Mission Memo for June 2007

GLOBAL MISSIONS CONFERENCE

GOT MISSION!!

UPDATE ON BECCA YOUNG

OCTOBER MISSION CHALLENGE:

REPORT FROM CAMP GRIER:

NICKEL A MEAL REPORT:

2007 PEACEMAKING OFFERING – OCTOBER 7 (World Communion Sunday)

...Our (ministry’s) best work is with the five or six men and women per year who are looking for a long-term serious relationship with a mentor. Most of them are desperate. They are facing the prospect of leaving prison without money, clothing, a place to live or food to eat. Through the Reentry Life Plan class we assess their needs and help them to set goals for meeting those needs prior to release. Upon their release we then assist by making their paths as straight and level as possible while they proceed to accomplish those goals. Once the basic needs are met, we encourage and assist them with finding a church where they feel welcomed, supported and fulfilled...

Until recently Buncombe County Prison Ministry has been funded entirely by our volunteers. This becomes a serious issue when shelter cannot be arranged… Your donation provides us with the confidence that we will be able to provide shelter and other basic needs in emergency situations…

One female inmate came to us about a year ago. She was a few weeks from being released and felt she could not return to her hometown and the friends and family who had contributed to the cause of her incarceration. She obviously, and admittedly, needed a mentor and a strong support group. We arranged for her to stay with a husband and wife mentor team. Food and shelter were taken care of by the mentors; our ministry assisted with clothing and obtaining employment. After five months she was sufficiently confident in herself and financially able to obtain an apartment of her own. At present she is still living in her apartment, is an assistant manager of a fast food restaurant, and will be attending day classes at AB Tech in the spring. We remain in contact with her weekly and occasionally have lunch together. Recently on such an occasion and in anticipation of writing this letter, I asked her if she was a success story. After a long pause she began to cry. She said: “I think so. I’m not perfect but I’m OK. I’ve stumbled a couple times. When I did it hurt me to know that I was disappointing you guys. I used to be a “meth” addict, you know. There is only a 6% recovery rate for “meth” addicts. In the past I only cared about the drugs. I didn’t care who I hurt because I didn’t feel like anybody cared about me. Now I know I’m special (in God’s eyes) and you care about me and will be there if I need you.” My wife, who now was in tears as well, and I took advantage of this opportunity to instruction. We spoke of God’s love, repentance and forgiveness, our conscience and the Holy Spirit, faith and recognizing that she’s a child of God and not a number and that her Father has plans to prosper her to give her hope and a future. In the end the tears had turned to laughter, we finished our meal and left with a commitment to be in contact with each other even more often than before...

CARING FOR CREATION HINTS:

At church: Recycle church bulletins. Have attractive baskets at the doors of the sanctuary and encourage people to leave bulletins there.
At home: Save water with powder detergents. With severe to extreme water conditions affecting parts of the U.S., as well as elsewhere, we’ve got to start thinking about our water footprint, not just our carbon footprint. There are numerous ways to save water. Here’s one simple way: switch from liquid to powder detergents. Laundry liquids are mostly water (up to 80%), with upcoming double and triple compact concentrates at best cutting that amount by half. It also costs energy and packaging to bring this water to the consumer. So save three ways by using powder detergents, and for dishwashing as well.

RESOURCES:
25 IDEAS AND ACTIVITIES: A neat “cheat sheet” that can be used in congregations. http://www.pcusa.org/pda/tools/25.htm

PDA LISTSERV: Receive email updates on how PDA is responding to disasters worldwide to share with your congregation. Go to http://www.pcusa.org/pda/rin.htm

ON NON-VIOLENCE: The Presbytery of Greater Atlanta has adopted a study and reflection paper on the question, “What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ in a violent world?” Download the paper, A Call for Conversation: Seeking Justice and Peace through Non-violence and Abolition of War, and the discussion guide at http://presbyteryofgreateratl.org/ministry_teams/outreach/outreach.htm. Scroll down to the Peacemaking Committee.

PRAYER CONCERNS:

REPORT FROM PRESBYTERIAN DISASTER ASSISTANCE:

Particularly hard hit were areas in the Northeast and Texas, where massive flooding and tornadoes caused at least 25 deaths and destroyed hundreds of homes. In the Northeast, four presbyteries were affected by flooding. The Rev. Lou Kilgore, pastor of Bound Brook Presbyterian Church in New Jersey, said "The very last case being handled from Hurricane Floyd (1999) was finally closed the Monday before the most recent storm hit." Bound Brook Presbyterian Church housed families that were evacuated due to flooding of their homes.

PDA is responding to tornadoes that struck the cities of Cactus and Tulia, Texas (in the Palo Duro Presbytery), and the tornado that struck Eagle Pass, Texas, in Mission Presbytery. In addition to providing One Great Hour of Sharing and disaster-designated funds, PDA is supporting the deployment of members of the PDA National Response Team to work with the affected presbyteries as requested.

MISSION VOLUNTEERS:

We’ve featured stories of members of PWNC churches that have done this in the past. Here is a report from Tony and Claire Fortune, who recently spent one week with a health program.

One in Spirit and Purpose (Philippians 2:2)
By Claire Fortune, Banner Elk Presbyterian Church

When the call went out from the PC (USA)’s office of National Health Ministries inviting volunteers to join in a week-long mobile health screening and education program in the New Orleans area, ten people responded. We literally came from the north, south, east, west and center of the United States -- from Indiana, Kentucky, Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan, Florida, Alabama, and California. Joined by one General Assembly employee and a van driver, our group of twelve converged at a small Presbyterian church which has made a commitment to host groups who come offering assistance in rebuilding homes and lives after Katrina’s indescribable damage.

We soon found that no matter where we were from, what age we were, or what our training and experience included, we were connected. These Presbyterians who had come together from all over the country-- people of diverse backgrounds and gifts-- had a single mission. We were committed to addressing and advocating for the health needs of people living in medically under-served areas. We were strengthened by this unity of spirit.

Each day we set up our movable clinic. At food banks, in churches, shelters, and missions we tested blood and distributed information. We listened, empathized, encouraged, laughed, reached out with warm hand-shakes and hugs. Our being there (in our bright blue Presbyterian Disaster Assistance shirts) not only showed our individual concern, but in a profound way said to some who may feel hopeless and forgotten, “You are God’s children, our brothers and sisters. The Church cares about you.”

Throughout the Gulf Coast and New Orleans areas, we witnessed local individuals, groups, and churches responding in thoughtful and compassionate ways to their neighbors’ needs-- sharing their church facilities to house work teams, setting up food banks, volunteering with building and yard work, offering transportation and expertise, extending their congregations’ outreach in new and creative ways to help those close at hand. A volunteer at a block party hosted by a small urban church said to me, “We’re working with people we wouldn’t even have been talking to two years ago.”

I’m aware that “pride” is not usually thought of as a Christian virtue. But as we joined the efforts of dozens of faith communities who are ministering in His name, I felt proud that one way our denomination is helping is through realizing and responding to health needs in a region where so many are deprived of this basic care. Thank you, PC(USA) National Health Ministries, for this opportunity.