Western-Star.com

By Alleen Stephenson

Missions Conference

The Kings Mills Baptist Church held its annual Missions Conference on April 9-13. The theme was "Let down your nets for a draught" Luke 5:4. The missionaries in attendance were: the Rev. Jim Larger, church planter from Reynoldsburg, Ohio; the Rev. and Mrs. Colin Christensen, church planter from Hungary; the Rev. and Mrs. Craig Hodge and son Benjamin, church planters from Quarryville, Pa.; and Betsey Reznor, missionary to Quebec, Canada.

The missionaries were encouraged by Pastor Manuel B. Guzman Jr. to share a ministry or personal need with the congregation. A couple of these needs were met during the conference.

Thursday evening the service was a little different from the normal conference with all of the men meeting in the upper room of the Annex for a potluck dinner with the men missionaries sharing their work and their vision. At the same time, the ladies went out to a local restaurant for dinner. On Friday, the ladies and the men did vise versa of Thursday.

On Saturday, the church took the missionaries out for breakfast and a day of shopping. In the evening on Saturday the church held a potluck and a question and answer forum. There were many laughs as the missionaries fielded questions from the audience. On Sunday, the missionaries were assigned to various Sunday School classes and the church received its Faith Promise offering which the church will use to determine its missions budget in the coming fiscal year. Bro. Christensen closed the conference with a message on Faith on Sunday evening.

Fine arts competition

Ethan Weaver, a senior homeschooler and son of Dr. and Mrs. Tim Weaver of Morrow, competed in the Cincinnati Arts Association's annual Overture Awards held at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati on April 6. Ethan was one of four finalists in the instrumental music category. His performance of "Danza del Gaucho Matrero" a piano solo by Alberto Ginastera earned him a monetary prize which Ethan plans to put towards his college fund for this fall. Congratulations Ethan!

With the Merrells

Mark and Marta Merrell traveled to Missouri this Thursday to spend some time with Mark's mother Bette Rose Woods in Rala. While there Marta got to ride her mule, Riley Moses. The Merrells returned on Sunday evening.

Texas visitor

Becky Stephenson and her parents Dr. and Mrs. Joe Graham stopped by for a visit with your correspondent at the Otterbein-Lebanon Retirement Living Community on April 9. Becky was in from Houston, Texas.

Luncheon

Lillian Sackett, Ada Jent and Betty Johnson took Dorothy Woolard out to lunch at Der Dutchman on April 14.

Civic club meeting

This is a friendly reminder that the Kings Mills Area Civic Club meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, April 28 at the Kings Mills Firehouse.

Wedding reception

On April 11, your correspondent traveled to the Shaker Run Golf Course outside of Lebanon for a dinner and wedding reception of grandson Brad Stephenson and his lovely new bride Colleen Garlick. The couple had been married earlier on April 2 on the beach in Maui, Hawaii and had just returned on April 9 from their honeymoon.

The festivities of the evening included the dinner, toasts to the bride and groom, throwing of the bridal bouquet and the garter and not to mention the cutting of the wedding cake. Your correspondent really enjoyed the cake as it was a delicious cheesecake. Yum! In attendance from the Kings Mills area were Mr. and Mrs. Mark Armstrong (mother of the groom), Annette and Vicki Godby, Dave Stephenson (father of the groom), John Stephenson and your correspondent. Other family members attending were Mr. and Mrs. Mark Stephenson and Mr. and Mrs. Tim Stephenson and children, all of Mason. There also were out of town family in attendance, Becky Stephenson of Houston, Texas, and Mr. and Mrs. Adam Stephenson and daughter Sidda from Biloxi, Miss. (brother of the groom). The newlyweds have taken up residence in Maineville. We wish them our best!

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