Stuffing Easter Eggs

 

The Christian Education Committee recently stuffed Easter Eggs with candy, which were used for the community Easter Egg hunt at the church.

Cards for the residents of Sierra Manor

 

The mission project at the 8:30 am worship service on February 6 consisted of writing messages on cards that will be sent to the senior citizens living at Sierra Manor. Over 150 cards were prepared.

Project 150

 

Project 150 is a local nonprofit organization created in 2014 which serves displaced, disadvantaged and homeless high school students in Northern Nevada. According to a 2018 U.S. Housing and Urban Development report to Congress, 36% of Washoe County high school students are disadvantaged (meaning they are eligible for free or reduced-price meals), 1404 were homeless, and of these homeless youth, 84% were unaccompanied by a parent or guardian, which is the highest rate in the U.S. Project 150 tries to alleviate some of their critical needs so that they have a better chance of staying in school and succeeding. Project 150 partners with over 30 high schools to provide these students with food, toiletries, clothing, shoes, and school supplies. They operate a boutique located in a small building near Reno High School with neat aisles of shoes, racks of clothing, and cubbies of undergarments, all sorted by type and size, a closet of toiletries, and even a dressing room. The clothing is mostly brand new or gently used and stylish enough for a teenager trying to fit in. The volunteers who stock the shelves are bargain hunters extraordinaire! Many local businesses contribute overstocks, and unusable returns. Their budget comes entirely from donations, and all staff are volunteers.

The best way St. John’s can help Project 150 is through monetary donations, and collections of supplies such as deodorant, full size toothpaste, bodywash, and laundry detergent. An especially important upcoming need is to supply kids with graduation “gifts”. Many of their kids can expect little or nothing at all to celebrate an important milestone. Project 150 is requesting $25 gift cards to easily accessible, teen-friendly businesses such as Starbucks, CVS, Walgreens, Old Navy, Kohls, Walmart, and fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s, Subway and Domino’s Pizza.

Mission Support for Local Kids

Children who go to school hungry cannot concentrate on their lessons, and that puts them at a disadvantage through the rest of their lives. Government programs provide free and reduced-price lunch and breakfast for children from low-income families, but in order to grow and thrive, these children need good meals after school, on weekends, and during the summer too. This is especially important now, during the disruption of learning due to the coronavirus. Kids Café, a program of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, provides free meals at dozens of locations, right in the neighborhoods where such children live. In support of this program, the Mission Committee has designated $1,000 from the mission giving of our congregation to this program, and hopes to follow with more as our mission funds grow.

But schoolchildren who live in poverty need more help than that. Communities in Schools is a non-profit organization that helps them overcome the many other obstacles that hinder them from succeeding in school and in life. They have a coordinator in ten Washoe County schools, working alongside both students and their families to identify their unique needs and collaborating with other organizations in the community to provide whatever services they need. This is a comprehensive program that really makes a difference in our community. The Mission Committee has selected this organization also to receive $1,000 in St. John’s mission funds, hoping to send more in the future.

These funds come from contributions in offering envelopes with an amount designated for Local Mission or General Mission, above and beyond the regular weekly offering. The Mission Committee thanks those who have made this giving possible, and encourages further support by our St. John’s community, either in the offering envelopes or as other contributions designated for local mission.

Frontera de Cristo

“And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?”

 “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” —Matthew 25: 38–40

In response to the biblical call to love our neighbors, the Mission Committee is spending a significant amount of our budget to support the border ministry of Frontera de Cristo–-specifically Presbyterian mission co-workers Mark Adams and Miriam Maldonado Escobar.

Located in the sister cities of Agua Prieta, Sonora (Mexico) and Douglas, Arizona (USA), Frontera de Cristo works with churches, presbyteries, and secular organizations on both sides of the border to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

Their ministries include a community center, a migrant resource center, a health ministry, a just trade center, and new church development. Their family ministry provides Bible school for children, parenting classes, women’s self-esteem workshops, emergency assistance for families in distress, counseling, spiritual direction, and pastoral presence. They also have mission education activities, bringing together people from both sides of the border through travel and immersion experiences that build relationships and an understanding of issues of migration and faith.

We hope the whole congregation of St. John’s will join us in becoming informed about this work, supporting it through prayer, study, and possibly travel. We will invite Mark and Miriam to visit us when they are available. In the meantime, learn more about this ministry by visiting their website: fronteradecristo.org.