Fa-La-La-La Fun!
Join us for a night of fa-la-la-la FUN as we celebrate this Christmas season with Oakland families on Thursday, December 15, 6-8pm, at DeFremery Park at our Christmas Family Fun Night! Bring your merry self as we gather to feast and share the Hope of the season with one another! Contact Jenn@convergeoakland.org to help with the event.
Habitat for Humanity November Building Day
This month Convergence will be partnering with Habitat for Humanity East Bay for our monthly building day on Saturday, November 19, from 8:30am-4pm. The team has been working on the second phase of homes in East Oakland and the mission does not get accomplished without volunteers like you! Contact our team leader, Wei, at calnhob@hotmail.com this month for details on joining the building team. You don’t need any extensive experience in construction; just a willing heart to learn and to serve alongside the wonderful Habitat building crew!
Operation Christmas Child 2011
Operation Christmas Child is part of the work of Samaritan’s Purse, an international organization providing spiritual and physical aid to impoverished communities around the world. Operation Christmas Child is the opportunity to give children all over the world a shoebox of gifts for the holiday season filled with toys, goodies, and the message of God’s love and hope. In 2010, Convergence packed and sent out 70 boxes to children and this year we’re gearing up for more! Shoe boxes are being provided on Sundays with instructions on how to pack them. If you would like to make a donation instead, we will be making shoe boxes valued at $20 each ($7 of that covers shipping costs). You can make a check payable to Convergence Church with “OCC” in the memo line for as many boxes as you would like to donate. Participate in this ministry to bless a child around the world this holiday season!
A Thank-You Note from MLK Elementary
This summer, we took a love offering for MLK Elementary School teacher Lindsey Smallwood’s classroom supplies and materials. We received a package of thank-you notes, pictures, and drawings from Lindsey and her students telling us how the supplies have made a difference in their learning. Here’s what Lindsey said:
Thank you so much friends at Convergence Church for your incredible generosity toward me and my students at MLK. We have made use of the money you’ve donated for so many classroom items and projects, including: books, notebooks and paper, markers, crayons, pencils, supplies to make a volcano, recess equipment like jump ropes and balls, photos and compassess to create a neighborhood map, materials for a science experiment and much more! Your gifts have been such a blessing to our little classroom and words can’t express how grateful I am.
Thank you Convergence for stepping up to invest in Lindsey and her wonderful students!
Ladies Night- Let’s Go Bowling!
Calling all women of Convergence! It’s time for our monthly Women’s Ministry Gathering! This month we’re going bowling at Albany Bowl on Saturday, October 22, 2011 from 6-8:30PM. Please RSVP with Becca at rebecca@convergeoakland.org or call (510) 463-1011. See you there!
What’s With the New Logo?
Notice something new on our website lately? No, you’re not seeing doubles…you’re seeing circles! Our new logo was designed by a member of our church family, Kelsey Jones, and holds significant meaning to the vision of our church. If you look closely, the circles are purposely drawn imperfectly to represent us, an imperfect people. In our diversity and imperfection, we gather around the perfect Cross to experience what it means for our lives to converge with His Kingdom.
A huge thank you to Kelsey Jones for beautifully capturing the heart of Convergence and translating it into art!
Habitat for Humanity Building Day- October 15, 2011!
Our upcoming Habitat for Humanity building day is this Saturday, October 15, 2011! As a church we have been partnering with Habitat for Humanity East Bay to build homes in East Oakland for the past year. Currently we’ve been working on interior painting the past month and there’s still a lot to be done with the houses. The Habitat for Humanity crew is awesome and fun to work with and very willing to teach volunteers new skills! No experience is necessary, breakfast and lunch will be provided by the Convergence building team leaders. Contact Ted Huynh at ted.huynh86@gmail.com to get further instructions on signing up. We’ll see you there!
Life Groups Launch October 2011
Convergence Life Group
October is an exciting month as four Life Groups are launching at Convergence! Life Groups are smaller groups of people that meet during the week to learn what it means to follow Christ, share life and love, and serve one another and the community. You can learn more about Life Groups and all of the details to get connected on our website http://convergeoakland.org/life-groups/
Life group launch dates are: October 10, 13, and 20, 2011- don’t miss out!
What Now America Back-To-School Event Reflections
What Now America, Back-To-School Event
Here’s what one of our own, Jeff Chou, had to say about the event:
We’ve had the opportunity over the past year to serve and invest at a local Youth Resource Center operated by the non-profit What Now America. The Resource Center aims to provide “basic societal needs” to the youth of West Oakland by combining an educational curriculum with healthy eating, and physical education. In September, What Now America hosted their annual “Back to School” event on a Saturday afternoon at Defremery Park. In addition to fun booths like face painting, there were also interesting hands-on educational opportunities for children such as making their own ice cream. The event culminated in the distribution of hundreds of bags of school supplies that were put together through a cooperation of local businesses and an army of volunteers.
Convergence continues to maintain a monthly presence at the Youth Resource Center, helping with tutoring, leading games and activities, preparing healthy foods, and interacting with the kids. If you’re interested in getting involved, please contact me at jeff@convergeoakland.org for more information.
Spooky Halloween Family Fun Night!
Join us for a night of spooky, friendly, trick or treat Halloween Family Fun Night on October 27, 2011, 6-8pm at DeFremery Park. Contact Jenn Wu at jenn@convergeoakland.org to get volunteer details! Come help make this an unforgettably eerie fun night for all!
