Live Healthy Challenge at First Presbyterian    

What is the Live Healthy Challenge?
Live Healthy Iowa has a track record of helping more than 169,000 people to get fit and shed 698,410 pounds over the past 10 years.*  The program encourages Iowans to form teams of up to 10 people who will work to lose weight and get fit by exercising for 100 days a year.  This year, the Health Ministry Team is organizing teams from First Presbyterian, starting on January 20 (you can still sign up after the program starts).  Registration is $20 a person, and HyVee is offering a $5 coupon that would reduce the fee to $15.  Participants get a training T-shirt, weekly motivational tips, an online personal tracking page with a daily journal and unlimited access to recipes, workouts, and health information.  You can find more information at www.livehealthyiowa.org.

How do I sign up?           
Each team will have a captain, who will collect the registration fees and register the team.  If you would like to be a team captain or member, you can sign up on Sundays or contact Mary Jo Keith, Parish Nurse  or Rhonda Barr, Health Ministry chair.  Scholarships are available through the Health Ministry Team.

Let’s get out and support each other in meeting our health and fitness goals.  Be well!

*Des Moines Register, Jan 12, 2011   

The recent publicized epidemic of suicides committed by teenagers who were victims of anti-gay bullying is shocking. Former PC(USA) Moderator, Bruce Reyes-Chow, has a short video on his website about his reactions.

Former Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow, "One dad's response to teen suicide" 

Dear Friends of PEB, 
Greetings from a wounded land --
Since I have landed back in Pakistan on July 30, 2010. I realize earth quakes, floods (hit by the worst flood since last 100 years), sectarian violence, targeted killings; suicide bombing and drone attacks today define Pakistan, a country which came into existence in 1947 through bloody partition of India and Pakistan. The literal meaning of Pakistan is a Land of Pure People and this land is continuously bleeding. Our country has no way to cope with the multiple crises, death has become the most abundant crop of this wounded land, and no one is even counting deaths.   
  
Our country needs a lot of personal sacrifices to tackle fundamentalism. It is marching forward to singularly tackle this menace, bravely, sacrificing its most precious of assets, the children of Pakistan. 
  
Political leaders, soldiers and ordinary people are sacrificing their lives and livelihoods against the fundamentalists. There is no limit on terrorism. Even the devastation wrought by the floods has not been enough to persuade the militants not to strike. They are targeting political leaders, innocent people. They are trying to paralyze normal life and cripple authorities. 
  
As the United Nations said, massive floods in Pakistan has affected 13.8 million people and need survival aid which is more of the devastating 2004 tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earth quake and the January 2010 Haiti earthquake, the death toll so far has reached over 1600 across country. 
  
In all of this, good things are also happening. None of the PEB School is directly affected by the floods. Few boarding house students of Christian Girls` High School, Sargodha living near Mianwali villages are being affected. We are gathering their data. 
  
PEB Schools have performed really well in the Secondary School Examinations conducted by the state. Our overall pass percentage have increased to 98%. More and more students of PEB are now being accepted in Forman Christian College and Kinnaird College.  The biggest challenge we are facing is to support them in higher education. Please pray for this challenge. 
  
Our Annual Teacher Training Program was as usual a success. Three Teacher Trainers from U.S.A under leadership of Caroline Ryan from Peachtree Atlanta Georgia came to Pakistan on July 9, 2010 and left on July 23, 2010. 57 teachers of PEB benefited through it. 
  
Another good thing is we are having some breakthrough in our struggle regarding C.T.I. property, Rang Mahal School and some other properties.    
  
Please remember us in your prayers. Together we'll make a better Pakistan and a better world. 
  
Peace and Prayers -- Veeda

Elders Steve Schomberg and Lara Marsh are representing the Presbytery of East Iowa at this year's national General Assembly conference in Minneapolis. The General Assembly website has live coverage you can watch anytime. Check out this link:

http://ga219.pcusa.org/