| It's still a
little early for a "full report," but I know I can
safely say that for the eighth straight year I've
walked away from our annual Sharing Banquet more encouraged
than I was when the evening began.
Although it
was disappointing that Representative John Boehner
couldn't make it due to the budget impasse in Washington,
Steve Camp helped blow away the clouds of gray in
short order with his gift of music and encouraging
words.
440 people were
present to hear Steve do four songs, including the
Keith Green classic "Asleep in the Light." He followed
up his first set of songs with an exhortation that
challenged everyone there to be pro-actively pro-life:
sharing God's love through his son Jesus directly
with the women who think that abortion can be an
answer to their problem pregnancy.
"Liaison" (Sharon
Chaney, Angie Stoner and Andrea Schoyer), along
with Dr. Jeff Kephart on piano, provided the prelude
music. Testimony from past clients came this year
via a new video that was a project of the heart
done by Bob Wolfe of Eastpoint Communications in
Fairborn. It shared thoughts and comments from three
teen birth mothers (two of whom placed their babies
for adoption), one of the girls' set of adoptive
parents, and the mother of one of the girls who
lived at Harbor House. Emcee for the banquet for
the second year running was Jennifer Stache (Turning
Point) of TV-44 in Lima.
Over $9,300
was donated to HH/EPS the night of the banquet and
over $3,400 was pledged for the future. 83 corporate
underwriters helped sponsor the banquet this year
to the tune of $12,236, which fell only slightly
short of total expenses for the evening. In addition
to financial support, nearly 100 individuals/couples
volunteered to pray regularly and around 40 pledge
cards came back to us with names of people who wanted
to help out in other ways.
We are grateful
to everyone who helped out to make the Sharing Banquet
a success. There's not enough space in this little
one-page letter to commend everyone involved, so
please make sure to look for and read the complete
wrap-up next month.
Grace,
Doug Eberle
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