In Japan in 1997, an international coalition of like-minded organizations formed to “inspire individuals towards greater kindness by connecting nations to create a kinder world.” This coalition, the World Kindness Movement, introduced World Kindness Day on November 13 of the following year. As this year’s World Kindness Day approaches, we wanted to remind you that every act of kindness has a ripple effect that expands much larger than the initial deed. How will you start a ripple this year?

For the past few years, we have spent the season of Advent traveling together around the world, experiencing Christmas traditions in different countries. This year, we’d like to travel around our own corner of the world and share traditions from the Desert Mission community – and your family tradition could be one of them!

Next week we celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the chartering of Desert Mission! In preparation for this monumental occasion, we’d like to invite you to take a look back at the last 20 years…and a look forward into the next 20. And then, let’s make some art together!

The skies are full of wonder! Last week, the Northern Lights were visible in many parts of the U.S. And a few weeks before that, the Earth gained a temporary “mini moon” – an asteroid that has been pulled into Earth’s orbit and will remain there until the end of November. This week, rediscover the wonders above us!

We are transitioning towards a paperless volunteer sign-up process! We are not paperless YET, but we now have an online sign-up option and would like to encourage everyone to try it out. During the service today, we walked you through the process and shared a QR code for the online sign-up form. Flyers with the QR code on them are posted around the church. The link that goes with that QR code will be shared in this week’s newsletter and posted right here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4DABAA2CA2FACE9-51844794-were