April 10, 2018
Greetings Monadnock Rotarians
It may have been snowing in Dublin today but the first major game of the baseball season is scheduled for tonight when the Yankees visit Fenway Park. Another sure sign of spring was the return of Jim Fearnside from the Green Valley of Arizona. Bill had Opening Words and Jim Fearnside had “The Hat”. Jim spoke about two experiences with immigrant families and how the interactions have shaped his views on the current immigration discussions. The first experience was volunteering to help a Russian family learn to use a computer and how the children quickly learned English and excelled at their local high school. The second experiences were more recent and involved families crossing the southern border and the local folks helping them survive the journey.
Roy Baldwin, Executive Director of the Monadnock Christian Center (formerly known as the Bible Conference) located at the foot of Mount Monadnock in Jaffrey was our speaker. Monadnock Christian Ministries exists to inspire and equip the local church, community, and families to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ through biblical teaching, excellent programming, and service.
Roy was born in Pittsburg and grew up with the hope of becoming a youth pastor. His early career was spent in the New York City boroughs working with at-risk children. He and his wife were dorm parents at Hershey School before working with Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. He moved to Jaffrey at a time when the camp was in challenging financial and leadership situations. The Camp is visited by 15,000 people each year and serves families from from New Jersey to New England. The main program is the summer camp and retreats are held through the rest of the year. Recently, the Camp partnered with SAU 47 to offer an after school program. In conjunction with the after school program, Roy has offered parenting classes with an emphasis upon fostering positive family dynamics. Roy and his staff are in the midst of strategic planning with a goal of creating a new master plan to address future programming and financial sustainability. Their fourth annual golf tournament will be held soon. More information can be found on their website: monadnockchristianministries.org.
Announcements:
Roadside cleanup is scheduled for the morning of May 12.
The Executive Board will next meet April 25 at DGS at 7:30 a.m. All are welcome.
On April 17, we will have a club assembly.
On April 24, Bob V. has Opening Words and Chuck has “The Hat”.
See you Tuesday!
Bill