It was one of the largest snowfalls in Winnipeg in
40 years. In the churchyard of Crescent Fort Rouge United Church, four of the
six Raza children played with a senior woman, Anita. The Razas are a Muslim
family who sought sanctuary at our church in August. At times it has seemed
safe to allow the children to leave the sanctuary of the church for supervised
play outside. Anita is a member of the neighbouring Christian Science Church
and works regularly with three-year-old Massam. Together the five were making
snow people and snow huts, squealing with joy as they frolicked in the deep
snow.
Islam, Christian
Science, and United Church playing together in a thick blanket of snow—what a
sight, what simplicity and complexity. Children and a grandmother figure
enjoying the snow is a very simple thing. Four Muslim children, freed for a few
moments from the benevolent prison of a United Church under the loving care of
a member of the Christian Science faith adds great complexity.
Part of the
mission of Crescent Fort Rouge is to welcome this family so they can avoid
deportation. Part of the mission is to work to convince the Government of
Canada to grant them leave to stay. Part of the mission of the church is to
seek support from the wider community. Part of their mission is to look outward
to others through strong support of the Mission
and Service Fund, contributing over $30,000 while supporting the Razas.
Crescent Fort Rouge lives their faith in many ways.
The young man was filled with remorse and a sense of
worthlessness. Sitting in the circle of a KAIROS Marathon, an innovative
program for offenders, he is given an opportunity to share his
story. Volunteers and inmates listen with care. Together they seek truth,
share pain, and help him reconcile with himself, others, and God. The circle is
a group spiritual process offered by the Christian Council for Reconciliation
at the Springhill Institution in Nova Scotia.
Later the young
man continues toward healing and hope at St. Luke’s Renewal Centre, a retreat
centre on the grounds of the Springhill Institution, built and staffed by the
council. He is welcomed into a retreat of silence and peace where he can
leave the negativity of the prison behind. Here, with others, he can name
his pain, weep for the grief he has caused, seek the image of God within,
and find the strength to begin anew.
The council also
offers strength to the family members of inmates. A young woman makes a
five-hour drive with three children under age seven. Her situation is even more
difficult because her partner is incarcerated and she is trying to make it on
her own. There is not a lot of money left for even phone calls, let alone
for visits to the prison. Finally arriving in Springhill, exhausted and
worried, she finds a warm welcome at Springhouse. In the homey kitchen the
anxiety of the journey begins to lessen and warmth fills her heart.
Your gifts to
the Mission and Service Fund enable
the Christian Council for Reconciliation to continue its ministry of
supporting, nurturing, and engaging inmates and their families in the journey
of reconciliation.
News Clipping: International
Community Urges Democracy
Since the
December 2006 coup in Fiji, the international community has been urging the
return of democracy and free speech.
Didn’t Make the Papers: A young family in one of Fiji’s squatter
settlements lives in a 10-by-14-foot home. It cost them $200 and is located on
unserviced government land in a poorly drained low area, surrounded by polluted
and marshy water. The family’s health will suffer in this location and because
they are squatters they can be forced off the land at any time.
Father Barr is a
coordinator at ECREA (say eck cree ah),
which stands for the Ecumenical Centre for Research, Education & Advocacy.
“Democracy and free speech make the headlines,” he says. “But what about the
other human rights? What about the right to clean water? The right to a decent
education and freedom from exploitation?”
The United
Church’s Mission and Service Fund
supports the work of Father Barr and others in ECREA to address the roots of the
problem. His Economic Justice Program is trying to get the government and
international funding bodies to give squatter communities a say in the
decisions that affect them. ECREA strives for the kind of democracy in which
the voices of the poor and the marginalized are heard.
Our gifts to M&S help maintain ECREA’s ongoing
effort for human rights.
First there was the construction job injury that caused
Andrew to lose his job; then Andrew found himself living on the street in
Toronto.
Luckily, Andrew
found the Fred Victor Centre. Their permanent housing became his new home and
in their Friends Restaurant Andrew learned cooking and prep work. Soon after,
he met a new partner and they began a family. Though life was good for a time,
Andrew’s joy was short-lived. He was heartbroken when his partner suffered
health problems and their two children were taken into custody. With no income,
shared housing, and disappearing hope, Andrew feared he would lose his family.
However, with
unflagging determination and help from Fred Victor Centre staff, Andrew found a
two-bedroom apartment, attended parenting classes, arranged appropriate
daycare, and presented a positive case for bringing the children home. “I am
blessed,” he says, “to have the privilege of bringing up my children. Even in
the winter I try to ride my bike whenever I can to save money. I want to
provide for them.”
Speaking from
his job in the kitchen of Friends Restaurant, Andrew knows that the Fred Victor
Centre helped him get back on his feet. “I can give my kids a wonderful future
and the opportunities they deserve. I hope sharing my experience can help
others.”
Our Mission and Service Fund supports the
Fred Victor Centre in their vital work. Please give generously.
As we follow Jesus in a Lenten journey to the cross and
Easter, sometimes we need to withdraw from the world for contemplation and
devotion and sometimes we need to participate faithfully in our relationships
and engage society. Tom Sherwood, chaplain at Carleton University, offers this
reflection for Lent:
Let us...
fast from worry,
and feast on trust in God,
fast from complaining,
and feast on appreciation,
fast from negatives,
and feast on affirmatives.
Let us...
fast from emphasis on differences, and feast on the unity of life,
fast from hostility,
and feast on tenderness,
fast from anger,
and feast on empathy.
Let us...
fast from judging others, and feast on the image of God within them,
fast from words that pollute,
and feast on phrases that heal,
fast from idle gossip,
and feast on purposeful silence.
Let us...
fast from self-concern, and feast
on compassion for others,
fast from discontent,
and feast on gratitude,
fast from bitterness,
and feast on forgiveness.
Let us...
fast from facts that depress,
and feast on examples that inspire,
fast from discouragement,
and feast on hope,
fast from anxiety,
and feast on prayer.
Your Lenten
gifts to the Mission and Service Fund
are both fast and feast. Please give thoughtfully and joyfully.
To United Church Congregations and
M&S Supporters:
Greetings from
the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) in Geneva, Switzerland.
The other day I
heard another of the heart-wrenching stories that have become all too common in
our daily lives: a nurse returned from a busy day of meetings to find her grown
daughter stabbed to death in her home. It was one more incident in the litany
of acts of violence against women. This story happened to come out of Africa
but it could just as easily have taken place here in Switzerland or in Canada.
Violence against women is worsening and it knows no boundaries.
That is why
WARC’s Office for Church Renewal, Justice and Partnership focuses so much of
its attention on violence against women, gender injustice, and their underlying
causes. We call for a revival of women’s activism and resistance movements both
locally and globally—a dialogue of women from all parts of the world and
including all classes, races, nationalities, and religions. We must have eyes
for the larger picture, addressing not only our specific needs but also the
larger global struggles.
WARC speaks out
for women to take an equal place in the world church and offers scholarships
for women in the South. Your support for the Mission and Service Fund helps make WARC’s voice loud and clear on
these critical justice issues.
Thank you for
caring and giving,
John Asling
United Church personnel
serving as Executive Secretary for Communications, WARC
This might sound
like a make-believe story, but it isn’t. It is about a United Church
Canadian partner called Bissell Centre. When we give money to the Mission and Service Fund we make
stories like this come true.
There was once a
mom named Donna. She was a single mom and she had twin baby girls. She had just
moved to Edmonton, Alberta, and didn’t have many friends or family members to
help her. Donna discovered the Early Childhood Centre at Bissell and took her
babies there for daycare two half-days a week. On one of the two days Donna
went to the Bissell parenting class where she met other mothers like herself.
On the other half-day she went home and read books. She said, “Now that I get
some time for myself, I can be a better mom.”
In the summers Donna
went on Bissell outings with other families and had a wonderful week-long
family holiday at Bissell’s Moonlight Bay Centre. At Christmas her twins went
to the family Christmas party and received gifts from Santa.
Donna worked
hard to make their life better. She moved into co-op housing and got furniture
for her apartment from Bissell’s store. She got a job in a garden nursery for
the summer months and a job in a grocery store during the winter. Donna always
found time to help out at Bissell’s special events with her girls and she
brought gifts for many children, just as other people had brought treats for
her girls.
The girls are
grown up now. They are graduating with honours this year from a bilingual
program, and they volunteer every summer at Moonlight Bay as Leaders in
Training. Some of our M&S gifts
go to the Bissell Centre and help people like Donna and her girls make good
lives for themselves and become able to give back that help to others.
Almost every Thursday for eight months I made my way to a
small cluster of buildings hidden behind a cement-block fence in a slum area of
Gaborone (say cah BAA raw nay),
Botswana, known as Old Naledi (star). I have been working at the Tsholofelong
(say sho loff eh long) Recovery
Program for Street Children as part of my internship with the Botswana Council
of Churches (BCC). It is one of the outreach projects of the BCC, and a
recipient of United Church of Canada M&S
monies.
In Old Naledi
visible poverty, a high unemployment rate, and little education have led to a
sense of hopelessness among those who live there. This hopelessness has
manifested in alcoholism, teen pregnancy, a high rate of HIV/AIDS, TB, orphans,
vulnerable children, and kids living on the streets.
In March 2007, I
went with two staff members—Emmanuel and Bishop—to the clinic to meet a former
participant in the program. She suffered from a strain of TB particular to
those who are HIV-positive. We three went to the clinic to make certain she was
admitted and that she wasn’t alone.
In April 2007,
Emmanuel went to meet with the family of this same young woman, who had died
the night before. Though she was no longer a “client” Emmanuel was going to
help with funeral preparations, arrange for a Moruti (minister) to preside, and provide some of the food they
would need after the service. The cook at Tsholofelong and the youths who
reside there all helped with the cooking and setting up.
This program is
not merely a project, but an intimate part of the community in which it is
located. Through your gifts to M&S,
you too walk the streets of Old Naledi to get to the Tsholofelong Recovery
Program for Street Children. You also support overseas personnel like Debra
McGill, who shares this story.
This is a story about how the Mission and Service Fund is helping people who have very difficult lives.
About six years
ago a country called East Timor separated from the country of Indonesia. Since
then there have been problems with the government, fighting, and crime.
Thousands of people are leaving the city looking for safe places in the
countryside. Families have to live crowded together in tent camps. Not only is
it hard to get tents and food for all the people in these camps, but the
children are also missing out on their education and everyone suffers from
being worried and sad all the time. To make things worse, in May 2006 a huge
fight broke out between two warring groups in the capital city, Dili, and now
many people live in fear and danger.
The United
Church is partners with an organization in East Timor called Yasona (say ya sewn ah). Yasona receives money from
our Mission and Service Fund. A
group of women from the island of Atauro (say a tore oh) came to Yasona with an idea for how to use the dolls
they made for a living. Yasona introduced the women to organizations that could
use the dolls as a part of trauma counselling for the people living in the tent
camps. The children loved the brightly coloured cloth dolls and playing with
the dolls helped them talk about what they were going through. The
organizations also bought many dolls as Christmas presents for the children.
With Yasona’s help, 300 dolls were ordered and delivered to little boys and
girls.
United Church
partner Yasona looks at all the problems that happened because of the May 2006
crisis. They are happy with the success of the doll project because it helped
the women’s group from Atauro make money for their families, while also helping
the children in the tent camps deal with their traumatic situation. This is one
way our M&S Fund gifts are at
work far away.
Dear Friends,
When I was
referred to Bethlehem Projects of Niagara, I was homeless and in crisis!
My separation
had put me in a situation of poverty and homelessness. My daughter and I had
lost our home—the only one she knew. Emotionally, I had hit rock bottom and the
supportive services of Bethlehem Projects arrived just in time.
Through weekly
meetings with support staff as well as life skills and group sessions, I
realized that I had become a hurt, angry, scared, and spiritless woman.
Bethlehem Projects helped me to create a better life for my daughter and me. I
joined a self-employment program and my hobby of painting glasses has now
become my business.
I know that
Bethlehem Projects relies on fundraising and donations. I plan to give some of
my sales income back to Bethlehem Projects because I know first-hand how difficult
it is for single women and their children to make ends meet. Bethlehem Projects
helps hundreds of other families in Hamilton Conference each year to rebuild
their lives.
With the
continued support of the Mission and
Service Fund of The United Church of Canada, I believe that together we can
help break the cycle of poverty, abuse, and despair.
Thank you all,
Andie
Gary MacDonald is
a teacher who works with a United Church partner in China. He wrote a letter to
us:
Dear Friends,
One
morning when I first came to China I was in the vegetable market picking
through a pile of cabbage. Suddenly a hand reached out to me. I looked up and saw
the face of an old woman. She smiled and said, “Good morning, Christian
friend.” She had recognized me as the only white face in her church the
previous Sunday morning.
I
was uncomfortable. She had called me a Christian. I realized that I was a very
visible minority in that city of thousands, and that I was identified first as
a Christian. That meant that every time I walked down the street, stood in my
class, or even went to buy cabbage, people looked at me as a Christian.
I
had never been called a Christian before—a churchgoer maybe, but not a
Christian. For the first time in my life I understood what people expected of
me as a Christian. I should act fairly, show kindness, and walk humbly with
God, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. That day, in a vegetable market,
standing beside a pile of cabbage, I understood what my real job is here in
China.
Through the Mission and Service Fund we are the
face of Christ in the world. We are the hands of Jesus. Our M&S dollars let us send Gary
MacDonald to China and other overseas personnel to other countries. Please keep
on giving generously so that we can continue to be a Christian presence in the
world.
HyeRan and David Kim-Cragg are United Church personnel
with the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK). Much of their
ministry is education on the university campus, in church, in study groups, in
Christian academies, and at the kids’ public schools and playgrounds. Because
of their Canadian and United Church identity they are teaching others, learning
from others, and sharing what they learn with the church back home.
In a theology
study group at Hanshin University, they included theological reflections on
issues dear to the United Church. “We never imagined theological topics like
this,” one student declared. At a church Bible study in Seoul, women who knew
their Bible inside and out read stories from Lois Wilson’s book Miriam, Mary and Me and declared, “We
have never seen biblical women this way. This study has opened our eyes!”
The Kim-Cragg
children play a role in this ministry of education as well. Noah’s new friends
interact with a foreigner for the first time. Noah struggles to learn Korean
and to teach his classmates about a different place and people. The Korean
children are very curious about golden-haired Hannah and have learned there is
nothing scary about people who look different.
The Kim-Craggs
share ideas in South Korea about
such issues as HIV/AIDS, global economics, sexual identity, environmental
destruction, gender inequality, racism, and violence against women in the light
of the gospel. They write, “Thank you to the Mission and Service Fund for this opportunity to share the good
news and learn from others.”
You are doing
this work, too, with your gifts to
M&S.
(For two
readers)
One: Good
morning from Mannville-Minburn-Innisfree Pastoral Charge in Alberta. We’re a small rural charge and struggle to find
enough money and volunteers. For the past three years, we’ve received a Mission
Support Grant to help keep us going. Thank you for your help!
Two: We
got into the rut of thinking about what we didn’t have. Fewer people were
donating to the M&S Fund. We
thought we couldn’t afford to help others when we needed grant money just to
stay open.
One: Then
we got our first ever Mission and
Service Fund Enthusiast. She quickly educated herself, rolled up her
sleeves, and set to work.
Two: Did
she ever! She used M&S resources
to create a Lenten program for all ages. She used bulletin inserts, AVEL
videos, and Minutes for Mission to raise awareness about Mission and Service. We all took home Change the World tins to fill
with spare change. She put a dead branch in a pot and we watched it “bloom” as
she attached play money to represent the M&S
donations being received.
One: She
even organized Sunday lunches featuring food from places around the world that
receive M&S funds. The
decorations were poster displays made of materials from Mandate magazines.
Two: The
change tins came back with $606. Our M&S
envelope donors increased from five to 15 families. A bottle drive helped the
children learn about global mission and added another $452.
One: Cost
to the local coffers? Nothing. The gains? Immeasurable! We are more aware and
knowledgeable about United Church work. We have grown in faith and we made a
significant shift—from a “we are too poor to help anyone” attitude to “look
what we can do to help others!”
Both: Hallelujah! Christ has risen indeed!
In 1998 Emmanuel and St. Andrew’s United Churches realized that
there was a need for safe, affordable housing in North Bay. That seed blossomed
into a program called HOAP (Home Ownership Affordability Partnership).
One of the key
partners in this endeavour is the Community Housing Action Group (CHAG), an
ecumenical initiative supported by the Mission
and Service Fund. CHAG has given considerable leadership in this home
ownership program. Through your gifts to M&S
you take part in house building and home building in North Bay.
Angela and her
eight-year-old son, Aidan, were the proud owners of HOAP’s first home. An older
house in need of major renovation was purchased by HOAP and work began. Most of
the volunteer labour came from Canadian Forces Base North Bay. Within five
months Angela and Aidan had settled into their new home. Like all HOAP families
they have assumed the first mortgage and will be responsible for the upkeep.
They will be supported by practical seminars and volunteer mentoring for five
years. The HOAP partnership has plans to grow large enough to enable two or
three families a year to move into new homes.
Your M&S contributions are helping HOAP
bring hope to families in North Bay. Bravo!
Families are important! Here’s one way that the Mission and Service Fund supports
Canadian families through our partnership with St. Columba House.
Moms in the
low-income community of Point St. Charles in Montreal are like moms everywhere.
They value being able to walk to school with their children, have personal
contact with teachers, and help with school activities. Parents were upset when
the Montreal school board planned to close the only English-language elementary
school in Point St. Charles.
The parents of
the St. Columba House alternate preschool asked St. Columba for help. They
participated in sessions at St. Columba to discuss health, education, and
parental care issues, gaining confidence in making their views known when their
children’s welfare was at stake. They campaigned, spoke to the press, and
attended school board meetings. Ultimately they carried the day for their
children.
Did you know?
St. Columba House has a long history of empowering poor and marginalized people
to seek justice. Its programs include an after-school tutoring and recreation
program, a day program for intellectually challenged adults, a preschool
head-start program, a welfare rights program, and a lunch program that feeds
more than 100 community residents daily.
Did you know?
St. Columba House has been a community ministry of The United Church of Canada
for 80 years. Jesus’ call to bring good news to the poor continues to be honoured
at St. Columba House, thanks to your Mission
and Service Fund gifts.
A United Church partner said, “M&S funds are the best to receive because they don’t come with lots
of strings attached!” Sometimes people give gifts that impose new ideas,
thinking that these will be an improvement. In the United Church we work with
local partners so that our gifts honour traditions and do the most good.
Ajit Muricken is
the director of Vikas Adhyayan Kendra (VAK), a United Church partner in Mumbai,
India, which receives funding from the Mission
and Service Fund. Because of our going partnership with VAK we sent tsunami
gifts to this area as well as our regular M&S
funding. Ajit tells a story that illustrates how gifts with strings do not
always bring improvements:
I
travelled to tsunami-affected areas where the activities are progressing very
well. We met with coastal Indigenous groups who earned their livelihood selling
fish-carrying baskets made of palm leaf and other local materials. After the
tsunami, plastic baskets were introduced into the fishing communities as an
“improvement,” and the livelihood of the basket makers was severely affected.
On
my visit I learned that the traditional baskets made of local materials keep
fish fresh longer while plastic baskets make the fish decay faster. We
demonstrated this to the area fishermen, who agreed to go back to using only
baskets made of traditional materials. The campaign against the use of plastic
baskets resulted in success: several fishing communities have banned plastic.
There is lot to be learned from traditional wisdom.
VAK supports
groups in updating their skills in basket weaving and in learning to buy raw
materials in bulk to eliminate high costs and high interest rates on loans.
United Church partners like VAK work in a community-centred way to assist
people, encourage development, and preserve the environment. Your previous
gifts to the tsunami appeal and your ongoing gifts to the Mission and Service Fund make this happen.
I am Joan Carling of the Igorot people, or “people of the
mountain,” from northern Philippines. I work with the Cordillera Peoples
Alliance (CPA), established in 1984 to promote human rights, peace, and
sustainable development. CPA has been in partnership with The United Church of
Canada through the Mission and Service
Fund for more than a decade. Let me share some of the key challenges we
face in protecting our way of life.
Indigenous
peoples have always considered nature to be our source of life and identity. We
have an obligation to protect and sustain our natural environment for future
generations. Thus, we have earned the title of “original environmentalists.”
Our generation
has witnessed the all-too-familiar imposition of Western development. Like
Indigenous peoples in every corner of the world, we are being asked to
sacrifice our land and resources in the name of development and modernization.
The resulting hardships are many. I have to contend with bathing with only one
pail of water; I must fetch water every time we need it for cooking, washing,
and using the toilet. This is because much of the water supply where I live is
directed to hotels and golf courses for tourists. Our tap water is unsafe to
drink, so we need to buy mineral water or boil our drinking water for at least
an hour, an unnecessary use of energy. My experiences are shared by millions of
people, not because we lack water, but because our water is diverted or unsafe.
Please ask
Canadian mining companies to care for the environment wherever they mine. When
you take your warm shower, please remember my story and take some action to
conserve water. I also hope you continue to support the Mission and Service Fund of The United Church of Canada, for
through that fund my people’s concerns are given a voice.
Crossroads Pastoral Charge enjoys the best of two worlds—small
country churches surrounded by new subdivisions and new families.
Being small has
its advantages! We are game for anything and with fewer people activities don’t
take much planning. On a Sunday morning at St. James, the 27 of us there decide
it’s a perfect day for a congregational skating party. By 2:00 a couple of
squares have been cleared on Hatchet Lake, and more than 40 people are either
chasing one another on the ice or are gathered around a bonfire with hot
chocolate in hand.
Being near new
development has advantages, too. There’s lots of life, although never enough
money!
Trying to finish
an addition to the church, increase ministry to full-time, and lower our
request for M&S loans all at the
same time is a challenge we relish, and with the help of our presbytery and our
friends from across Canada, it’s happening. Recently we moved a house and added
it as a new wing at the side of our sanctuary. You wouldn’t believe how much
easier it is to get people to gather in a living room rather than in a cold,
concrete-floored basement! The addition also means we can now use the basement
to host the community food bank, which has been looking for a new home. A
visiting church official toured the new wing and pronounced it “odd, but good.”
That’s us! “Odd,
but good.” And while we wrestle with finding a balance between wild abandon and
reverence, between survival and mission, we are so thankful for our Mission and Service support grant from
the wider community of faith, which gives us the confidence to go boldly
forward.
May God bless
you who give your gifts so generously and joyfully; we are blessed and feel
joyful to receive them.
HyeRan Kim-Cragg is United Church overseas personnel in
Seoul, Korea. She works with children in a church Bible study. They use art and
music to learn English and to learn about the Bible and justice. They use our
United Church Voices United songbook
to learn global songs. For homework they look up the location, language, and
culture of many countries. Then they write letters to people they learn about.
They call the letters “love letters.”
Once they
learned a song from Zimbabwe and then sent paper roses to a group of women
there struggling for human rights. During Lent they talked about people who
suffer for the sake of the world. They read about the Rev. In Jung Yoon, a
minister from the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK) who was
living in a tree to protest the construction of a private golf course that
would destroy the top of a mountain. The kids eagerly wrote to him. “Aren’t you
cold?” they asked. “Aren’t you afraid of wild animals roaming at night?” “We
know why you are doing this—cutting the trees is bad.”
Another time
they learned a song from the Philippines and wrote a letter of support to
people in the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. Later, HyeRan heard
that at the moment when the church in the Philippines received the letters they
had just taken in a group of refugee families fleeing violence. How happy the
Filipino children were to receive those notes!
HyeRan and the
Korean children believe that God’s spirit is working in these love letters and
that they can be a channel of peace and justice. United Church materials and
friendships help their work. Mission and
Service Fund dollars make it happen. Thank you for your M&S gifts!
Thank you, Mission
and Service Fund supporters from Forest Hills United! We are excited about
our mission and growth and appreciate the help of our mission support grant.
Many times in
the early years of our development, that mission support grant meant a great
deal to our church. As a fledgling church our focus was attracting
congregational members and bringing them into the flock. That does not always
translate into financial solvency. We were located in a developing area of the
city, an area of new families with new homes and a desire to develop a
ministry. Over the years the church has matured and the need for mission support has decreased.
However, we have not reached the end of our road yet, and the continuing
support is still welcome.
We are making an
impact on the community through our outreach programs and our facility—we have
Guides, Sparks, Brownies, and Scouts; community activities; and UCW–catered
home-cooked meals for a variety of groups. We support the local food bank and
various group homes within the city. Mission support grants have enabled us to
grow as a congregation and to carry out the work that we are meant to do.
On Sundays our
minister reads a Minute for Mission so we hear the stories of other churches
and organizations that benefit from M&S
funds. These stories challenge us to use our mission support funds wisely and
to do our best to support M&S
with our gifts. Thank you for your generosity.
Mogomotsi (say mogo
MOT see) is 21 years old now, but he first came to the Tsholofelong (say sho loff eh long) Recovery Program for
Street Children when he was just a boy. His mother was unable to care for him,
so he and his brothers and sisters were raised by their grandmother in a
poverty-stricken area of Gaborone (say cah
BAA raw nay), Botswana. As the eldest boy, Mogomotsi has always been head
of this household and he continues to live in the two-room home with his entire
family.
The help
Mogomotsi received at the Recovery Program for Street Children kept him from
becoming a street child. Over the years, he received money for school fees,
uniforms and books, food, and counselling. He took their course in bricklaying
and learned to play the marimba. He plays in the Tsholofelong Marimba Band at
fundraisers and special occasions. He has finished his schooling and is a
talented artist whose crayon or pencil sketches and drawings decorate the walls
of the program’s office.
Mogomotsi has
epilepsy, a condition that affects him both physically and emotionally. He has
trouble regulating his seizure-prevention medicine. Sometimes Mogomotsi is
frustrated because he can’t find a full-time job, but he has never been
hopeless. He works at the program almost every day.
The program is
sponsored by the Botswana Christian Church, which receives funds from Mission and Service. Thanks to your M&S gifts, Mogomotsi went from
being a vulnerable child to being an involved young man. Your Mission and Service Fund gifts keep
children like Mogomotsi from being lost to the streets. Please give generously.
“Amazing Grace,” “A Mighty Fortress Is
Our God,” and “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” are hymns that have touched the
hearts and souls of faith seekers for generations. To be honest, they do not
reflect my understanding and experience of the Holy Spirit, and as a
second-generation music director I wrestle with that.
Our congregation
knows and loves the hymns they’ve grown up with. For a lot of our members,
nothing beats a service where the organ belts out those heritage hymns. Others,
like me, seek music that reflects the energy and enthusiasm of worship; the
filling up of the soul that happens when all sing together, sharing the
experience of filling the sanctuary with our voices. We want understandable
text using language we identify with, lyrics with modern messages that inspire
a congregation of young families, teens, and seniors ready to try something
new.
My prayers were
answered when I received a sampler of More
Voices and discovered the United Church’s new contemporary, global music
resource! This is current Christian music that fits with our theology.
In More Voices I find hymns for my
generation and the next. The melodies and lyrics speak to the soul and help
articulate our faith journey. More Voices
brings my congregation to life with singable tunes and meaningful poetry. Add a
few rhythm instruments and singers, young and not-so-old, are caught up in the
moment—clapping, swaying, singing, making music together.
Your
contributions to the Mission and Service
Fund make More Voices and other
worship resources possible—resources that breathe new life and energy into the
United Church and all its members! Let us worship and give together.
Visiting people at home, in hospitals and nursing homes,
in an office or by phone—this is parish nursing. Parish nurse ministry grew out
of a movement that recognizes the need to harmonize mind, body, and spirit. In
the holistic care model, it is not just patients who are cared for. In addition
to concern about their own condition, patients are often worried about a spouse
or a dependent child; parish nursing can help address those concerns.
Linda
Alldred-Johnson is a parish nurse at St. Matthew’s United Church, Richmond
Hill, Ontario. Besides visiting people, she may refer them for pastoral visits
by other St. Matthew’s staff. Linda serves any who seek help including people
living in a nearby housing complex. Linda’s work may involve aiding seniors in
the transition to a nursing home or identifying people in need and assisting
them in accessing services like homecare.
The congregation
has a spiritual role in parish nurse ministry. This can include visiting ailing
members as well as praying with them or taking them for a walk or a drive.
Linda works with a group of volunteers who alert her to people in need in the
congregation. To improve their own physical and spiritual health, the
congregation participated in a survey of health needs and values, and attended
various events promoting healthy lifestyle patterns.
Gifts from you
and me to the Mission and Service Fund
help individuals and families address health and spiritual issues through St.
Matthew’s parish nursing program.
(For two women)
One: Hi, I just dropped in to find
out about Dalhousie University Campus Ministry.
Two: Welcome. The chaplain is the Rev. Kim MacAulay, a United
Church minister, but we’re an interfaith chaplaincy with chaplains from
Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam.
One: A
friend of mine came here for counselling when her grandfather died. She found
it very helpful, since she is a foreign student without any family here.
Two: Being away from home can be
difficult. Some students come with personal problems or with deep spiritual
concerns and others just want to connect. We try to be supportive in a number
of ways. The Dalhousie Women’s Centre (DWC) here is the only women’s centre in
Halifax and is committed to working for a safe and vibrant society for all
people. Our allies at Dalhousie support students, staff, and faculty of the
full spectrum of sexual and gender diversity.
One: A woman in my tutorial invited me to go with her to St.
Andrew’s United Church for dinner and discussion. She said it was organized by
this chaplaincy. I miss going to church with my family and thought I would
check it out.
Two: You
would be very welcome to join us. The discussion leadership is shared between
the chaplaincy and the ministers, and the suppers are generously and
deliciously provided by the great cooks at St. Andrew’s United. Every second
Wednesday you might also join us in our Spirituality Circle, where women of any
tradition explore the sacred in their lives.
One: I’m
glad I stopped by. This seems like a friendly, inclusive, and helpful program.
Both: With
the ongoing support of the Mission and
Service Fund, this vibrant ministry will continue to grow and develop.
An auditorium in Cochabamba, Bolivia, was packed and
rocking for the opening of the Social Summit for People’s Integration in
December 2006. Most of those present were Quechua or Aymara from Bolivia and
neighbouring countries. Bright Indigenous clothing, rainbow flags, smudge
smoke, and chants in various languages signalled that this would be an
unforgettable evening for the few Canadians present.
The United
Church of Canada had made it possible for two Canadian Aboriginal leaders to
join the Common Frontiers delegation. Common Frontiers is a coalition of trade
unions, human rights groups, and other non-governmental organizations concerned
about the impact of free trade agreements. The summit in Bolivia was a chance
to press for social goals like health care and education after decades of
inattention.
John Beaucage,
Grand Council Chief for the Union of Ontario Indians, approached the
microphones and began with a few words in the Ojibway language. The crowd
exploded into thunderous applause with no translation possible or needed.
John sent
greetings from the 42 Native reserves in Ontario to the Government of Bolivia,
to President Evo Morales, and all the peoples and nations in Bolivia. He talked
about Canada as a rich country where most of the Native population lives in
poverty. He again brought the house down when he said that even after hundreds
of years of mistreatment, “Like you in Bolivia, we in Canada stand firm!”
The Social
Summit for People’s Integration showed that social movements in Latin America
continue to transform politics by proposing ways of doing things that benefit
everyone, not just those who have enough money and power to protect their own interests.
Your M&S gifts are contributing
to the quest for social justice in Bolivia as well as in Canada.
Twenty visitors have come to Beijing from places and
denominations around the globe, including Sweden, Canada, Indonesia, and
Germany. For 10 days they will learn about the Amity Foundation and see some
Amity projects in rural China. They worship with a congregation of the
Christian Church in China in a sanctuary where 800 to 1,000 people attend on a
Sunday morning. The church has a hospital attached to it, dormitories for
evangelists being trained to bring the good news to people in outlying areas, a
kitchen where food is prepared for worshippers who have travelled a long way,
and a school that teaches HIV/AIDS prevention and care. There are between 2,000
and 5,000 such churches in China.
Amity is a
non-governmental organization that works with the Christian Church in China on
small social projects. After all, any human endeavour in a population of 1.3
billion can only be described as small! In a remote village in Henan Province,
the visitors mingle with villagers and see how Amity provides for orphans. They
meet the children living with aunts and uncles or grandmothers whom Amity helps
with counselling and money. They visit a clinic staffed by a young doctor and
her husband and supported by Amity. In Beijing they see a seminary where clergy
and church workers are trained: they learn that there are 18 seminaries across
the vast nation.
While the tour
members return home, Amity carries on its work in China—projects that are not
really small at all. When you and I give to the Mission and Service Fund, a part of our gift supports the work of
our partner in China, the Amity Foundation. Please give generously.
These two M&S fundraising events didn’t go quite as
expected! One congregation had a talent auction for M&S and it just so happened that many people brought pies to be
auctioned. Pie prices went through the roof! Most husbands wanted to make sure
their wives knew how much they appreciated their cooking, so they bid up the
family offering. Others wanted to show their commitment to the M&S Fund so they got caught up in
the action. Some pies went for as much as $45 or $50. Maybe a little
competition isn’t so bad!
Another church
had a fundraising dinner for M&S.
About two hours before the event, the power went out in a rain-wind-wet-snow
storm. They were ready to cancel the dinner, but the church did have gas
stoves. They could finish cooking the roasts in the ovens; they just had no
light to see by! A quick call around resulted in several coal-oil lanterns
being brought in, and the dinner went on. Because people had no power at home,
it was a sell-out. The church was the only place in town one could go for a
meal! It was so successful it became an annual event, complete with only
coal-oil lanterns for light, to replicate the “mood” that made the first event
so special. The event lasted for about 20 years, fuelled by a lack of hydro and
a good supply of enthusiastic M&S
imagination!
Across the
country, faithful members support the work of the church by fundraising for our
unified fund, the Mission and Service
Fund.
A proverb from Ghana says, “If everyone helps to hold up the sky,
then no one person gets tired.” At St. Columba House in Montreal, many people
come together every day to “hold up the sky.” Since 1926, hundreds of
volunteers have worked as many as 14,500 hours per year. People working
together, shoulder to shoulder, undertaking what seems to be an impossible
task.
St. Columba Facts:
·
St. Columba
House receives funding from Mission and
Service.
·
The Community
Lunch program offers lunch to 100 guests every day, and take-out meals for
elderly shut-ins.
·
The
After-School Program provides daily homework help, one-on-one tutoring, and
recreational and artistic activities to primary children.
·
The Teen
Program conducts workshops on kickboxing, dance, sex education and awareness,
and photography.
·
The Day
Camp Program is a children’s summer camp and counsellor-in-training program.
·
The
Community Action Program for Children offers a preschool head-start program in
French and English, and classes to improve parenting and advocacy skills.
·
Hand-in-Hand
is a day program for intellectually challenged adults.
·
The Welfare
Rights Committee offers advocacy and activities for singles on welfare.
·
The
Clothing Room organizes and distributes clothing donations.