ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 12, 1997 TAG: 9704140021
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: in religion
Christ Episcopal Church, Church and Jackson streets, Blacksburg, is holding an indoor rummage sale and silent auction from 8 a.m. to noon today to raise funds for a motorized corn grinder for their Guatemala Sister Parish Program. The program's main goal is to establish connections between privileged countries and poorer, more rural countries worldwide.
The project works to establish friendships between churches and people in need, so that they might work together to solve problems. Christ Church has sent six to 10 delegates each year since 1995 to the town of San Andres Itzapa, in the state of Chimaltenango. Because of these trips, three people in the Christ Church congregation are applying for long-term volunteer service in Guatemala.
San Andres Itzapa, with a population of about 15,000, has only two motorized grinders. Because corn is the main starch in the diet of the Central American region, this means the women have to grind corn by hand. The project of getting a new corn grinder is a self-sustaining one which can lead to a long-term goal of achieving literacy: the townspeople can sell the use of the machine, and try to use the extra money to pay for a literacy teacher.
Dorothea Dickerson, who has been a delegate on each trip to Guatemala, says future goals of the program are to include Central Americans on the board of the Sister Parish Program and to entertain a group of their delegates here as soon as next winter. Anyone interested in learning more about the Sister Parish Program is invited to attend the weekly Thursday noon meetings at Christ Church.
In other local religion news:
The Rev. Charles Burnett of St. Paul United Methodist Church, Wytheville, and the Men's Chorus of First Baptist Church, West Street, Radford, will join the Chancel Choir of Grove United Methodist Church to provide special music for its Spiritual Renewal Services, Sunday through Tuesday.
Worship services begin at 11 a.m. Sunday and continue each evening at 7:30 through Tuesday at the church , 1020 Tyler Ave., Radford.
The Rev. Ed Beck of The Desert Garden Church, Sun City West, Ariz., will be guest speaker for the services.
Staff members from Radford University will speak at the 11 a.m. worship service Sunday at Asbury United Methodist Church, 490 Stuart St., Christiansburg, as part of a Radford University Day observance. Music will be provided by the Radford University Deliverance Gospel Choir. Junior and senior high school students and the public are invited to attend.
The Rev. J.N. Howard of Marion, author of "Fire in the Mountains: A Story of Spiritual Awakening," will speak and sign copies of his book 2-4 p.m. Sunday at First United Methodist Church's Family Life Center, 124 Third St., Pulaski.
Howard wrote a weekly item for several years for The Southwest Times titled "Religion in Daily Life." He has also written several articles in the area of Christian education and strengthening the work of the church Sunday school.
Kyla Trice, member of Blacksburg United Methodist Church and a junior at Blacksburg High School, will participate in Voices of Youth - Awakening the Church to Mission, a choir program of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Trice was chosen through an audition process to become a member of the choir, which has made trips to mission sites each summer since 1985. This summer the group will visit Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe, for 10 days.
An African dinner to benefit Trice's mission trip will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday in the Whisner Building, Church Street, Blacksburg. Traditional African dances and music presented by UJIMA, a dance troupe from Virginia Tech, will be the entertainment. Call 951-1759 or 552-5424 for information.
The inaugural concert of the Obenshain Concert Series will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the sanctuary of Christiansburg Presbyterian Church, 107 W. Main St. The 36-voice Radford University Women's Chorale will perform under the direction of James Daugherty.
Following the concert, a reception honoring Kitty Obenshain and the chorale will be held in the fellowship hall of the church. The concert is free and open to the public.
The Rev. Adrian Dowell of Shiloh Baptist Church, Salem, will be guest evangelist at Zion Hill Baptist Church's Spring Revival. Services will begin at 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday at the church on Rock Road in Radford.
Duane Shank, principal staff coordinator of the national Call to Renewal movement, will speak on "Call to Renewal: Mending a Torn Society," at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Blacksburg United Methodist Church, Church Street. The movement is an effort to bring together a network from key sectors of the church - evangelicals, Catholics, the black church and mainline Protestants - to apply spiritual values to the questions of public life.
Open discussion about a local network of people and organizations concerned with poverty issues will follow the lecture. For more information call Guy Hammond, 552-3209, or Monica Appleby, 951-8031 or 382-2002.
Families of the New River area are invited to a Family Enrichment Weekend next week at Fairlawn Baptist Church, Peppers Ferry Loop, Fairlawn. Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. April 19, at the cost of $2 per plate. Programs for all members and family types will follow dinner each evening.
Guest worship leaders will be the Rev. Mark A. Tilley of Hickory, N.C., the Rev. Wade Leonard, campus minister at Averett University, and the members of the Baptist Student Unions of Radford University and Virginia Tech.
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Dorothea Dickerson (right), of Christ Episcopal Church,by CNBis shown with Jorge Luis Tala and his family in Guatemala. Dickerson
and her husband, Bryan, stayed with the Tala family in August and
will return for another visit in May.