Mission Memo for August 2006

Mission Action Opportunities

"HELPING HANDS" Work Day at Camp Grier: On Saturday April 29, everyone is invited to Camp Grier to do some spring housecleaning. We'll begin at 9 am and conclude between 3 and 4 pm. There will be all manner of jobs so just about anyone can participate...repairs, landscaping, painting, general clean-up. Register with the Presbytery office so lunch will be prepared for you; it would be helpful if churches registered, rather than individuals, giving a contact name, telephone number, e-mail address, and number of people participating. An e-mail will be sent to the contact with more details about the exact tasks at least a week before the 29th so folk come with the proper tools. See ya there!

Help with Supplies and Donations for Malawi trip: Help fill the "wish list" of medicines, medical supplies, and equipment the Presbytery team will be taking to Malawi, Africa on May 7. Donations are also appreciated to help to build the "Glenn Davis" duplex, that will provide much needed staff housing at Nkhoma Hospital. Donations can be sent to PWNC, designated "duplex." Contact Ginine if your youth, Mission Committee or other group in the congregation would like to make either of these a project. She can arrange for speakers and or materials.

Advocate for Guatemalans applying for visas: We need you to contact your US Representative and/or Senators on behalf of the ten Guatemalans from our partner presbyteries who will be applying for visas in the next couple of weeks. The US Consulate is extremely reluctant to grant visas so we need support from our elected officials in Washington DC. Ginnie can send you the names and other information about those applying. Please help. And pray that these brothers and sisters will be granted visas and come visit us. The representatives of the Presbyterian Women are slated to arrive April 20 and the church representatives on May 11.

Speak up for Dafur: Million Voices for Darfur Campaign. Over 150 faith-based, advocacy, and humanitarian aid organizations, have launched this campaign to raise awareness of the genocide taking place in Darfur and promote actions to end it. The goal is to generate one million hand-written and electronic postcards from Americans demanding a stronger, more effective U.S. response. Specifically, the campaign calls the U.S. government to support a stronger multinational force to protect the civilians of Darfur. http://www.millionvoicesfordarfur.org/

Send a team to the Gulf Coast: Ginnie Stevens or Billy Wilson can help you prepare to take a team. Contact our very own Mission Volunteers from Banner Elk Church, Tony and Claire Fortune at the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance call center to locate an open date and place. (866-732-6121) Or go on-line at www.pcusa.org/katrina

Join the Puentes De Cristo Mission Team: June 10-17: (Bob Blum and Carol Byrd, co-leaders; application deadline, March 24)

Energy Grants: The Peace and Justice Committee is offering small grants to help small churches make physical changes to their facilities in order to improve energy efficiency. (See Grant Request form.) There are instructions to help smaller churches do their own energy audits, and other materials to help all churches conserve and educate about energy issues. The high price of fuels makes this issue even more critical this year.

Use Eco-Palms to Lower the Impact of Your Holy Week Celebration

Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem was celebrated by jubilant waving of palm branches and is re-enacted each year in Christian churches around the world. Unfortunately for the communities in which those palms are harvested, palm fronds do not represent the same jubilation as they do for us. Typically, palm harvest is done in such a way that compromises the environment and contributes little to the local economy. Communities in Mexico and Guatemala are learning to turn palm harvest into a positive for the environment and for themselves, and you can help by buying Eco-Palms for your Easter Week celebration. Visit http://www.lwr.org/palms/ for more information and to order Eco-Palms.

Mission Prayer

New Mission Volunteer to Indonesia: Adrian Julian, III, member of Banner Elk Church, moved to Indonesia the beginning of February to teach English at Duta Wacana Christian University for up to six months. Please pray for him. (Prayer flyer available.)

Presbytery delegation going to Israel and Palestine on April 25. (Prayer flyer will be mailed in early March along with flyers for the teams going to Guatemala and Malawi.)

Guatemalans applying for visas.

Eliazar Asencio, son of Pastor Jose and Vilma Asencio, in Guatemala. Because he witnessed the murder of two people. there is fear for his life. We are helping move him to another community for a while.

Mission Personnel from PWNC: Ellen Dozier, Joe Dyer, John McCall, the Nagy, Dimmock, Gartrell, Hornsby and Wood's families, and Carrie Davenport, Young Adult Volunteer. All depend on our prayers for them.

Update on the LOTTERY: Schools Won't Get New Money

State budget officials are already planning to use revenue from the new lottery to replace current school funding. The NC Office of State Budget and Management put together a five-year budget forecast that uses lottery revenue to supplant general-fund money that currently goes toward class-size reduction and More-at-Four, the state's pre-kindergarten education program for poor and at-risk 4-year-olds.

Many school districts are crunching the numbers and discovering that lottery revenue won't even come close to covering the cost of essential school construction. Unfortunately, many voters are convinced the lottery will take care of all the state's education needs, so they may be less likely to vote for bond referendums to pay for new schools.

For more information: Ginnie Stevens at vestevens2@aol.com; 828-438-4217.