Mission & Outreach

Members of the committee include Janice L, Sharon M, Rebecca R, Terry S, Nancy T, Pat T, Pastor Elizabeth, and  Chairperson Joyce L. If you feel a special calling to support the wider mission of our church—peace, justice, community outreach, poverty, hunger, prison ministry, disaster relief, visionary thinking—please join us at our quarterly Mission Committee meetings. Newcomers are always welcome—whether or not you are a member of LPPC. Contact the church office to volunteer.

One Great Hour of Sharing Offering—March 16, 2008

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 US and worldwide 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.

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, Costa Rica,

Please give generously as you are able. Join the kids—take a FISH BANK and fill it with coins or dollars for those less fortunate. There, but for the grace of God, go we! Offerings will be received on Palm Sunday.

For more information on One Great Hour of Sharing ministries, check out the link on our PCUSA website.

You Can Share in and Shape our Mission and Outreach

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. Please consider joining our committee which meets after 10:30 worship on the third Sunday of September, November, January, March, and May. 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. Please join us on September 16th or contact chair Joyce L.

Don’t forget about SECOND SUNDAY Mission Opportunities:

• 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. Watch for Coffee Table Book on Just Coffee: Don T has been working with Frontera de Cristo to develop a fund-raising book 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 roastersin Agua Prieta to your steaming mug. We have ordered several copies of the book in advance to help underwrite the publication. Watch for results later this year. Meanwhile, please support this vital ministry of economic development and personal empowerment for our neighbors to the south. Sample and purchase Just Coffee on the SECOND SUNDAY each month.

• 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 on the second Sunday of the month and Jack F will deliver them when he goes to his regular volunteer work time. March news: The staff at Storehouse West and more importantly their clients wish to thank all of you at LPPC who donated a record amount of non-perishable food and hygiene supplies in February. The need continues, however, as more and more of our neighbors feel the economic pinch and as fewer and fewer federal funds are made available. So, if you are able, please continue to bring boxed cereal, canned meats, peanut butter, jelly, and bar soap on the Second Sunday each month. THANKS! Click here to read more about Storehouse West .

• Menaul School: We collect BOXTOPS FOR EDUCATION from various packaged food products. These are donated to the Menaul School who uses them for essential educational equipment purchases. After learning more about the ministry and needs of Menaul School, the Mission & Outreach Committee agreed to double support our educational neighbors with a gift of $125 to the Menaul School building fund, which will be matched by a group of parents.

Thanks to All for Holiday Sale Success!  

The Mission committee would like to thank all members and friends who helped with the Placitas Holiday Sale booth in any capacity. We thank the bakers, those who worked, and those who helped set up and tear down the booth. We made $342 from the sale of brownies, coffee and water.  

These funds will be donated to several non-profit agencies or programs on behalf of LPPC at the end of 2007. If you have a specific program you would like the Mission Committee to consider as a recipient please contact Joyce L. New members are always welcomed at Mission committee meetings. Please contact Joyce if you are interested.  

Give Gifts of Hope This Christmas—And Year-Round

The GIFTS OF HOPE Alternative Gift Catalog offers a creative and noncommercial approach to gift-giving. Instead of buying more unneeded things, honor those your love through contributions in their names to organizations that provide hope and help to those who truly ARE in need. Your gift of $10.00 will sponsor a Menaul School student in the regional science fair or buy lunch & snacks for a week for a child at PB&J Therapeutic Preschool. Your $25.00 could provide a week's worth of counseling and follow-up for a mentally ill homeless person or a year's worth of school supplies for an impoverished youngster. 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. Check out all the intriguing possibilities in the Gifts of Hope Alternative Giving Catalog, available in the church office. Blessings on your generosity.

During the 2007 holiday season, several people used THE GIFTS OF HOPE CATALOG for their gift giving. Thanks for supporting alternative Christmas giving!

Spirit of New Orleans: Poetic reflections from a pilgrim

A year ago this time we gathered a group of folks who were interested in traveling to New Orleans on a mission of support, friendship, and practical rebuilding efforts with our sister church, Berean Presbyterian. These pilgrims were profoundly touched by the experience and have tried to share their images and insights and inspirations with us throughout the past year.

One of those pilgrims, Vicki D, was moved recently to recapture her warm memories and mental pictures of a neighborhood street parade the group witnessed. Her poem, submitted to a writing contest at Border’s, celebrates the spirit of New Orleans, even in the midst of great tragedy. Vicki dedicates the poem to her LPPC pilgrim friends, and to Lesley S, the dark-skinned woman adorned in feathers and beads who paraded majestically to the chants and drums, stopping to whisper into the ear of an infant, pausing to gather Vicki in her arms, who returned the next day to find the LPPC pilgrims and share their stories together.

I Love the Spirit of New Orleans.
She is unlike all others.
She is poised.
Adorned in feathers of a neon rainbow she shows her pride.
Her costume is truly home-made and adorned with beads.
Her stride is very deliberate and she allows many pictures.
Around her is her family.
She leads them so that you can hear the beating of their drums
and the beating of her heart.

I Love the Spirit that lives in New Orleans.
The little children and their mothers love her too.
She is strong.
She is mysterious and radiates familiar warmth.
You cannot help but be drawn to her and want to hear her stories.
She hums the melodies of music that stirs a memory of colorful neon lights.
With her arms open wide you receive a warm embrace
and hear her whisper “Sweet child. Yes, sweetie.”

HEIFER PROJECT UPDATE

In 2007, the Mission Committee donated $100 to the Heifer Project this year, a mission project initiated by the youth of our church during the holiday season.