYCarmel Mar Thoma Church, MAEbenezer Mar Thoma Church, NYEpiphany Mar Thoma Church, NYLong Island Mar Thoma Church, NYSt. Andrews Mar Thoma Church, NYSt. James Mar Thoma Church, NYSt. Johns Mar Thoma Church, NYSt. Thomas Mar Thoma Church, NYSalem Mar Thoma Church, NY
MAR THOMA NEIGHBORHOOD MISSION NEWSLETTER Issue 26Pictures from around the region:Bethany MTC participating in the “It’s in theBag’ initiative.Carmel MTC at Cradles to Crayons.Carmel MTC volunteering at a nursing homethrough their Love in Action efforts.XVIII Diocesan Leadership Conference delegates participated in a Service Project coordinated bythe Carmel MTC Youth FellowshipEbenezer MTC handing out collected goodsto individuals in their neighborhood.Long Island MTC Young Family Fellowship’sOperation Christmas Child project.Long Island MTC Young Family Fellowshipparticipating in Run or Dye.
MAR THOMA NEIGHBORHOOD MISSION NEWSLETTER Issue 27Pictures from around the region:St Thomas MTC Yonkers NY – Lightthe Night WalkSt Thomas MTC Yonkers NY –Operation GobbleNorth East Regional Youth Fellowship – NYC Rescue MissionNeighborhood Mission Subcommittee Members:1) Convener :Rev. Biju P. Simon San Francisco Mar Thoma Church, CA2) Northeast Region: Dr. Ron Jacob, Long Island MTC, NY3) Southeast Region: Mr. Benny Philip, Ascension MTC, Philadelphia (Lead coordinator) &Mr. Alex Mathew, The Mar Thoma Church of New Jersey (Co- coordinator)4) Southern Region:Mr. Sean George, Hermon MTC, Atlanta5) Southwest Region: Mr. Prakash Abraham, Carrollton MTC, Dallas, TX6) Western Region:Mr. Mathew Thomas, Horeb MTC, Los Angeles &Ms. Pushpa Samuel, San Francisco MTC, CA7) Europe Region:Mr. Sherry Mathew, Hermon MTC, Midlands/Europe8) Midwest Region:Mr. Shani Abraham, Chicago MTC, Illinois9) Canada Region:Mr. Shibu P. John, St. Mathews, Toronto, Canada10) Council Member: Mr. Jorge Wilson, Mar Thoma Church of San Francisco Bay AreaSt Thomas MTC Yonkers NY Operation Toys for Kids
new evening English worship service held every third and fourth Sunday in our church. This service is a new vision of the St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church as a whole. Our aim is to bring the love of community to church, and create a home for many. To date, we have had over 15 churches from different denominations and various community members, actively
MAR THOMA SLEEHA SYRO MALABAR CATHEDRAL 2 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; 5 his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.
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North Battleford, SK Apr 23 Edmonton, AB Apr 28-May 2 North Battleford, SK May 6 Edmonton, AB Jun 17-19 USA Denver, CO Mar 4 Fort Worth, TX Mar 10-11 Las Vegas, NV Mar 12-13 Columbus, OH Mar 17 Sacramento, CA Mar 18 Chicago, IL Mar 19 Los Angeles, CA Mar 20-21 Nashville, TN Mar 20 North East, MD Mar 24 Minneapolis, MN Mar 24
The motto of the Mar Thoma Sevika Sangham is 'Service and Evangelism in the life and mission of the Mar Thoma Church'. Meditation Frances Jane Crosby (March 24, 1820 – February 12, 1915) usually known as Fanny Crosby, but sometimes as Frances van Alstyne, was an American lyricist best known for her Protestant Christian hymns.
Mr. Joshua Thomas Rincy Lay Leader (English) 224-209-0463 Mr. Shani Abraham Auditor 847-673-5299 Mr. Sam George Auditor 847-980-4415. 2018 Elected non-committee members Chicago Mar Thoma Church 2018 Executive Committee Members . Note: Phone numbers provided are Cell Phone contacts
mar thoma sleeha syro malabar cathedral issue 39 of 2016, year of mercy september 25, 2016 chicago sunday 8:00 am holy qurbana - malayalam 9:30 am holy qurbana - english 11:00 am holy qurbana - malayalam 5:30 pm holy qurbana - malayalam weekdays & saturday
Agile Development in a Medical Device Company Pieter Adriaan Rottier, Victor Rodrigues Cochlear Limited rrottier@cochlear.com.au Abstract This article discuss the experience of the software development group working in Cochlear with introducing Scrum as an Agile methodology. We introduce the unique challenges we faced due to the nature of our product and the medical device industry. These .
