Category: Missions - Edmonds Presbyterian Church

MISSION NEWS

12/1/2020

One of the most powerful things that Christians claim is that God saw the great needs of the world and offered a perfect gift in response, a gift that brought God and humanity closer together. God’s perfect gift, Jesus Christ. “Emmanuel, God is with us!” our Advent dream proclaims, as God joins in human life, and draws us together as a result. “God is with us” shows God values togetherness and relationship with us, leading us to value togetherness and relationship with one another.
When we are all together — and even when we are apart.
During these past months, many of us weren’t able to be together in person, but we have always been together in spirit, and in faith. We have missed seeing faces we love — up close and personal, but the physical distance has also revealed, for us, the importance of those things which bring us together, even when we are physically far apart.
We offer our gifts during this Advent Season to the Christmas Joy Offering because God shows us the power and importance of being together, of “being with.” We might not be able to meet face to face with those who need the support that our gifts provide, be we are very much still together. We see the potential of students of color who will become our leaders and we seek to come alongside them, to encourage them, to be together with them. And we see church workers who have critical financial needs and we come alongside them, to assist them — we are with them. And we see the witness of the whole Church, either gathered in buildings or connected home to home, member to member, sharing what we have, together. We thank God for being “with us” through the gift of Jesus and for joining us together as the Church and, through our gifts, with those who have need.
Please send this special offering to the EPC office marked Christmas Joy.

MISSION NEWS

11/10/2020

CHRISTMAS FAMILY: Yes, we will have a Christmas family this year but we will give gift cards instead of gifts, and we will mail donation checks to church. Our family will be a mother and 2 children. We will not know the ages and sex of the children until mid- November, too late for this Caller edition. We are expected to give two $50 gift cards for each child and a $100 gift card for groceries. It would be nice to be able to give the mother a gift card for herself as we have done in previous years. If you would like to help our family have an enjoyable Christmas, you can mail a check made out to “Edmonds Presbyterian Church” showing on the memo line that it is for the Christmas family. Our family will be introduced in the December Caller, but we cannot wait that long for donations since the gift cards need to be delivered to Pathways the first week of December.
OPERATION NIGHTWATCH: 83 pairs of socks and $30 cash were donated to Operation Nightwatch the Sock it to Homeless sock drive. Thank you to all who gave.
Ruth R.

OPERATION NIGHTWATCH

10/1/2020

“Sock it to the Homeless” white sock drive will be held at our church during the month of October. Kim will put a box outside the front door each Tuesday morning during October. Socks may be dropped off between 9 am and noon. Socks should be white, crew length or longer. Cheap socks are fine since they are thrown out after use. Clean dry socks help a little to make life better for the homeless men. Operation Nightwatch does not have adequate laundry facilities to sanitize and re-use socks.

You may mail checks to the church to purchase socks if you prefer. Checks should be made out to Edmonds Presbyterian Church and marked clearly for Operation Nightwatch. Donated funds will be sent to Operation Nightwatch so they can buy the socks.

Rick Reynolds was sick with COVID –19 for 10 weeks earlier this year. Two of their tenants died in April and some had to be quarantined away from their units until it was safe to return. Their situation is better now, but not back to normal. Operation Nightwatch could definitely use prayer for the staff and clients.

One unusual, but wonderful event happened at Nightwatch this summer. Someone was baptized in the parking lot where meals are now being served. Larry wanted something different from the usual requests for food, water, socks or bus tickets. Larry wanted to be baptized. Every week, Larry would come for a meal, visit and pray with the street pastor. But Larry wanted to be baptized. One day Larry was baptized, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. His homeless friends voiced their support. Larry, with a huge grin on his face, said "I can't wait to tell everyone! “

Rev. Dr. Jean Kim’s Jubilee!

10/1/2020

Jean Kim, “mother to the homeless”, was honored in a Zoom Meeting where all the participants celebrated: Jean’s Jubilee (50th year) of immigration to the United States, her Jubilee of Homeless Mission, her publication of 5 books, and her 85th birthday. The event was organized by her son, Sam, along with other family members.

Who is Jean Kim? Jean Kim wrote about her multi-faceted life in the book, Hope in the Color Purple. The book not only chronicles her struggles, but it also tells of her passionate community advocacy for the homeless. Jean was ordained as Presbyterian minister (the 2nd Korean woman ordained by the PCUSA), and she founded the ecumenical church of Mary Magdelene in Seattle, WA which also served as a community of support for homeless women.

The Jubilee event on September 12 was a wonderful community experience! The retrospective of Jean’s life and her many accomplishments was living proof of how tough problems can be overcome. Jean’s ability to bring people together formed the foundation for Jean’s work with homeless women. Jean acknowledged the special needs for homeless women to talk, learn, and have a community of support thereby creating a climate of strength, courage, and hope for the women Jean served. In Jean’s case, her personal challenges and insights about people living on the streets eventually led her to open Mary’s Place, a women’s shelter now located in Lynnwood. The spirit of community in the Zoom celebration was captured by the series of voices that shed light on Jean. Their words made it clear that Jean understands the true meaning of “partnership.” She teamed up with George Hurst of the Lynnwood City Council to create “little homes”, Dick Gibson, the Maplewood Church pastor, and Steve Woodard, a dean at the Edmonds Community College along with many others from all walks of life. Jean knows how to bring people together and inspire them to create something out of the ordinary.

Purple was a theme throughout the celebration. It seems that purple means something to Jean. In Jean’s book she references purple as the color of Lent and in that sense, it is about suffering. But for Jean, the color also represents power, hope, and healing. For the people who know Jean, the color represents Jean because Jean, like purple, has that unusual combination of warmth, love, joy, spirit, and power. Jean has that rare ability to lift up others, restore dignity to the marginalized, and honor the sacred.
Some of the moving words spoken about Jean included:

George Hurst: “Jean does not take no for an answer.”
Thelma Burgonio-Watson: Jean showed us that, “We are all under the same sky, walking the same earth…”
Samuel Chung: “Her work transcends ethnic groups and people from all walks of life.”
Marty Hartman: Executive Director of Mary’s Place: “Told the women of Seattle that they were worthy…she scooped them up.”

Toward the end of the celebration one of the women that Jean worked with at Mary’s Place, thanked Jean for how she changed the course of her life. Her presence and simple words of gratitude made it clear that the world needs more people like Jean. As Marty Hartman, the executive director of Mary’s Place stated, Jean “treated all women as the mother or sister, they wished they had.” Jean showed how words are not enough and action is what counts…”no” was not an answer to the problems Jean wanted to solve. Jean “walked the walk” and in the process turned hardship to hope and the lost into found.
By Margaret Kulkin

Mail-in Offering for One Great Hour of Sharing

9/3/2020

The One Great Hour of Sharing Offering provides help for people who have suffered loss during natural or conflict -caused disasters, for people facing hunger, lack of water and sanitation and inadequate income. It is early in the hurricane season and already people living in Louisiana and Texas have suffered damages. In Isaiah 58:7-8, God tells his people his will is for them to provide food for the hungry, shelter for poor wanderer, and clothing for the naked, just as Jesus told his followers in Matthew 25:37-40.

PRESBYTERIAN DISASTER ASSISTANCE works with communities as they try to recover from disaster, natural or human-caused. 32% of the total offering supports this ministry.

PRESBYTERIAN HUNGER PROGRAM works to provide food for the hungry and to help solve hunger problems by giving farm animals, seeds and tools to help people grow their own food. This fund also works to care for creation, and help alleviate systemic causes of poverty so there will be enough food and water for all. 36% of the offering will provide assistance with these needs.

SELF-DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE helps those who are experiencing oppression, poverty and injustice. Small grants are given to help people start very small businesses to help lift them out of poverty. 32.5% of the funds will be used in this way.

Offerings may be mailed to the church. Please mark clearly that this offering is for the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering. Give with thankfulness as you feel God’s leading.

Repairers of the Breach

9/3/2020

I bet that some of us, when we were growing up, were told that there were certain ways to behave in the church building, because it is God’s house. Maybe it was not to run, or to keep our voices quieted, or maybe we were taught to invite others in.

In Isaiah 58, the author is addressing a people who have returned to Jerusalem, where the Temple—God’s house—was in shambles. I imagine it was a heartbreaking scene. And in that rubble, the prophet challenges the people, not to rebuild the building or to restore their religious rituals, but to care for the hungry, the weak and the vulnerable—the prophet called the people to become the house of God. Look around you again. We are the house of God, too. We are called to become, as Isaiah promised long ago, “repairers of the breach, restorers of streets to live in.” Together, we become the household of God.

Through One Great Hour of Sharing, a special offering of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), we extend shelter to those who have no place to stay, offer compassion to those who have pain—be it physical, emotional or spiritual—and we set a feast, with God, for those who lack access to enough food to eat.
When the wind and water wipe homes away, or bombs destroy the dwellings of the innocent, or people lack safe and affordable housing, One Great Hour of Sharing extends a roof.

When conflict and war cause famine, or the environment endangers the land of farmers, or those who work the fields are not paid enough to feed their families, One Great Hour of Sharing welcomes them to the table.

When water becomes scarce, or when it must be accessed by walking long and dangerous distances, or when the pipes or sources become poisoned, One Great Hour of Sharing rushes in as a spring of life-giving water.

God’s house is a place where needs are met and the broken systems that cause those needs are addressed. Across this country and around the world, Presbyterians are responding to the call we hear in Isaiah. We are God’s people and are becoming a household with the suffering and vulnerable. We are celebrating God’s goodness and grace and giving to One Great Hour of Sharing.

(reflection from the PCUSA 2020 One Great Hour of Sharing offering resources)

Building a Household with the Suffering and Vulnerable

9/3/2020

If I asked you to close your eyes while I said the word “household,” what would come to mind?

Caring people?
A table with food, shared with family and friends?
Shelter?
Warmth?
Friendly voices?
Love?

Yes? Did I think of some of the same things you did? I imagine we all think of many of these same things when we think about a household. Yet there are many in this world who don’t enjoy those comforts that we may automatically think of when we hear that word. Household.

People like Mimita whose home and life in Puerto Rico were literally torn apart by Hurricane Maria.

Or like Abdi who lost her husband and had to trek for days with her small children through a war-torn region of Somalia to bring the family to a place where they could find food and shelter. Did I mention that she was pregnant at the time?

And Monica, whose day-to-day peace of mind was threatened by a predatory landlord who brought false charges against her time after time as he tried to evict her in order to rent her New Jersey apartment for more money.

What do you think these three women think when they hear the word “household?” Not comfort but perhaps discomfort. Not a hot meal but wondering where the next meal is coming from. Not shelter and warmth but sky above where once a roof had been.

But this is not the end of these stories, for where there is life, there is hope. Where God is, there is hope. Together, we become the household of God. Through One Great Hour of Sharing, we extend shelter to those who have no place to stay, offer compassion to those who have pain—be it physical, emotional or spiritual—and we set a feast, with God, for those who lack access to enough food to eat. May we be called, as Isaiah said, to be “repairers of the breach.” To be the church in the world and active followers of our faith.

Through One Great Hour of Sharing, we are building a household with the suffering and the vulnerable— God’s household filled with love where everyone is welcome. Please give generously, for when we all do a little, it adds up to a lot.

(reflection from the PCUSA 2020 One Great Hour of Sharing offering resources)

Missions

8/4/2020

The COVID problems are difficult for the mission agencies we help support. Our latest quarterly distributions to help a little were sent this month. $350 was given to Opening Blind Eyes Prison Ministry and Renewal Ministries. $300 was sent to Eagle Wings disAbility Ministries, Jan Griffith, and Lahai Health (Formerly Puget Sound Christian Clinic). $100 was given to: Jean Kim Foundation for Homeless Education, Northwest Coast Presbytery – Unified Mission, Pregnancy Resource Center, Presbyterian Hunger Program, The Salvation Army (Everett Office) and our mission partner Tyler Holms.
Here ls a little news about a few of the numerous missions we help support.
Rip Van Winkle was frustrated that his ministry, Opening Blind Eyes, was not even allowed to have e-mail contact with the prisoners he works with. He prayed for God to provide a way. His prayers were answered when he received a Father’s Day card signed by quite a lot of the people he works with. Since the prisoners initiated the contact, he can now contact them. He is looking forward to the time when they can meet in person.
World Concern is working in Bangladesh and some other places to provide education for girls so they can stay in school. Many poor families give young girls in marriage to older men because these families have a hard time supporting all their children. If the girls can stay in school, they can learn to support themselves and help their families, too.
The staff members at Matthew House are doing their best to help families of prisoners during this time, but they need prayer as their donations are not meeting the need for help. We gave them $100 last month, but I feel led to give them a $75 emergency donation now.
The Salvation Army is providing food, rent and much other needed assistance to families facing extra struggles during these difficult times.
Ruth R.

Missions

3/4/2020

The One Great Hour of Sharing Offering will be our next opportunity to help people who really need some assistance. The offering will be given on Palm Sunday. We will have readers who will share some examples of people who receive help from One Great Hour of Sharing. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance will receive 32% of the offering, Presbyterian Hunger Program will receive 36%, and Self Development of People will be given 32%.

Missions

2/5/2020

Three Mission Updates for February:

The “Souper Bowl” offering will be collected on February 2nd after the worship service. Bring either food items or money to be given to Concern For Neighbors food bank in Mountlake Terrace. (update: we raised $94 and over 40 food items!)

A total of $1,138 was given to the Christmas Joy offering. Thank-you!

Hello and blessing in the New Year from Mzuzu, Malawi. We wanted to thank you for your support of our ministries in Malawi, Africa over the past year and especially lifting up our family after Tyler’s recent bicycle accident. Please continue to pray in the New Year for Tyler’s work in theological education and Rochelle’s work in water and sanitation. Thank you! To follow our weekly family blog please visit: www.holminafrica.blogspot.com