New Healing Service Begins February 2012

Church of the Holy Spirit Anglican

Saturday - February 11, 2012 at 6:30 PM

908 Trailview Blvd., Suite 200, Leesburg, VA 20175

http://www.HolySpiritAnglican.org

703-726-0777

The Reverend Clancy Nixon

Church of the Holy Spirit is pleased to announce our new Second Saturday Healing Service beginning February 11, 2012, at 6:30 pm and continuing on the second Saturday of each month thereafter.

We are dedicated to advancing our Lord Jesus Christ’s ministry of healing through prayer, by praying with anyone in need of healing in the emotional, spiritual and physical areas of their life, and to teaching on this powerful aspect of Christ’s ministry.

The format for our Second Saturday Healing Service is non-liturgical. We will open with an extended time of worship followed by testimonies and a short teaching. Prayer teams will be available at the conclusion of the teaching time to pray with those in need. Childcare is available for children ages 3-6 years old.

We are seeing God move powerfully in our midst. He is calling us to repentance and a holy walk as we serve Him. Out of such a walk will flow supernatural experiences of cleansing and healing. At Church of the Holy Spirit we are seeing the tangible works of Jesus Christ in the everyday lives of believers and non-believers alike.  Come and receive in abundance the Father’s love for you!

The Church of the Holy Spirit in Leesburg envision God creating an Acts 2 Church: a vital Christian community, where we live the life of the early church. E.g., we “devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.

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All are welcome at Church of the Holy Spirit. You and your family are welcome to worship with us, to come to our classes and small group meetings and to share life together. As a community of Jesus, we believe God’s welcome means you can belong before you believe. You need not identify as an Anglican to be one of us. We are one congregation of the church in Loudoun County and in the worldwide body of Christ.

“We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19)

http://capitalcommunity.org/

This has been a great season in the life of the Capital Community Church (CCC) for serving the poor.  Throughout the scriptures God has always commanded His people to take care of the most vulnerable of society including foreigners, widows, the fatherless and the poor and needy.  In Leviticus 23:22 God instructed the people of Israel, “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you.”  Moreover, in the New Testament book of Galatians, we find that taking care of the poor is a regular part of the apostle Paul’s ministry.  Service to the indigent is an important part of worship that, like Paul and his ministry, the CCC congregation is eager to provide.

Each year the CCC, located in Ashburn seeks out ways to give to the poor and needy in communities near and far.  In the past, the Church has sponsored military families with soldiers serving overseas, participated in the “Angel Tree” ministry by providing gifts to the children of prisoners during the holidays and collected jackets and coats which were sent to the extremely poor living on a garbage dump in Guatemala.

Members of the CCC also prepared dinners for families at a local homeless shelter.  Each member prepared a dish to feed the shelter residents, which usually consisted of about 30 to 40 people at any given time and those members that could went to the shelter to serve the food. The volunteers incorporated themes in order to make the experience more enjoyable for the families, including Mexican and Italian dishes and even a barbecue when the weather permitted.

Last year, the annual Kids Konnection food drive was held at the CCC on November 13th.  Kids Konnection is a non-profit organization that combines aspects of ministry to reach children in housing projects in Washington, DC and has been in existence since 1987.  Each year for almost a decade, the CCC has participated, along with other churches in the region, in this ministry’s food drive campaign for the Thanksgiving Holiday.  The purpose of the food drive is to collect items that are traditionally eaten at Thanksgiving dinner and provide these to the families of children which the ministry regularly serves.  The CCC family has been faithfully filling the Kids Konnection truck with bags of groceries year after year to help ensure that our neighbors across the Potomac River are shown the love of God.  Members of the Church have also driven to Washington, DC to help deliver the collected items and donated turkeys. CCC also prayed with the families.

The CCC Spanish congregation also hosted “Turkey Sunday” on November 20th, 2011 in an effort to bless the Hispanic families in the local area.  The goal of Pastor Wilson Martinez, the leader of the congregation, was to provide turkeys and gift cards to 200 families attending the service.  Members of the Church donated funds to purchase these items from a local grocery store and they were distributed to the families attending the “Turkey Sunday” service. 

The CCC congregation also takes care of its own. “Helping Hands” is a ministry which provides gifts to the children of the Churches single parents during the holiday season.  The “Helping Hands” campaign was established seven years ago and each year the members of the Church have graciously donated all the funds to supply each child with their own gift.  The ministry also hosts a luncheon for the children and parents which is a great way to fellowship with other single parents in the church congregation.

In Mark 14:7 Jesus said, “You will always have the poor among you and you can help them whenever you want. But you will not always have me.”  So we know that it is partially the responsibility of the Church to take care of the poor and needy.  Therefore, the fellowship of believers at the CCC will continue to help whomever Jesus provides us with the opportunity to serve and bless, near or far.

Capital Community Church http://www.capitalcommunity.org is located at 20430 Ashburn Village Boulevard Ashburn, Virginia. The CCC leadership consists of Senior Pastor Chester Mitchell and First Lady Marion Mitchell, along with Pastors Stephen O’Donnell, Anthony Francis, Terrence Bridges, Wilson Martinez, Jeff Walthall and Jon-Paul Bellamy.

Capitol Community Church Hispanic Service Pastor Wilson Martinez and Church Member Avonelle Dangler attend Turkey Sunday on November 20, 2011. The Church Spanish congregation hosted “Turkey Sunday” in an effort to bless the Hispanic families in the local area.  The goal of Pastor Wilson Martinez, the leader of the congregation, was to provide turkeys and gift cards to 200 families attending the service. Photo is courtesy/ Samantha Francis.

The assembly hosts three services on Sundays at 9:00 AM, 11:15 AM and a Spanish speaking service at 4:00 PM.

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By: Marilyn Heigl
Advancement Director
1st Choice Women’s Health Center
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http://www.knowmychoices.com.

“I think I’m pregnant and I haven’t told my parents or my boyfriend yet.  I’m scared.  Can you help me?”  These words and similar sentiments are what the 1st Choice Women’s Health Center’s helpliners hear every day.  This pregnancy resource center, conveniently located near INOVA Loudoun Hospital in Lansdowne, VA, exists to provide information, alleviate fears and offer a safe environment for women faced with unplanned pregnancies.  The women who come to the center receive free services to help them navigate this difficult road.

In the last three years alone, over 800 women have passed through the doors at 1st Choice Women’s Health Center (1st Choice WHC) and received the caring and compassionate help that they were seeking.  The staff and volunteers maintain an open, friendly and professional atmosphere and are told time and again by the women (and men) who come to the center that it is a warm and welcoming place.  That is and always has been one of the goals of the board, staff and volunteers who manage and operate the only medical, non-profit, pregnancy resource center in Loudoun County.

1st Choice WHC is celebrating its 18th year helping women and their families.  Its beginnings were much less grand.  In 1992, a group of ten people began meeting and praying about the need for a pregnancy resource center in Loudoun County.  After two years and much prayer, that small group of local citizens opened the center’s doors in an upstairs office in Leesburg under the name of Life Line, Inc.  It was a small, cozy office and they were able to offer free pregnancy tests, peer counseling and material needs to women in challenging situations.  The mission was then as it is now:  to empower women and men to make informed choices about the sanctity of human life, faith in Jesus Christ and sexual integrity and health.

A few years later, the group saw a move to a larger office space across the street.  This location was also less than ideal, but regardless of the environment, women’s hearts were being changed and their babies were given a chance at life. 

Once pregnancy tests could be purchased in drug stores, it became apparent that the center’s services needed to expand.  They dared to dream big and asked God for the much needed ultrasound.  Initially, this seemed like an impossible hurdle, but in 2005 by God’s grace and the help from some local benefactors, the ultrasound machine was purchased and two sonography-trained nurses were added to the staff. The center was able to offer a whole new way of meeting the needs of women and their families, and the name changed to 1st Choice WHC.  This addition turned out to be an amazing, life saving change. Once a mother could actually see the life within her, the number of women who chose to carry their babies rose dramatically. 

Today, things have changed a lot from those early days of the center’s humble beginnings, but the integrity of the mission is the same.  All of the services offered are free of charge, including the limited obstetrical ultrasound exams.  Limited STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection) testing has been added and currently is being reviewed for possible expansion to include testing for even more sexually transmitted diseases/infections. 

1st Choice WHC still offers pregnancy tests, peer options counseling and Earn While You Learn training programs, including the popular “Mommy Store” for material needs of the women who participate in the program.  Additionally, they offer a Sexual Integrity Education program for the community youth and young adults and an After-Abortion Recovery and Care program for women who have had an abortion and are struggling with that decision.  As always, confidentiality in all areas of the center is paramount. 

Women’s hearts and lives are being changed on a daily basis through the work at 1st Choice Women’s Health Center and women often return to tell their stories of how their lives were positively impacted.  The following is Katherine’s story about her daughter Kelly, which is shared with her permission.

“Last October, after a positive pregnancy test, our daughter, Kelly, ended up at 1st Choice.  As the months went by, she would speak of the women at 1st Choice and the great mentoring she received.  We could see her relief and excitement as her fears of the many obstacles facing her were alleviated.

On May 20, our grandson was born and Kelly moved home with us for a year.  I never thought our college-educated daughter would ever be going down this path.  As an unwed mother, there are still so many things to work out with her job and how the baby’s father will fit into all of this, but we are so grateful for how things are turning out.

Please accept our deepest gratitude for being there for Kelly during her pregnancy.  You gave her courage to continue through the more difficult weeks. I hope you will continue to encourage young women to choose life when faced with the same situation that our Kelly faced.” 

Angie’s story is yet another testimony of the life-affirming work being done through 1st Choice WHC.

“I am a single mom, currently going through a rough time.  When I came to 1st Choice, I was very nervous and unsure of what I was going to do.

The sonogram was amazing!  It was my first look at my son and was so meaningful to me.
My advocate was so helpful and kept checking on me throughout my pregnancy.  That meant a lot, and I knew I wasn’t alone.

1st Choice provides a great service to women.  They affirmed my decision to have my son, which I might not have been able to do without them.”

Many of the women who come to the center have been referred by county agencies and with the verification of pregnancy from 1st Choice WHC, they can obtain ongoing medical assistance that they otherwise may not have been qualified to receive.  As it reaches its 18th year, 1st Choice WHC steadfastly continues to reach out and help women and their families in Loudoun County and the communities beyond.

1st Choice WHC stays very busy and can use more volunteers who are like-minded and desire to make a difference in women’s lives.  They have many and varied volunteer opportunities, and they love to welcome new folks to their team.  They are open three days a week:  Monday, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm; Tuesday, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm; and Thursday, 1:00 – 7:00 pm.  For the patient helpline call 703-729-1123 (answered 24/7); if interested in volunteering or for all other purposes call 703-729-1124.

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The popular “Mommy Store” is one of the favorite places at 1st Choice WHC.  This is where the moms who choose to carry and parent their babies may shop with the pretend money they earn through the Earn While You Learn program (EWYL).  In the EWYL program, women meet on a regular basis with a mentor and learn through a variety of educational classes including segments on childbirth, parenting, life skills, healthy relationships, and others.  The “Mommy Store” is filled to overflowing with new or “like new” merchandise and is stocked entirely by donations from local churches and individuals.  The moms are truly blessed by receiving these much needed items for their babies and themselves.