Fort Scott Presbyterian Village
SEPTEMBER 2022
Editor’s Note: In a nod to our Presbyterian heritage, we regularly feature a column from a PMMA® chaplain in our newsletter. This month’s column comes from Dinah Dutta, chaplain at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor®.
Knitted together By Chaplain Dinah Dutta
Faith plays a vital role for new resident For Joanna Woody, faith has always been a central part of her life.
The churches I serve as a pastor Dinah Dutta make quilts that we send to Lutheran World Federation. They are distributed all over the world.
While living with her family over in Schwartz, Missouri, for more than 50 years Joanna built a life that focused on God and her church. “My husband wasn’t a Christian when we got married,” she said. “I prayed for him for several years, and he got saved. One day one of the neighbors came and asked if we’d start the little country church up again. We thought about it, and prayed about it, and we decided we’d help.” This photo was from one of Joanna's Joanna played the piano, having taken lessons when she was younger. Jim led the singing.
I have several friends who like to knit. They create beautiful things through knitting.
favorite dates with Jim, before they were married. A photo booth was on a sidewalk in Nevada and they had fun getting this photo taken.
“It was one of the best experiences we ever had,” she said. Throughout the years, her children learned how to play various instruments, and they, too, helped with the church music program. Even years later, after the children had moved mainly to other areas, they’d often return to share their talents and faith. “We had a lot of children in the area, lots of kids got saved and the church grew,” Joanna said. “We had a lot of evangelists come through, too. It used to be a pretty lively town at one time. We used to play movies out in the Faith – continued on page 2
Quilting requires choosing a fabric, cutting, piecing it together, and finally stitching and tying the quilt. I always wanted to learn to quilt. I could not find the time to meet groups when they met. Finally, I asked my church members who quilt, if they could give me a quilt to take home so that I can tie it. The quilting group from my church let me do that. I have to make marks on the fabric to tie the knots, slowly, carefully, I tie each knot. I learned patience and perseverance are very important to tying the knots. Well, where am I going with this? As I continue to struggle to understand the situation we are facing in the country, we call America the Beautiful, the image of a quilt or a knitted, crocheted product comes to
Knitted together continued on page 4
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