Camp Joy at Emmanuel!Emmanuel has a rich history of providing quality

summer fun for children in the Conejo Valley. This summer we are excited to offer Camp JOY at Em-manuel. We chose the theme of JOY because as chil-dren of God, our hearts overflow with JOY. Whether we play together, sing together, snack together, or fellow-ship together, we can have JOY because we know we are precious in God’s sight.

But we call it Camp JOY because there is joy in serv-ing as well. We need your help demonstrating God’s love to these children. The commitment this year is less daunting than in years past, so please consider how God may be calling you to reach out to the children of the Conejo Valley.

The dates of camp are July 13, 15, and 17. 13th 9am-12pm. Field Day/Bubble Day15th 9am-12pm. Water Day17th 7pm -8am. Camp-Out On Monday the 13th, we will be experiencing JOY

playing field games together, and exploring the wonder-ful world of bubbles. A professional bubble blower is

coming to our campus and each child will get to experi-ence being fully enclosed in a bubble!

On Wednes-day the 15th, we will be having our annual Water Day! Go down an inflatable water slide, slip-n-slide, and toss a water balloon or ten! God’s creation gives us JOY and so does playing in it!

Friday evening on the 17th we are hosting a camp out. The parents and siblings get to accompany the campers by pitching a tent on the lawn and spending the night at Emmanuel. We will watch a movie on the lawn, roast marshmallows, and spend the night! Donuts are a must for Saturday morning.

The best news is the cost! Camp JOY is $10 per child no matter how many days a child attends. Registration opens May 11th. Register online at www.epconline.org or in the main office.

EMMANUEL NEWSLETTER May 2015 VOLUME 11 | ISSUE 4

INSiGHT

New Cross Installed in the Rock GardenOn Saturday, May 9, the new

“shining” copper cross was installed in the Emmanuel Rock Garden. When the landscape project neared completion, it was realized that our current cross would seem overwhelmed by its surroundings. A decision was made to enlarge the cross and cover it in copper. Dan Pember-ton made the recommendation

that Emmanuel participate in the SoCal Water Smart conservation rebate program. We would like to thank Dan and also Randy & Natalie Kappen for their vision

and planning of the entire project. There are numerous others who participated in completing this worthwhile project and we are very grateful.

Take a stroll through the Rock Garden on your next visit to Em-manuel and admire the natural beauty of the newly planted land-scape.

INSiGHT

Youth Pancake Breakfast Sunday, May 17

On May 17th, the Youth will be hosting a Pan-cake Breakfast! This church has already done

such a lovely job of showing youth that they are part of a larger family! We appreciate your support so much and really do feel so loved. Additionally, if you would like to help with the breakfast by cooking / serving, please get into contact with Jared at jareddeldosso@gmail.com and we will fill you in on where we can use you!

Why are we fundraising?To be honest, the primary reason we are fundraising

is because, as a church, we have agreed to support our families and their children. When we receive students as members, we commit as a church to care for and en-courage them. When we receive their parents as mem-bers, we commit ourselves to assist them in raising their children and being a network of love and charity. When we baptize people, it is understood that they are being baptized into our congregation—our small piece of the Body of Jesus—and, being themselves an integral part of that Body, we are going to provide and

contribute to their familial flourish-ing.

Will you please be a beautiful example to these students and to the young families of our church? You have the wonderful op-portunity to show them what it means to be generous, what it means to follow Jesus with something as dif-ficult as finances, what it looks like to love people who you might not know, and what it looks like for a church to really care for its own.

What if we fully funded camp? What sort of mes-sage would that send if every person who wanted to go to camp got to at no cost to their family? If you want more information, would like to scholarship the entire amount for a student, desire to know more informa-tion, or anything else, please talk with Jared!

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The Conejo Valley Chapter, Military Order of the World Wars and the Sergeant Michael A. DiRaimondo Chapter, Military Order of the Purple Heart, national veterans organizations, will present the 30th annual Red, White & Blue Ball (RWBB) on June 20, 2015 at the Presidential Learning Center, Ronald Reagan Presi-dential Library, in Simi Valley. Each year, one of our armed services is honored, and this year it will be the United Staes Army. The Patrotic Citizen of the Year will be awarded to Brigadier General Dan Pemberton, USAF (retired) of Thousand Oaks and Emmanuel Church. Dan has been involved in many areas of EPC, serving as a Session Elder, President of the Corporation and on the Property Team.

Dan will receive the Silver Patrick Henry medal in recognition of his exceptional work identifying veter-ans and documenting their services for the Library of Congress “Veterans History Project”. In the last few years, Dan interviewed our own Paul Miller, who had

a great World War II story of his own.

The Red, White & Blue Ball is a mili-tary and social function, open to the general public, designed to stimulate love of our country and our flag, and recognize and honor local residents for their patriotic service. Ceremonies, dinner and dancing to music of the Harry Selvin Band along with a silent and visual auction will fill the evening of June 20th. For informa-tion, call Lieutenant Ed Holt, USNR (former), at 805-496-5286. Ed is also a member of Emmanuel Church.

Honoring Dan PembertonRed, White & Blue Ball 2015

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If you are caring for an elderly parent, spouse or family member, come and hear Senior Advocate of the Conejo Valley, Betty Berry, on Thursday, May 21 at 7pm

in the Fireside Room. Betty will discuss Medicare, Medicaid, private facilities and hospice. She will explain what the dangers are and what to look out for. Attend-ing this workshop will help you cope in the difficult times. Tell your friends and neighbors about this worthwhile presentation. Betty is well regarded by many in the Conejo Valley, as the “go to person,” when it comes to information for seniors. Please call the church office to RSVP at 498-4502, so that we will have enough handouts.

Breakfast with TiffanySIS - Women’s Ministry Event

Sign ups start this Sunday, May 17, for Break-fast with Tiffany!. Join us for tasty fare and a

“cup of courage” as Tiffany Nesbitt of Streamroots shares an inspiring message on walking in obedience with the Lord. See you at the SIS (Sisters In Spirit) table in the narthex after services each Sunday!

Senior Concerns WorkshopCaring for the Elderly

2015 CROP Walk ResultsThe 37th Conejo Valley Crop Walk was a great success! It was held on March 1st with rain threatening.

410 brave “Walkers” did their walk. $38,494.00 has been raised with a few late donations still expected! These funds will be distributed as follows: 75% will be given to Church World Service (CWS) to help the poorest people around the world and 25% will be divided among Manna, Meals on Wheels and Lutheran Social Services to help those in need here in the Conejo!

Emmanuel was well represented with 13 walkers raising $3010.00! This was the largest total given in recent years! Over 100 Emmanuelites made contributions! In addition in March and April, the Crop Walk Manna Food Drive collected 1,474 items! Many, Many THANKS to everybody who walked, contributed cash and/or gave bags of canned goods, paper goods and other food items!

In 2016, on the 1st Sunday in March, we of Emmanuel look forward to participating in next years “walk” and helping those in need here locally and around the world!

Thank You Emmanuel!

Madrona Elementary Principal, Hallie Cham-bers (also a member of Emmanuel) sent us

the following after the Parking Lot Sale to benefit Madrona Teachers and buying of school supplies;

Wow! Thank you for making Saturday (April 25), such a HUGE success and for partnering with my PTA. I am looking forward to many more partner-ships in the future. Hallie

Children’s Ministry UpdateRealizing the strong call in our mission study to reach out to young families, your session approved the hiring

of a full time Children’s Ministry/Family Life staff person. There is a current Children’s Ministry Team that has put together a job description congruent with Emmanuel’s Mission statement which has been posted on local search engines. If you know anyone who might be interested please have them contact the office or submit a resume, cover letter, and two letters of recommendation to the office. Please pray for the right person to fill this strategic position.

5/16 Emmanuel hosts Presbytery Meeting 9AM-2PM

5/17 Youth Pancake Breakfast Camp Fundraiser 11AM, Patio

5/20 Senior Salad Luncheon 12:15PM, Fireside Room

5/21 Senior Concerns Betty Berry Speaks 7PM, Fireside Room

5/25 Memorial Day Church Office Closed

Coming in June

5/5 Parent’s Night Out 5-9PM, EPC Nursery

5/7 Promotion Sunday & All Church BBQ

Groups Meeting at EPCROMEOS - (Retired older men eating out), Thursdays 8AM at

the Newbury Park IHOPMom’s In Prayer, 8:30AM, every

Wednesday, Youth RoomWomen’s Bible Study

Wednesdays at 9:30AM, Room 5/6

Men’s Bible StudyFridays at 6:30AM, Youth Room

MOPS & Mom’s Next - Mother’s of Preschoolers & Elementary age, 2nd

& 4th Wednesdays, 9:15AMMOTS - Moms of Teens & Beyond,

1st & 3rd WednesdaysIn the Youth Room, returns in the fall

Elizabeth Scott

Youth LA-URM Mission TripOur High School Spring Break trip to Downtown LA was quite the time! From sleeping on a rooftop that

looked out over the city to eating Japanese cuisine in Little Tokyo, from handing out free hot dogs in Ven-ice to waking up before 5am to work in the kitchen, our trip was full of a wide range of experiences.

The primary place we served was at the Union Rescue Mission (URM), where we helped prepare and serve food alongside people who were in the discipleship/rehabilitation program there. The people in that work-therapy program were joyfully serving while seeking wholeness in their difficult lives. Not only did we get to hear some really interesting stories and relate to people so different from us, we also were the glad recipients of a spontane-ous sermon or testimony at seemingly every meal! There were some beautiful contrasts on display down on Skid Row. A beacon of hope, the Union Rescue Mission, is placed smack dab in the middle of Skid Row, two streets that seem to exude nothing but decay and hopelessness. Inside the URM, there are people who bear the physi-cal and emotional marks of a hard life, who also radiate the joy and peace of someone so utterly changed by the goodness and love of Jesus. Seeing and engaging with those contrasts up close and personal was a truly valuable experience.

We also got to serve at the Dream Center, paint a wall at the URM, attend a mid-week worship service at a church fairly different than EPC and sing praise songs on the roof and let our voices echo down into the streets of Skid Row. Feel free to ask us about more details about the trip! Love, Your High School Youth Group

“The old has passed away, behold, the new has come.” Such is the case for our sister, Elizabeth, whose last name has been recently changed from Ozerson to Scott by court order.

The names of Dick and Judy Williams will be famil-iar to some at Emmanuel. They were active members from 1986-1993. Both sang in the choir, Dick served as an Elder and Judy in VBS. Both went on one of the trips to Coahoma with a team from the church to help build homes in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity. Because of the injustice Judy saw when a needed sewer line was proposed for Coahoma. a poor,black community, and denied, she made up her mind to go to law school. (She was over 50 at the time!) They moved to Orange County from here and joined St. Andrew’s Pres. Church in Newport Beach and sang in the choir. There they met a lady, Kay, who kept asking prayer for an incarcerated woman she visited at CIW. That woman was Elizabeth! In 2004, Judy was present as co-counsel at a parole hearing for Elizabeth and she was approved for parole. That was denied by the sitting governor in December 2004. Judy did not give up and both she and Dick have been “the wind beneath Elizabeth’s wings”.

After Elizabeth’s release on Christmas Eve 2012, she lived 1 year in a transi-tion home near Watts. The Williams were instrumental in finding a job for Elizabeth in the Santa Ana area where she worked for nearly a year. It was Judy who suggested the name change as newspaper stories of Elizabeth’s trial and incarceration still remain on GOOGLE. The Williams now reside in Texas to be closer to their children and Judy is selling her practice. They spend considerable time in Orange County as she has to continue serving her clients. But until Elizabeth gets firmly settled, Judy believes the Lord is waiting for that before He sends a buyer for her practice. This is an incred-ible story that only God could have woven together and reminds us that “God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.”