Last Sunday (and Saturday) at First

Despite the cold weather in Providence, the weekend was filled with warmth.

On Saturday, we took 19 of our refugee youth to Launch Tampoline Park in Warwick. It was a good day. It is very difficult to get good pictures of people jumping, but hopefully you can get the idea from these shots. The kids and the adults who drove had a wonderful experience. We are planning our next outing so listen to the announcements if you’d like to participate.

Billy Waterman of the non-profit organization “Beat the Streets, Providence” told the Adult Forum about the interesting and successful program that his organization has that has brought wrestling programs to the middle schools. Many middle schools across the country, including Providence have cut athletics. Wrestling is an inexpensive, inclusive sport that is returning to Providence thanks to the efforts of Billy and his volunteers. They have found that the youth that participate have much improved attendance, grades and behavior.

We had a special guest for the children’s sermon. Colleen and Larry Whelpley brought Matie, a Labradorean retriever to church. The Whelpley’s are weekend trainers of service dogs, and one of the things the dogs must be able to do is to accompany their master to church. So, Sunday was Matie’s first church visit. Colleen and Larry joined Pastor Jamie and Jidoebi down in front during the children’s time to introduce Matie and explain what she does and why she was there.

Hear the readings and sermon from Song of Songs