Vaughn Spethmann, a member of Clairemont Covenant Church, is a co-founder of Acirfa, a ministry that operates Zambikes. Earlier this year, several North Park University students rode bikes across the United States to raise money for Acirfa as well as another ministry.
ZCA also has offered its support in future years. Earlier this year, 30 ZCA members participated in a long-distance race to benefit the battle against malaria.
Zambikes also has solidified partnerships with multiple microfinance groups that will enable bicycles to be distributed to civil servants, low-income workers and village entrepreneurs that were previously unreachable. Zambikes leaders hope that the micro-financing will contribute to the business’s sustainable future.
Click here to read a previous Covenant News Service article.
Church Celebrates 50 Years of Julfest
SEATTLE, WA – First Covenant Church will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its Julfest at 4 p.m. December 7.
The service of lessons and carols is Scandinavian in heritage and features traditional Swedish hymns played by a string band and bells. Youth and festival choirs also perform. Parts of the bilingual service are in Swedish.
First Covenant began as a Swedish-speaking congregation in 1889. By 1940, the church had shifted entirely to English-speaking services. The first Julfest was held in 1958 in order to keep alive the church’s heritage.
The highlight of the evening is the St. Lucia procession, in which a choir of white-clad girls enters the darkened sanctuary with candles and song.
For more information, call the church office at (206) 322-7411.
Applications Being Accepted for Journey to Mosaic
MERCER ISLAND, WA – The North Pacific Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church is accepting applications for its next Journey to Mosaic trip March 26-29, 2009. Applicants do not have to come from churches in the conference.
Participants of diverse backgrounds on the four-day bus trip will explore issues of racial justice and reconciliation. They will visit a sampling of ministries in the Northwest. Sites include the Yakama Nation tribe, a minimum security prison, the Wing Luke Pan Asian Museum, and Broetje Orchards, a 6,000-acre apple farm owned by Christians who give away 75 percent of their profits.
The group also will worship at Emerald City Bible Fellowship, an Evangelical Covenant Church that is involved in numerous justice and compassion ministries.
For more information, email Krisann Jarvis Foss or call 206-275-3903.
