The Path Update - May 4

Whew! Just for the record, if anyone ever offers you an infection around your eye, turn them down - it's not fun. By the way, my apologies for having to miss Ask The Vicar Night, but I believe y'all had a great night of brainstorming for next year; good use of the evening. Now, if you would like to have fun (without having an infection around your eye), here are some better ideas:

GOJA (Girls Overthrowing Jason's Apartment): All right, I believe the girls are taking over my apartment Saturday, May 6, for some sort of sleepover. Assuming that's correct, everyone can then go to church together on Sunday, May 7. (I will still be in Sacramento for the District Convention.) If all this goes according to plan, I'll just give my spare key to Ashlee, and y'all can use the apartment. If you are interested in this endeavor, you can contact Lindsey (lcm34@humboldt.edu), Ashton (bbalg87@yahoo.com), or Ashlee (alz2@humboldt.edu). (Isn't it great how I volunteered them without asking first? Not like I have much choice - I don't know anything myself.) But that leads us to Sunday night....

Correction to Dinner at the Duncans': Crissy Duncan has kindly offered to feed The Path on Sunday, May 7, at their place in Eureka. Here's the deal: I will be getting back from Sacramento that afternoon, so tomorrow, I will call up Crissy and ask her to pick y'all up in front of the J at 4:45 PM (this is different from what was previously announced). David, I hope you wouldn't mind helping out in driving everyone out to Eureka; if you can't, call me so we can get someone else to help. Dinner should be at 6:00 PM; the earlier meeting time is so the Duncans can get to know you guys before dinner begins (it helps with indigestion). I will then meet up with y'all at the Duncans'. Hope you can make it - this will be the last Path gathering of the year! (Tears are forming as we speak... sniff sniff!)

Letters to servicemen: Whatever your views may be on the current War in Iraq, there are a lot of people in the military who are risking their lives, and they need to be shown love and concern from civilians like us. One of the members of our congregation, Ann Suchanek, has a grandson, Andrew, in one of the Army's Mountain Divisions. I think that our project for the summer should be writing to him to let him know about ourselves and how things are in Humboldt County. If you would like to write to him as a group, you can give me your letter, and we can put together a package for him; if you would like to write individually, his address is:
Spc Suchanek, Andrew
C co 1/87 IN
(1/10 MTN Div)
APO AE 09376
In fact, if everyone is interested, The Path should write to him on a regular basis through next year as well. Anyway, it's just a thought. If you'd like to know whether the soldiers appreciate receiving letters, just ask Ashlee: she writes to two of them.

Camp info: If anyone needs anything to do in July, I do have an opportunity for you. The Lutheran Church of Arcata is hosting Blue Slide Camp (not too far from Humboldt County), which is a combination of family camp and youth camp, and they need junior counselors - that means you! From July 4-6, there will be counselor training. Then, July 7-9 is family camp. Then, July 9-14 is youth camp. If you have time this summer, consider helping out - junior counseling is probably the easiest job they have there (or so they claim).

FYI: I was told that there was a guy on the quad today (Wednesday) who was making a point of offending anyone and everyone who passed by, Christian and non-Christian alike. There was a guy like that at Texas A&M, too; I don't know if it's the same guy or not, but they sound similar. Some people who claim the name of Christian go around telling everyone that they're going to Hell. Sometimes, they don't even focus on non-Christians; they condemn other Christians who do things differently than they do. While Christians do believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, it does not do any good to spend a day on the quad of a public university telling everyone that they belong in Hell. For those who are secure in themselves and do not believe that they need Jesus, that sort of speech drives them further away. For those who know they are sinners (as we all are), that sort of speech drives them further into despair or into behavior that might hurt them or others. In a world that is suffering from fear and despair, we must be beacons of light, shining for the world to see. If you really want to reach the world for Jesus, try doing something good, like holding discussion nights, feeding the homeless, and loving your neighbor in whatever way is needed. The truth of sin and evil must never be sugar-coated, but it certainly isn't the way to reach out to a world that already faces sin and evil everyday. That truth will come eventually; but remember: a conversation starts more easily with a smile than with a scowl.

Oh, and if anyone wants to hang out sometime between now and the end of the school year, just let me know, especially during finals, when you may need time to get away from campus either for studying or for NOT studying. It's sad to see the end of the year approaching. Things may get less stressful, but it correlates to my friends leaving; so I am sad when I should be happy.

Thus far, I know Mike will be around into June, and Ashton and David will be back by mid-July. Jonathan will be around to keep me company through the summer as well. Besides that, I don't know of anyone sticking around. So I will send out a few more updates, and then I'll be passing things on to Megan.

Okay, I'm rambling again. Later!

--Jason Moreno
Coordinator, The Path
(707) 822-5117
http://www.humboldtlutherans.org