I trust that you are having a blessed Lenten season. 

A time for reflection.

A time for spiritual renewal.

A time for physical rest.

A time for mental stimulation.

A time to fill your cup so that you might have something to share with others.

Church women across the nation are requested to sign a petition thanking Secretary of State Hilary Clinton for her1000 Days Campaign. 

The idea behind this campaign is simple.  The 1000 days from pregnancy through a child’s second birthday are the most crucial for a child’s development.  With proper nutrition, children grow to their full potential, are healthier throughout their lifetime, increase their standard of living, and can increase a country’s GDP by at least 2-3 percent.  On the other hand, malnutrition contributes to more than one in every three deaths of children under age 5 each year.

Secretary Clinton has mobilized her staff at the state Department to promote nutrition programs throughout the world. She has worked with a coalition of faith groups and international providers, known as the 1000 Days Partnership to bring attention to this problem

With this petition, we want to send a strong signal that the women of Church Women United and other women’s groups throughout the country support her efforts and encourage her to keep in the fight even after leaving the State Department.

Our CWU President, Marguerite Carter has a goal of 50,000 signatures for this petition.  We have until May 15 to sign this petition. Please contact me at jreimer41@gmail.com if you do not have access to a petition.

March is National Nutrition Month – time to commit to healthier eating.  You can check out Recipes for Healthy Living website to learn more about nutrition and browse for something new to try. 

Find a World Day of Prayer Service in your community

The Christian women of Malaysia invite us to join them along with women and men around the world, Friday, March 2, for the 2012 World Day of Prayer service.  The worship service is centered on the theme “Let Justice Prevail.”  The scripture, music and prayers focus on the need for justice.  “A clear message emerges from this service:  It takes courage, compassion and active engagement for justice to prevail.” 

World Day of Prayer’s motto: “Informed prayer leads to powerful action.” affirms that prayer and action are inseparable and that both have immeasurable influence.  We are encouraged to begin thinking about actions that we can take to further support the 2012 theme, which calls us to work with god and with each other to create a world in which each gender, race, culture, religion and state is honored, nurtured and empowered.” 

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Find a World Day of Prayer Service in your community

The Christian women of Malaysia invite us to join them along with women and men around the world, Friday, March 2, for the 2012 World Day of Prayer service.  The worship service is centered on the theme “Let Justice Prevail.”  The scripture, music and prayers focus on the need for justice.  “A clear message emerges from this service:  It takes courage, compassion and active engagement for justice to prevail.” 

World Day of Prayer’s motto: “Informed prayer leads to powerful action.” affirms that prayer and action are inseparable and that both have immeasurable influence.  We are encouraged to begin thinking about actions that we can take to further support the 2012 theme, which calls us to work with god and with each other to create a world in which each gender, race, culture, religion and state is honored, nurtured and empowered.” 

Sisters,

Webinar tomorrow evening Wednesday February 29 at 7 pm ET (6 pm CT) for CWU members.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is the nation’s leading resource on the issues of missing and exploited children. To help provide communities with the tools to combat the issues of child sexual exploitation, NCMEC launched the Campaign Against Sexual Exploitation (CASE). 

Church Women United and NCMEC have partnered to bring CASE to your local communities.  YOU can join this national movement by implementing CASE in your local area and by becoming an advocate in the fight against the sexual exploitation of children and youth in your local community.

Research shows that one in five girls and one in ten boys will be sexually victimized before they reach adulthood, many as the result of trafficking. However, less than 35 percent of these crimes will be reported to law enforcement.
 

In this webinar, you will:

• Increase awareness about the issues surrounding the exploitation and trafficking of minors in the US
• Learn about the resources available for your churches and communities through CASE
• Discuss the challenges and its impact on our society.

If you are interested in becoming more involved with the issues of sexual exploitation and trafficking of children but haven't yet done so, this is a good first step.  And if this is an issue that you have been working on for some time in your unit, this new information from NCMEC will provide excellent resources to your toolkit.
 

Participants will receive the information to access the webinar just prior to the event.  Those who cannot attend and wish to receive information will receive a link to the recorded webinar after it takes place.

Send an email to Robin robinfillmore@churchwomen.org or call Robin at 202-481-6929 to see if there is still time to register and participate.  

To keep up to date about the DC office, follow Robin’s blog at www.CWUinDC.blogspot.com

C. Irene Coates

C. Irene Coates, our dear friend and CWU sister passed on February 7, 2012 in Grand Island.  Celebration of life will be held February 14 at the Trinity United Methodist Church in Grand Island.  Visitation is from 4-7 at the All Faiths Funeral Home in Grand Island.  You may view her obituary on the Grand Island Independent website.

Irene is among my first memories of CWU NE. Her commitment to her faith and CWU will remain among my memories of CWU NE. Give thanks for her life and remember her family at this time.  

Reminders

February 11 2012 Ecumenical Legislative Briefing Day. 

February 15 Deadline for the Nebraska Church Woman

March 2  World Day of Prayer

April 20  CWU NE Spring Council Meeting  Norfolk NE

April 21  CWU NE  State Assembly  Norfolk NE 

Join the “Nickels for National” campaign – save your nickels and bring them to State Assembly.  From a discussion of how much CWU women collect through pennies for the Fellowship of the Least Coin came the idea of “Nickels for National” to support the mission of

Church Women United. Campaign was adopted by the Common Council.  

CHECK IT OUT

CHECK IT OUT

Visit www.churchwomen.org to take a look at Djamillah's excellent work in creating the new national CWU website.  This new site will be easier to keep up to date since it can be done in-house.

  

If you like what you see, let Djamillah know.  djamillahsamad@churchwomen.org

If you have a recommendation, drop a note to me.  I know Djamillah has the notes and plans to add more as time goes on but her goal was to get the new site live by the end of January - and she made that deadline!  Hurray!

Judy Dunson, Chair

National CWU Communications

317.294.6861

jdunson@earthlink.net

Reminders

January 25  Registration deadline for Legislative Briefing Day

February 11 2012 Ecumenical Legislative Briefing Day. 

February 15 Deadline for the Nebraska Church Woman

March 2  World Day of Prayer

April 20  CWU NE Spring Council Meeting  Norfolk NE

April 21  CWU NE  State Assembly  Norfolk NE 

Join the “Nickels for National” campaign – save your nickels and bring them to State Assembly.  From a discussion of how much CWU women collect through pennies for the Fellowship of the Least Coin came the idea of “Nickels for National” to support the mission of

Church Women United. Campaign was adopted by the Common Council.  

 

Diane Kratz, Co-President Omaha Unit sends the following regarding Uta Halee.

We are still kind of in mourning over the closing of Uta Halee.  I received a phone call from an alumnus of Uta Halee just after the announcement.  She wrote this to me.  “The issue with Uta Halee is that the federal government made changes to the Medicaid law and the way Nebraska interpreted the law girls could not move from one level of care to another.  Uta Halee built the successful model which offered several different levels of care with the girls able to transfer from one cottage to another until they were able to transition back home. 

The most acute care cottage had nothing - glass, no mirrors, no knives, only durable plastic dishware, etc. - nothing that could use to hurt themselves or others and life was very structured. 

The next cottage had mirrors, knives, etc. but the girls still had a lot of structure. 

The third cottage, the girls had less structure, still had school on campus, still had counseling, still had a program to work through but they also were able to do some things for themselves.  Sometimes the girls in the third cottage were able to go home for weekends, etc. 

After they were dismissed from residential treatment, the girls were able to attend the day school if that was appropriate and live at home or in a foster home. 

After they transitioned from the day school, they could attend public school and come to Uta Halee for an after school program where they were able to get their counseling and spend the time from after school until their parents got  home from work. 

Eventually, the goal was to have the girls able to return home.  The girls and their families were able to build a trust with their caregivers as they worked through the program at Uta Halee. 

The state decided the Medicaid law requirement was for one level of care per facility and the method of placement into residential treatment required a thorough evaluation from a psychiatrist after the recommendation from the courts.  It was taking over 6 weeks to get a girl placed. 

So, referrals were not coming into Uta Halee as fast as the girls were being processed out of the program.  The needs of the girls and their families were not being met during this slow evaluation process.  Uta Halee could not keep staff in place with such a small population of girls being served. 

CWU – Omaha does have a scholarship for alumni of Uta Halee who have graduated from high school or received their GED, to continue their post high school education.  Most of the girls who take advantage of the scholarship attend a community college but some have tried a 4 year program.  We will pay the hourly tuition cost of a community college and the girls will need to make up the remainder of their tuition.  The girls are more successful at the community college level anyway.  We are going to continue to offer scholarships as long as there is a need for the girls.  Tracy Wells from Uta Halee has offered to maintain the Uta Halee Facebook page as a way to keep in contact with the girls and she posted the scholarship application on Facebook. 

Reminders

January 25 – Registration deadline for Ecumenical Legislative Day

February 11 – Ecumenical Legislative Day

February 15 – Deadline for articles – The Nebraska Church Woman – send to Judy

News from Lois LaFon

FROM LOIS
" WOW!!! What an Spirit-filled experience! Met 5 amazing women for the first time and in 3 1/2 days picked theme, scripture, music, possible logos, new lyrics for one hymn and paired off to work on specific celebrations. My new friend, Jan from Connecticut, and I will be writing May Friendship Day 2012. Our hostess, Carolyn McCullough, knows how to roll out the red carpet, for sure. We attended a prayer breakfast at her AME Zion Church Saturday morning which was really great, too. Thank you Church Women United for letting me be part of something so totally cool. Lois"

Exciting News and Reminders

Exciting News
Lois LaFon has agreed to serve on the CWU National Ecumenical Celebrations Committee. Margurite Carter remembered Lois from her visit to our State Assembly in 2010 and asked her to fill a vacancy on that committee. Lois will be traveling to Dallas TX on January 13 for a planning retreat. Please congratulate Lois and keep her in your prayers as she travels to Dallas.
Who are our past Celebrations Committee members from Nebraska?
　
　
Reminders
January 11 is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. The Omaha World Herald reported finding 155 Internet ads in Nebraska promoting girls and women for sex. There is a need to strengthen and enforce anti-trafficking and child victim laws in NE.
January 15 is the registration deadline for the January 22 dinner
At the Celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. See previous entry.
January 25 is the registration deadline for the 2012 Ecumenical Legislative Briefing Day. Email me at cwune@mail.com or call 402-463-7615 if you do not have a flyer.
February 11 is the 2012 Ecumenical Legislative Briefing Day.
February 15 is the deadline for the Nebraska Church Woman
　
　
Judy Dunson, Chair National CWU Communications conducted a workshop at the 70th Anniversary Celebration and asked for input and feed back on communications between national and state. I look for enhanced communications this next year and encourage you to subscribe to the ChurchWoman News. Six issues for $15. Contact me for an order for or let me know of any difficulty you have in receiving your issues.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Welcome to the CWU NE Blog. I plan to use this site to communicate with you and to keep you updated on CWU news and information.

From Interchurch Ministries of Nebraska: an invitation to join in
WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

You are invited to dinner and worship at the Celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This special event will be held will at All Saints Episcopal Church, 9302 Blondo Street, Omaha, on Sunday, January 22, 2012. Dinner will be served at 5:00 pm followed by the Unity Worship Service at 7:00 pm.

“As a worldwide observance seeing “unity in diversity,” the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity focuses upon the shared yearnings of all Christians “that all may be on” (John 17:21) according to the will of Christ. The theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2012 comes to us from the churches in Poland, who have reflected upon their own experience as a nation, and in particular how, as a nation, they have been changed and transformed by the many upheavals of their history, and sustained by their faith.

Change is also at the heart of the ecumenical movement. When we pray for the unity of the church we are praying that the churches that we know and which are so familiar to us will change as they conform more closely to Christ. This is an exciting vision, but also a challenging one. Furthermore, when we pray for this transforming unity we are also praying for change in the world.

Bishop David defreeze, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Nebraska Synod and Bishop Ann B. Sherer-Simpson, United Methodist Church, Nebraska Conference will bring the message during the ecumenical worship service.

The dinner will feature recognition of those named to the Interchurch Ministries of Nebraska People of Faith Wall of Honor."

Reservations are required for the dinner at $20.00 each payble to Interchurch Ministries of Nebraska Send your check along with your name, address, phone no. and email address to Interchurch Ministries of Nebraska, 215 Centennial Mall South, Suite 300 68508 before January 15, 2012.

New BLOG/WEB ADDRESS!

Welcome to my new blog for the NECWU or for this blog, the CWUNE.BLOGSPOT.COM! Be sure to check back for updates and articles and photos that are relative to our functions or up and coming events!