attached message from fr michael ume, st bernard bellflower (march '16)...so I have a lot of heritage in the Bellflower area..as my grandfather came to the area in 1936 and started valley Christian schools and led as pastor at one of the local Christian Reformed churches back when bellflower was mostly dairy farmland, and lots of Dutch-Americans were settling in the area...and my grandfather was bi-lingual Dutch & English and helped the new Dutch settlers... [later, most of the dairy farmers moved to the Ontario area]... and my Christian Reformed Dutch brothers and sisters still live in the area and there's still a strong, thriving CRC community here...but I also am strongly active in the catholic church and attend st Bernard somewhwat regularly now. .. and I noticed Fr. Ume is from Africa...he speaks English but has an African dialect...not sure which country he is from exactly, but he is a hearty, friendly pastor and doesn't seem supercillious towards the congregation.. let us pray for him so far from home...maybe sometimes he misses his family and where he came from..we pray for his family back in africa...and his friends et al.. God bless Fr. Ume. We pray for the HOly Spirit to continue to convict and lead him, and we pray for the congregation to continue to grow in Christ and be a welcoming church...many of the members or attendees or local latinos...we pray for the latino community in bellflower as well.. be inspired, be unique, do something GREAT !
