Mission Opportunities of LPPC
The Mission & Outreach Committee is focused on providing support to
local mission initiatives in our community. LPPC takes it's work for
peace and justice in our world very seriously and knows where we put our
attention, love will grow. This year the goal of the Mission Committee
was to try to keep all donations and new projects locally oriented, as there
is much help needed here in our local community.
The Mission and Outreach Committee invites YOU to join in acting out our biblical mandate to reach out and respond to those in need of food, shelter, community, peace, justice. Help us explore and enrich our understanding of mission and how we might respond to the needs of our community and the wider world. Your perspective and passion are welcome.
If you feel a special calling to support the wider mission of our church like peace, justice, community outreach, poverty, hunger, prison ministry, disaster relief, visionary thinking, please join us. Whether you are a member of LPPC or not, you are welcome to join in the good work being done. Please contact the church office at 867-5718.
LPPC is involved with many mission activities. Please click on the links in the list below to find out more of our activities:
- Border Ministry and Just Coffee
- Casa Rosa Food Pantry
- Gifts of Hope
- Habitat for Humanity
- Heifer International Project
- The Menual School
- SERRV Products
- Storehouse West
Second Sunday: Don't forget the Second Sunday of every month is our Mission Sunday at church. We will have a table in Fellowship Hall after the 10:30 am service to display our Mission Projects work and help you find out where you can help LPPC Mission!
Committee News Update - March 2010
Please click here to see our Newsletter for more information!
SERRV Products will continue to be on sale every Second Sunday of the month after the 10:30 service. SERRV assists artisans in more than 35 countries.
Update from Nancy (March 16, 2010):
"Just wanted to thank all who attended our work day last Saturday. It was a great success. We had 13 people there to help in any way they could. We had 4 sewing machines 2 ironing boards and irons. We were able to get 5 strips together and the other two are about done. We would like to have another work day on April 10th from 10 AM to 12:30 or 1 PM. We found that 2 hours was a little short. We need at least another ½ hour to really get things done.
Our wine bags inventory has also been increased greatly thanks to Eda W., Martha C., Nancy U. and Pat M. who sewed up what we had cut. We have enough to start marketing them to the Wineries which I hope to do in the next week or two.
Cheryl F. took the large bags that I had cut to sew. We want to get the medium and large bag inventory up so that we can start marketing them this Spring and Summer at the flea markets and Farmer Markets around town where we can set up a booth for free or for not much money. We need help in manning these booths so if you can help for a couple hours on Saturdays let me know. This will get us a head start on our Mission Fund Money.
This is truly an effort of many women of the church. I am so excited. You will be hearing more from me. Thank you all and God bless you."
List of Mission and Outreach Projects:
Border Ministry: Just Coffee
sales ($10 a pound) support 26 extended families in the Chiapas coffee
cooperative, allowing our neighbors to the south a viable economic
alternative to emigration. Please support
this vital ministry of economic development and personal empowerment for our
neighbors to the south. Just Coffee is available in
regular, dark roast, or decaf—beans or ground—on the Second Sunday Mission
Table after Sunday services.
Our former church member, Don Tubesing has been completed a beautiful coffee-table book with Frontera de Cristo titled "Just Coffee: Caffeine with a Conscience" describing and documenting through photographs all the steps in the Just Coffee chain—from the Chiapas families who grow coffee in the shade to the roasters in Agua Prieta to your steaming mug. We have copies of the book for sell, just contact a Mission Committee member or Nancy U. for details.
Casa Rosa Food Pantry: one very exciting opportunity for our church is our Casa Rosa Food Pantry that opened up next to LPPC in 2008. This is a wonderful opportunity to help end hunger in our community of Placitas has allowed LPPC and community members we didn't know join together for a stronger support system for everyone.
Gifts of Hope: an
Albuquerque program that lets you give a donation to over 28 of your
favorite local ministries in the name of a loved one at Christmas time or
all year long with all monies going to the designated charity. Instead
of buying more unneeded things, honor those you love through contributions
in their names to organizations that provide hope and help to those who
truly ARE in need. For example, $10.00 will sponsor a Menaul School
student in the regional science fair or buy lunch and snacks for a week for
a child at PB&J Therapeutic Preschool. A gift of $100 to Roadrunner
Food Bank will pay for freight, bagging, cold storage, and distribution of
half a ton of donated fresh produce for New Mexico's hungry. The Gifts
of Hope Alternative Giving Catalog is available in the church office.
Habitat for Humanity:
Habitat for Humanity is an ecumenical housing organization that provides
decent, affordable home ownership opportunities in partnership with those in
need. They make home ownership available to families who cannot, because of
income level, qualify for a mortgage with traditional lending institutions.
Habitat sells the homes—built and financed entirely by volunteers—making no
profit; then provides a no-interest mortgage loan for homesteaders. This is a “hand up” not a “hand out." Homeowners are required to
volunteer 500 “sweat equity” hours in construction and/or other Habitat
projects, while holding fulltime jobs and raising children
LPPC works with the Catholic Presbyterian Coalition within the Greater Albuquerque Habitat for Humanity organization. The Greater Albuquerque group has built over 100 homes in the Albuquerque area since 1987. Families applying for homes are screened on three selection criteria:
- Need: (spending too much on current housing, major problems with structure or utilities in current housing, many family members sharing few or no bedrooms). Families must have a total annual income between 25% and 50% of median family income for the Albuquerque area, adjusted for number of family members.
- Ability to pay: ($500 down payment, plus resources/discipline to meet monthly mortgage/insurance/tax payments -- Habitat does background credit check, assists in consolidating other debts and developing a family budget).
- Willingness to participate: (minimum 500 “sweat equity” hours working on their house or another Habitat build, and/or other Habitat tasks such as office work, marketing, public speaking).
The process from time of selection as a Habitat Partner family to a completed home usually takes from 12 to 18 months. Click here for the Habitat for Humanity of New Mexico website and the Greater Albuquerque Habitat for Humanity.
Heifer International Project: Please click on
http://www.heifer.org/ for more
information.
Menaul School: This local Albuquerque school for grades
6-12 was originally founded by the Presbyterian Church and served as an
Indian Boarding school. Although now an independent school, local
Presbyterian churches continue to support their activities in any way we
can. Currently we collect "Boxtops for Education" from various packaged
food products for Menaul School. They receive l0¢ for every box top collected which will go
towards the purchase of technical and educational equipment. Please cut the
coupons off any General Mills product and deposit them in the bag attached
to Mission Committee Kiosk. Once we have a good number we will deliver them
to Menual School. Please click on
http://www.menaulschool.com/ for
more information.
Rebuilding Together Sandoval County: Re-Building Sandoval County is a group that helps people with their homes that can’t afford to do things like winterize and repair them. They have work days on as needed basis. Please watch for updates from Mission Committee for scheduled work days.
Sandoval Circles: Sandoval Circles is a local program in Sandoval County focused on the elimination of poverty. This program uses an innovative model to educate, guide and motivate individuals and communities to take action against poverty. We link Circle Leaders (individuals who complete a 15-week intense investigation concerning poverty) with Circle Allies (middle and upper class mentors). Circle Leaders need a ‘hand up’ from someone who can share their expertise and knowledge with them. For more information or to attend training, contact Natasha at: tasham98@hotmail.com .
SERRV Products: LPPC supports the international group SERRV, a nonprofit organization with a mission to eradicate poverty wherever it resides by providing opportunity and support to artisans and farmers worldwide. They help to sell the SERRV products letting the purchasers have a direct impact on our global market’s great injustices: the inequality in income and quality of life for people living in developing countries. To learn more, please go to their website at http://www.serrv.org/AboutUs.aspx.
Storehouse West: Storehouse West in Rio Rancho provides essential food and non-food items to families and seniors from Sandoval County. LPPC has made a commitment to provide: grape jelly, cereal, canned meats, and bar soap on a regular basis. Please bring your contributions to Second Sunday Mission Table after services and Jack F. will deliver them when he goes to his regular volunteer work time. Please click on http://www.storehousewest.org/ to find out more information.
Special Offerings
One Great Hour of Sharing Offering
For more than fifty years, Presbyterians have joined with Christians throughout the nation in supporting One Great Hour of Sharing — responding to God’s love for all people by joyfully sharing that love with people in need. Our contributions are divided roughly in thirds to support these ministries:
- Presbyterian Hunger Program ministries working to alleviate hunger and eliminate its causes, and to ministries addressing homelessness and affordable housing—including legislative advocacy for hunger and housing through the NM Conference of Churches and sustainable agriculture training programs in India, Uganda, Pakistan, Ecuador, and elsewhere..
- Presbyterian Disaster Assistance for disaster response and ministries with refugees—including Hurricane Katrina relief and recovery efforts, famine recovery in West Africa , earthquake and flood relief as needed. Most recently PDA has been instrumental in organizing donation to the countries of Haiti and Chile after the devastating earthquakes of 2010.
- Self Development of People partnerships with people who are working to improve their lives and conditions through economic development or social action—including business and job training for Navaho women in New Mexico, brick-making in Sudan, women’s development federations in Kenya and Costa Rica.
For more information on One Great Hour of Sharing ministries, check out the link on our PCUSA website.
Peace Making Offering:
Every fall, we take a Peace Making Offering to support efforts that are constructively pursuing peace in our world. On October 4, 2009, LPPC collected $728.97 as our Peace Making Offering. This will be used towards the "Jobs for America's Graduates" at Bernalillo High School. Past offerings have been given to violence prevention program for teens.
Christmas
Joy Offering:
A Presbyterian tradition for almost 70 years, the Christmas Joy Offering is one of the four special offerings designated by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to provide congregations direct ways of supporting specific causes that help those in need.
LPPC will be taking contributions to the Christmas Joy Offering during the Advent Season in December and during our Christmas Eve Services. Please click here if you want to find out more about this special offering through PC(USA).
To help our Brothers and Sisters in Haiti and Chile, please consider these links:
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
The Outreach Foundation of the Presbyterian Church
Prayer for Haiti (January 17, 2010)
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As the eyes of the world turn to Haiti, let us join our hearts in prayer:
God of compassion, please watch over the people of Haiti
And weave out of these terrible happenings, wonders of goodness and grace.
Surround those who have been affected by tragedy, with a sense of your present love.
And hold them in faith, though they are lost in grief,
may they find you and be comforted.
Guide us as a church to find ways of providing assistance,
that heals wounds and provides hope
Help us to remember that when one of your children suffer, we all suffer
Through Jesus Christ who was dead, but lives
and rules this world with you. Amen"
(Adapted form Book of Common Worship)
- Bruce Reyes-Chow, Gradye Parsons and Linda Valentine