Story by LaTasha Hewitt
Members of the Allegheny East Conference (AEC) recently celebrated the official organization of the Filipino American Oxon Hill (Md.) church. What began in 2011 as a church plant with just four members has now grown to more than 100 members. “The focus of our congregation is to reach the Filipino community in the areas of Oxon Hill, Fort Washington and Temple Hills, Maryland,” says Ariel Matira, pastor.
This story was originally published in a February 1, 1987 Columbia Union Visitor:
Allegheny East Conference's Pine Forge Academy has a special historical heritage. The school is nestled in a rustic valley that holds some of America's most intriguing colonial history and this country's most poignant folklore.
Story by LaTasha Hewitt
With the newly renovated Dorcas building, the Community Services Department at the Calvary church in Newport News, Va., recently reinstituted their community grocery giveaway, providing bags of groceries to many local residents. At the relaunch, members served more than 29 families and distributed 70 bags filled with groceries and literature.
Members welcomed representatives from the Newport News Police Department, as well as several volunteers. They also met many neighbors and extended a special invitation to worship at the church. Calvary plans to maintain contact with each participant.
“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Prov. 16:9, NKJV).
Years ago, I started college in Alabama. The degree I chose forced me to transfer to a sister school in California for nine months. An East Coast native, I told God that I would never end up this far away from home again.
A few years later, I was working in Massachusetts, feeling quite at home. My then girlfriend was in graduate school in Maryland. The only way we could plan for our future together, without disrupting what she had started, was to transfer to a school in California. I couldn’t believe that I was willing to return to the place that had me homesick.
Story by North American Division Communication Staff