...‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Matthew 25:40

Games are now on Thursdays

Softball schedule

April 28 – 8:30p -Field F ******** 9:30p - Field G

May 5 -6:30p - Field E ******* 7:30p - Field E

May 12 – 8:30p - Field H ******* 9:30p – Field I

May 19 – 6:30p – Field E ******* 7:30p – Field G

May 26 – 8:30p – Field F ******* 9:30p – Field E

Edgewood Vista: Jackie Dreyer

Good Sam / Hill: Linda Varud,

Luther Manor: Faye Pigott

Leisure Living in Hartford: Nona Robinson

Southridge: Guy Varud; Cleova Frahm;

VA in Luverne: Bob Morrison

2204 E. 11th: Deb Stoakes

Sioux Falls Hunger reports in Lincoln and Minnehaha counties there are 23,000 who are food insecure; 9000 are children. To help fill that need, Wesley serves Nightwatch Canteen. Wesley is one of 11 churches who volunteer to serve Nightwatch meals according to Chester DeYoung.

Wesley member, Vicki Hanisch was interviewed in 2015 by the Argus Leader and her words are still true today. One of the most rewarding parts of volunteering for Vicki is seeing the grateful faces of people as they receive their food. "We get a lot of families, and some children come on their own," she said. "(It's rewarding) to see kids get excited over a banana or cookies." Hanisch says what keeps her going is the knowledge that she is doing her part to serve others. "I can't imagine not going. It's just part of me," she said. "It's an opportunity to do what we're meant to do, to love and help others."

Wesley next turn to serve Nightwatch Canteen is Sunday, May 22. Not only does Wesley donate food and helping hands, but Wesley also donates financially. The 5th Sunday offering for May is for the Nightwatch Canteen. Please give generously to this much needed program.

Our Sympathy - Joyce & Ca Patterson on the death of their son Owen

Dave Garcia's Sister Paula - in serious car accident

Bob and Barbara Gran- both having surgery

Pastor Laura Borman - currently undergoing chemotherapy

Beth Stricker - carpal tunnel surgery

Aleene Williams - surgery April 5th when healed from surgery will have radiation

Lynn Margeson - High Blood pressure and tests

Dave Garcia - will start chemo soon for cancer diagnosis

Ernie Griner - tests to see what's wrong

Mike Renken -prayers for healing

Lea Watson's grandson Brock - prayers for healing

Marg Gross - Bernie McCabe's sister, fall

Guy and Linda Varud - both are struggling and in need of prayers

Lynn Margeson's sister Marti Swearingen recovering from heart transplant surgery on 11-3

Nila & Larry Westall - Covid

Carmen Britt - Sister Kim and Brother-in-law, Dave - prayers needed

Trish Garcia - surgery in Rochester went well, prayers for continued healing

Kolby Bohmbach – Continued prayers for good test results

Felsheim Family – working to keep Bennett safe

Karen Renken- continued prayers for healing

Bob Whiting’s daughter Robyn – needs a kidney transplant

Nila & Karen’s sister-in-law Karen - continued prayers

José Garcia’s mom, Maria Herrera - breast cancer

Judy's daughter-in-law Sara Martin Tulio- will have surgery and chemo until August

Income 4 Months 2022------ $51,156.73

Expense 4 Months 2022------$61,719.06

Expenses exceed income ----$ (10,562.33)

Don Armstrong, Treasurer

Balance 3/31/2022---------------$16,740.22

Donations April------$730.00

Disbursements- building improvements -$2,562.36

Interest earned: -------------------------- $.13

Balance 4/30/2022 ---------------$15,907.99

Donna Wallin, Treasurer

Wesley United Women in Faith hosted FOCUS Day on April 9 and it was a huge success even though we did have a few bumps in the road. I want to thank Julie Hanson, Nila Westall, Judy Kiepke, Marcy Bird, Sue Ness, Pastor Manuel, and my special guy, Don for helping, cooking, and providing food that day. I especially want to thank Julie and Nila who made sure we had coffee after the coffee pots failed to turn on for lack of water. They were a huge reason the day ran smoothly. As I understand, they spent their down time between morning refreshments and lunch sorting silverware and arranging the kitchen supplies. Pastor Manuel was right there with them all day helping sort silverware and running the dishwasher. We had 46 people registered plus the all the helpers who kept the kitchen running.

I think the women who attended the program were just glad to be able to meet in person again. There was supposed to be a FOCUS Day in Huron the same day we held ours, but they cancelled theirs because they only had 10 registrations a week before. The truth is, I didn’t have any registrations the week before, but they all started flooding in on the Saturday before we met. This has taught me once again to have faith. If we offer it; they will come.

All in all, it was a success, and I am glad we held FOCUS here at Wesley.

May will be busy for me. The National Assembly for United Women in Faith will be taking place May 20-22 in Orlando, Florida. A virtual event is available this year, but the registrations have closed both by now. I will be attending in person since I am on the Board of Directors. I already have a long list of assigned duties for the Assembly, including being on the stage as part of the plenary session on Saturday afternoon. I am excited to be able to participate in this event.

Dawn Armstrong, President

Many of you attended a Matter of Balance class here at Wesley last summer. There will be a Matter of Balance-Virtual class starting Tuesday, April 26-June 21 from 10-noon. If you are interested in this, then contact Sanford Health at 605-336-7295 to register. There will also be another class this summer at the Midco Aquatic center Monday, June 6-August 1, from 1:30-3:30 pm.

We have had a busy month! We have the SDSU Extension come and do healthy food prep and eating with our children weekly. She brings a healthy snack and teaches about food safety and the food groups. We have really enjoyed learning different ways to eat snacks in ways we might not otherwise think of!

We also went to the City of Sioux Falls Environmental Center to get recycling/trash learning kits to learn about what is trash, recyclable and natural resources. Two representatives from that office came and visited with the kids about the kits and what they do at the city office.

Students at Terry Redlin in the band and orchestra had a concert and it was very nice to see several of our Kidz Count kids in both. The concert showed much improvement from the fall and the 5th graders are certainly ready for the middle school band and orchestra! The 2nd graders also put on a musical concert where all of our Kidz Count 2nd graders had a special part in the program, either playing an instrument or speaking part or a vocal solo! It was exciting to see them perform and have such fun doing it!

Coming up: Friday, May 13th, 4-5:30, it's the 3 B's! Bouncy Bubbles and Balloons! We will be having an end of the year party in the parking lot with families and friends of Kidz Count! Please let Saundra know if you'd like to volunteer to help with serving food., handing out prizes, or playing games, or just come for the fun!

We are also looking for volunteers for the summer to help with clubs that we will be doing throughout the summer. If you have knowledge or experience in photography, music, sports, or anything else that you think children would enjoy, contact Saundra for more information. We will be doing clubs once a week on different topics.

Be on the lookout for a special event at the end of the summer! More details to come!

Thank you for your support and interest in Kidz Count, we so appreciate you!

Saundra Larson