Christmas Celebrations

Christmas celebrations were a huge success this year at East Fork and Canyon Day missions:

1. On December 21st, East Fork School held their annual school Christmas program held in the East Fork gymnasium.  
2. A wedding was held on December 22nd at Canyon Day Lutheran Church
3. Regular Sunday services were held at Canyon Day and East Fork with Pastor Daniel Rautenberg as guest preacher.
4. Christmas Eve Sunday School Christmas Program was held at East Fork Church on December 24th.  The service included a host of songs and readings as well as acting by the Sunday School students to retell the story of God's salvation from the Garden of Eden to the manger in Bethlehem.
1. Following the service the toys from Toys for Tots were distributed to every child in attendance.
5. Christmas Day service was held on December 25th at East Fork Church.  Pastor Parsons preached on Isaiah 52:7-10 with the theme "What do mountains, feet, and walls, have to do with the Christmas story?"
1. Following the service the toys from Toys for Tots were distributed to every child in attendance.

Altar area at East Fork Church complete with manger, shade house stable, and animals.  The service hymns and readings were all projected onto the screen during the service as only the spotlights in front were on during the service.





 Children's Christmas Eve Program at East Fork Lutheran Church 2012

 Children's Christmas Eve Program

 Ben, Owen, and Ella Parsons enjoying the manger animals from the Children's Christmas program.

Christmas Eve 2012 at East Fork

Pastor Parsons

René Parsons

Ella Parsons

Benjamin Parsons

Owen Parsons

East Fork Roof

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  East Fork and Canyon Day Lutheran Churches have been incredibly blessed this year.  Earlier this year, Canyon Day Church went through a bit of a remodeling process with the installation of new semi-clear windows to replace the rather dated red plexiglass windows.  The new windows allow for more natural sunlight to flood the interior which makes the church feel more open and inviting.
In the past month, with the help of generous donations, East Fork Church finally replaced the aging and failing metal roof that was installed at least 50 years ago.  The new green metal roof and gutters should last for many years to come.  During the installation we also had insulation panels placed on the roof to provide a bit more insulation from both the summer heat and the winter chill.  Below are some before, during, and after pictures of the process.  After the roof was installed we had our first rain and snow storm which put the roof through its paces.  There was not one drop or puddle on the inside of church which was a welcomed change from the old roof.
In January, we plan to install knotty pine tongue and groove boards on the rest of the interior walls at East Fork.  A generous donation of materials has been waiting for our crews to arrive. A number of volunteers from a number of states plan on coordinating the project.  When that project is done, the only pressing improvement needed on East Fork is a new concrete front step and railings.  Otherwise, East Fork Church will be pretty much remodeled on both the inside and outside.  Below is the list of recent improvements since 2008:

• New windows and doors throughout
• New masonite siding
• New roof and gutters
• Improvements on front porch area
• New concrete steps, sidewalks, and wheelchair ramp
• New exterior lighting
• Parking lot gravel and barracades 
• Planted grass on west side of church
• Refinished interior hard wood floor
• Installation of new tile floor to cover front of church and altar area
• New PA and speaker system
• Donated used altar furnishings - candelabras, cross, and altar coverings 
• Donated used baptismal font to replace rotting baptismal font
• Rewiring of entire facility to meet code
• Installation of new energy efficient light fixtures
• New wood trim around windows and doorways
• Enclosure of existing side entry ways to allow for the completion of a bathroom and storage closet
• Additional pew seating in wings of church

Labor Day

Labor Day weekend on the WMAT reservation is a big deal. Thousands of guests arrive to share in the festivities around the reservation. The week includes nightly rodeos and carnival at the fairgrounds. Saturday was the three hour long parade through downtown Whiteriver. This year a new addition was brought to the festivities. Four hot air balloons took off from Fort Apache in the morning and flew across Canyon Day. On Sunday morning before church began the balloons came flying over the church. This coming weekend I'll be going under the knife so to speak to have my wisdom teeth finally removed so I'll be taking it kind of easy for a couple of days following this minor surgery. I haven't had a surgery since I was a baby, so I am a little anxious about getting knocked out and praying that there will be no complications. :)

Mr. Darren Vogt was installed as our new 5th-6th grade teacher at our opening service held at East Fork Lutheran School.  Darren Vogt, received and accepted a call from the call committee at MLC to teach grades 5-6 at East Fork Lutheran School.  Darren is a 2011 graduate of MLC, and spent this past year teaching in a charter school near New Ulm.  He has also begun working on his Masters Degree.  He loves basketball and other sports.  Darren grew up near Milwaukee, Wisconsin and attended high school in Watertown, WI at Luther Prep.  Mr. Vogt has been coaching the flag football team this year.

VBS Summer 2012 Snack Time

This summer we had a three different youth groups visit East Fork Mission.  The first group from Austin, Texas arrived in June to host Vacation Bible School at East Fork Lutheran School.  We had over 110 students this year who were able to hear the Word of God under the theme of Team Jesus.  The teens from Austin also helped with Family Life Seminars in Whiteriver and Cibecue and sang and put on a skit near the local grocery store at our 3rd Annual Lutheran Gathering.

In July two groups arrived from Wisconsin to help with service projects around East Fork Mission.  The first group from Middleton, Wisconsin did a lot of work at East Fork School getting classrooms ready for the new 5-6th grade teacher, and organizing a classroom to be used for Teen Group Activities.  The group from Middleton spent some time walking around the mission cleaning up after the horses that sometimes wander onto the grounds.  It was hot, smelly work that really needed to be done.
The second group arrived only days later from WISCO (Wisconsin Lutheran High School) in Milwaukee.  This group also worked on service projects around the mission as well as canvassing in McNary and Snowflake/Taylor.  Each of the groups had a chance for some fun while visiting by heading down to the Salt River Canyon to explore Cibecue Creek and the waterfall there.