Tiona United Methodist Church, Six Mile Rd., Tiona, will host a spaghetti dinner from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, to support Ron, Bonnie and Ryan Hipwell in their missionary endeavors. The missions committee at the Clarendon Trinity and Tiona United Methodist churches (and Tiona United Methodist women's group) have actively supported the Hipwells for the past four years.

The Hipwells recently finished another year at the John Wesley Methodist Seminary in Monterrey, Mexico, and graduated the group of students that arrived when they did four years ago.

"It was a day of mixed emotions as we celebrated the joy of having been with them for four years and then sent them off to the ministries they have been preparing for," said Ron Hipwell. "It has been amazing to see how God has been working in their lives and we anticipate what He will do. I also had the privilege of being chosen by the graduates to serve as the class "padrino" or sponsor of ... graduation.

"We are having the greatest opportunities and effectiveness in Mexico at a time when we face our greatest challenges," Ron continued. "We are now able to communicate with more liberty because of the language acquisition of our four years in Mexico. We better understand the culture and how to teach adequately (or hopefully well) in it. We are having more invitations to and seeing more results in local churches we visit for preaching and teaching. Our relationships within the seminary and beyond are deepening, and the ways of reaching our students and others are therefore increasing. We fully believe we are supposed to be here and to continue. We have been asked by the bishop in Monterrey and also by the seminary director and academic dean to remain if possible."

Donations for the Hipwells will be accepted at the dinner.