Dear Skyland Friends,

Everywhere I look, I see God remaking the church and sending divine love into the world through us. Drive into our parking lot and behold the freshly painted bell tower, the entire western wall of the sanctuary, and touchups on peeling spots here and there. I have never seen it look so beautiful. Jeremy Cole and his painter friend, Mike, did a splendid job.

Listen to the choir sing an Easter Alleluia, or the kids sing "We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands" for Earth Day. Share the joy when Emily Fredriksen, who had to leave the mountain community for Sunnyvale,  returns to worship with us thanks to the chauffeuring of her daughter, Christie. 

I appreciate your blessings and prayers as I take a week in Maine to help my mother move to assisted living. Many acts of prayer and care bring the love of God into this world. We are truly blessed to be here and to be here together. May the joy of Easter and the resurrection spirit animate and inspire us always!

I am trying to reach out in some new ways to folks in the wider mountain community, so here is what I have coming out in this month's Mountain Network News:

Hop out of your chair, stow your electronic communication devices in a safe place and join us for a face to face, real-time discussion of a great new book, Creative Confidence,  by brothers Tom and David Kelley, masters of the arts of creativity and innovation. 

Where could you use some creative confidence in your life...your job...your family life...learning how to relax and play? Together we'll investigate how their ideas can help us open new creative possibilities in our own lives and with each other. Join us for three Thursdays in May, the 8th, 15th and 22nd, from 7:30 to 9:00 PM at Whitaker Hall, adjacent to Skyland Church at 25100 Skyland Rd. 

Of course, Skyland members are also especially welcome!

Fire season has begun again, and this winter of drought reminds us of the critical work of the Loma Prieta Volunteer Fire and Rescue. Sometimes we forget that not only do they fight fires, but they are the first responders and paramedics for many local medical emergencies in the mountains and on Highway 17.

The Mission Board would like to support the Loma Prieta Volunteer Fire and Rescue with a few special projects throughout the year. We encourage everyone to attend their annual BBQ on June 1. It is a wonderful family event that raises needed funds for the volunteer fire and rescue. We will be carpooling after church for those who wish it.

For incident reports go the LPVFR fire blog:

For more information: http://www.lomaprietafire.org/

The African Library Project has partnered with Breadline Africa and the Peace Corps to put the first ALP libraries in the Republic of South Africa next fall. The South Africans convert old shipping containers into community/school libraries.

We are already gathering our thousand books to ship. We need primary reading materials and all kinds of content with a reading level of up to the eighth grade only. Two-thirds of the books (670) should be primary (K-4th grade) reading level and one-third (330) should be up to the 8th grade level. Paperbacks are preferred; however good dictionaries and current atlases will always be included in the library even if hardbacked.

Since this is to be a community library, we also need how-to books on building and agriculture-related topics that are written simply. The issue of whether a given how-to book is accessible to eighth-grade level readers is subjective and will have to be made by donors and packers.

Angela Colbran-Patterson and Shannon Edwards are the coordinators of our book drive. Our target is to ship the books to their port of embarkation, New Orleans, by early August, in time to sail for Africa Sept. 2.

To see a slideshow presentation on the first ALP libraries in the Republic of South Africa, see http://slidesha.re/1eIEDsc.

 +++