Sunday April 28, 2013 Here is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate our Global Partnership with the North- west Luzon Conference of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. The Global Mis- sion Team is suggesting that you make Sunday April 28 th – “Global Partnership Sunday.” To assist you in this celebration, several resources have been included in this mailing: Litur- gical resources, a bulletin insert with information about the Philippines, and recipes for Philippine cookies (great for coffee hour). In addition, you might want to: Check the website for the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (www.uccphils.com ). Check the Facebook page of the UCCP which contains local church pictures as well as various church activities. Include our Northwest Luzon Conference in your congregational prayers. We suggest that you lift up in prayer particular churches each Sunday (note that UCCP stands for United Church of Christ in the Philippines). We listed churches in the previous mailing, here are additional churches: February UCCP Solsona Juan Solsona, Ilocos UCCP Namoroc, Vintar, Ilocos Norte UCCP Dadaor, Bangui, Ilocos Norte UCCP Darupidip, Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte March UCCP Poblacion, Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte UCCP Poblacion, Vintar, Ilocos Norte UCCP Koinonia Del Rosario, Laoag City UCCP Poblacion, Pinili, Ilocos Norte UCCP Burgos Poblacion, Burgos, Ilocos Norte April UCCP Banban, Bangui, Ilocos Norte UCCP Liliputen, Pinili, Ilocos Norte UCCP Laoag & Araniw, Laoag City April 28 Northwest Luzon Conference: all churches and pastors Calls to Worship M: Let the people of God say: I will give thanks M: Lord, we come today to hang up our pith hel- to you, O LORD, for though you were angry mets and lay down our burden to make the world with me, your anger turned away, and you com- like us. forted me. C: Help us see missions in new ways . C: Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and M: Teach us to cherish the diversity of your will not be afraid, for the LORD GOD is my creation, and to celebrate the great concert of strength and my might; he has become my sal- languages and cultures all around us. vation. C: Help us embrace the people we reach out to M: With joy you will draw water from the wells as partners with us in the work of Jesus. of salvation. Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known his deeds among the na- M: Help us to realize that global missions are tions; proclaim that his name is exalted. not only about giving but that in our giving we receive the gifts our brothers and C: Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done sisters from many lands bring to us. glorious things; let this be known in all the earth. Shout aloud and sing for joy! ALL: Lord Jesus, make us one in love and labor with all who claim your name. From Isaiah 12:1-6 Amen. Offertory Prayer Lord, we bring this offering to you today. We give it to you along with our lives, and we ask that you use both to fulfill the global mission of your church. As we bring this offering we rejoice, knowing that we will always receive more than we give, and that in giving we will find great joy. In Jesus name. Amen. General Prayer Holy God, we pray now for the global missions of your church. Give your protection, blessing and power to our missionaries and to all who serve on mission fields, for our brothers and sisters in many lands and for their leaders and for the communities of faith in which they gather, for our partner the Northwest Luzon Conference of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, for hospitals and schools and other institutions that are part of our global outreach, for executives and staff in our na- tional church and conferences who work to support global missions, and for Christians and churches who face political and religious persecution. Bring us together in the Holy Spirit so that we may all work in harmony and with one voice proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen. In addition, a variety of liturgical resources from around the world may be found in Gifts of Many Cultures and Gifts in Open ALL: Holy God, you call us to be salt and light. Forgive us when we are content to keep your love to our- selves and do not share it with others. Forgive us when we tend to our comfort and health and ignore the open wounds of the world. Forgive us, members of your Church, for expecting the Church to serve our needs and forgetting the mission you have given us. By your Holy Spirit, give us boldness to be faithful wit- nesses to your salvation; in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. M: Lord, you asked Isaiah “who will go for us?” C: We know what we would have said: “Not me Lord.” M: You called Moses to set your people free, but he said, “I don’t like to speak in public; get somebody else.” C: That seems like a perfectly reasonable response. M: You called Jeremiah and appointed him to be a prophet to the nations, but he said “Lord, I am too young.” C: Lord, you know the good reasons why we cannot answer your call: too young, too old, too busy, too poor, etc. M: Lord, you call us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. C: We may not say it out loud, Lord, but you’ve got to be kidding! ALL: Lord, have mercy on us for our endless excuses. Give us your power to stop whining and to obey your call. In Christ’s name. Amen . M: Lord Jesus, forgive us for all the times our artists painted you to look like you were Swedish. C: Forgive us for not seeing your face in the many races and colors of our brothers and sisters around the world. M: Forgive us for thinking that the work of missions is to make people our disciples and not yours. C: Forgive us for trying for so long to make people in other lands look and dress and sing and pray like us. M: Have mercy on us so that we may receive the gifts you offer us in the rich diversity of your body. In Jesus’ name. Amen. M: Lord, a man was thrown in the gutter, robbed and beaten. A Priest and a Levite walked by and said, “Not my fault, not my responsibility.” C: We confess that when we see the endless suffering of the world we throw up our hands and say, “Let someone else take care of it.” M: A Samaritan walked by and stopped. He bandaged the man’s wounds and saw that he was taken care of. C: Forgive us for all the times we walk on by and look away from the needs of the world. ALL: Have mercy on us, and open our hearts so that we will stop by the side of the road and reach out to heal and comfort the wounds of the world in your name. Amen. Philippine Recipes Sugar Cookies 2 ½ cups all purpose flour 1 Cup white sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 eggs ½ teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ¼ teaspoon salt 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, grated Preheat oven to 350º F (175 º C) Grease cookie sheets or line them with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking power, and salt, set aside In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time then stir in the vanilla. The mixture should be thick and light yellow. Gradually stir in the sifted ingredients until well blended. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls, three inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Sprinkle grated chocolate over the top of the cookies. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cookies begin to brown around the edges. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight cookie jar. Biko 2 cups glutinous rice (aka sticky rice or malagkit) 1 ½ cups water 2 cups brown sugar 4 cups coconut milk ½ teaspoon salt Combine the sticky rice and water in a rice cooker and cook until the rice is ready (We intentionally combines lesser amount of water than usual so that the rice will not be fully cooked) While the rice is cooking, combine the coconut milk with brown sugar and salt in a separate pot and cook in a low heat until the texture becomes thick. Stir constantly. Once the rice is cooked and the coconut milk-sugar mixture is thick enough, add the cooked rice in the coconut mild and sugar mixture and stir well. Continue cooking until all the liquid evaporates (but do not overcook). Scoop the cooked biko and place it in a serving plate then flatten the surface Share and Enjoy ~ Number of servings (Yield): 8 Read All About It! The Philippines are richly endowed with mineral and forest re- sources such as gold, copper, iron, chromite, manganese, salt, and The Republic of the Philippines coal. Forests cover 23% of the Philippines. Among the trees are the banyan, many varieties of palm, trees yielding rubber, and many The Republic of the Philippines is located in the western Pacific indigenous trees with extremely hard wood. Bamboo, cinnamon, Ocean about 750 miles east of the coast of Vietnam.