Wilna News
Children's Health Fair
Wilna's Health Ministry Team held its first annual children's health fair. The fair was targeted to young children with the focus on the adventist health message. The event consisted of an interactive food demonstration and multiple health stations. These stations included: vitals screening station, mental health station, lung health station, dental health station, arts & crafts station, exercise station, and face painting. The children received the opportunity to make healthy vegetarian lunch time recipes such as "chicken" sandwich made with chickpea, fruit tacos, and apple sandwiches just to name a few. The children received a wrist band and stars were place on the bands after visiting each health station. Each child received a special prize after visiting all of the stations. The team plans to continue to sponsoring this event each fall.
Women's Ministry Garden Party
The garden party is a new event launched by the Women's Ministry during the 2017 year. The focus of the party was to design a fun gathering to help cultivate and strengthen relationships among the women of Wilna. The women came slipped in their summer time dresses and beautiful hats to embrace the theme of the party. The day consisted of delightful games; beautifully decorative table settings with fresh flowers throughout; delicious finger foods consisting of homemade sandwiches, tangy tarts, and sweet desserts; and much laughter by all. Both the women and young women of the church were invited to the program. Continue to look out for other upcoming Women's Ministry activities.
Christmas in July
The Wilna Seventh-day Adventist church embarked on a new community outreach program this summer called Christmas in July with the goal to provide support to families within Harford County, MD., with financial struggles or going through difficulty. Led by Outreach Ministry Director, Jean Hastick, who reached out to Harford County People Services who helped connect the church to families in need. Ms Hastick asked each of the families to identify their needs and to create a Christmas wish list. One of the families consisted of a grandmother who was now raising her grandchildren due to the passing of their mother. “I was amazed to see the types of items on the wishlist, some children actually requested bibles.” Shared Mrs. Hasticks.
The outreach ministry team realized that the summer months can be a big challenge for children and their families. Children look forward to the summer for vacations, events, and camps. However, there are many families who are unable to make those types of commitments due to financial barriers.
When Ms. Hastick shared her vision with the Wilna SDA Church members, they quickly rallied around the cause. “Everyone started giving money, purchasing gifts off the children’s wish list, and asking how can they help.The team came together to have a “gift wrapping Sabbath potluck” to wrap and organize the gifts. Ms Hasticks along with her committee and Pastor Tom Leblanc hand delivered the gifts that Sabbath afternoon. Families received the gifts with much joy, tears, and prayers. Plans are on the way to make this an annual event.
Pathfinders activity on the Summer of 2023
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