Emma Lazarus died of cancer in 1887. You may not know who she is but at least a part of a poem she wrote will be familiar to you. Lazarus wrote “The New Colossus” as a fund raising effort for the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. In 1903 a plaque of this sonnet was placed on the inner walls of the pedestal.

The part of the sonnet that is most familiar goes like this. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore; Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” continue

© 2006-2008 Zanesville United Brethren Church

I know it is a lousy title but that’s what we call every February. It is a time when we focus on the different ministries we support outside of our local area. Missions Month sounds very dated but until someone gives me a better title that’s what we’ll stick with.


In Acts 1:8 Jesus tells his disciples that they are to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. I can’t imagine what the disciples must have felt like at hearing that. I know I would have turned around to look at who He was talking to. He couldn’t have meant them could he? Surely he was talking about His grand plan for the world and what He really meant was that the disciples would start right there in Jerusalem, and the next generation would spread out into Judea and Samaria, and then maybe several generations later they would eventually get to the ends of the earth, didn’t He? Apparently the disciples took Him seriously as it appears they traveled extensively to be His witnesses. continue

© 2006-2008 Zanesville United Brethren Church