LADIES, LISTEN & FOLLOW 

Listen, my children and you shall hear the story of a nation that came together determined and clear to survive a virus that is trying to live here. 

 It was in the year of 2020, we all are alive and well to tell the remarkable story in this land of free & plenty. 

Do these Para- phrased words remind you of a very familiar poem? If so, you guessed right. The words are Longfellow’s “Midnight Ride of Paul Revere”.  It was in April of

1775 that Paul Revere had his now famous midnight ride to warn his fellow countrymen that impending danger was coming. The people listened.  

That was 225 years ago. We still remember how our young nation came together as they fought hard to survive and then to establish our beloved USA. 

Today the events surrounding Corona Virus are unprecedented in our lives. Never before has the USA experienced anything like this pandemic. We must all take this situation very seriously. Many of our United Methodist Women are in the at risk category for becoming very sick if they should get this virus. We must listen. Please, do not participate in any group activities for the next few weeks. Anything that you have planned can be rescheduled. Our lives, safety and the lives of our families must come first. Listen to your news outlets and church leaders for advice and instructions, then

. Follow them!In Romans 8 Paul says “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus”.  

We are all together in spirit and can worship God in spirit. The Bishop has suggested certain guidelines and now many of our churches will have live a service through the internet or local radio stations.. To hear the regular Sunday sermons you are invited to Listen to  the broadcast through my church, Swansboroumc.org at 10am for the next two (2) Sundays on March 15 th and   the 22nd. .

I pray that each one of you will be very careful and heed the on-going information and instructions that are in the newspapers & television on

a regular hourly and daily basis about this very serious virus. Remember we are to be a light in the darkness, so light up your

candle; pass on the Love of God to everyone you contact, reminding them to pray for our country and to strive diligently to remain safe.

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Sound BytesSound District United

Methodist WomenVolume #21 –March15,2020

The PurposeThe organized unit of United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose purpose is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative fellowship; and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the Global Ministries of the church.

To: Love LoveL;GOG

Lynn RouseCo-President

Sound District United Methodist Women

Annual Celebration Where: Dover United Methodist Church

208 N. Main Street, Dover, North Carolina 28526

When: 24th - October 2020

Registration – 9:30 am - Program - 10:00 am

Guest Speaker – Sammy Hudson

Executive Director - Refuge Son Set Ministries.

Addie will also be Joining her Dad with Special Music

Lunch: Salad and Soup will be provided by

The Executive Team Leaders

Please reply by September 15.

Desserts and Beverage furnished by Host Church

Point of Contract – Janie Norman-Edu, Vice President Sound District phone - 252-364-2462 - cell -703-909-6746.

Please extend an invitation to others in your church and community

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Janie Norman-Edu - VP

From its beginning 150 years ago United Methodist Women have focused on ministries for women, children, and youth.

Thank you for all your generous gifts to help fulfill this mission.

RE: Candle Burning funds are due by August 1st to be included in the Conference Candle Burning October 1st – is the deadline for the District Candle Burning Booklet.

Be a Seven Star Circle/Unit/Member by contributing to all 7 areas of Mission Giving. All remittances must be received to District Treasure no later than November 30, 2020.

Don't forget to keep an ample supply of Mission Cards. Honor that special person with an On Your Special Day, Birthday, Congratulations or a Thank you for a job well done 2 nd Quarter Finances will close on May 31, 2020

Thank you again for all the work your local unit does and have a Happy Easter. The figures below represent a recap of our First Quarter District giving. Funds received in December went

toward the 2019 District pledge.

We did not meet our Conference pledge. Funds received in December will count forward as a 2020 Seven (7) Star Membership.

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Song of Solomon 2: 11-1311 – for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone12- The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of of the turtledove is heard in our land.13 – The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one and come away.

Pledged Giving 2020 Pledged 1st Quarter Giving 1st Qtr, %Pledge to Missions 50,000.00 10,055.00 21%SMR 2,500.00 320.00 13%Gift to Mission 700.00 367.00 52.40%Gift in Memory 1,500.00 315.00 21%World Thank 2,200.00 70.00 3%Candle Burning 3,500.00 118.00 3%Penny & A Prayer 2,500.00 178.18 7%Love Offering 800.00 49.00 6%Non Pledged Giving 63,700.00 11,472.18 18%

Call to Prayer & Self Denial 95.00Brooks Howell 10.00TOTAL GIVING 11,577.18

Betsy WestbrookTreasurer

2020 begins a new year of the quarterly printing of the Sound District Newsletter.

The Official name is - "Sound Bytes".

A special "Thank you" to EVERYONE who made the time and effort to send me bulletins and pictures of your events. Let's make an all out effort to make our

newsletter be truly inclusive of all the units in our district. I do make an effort to attend as many events as possible to take pictures but sadly I cannot make them ALL. I always tell my friends –“Only GOD can be Everywhere and Do Everything”.

I am counting on all of you to be a part of this publication.

By advertising your event, you are also helping to create interest for better membership participation and sharing of ideas for other programming events. - Please send me your

information for any events that you would like to have publicized and I will promptly email it to all Presidents, Secretaries and Communication officers.

The Sound Bytes deadlines as follows: March 15th - June 14th - September 13th and December 13th

Now here I go again - same song 10th verse - My three (3P's) of big cost worries - Postage - Printing - Paper.

If you now have an email address, PLEASE send it to me. As everyone knows, postage rates are out of sight. Printing cost are very high in the big box stores. I am so fortunate that my Jarvis Church gives me a better than fair rate. The Newsletter is one of the biggest expenses for our District budget. Help ME be more Cost Efficient by sending me your email address. Important, if you are a new officer and have a set-up for blocked email, please add my email address so that you can receive documents and the server does not bounce it back to me.

Many Thanks, God Bless Each of You as we all strive to be God's good & faithful disciples.

Madoline Murphy , Communications Co.3380 White Blossom Dr. Winterville, NC 28590 phone - 252-746-4797 - email - mamurphy39@gmail.com (4)

The 2020 United Methodist Women Reading Program catalog is out! Reading books from this member-created list helps Reading Program participants better understand and participate in God’s mission today and is a wonderful way to build community and friendship around books. Flip through the digital catalog or download the PDF, or find a print version to have and hold in the November/December 2019 issue of response!

Reading Program Book Review Title – A Crumbling Statue. A Torn Tapestry. A Mended Painting.

Artisans can reclaim exquisite beauty from the broken, frayed, and hopelessly shattered, perhaps once thought beyond repair. But what about us? What of the scars and broken places we hide inside? What of the wounds that keep us from living the life we want to live? Can our tattered souls be mended?

In Tattered and Mended author, Cynthia Ruchti offers an invitation to think about soul-mending as a divine art form, to show us that God doesn’t just heal wounded souls, HE heals artfully.

With a gentle touch and personable wisdom, Ruchti offers hope for your own broken places. She opens the door to a gallery of the reclaimed and restored, reflects on a tapestry of stories not unlike your own, and helps you discover that even the most threadbare soul can once again find healing and hope.

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(5)During this season of Lent, as we search for a sign that God is concerned with us and all our most basic needs, let us remember who we are and who God is. And in a time such as this, God meets us where we are, in the midst of our anxiety, and God takes us to the sacred place where we can experience God’s presence and grace once again. Yes indeed, the Lord is with us in this journey! [see UMW full article at : https://www.unitedmethodistwomen.org/news/third-sunday-in-lent-is-the-lord-among-us-or-not]STAY TUNED: DEPENDING on information/changes based on our current safety precautions this event & date may change/be canceled: May 16th Conference UMW Spiritual Growth retreat at Haymount United Methodist Church, Fayetteville. Pray for all leaders and decision makers.

A spiritual poem for living during this time that I liked. In case you did not see it online, this went viral [all want to read it]. Lynn is a minister, dog trainer, and poet.

PANDEMIC    By Lynn Ungar 3/11/20        What if you thought of it    as the Jews consider the Sabbath—    the most sacred of times?    Cease from travel.    Cease from buying and selling.    Give up, just for now,    on trying to make the world    different than it is.    Sing. Pray. Touch only those    to whom you commit your life.    Center down.    And when your body has become still,     reach out with your heart.

Brenda Brown – Deaconess – Study Leader for the Anniversary StudyWomen United for Change – 150 years of Mission

A Special Thanks to the Host Church – Bethlehem UMW

Debbie HollandSpiritual Growth

    Know that we are connected    in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.    (You could hardly deny it now.)    Know that our lives    are in one another’s hands.    (Surely, that has come clear.)    Do not reach out your hands.    Reach out your heart.    Reach out your words.    Reach out all the tendrils    of compassion that move, invisibly,    where we cannot touch.    Promise this world your love—    for better or for worse,    in sickness and in health,     so long as we all shall live. (6)

Alexis Rose Wilde was first diagnosed with Type 1 (Juvenile) Diabetes when she was 8 years old. I sort of suspected this wretched disease before the initial diagnosis, whether it’s motherly instinct or working in the health field for so long you pick up on a few things.

Alexis is now 17, life has changed a lot in the last 8 ½ years, we are no longer having to give her shots. She manages her blood glucose levels with an insulin pump. We still wake up all hours of the night to check her blood glucose and treat when necessary.

Being a teenager with Type 1 is a real struggle. At times Alexis forgets to check her blood glucose causing her to either be hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) or hyperglycemic (high blood sugar). She gets embarrassed when other students start to ask her questions about her pump, or why she pricks her fingers. She even got in trouble one time in class when she was trying to bolus insulin in her pump because the teacher thought she was texting on her phone. Of course the teacher apologized when she realized it wasn’t a cell phone.

One way we decided to help Alexis better control her blood glucose levels was by getting a Diabetic Alert Dog (D.A.D.). A service dog is very expensive, $25,000.00. We started fundraising for it, and a friend of mine told me about a fundraiser that her church did for an event, the Angel Bins Shoe Drive. We needed to collect 10,000 pairs of shoes to receive funds to go towards the purchase of her dog. Everyone thought we

Remember the Shoes for Alexis project. Here goes an update from her MOM-

were crazy but with the help of our church, neighbors, family, friends and the United Methodist Woman we not only collected 10,000 but 18,000 pairs of shoes. We were able to earn over $8,000.00 for the massive shoe collection. People all over our community showed up the day the big tractor trailer pulled into the parking lot to load shoes in to it. What a wonderful way for Gods people to come together. God is so good.

After several other small fundraisers Alexis has the funds for the Diabetic Alert Dog and will be receiving her dog sometime in June or July.

Thank you

all for all your love and

support for Alexis. Carolina Rivers Activities (7)

“Love God and Love Your Neighbor”Sound District United Methodist Women

2020 Hands on Mission Event Day

Scenes from the Social Action Project- -Newport UMC – UMW Thrift Store in Newport NC. Adele Hyla-Brewster - Social Action Chairperson. Pictures by Adele

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CarolineDeb – Lacy – Lois sort the clothing

Members - Newport UMW welcome’s theSound District UMW members volunteers to help recycle the Thrift Shop to summer apparel.

Sound District Co- President

ALOTS – St. James UMC - Greenville -Betsy Westbrook shares information with Local Unit Treasurers

Lynn Rouse = Co-President Sound District leads theMission Study “What About Our Money –A Faith

Response

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