Our family this year is a mother and two girls, ages 11 and 12. There is signup sheet in the narthex if you would like to purchase a gift. You can also give money to Ruth Roberts to help purchase a gift. We also provide the family with a gift card for groceries. Please bring everything to the church by Sunday, December 8th.
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We will have the opportunity to contribute to the Christmas Joy Offering in December. Money from this offering is used to help retired church workers with critical housing needs, help church workers with urgent financial and medical needs, provide scholarships at Presbyterian-related schools and help equip people of color to be leaders for ministry. We will have readers in December to give us more information about this offering. The church will work with the Women’s Association to support a family from YWCA-Pathways for Christmas. We should have information about our family around the middle of November. The winter season is hard on homeless people. Some of our mission money goes to make life a little easier for people facing homelessness. The Everett Gospel Mission, The Salvation Army, Nightwatch, and Vision House are all involved in providing shelter and other needs for people who desperately need help. Habitat for Humanity, Snohomish County helps people who could not become home owners through the normal Real Estate Market. Each family helped puts 500 hours of work into building their new home. Kathy Fladmoe works in the office and checks in clients at Concern for Neighbors Food Bank in Mountlake Terrace. Concern For Neighbors Food Bank is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that collects and distributes food to low income families. The Food Bank currently serves an average of 110+ households per week. It services families in Mount Lake Terrace, Brier, and parts of Lynnwood. Every Tuesday from 9:30A-11:30A Kathy volunteers and gets to know clients on a first name basis. People tell Kathy that Concern for Neighbors is one of the friendliest foodbanks. It makes her feel good to volunteer and treat people with respect and help without making people feel embarrassed. Kathy says “It’s a happy place and I enjoy meeting other people.” While the food bank serves all kinds of individuals Kathy has observed that it is mostly senior populations and those in poverty. As Kathy puts it “food is expensive and they get a variety of healthy food there.” Kathy says that the thing they most could use is someone to speak Russian and interpret for the families and clients that need this service. If you want to get involved too: concern4neighborsfoodbank@yahoo.com (425) 778-7227 4700 228th St SW, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043, USA Donations Monday/Tuesday from 8:00AM-1:00PM. Distribution Tuesday 9:30AM-11:30AM October is the month we remember that Nightwatch needs men’s white socks. Cheap socks are fine since they are discarded after use. Clean, dry socks help keep homeless men comfortable during the cold winter months. Bring white socks, crew length or longer, for men during October. Many pairs of socks are needed to last through the cold winter months.
We think of overnight shelter when we think of Nightwatch which is what they do most. Nightwatch also has some low rent apartments for very low income seniors whose lives are made a lot easier by having a safe place to live, A recent issue of Nightwatch News told about receiving a call of gratitude from a formerly homeless woman who had received many nights of shelter through Nightwatch. She is no longer homeless, and now lives in the Midwest. She is active in her church and community, but never forgot the help she received from Nightwatch when she so desperately needed it. October is sock month at Operation Nightwatch, so now is a good time to watch for sales of white men’s socks, crew or longer length. They can be inexpensive since they are worn a few days and discarded.
SOUPER BOWL SUNDAY raised $9,673,682 nation-wide, helping over 3,500 charities which provide food for people in need. Saturday, June 29th we held our annual parking lot sale – hopefully you noticed the change of date in the emails and announcements and were able to participate! We raised over $275 for our local food banks and Vision House. Thank-you for buying and selling with us!
If you are looking for a second opportunity to sell your stuff, our neighbors on 97th are having a sale on Friday, August 16th and Saturday, August 17th. Talk with Pastor Amy if you would like to join their sale by setting up a sale on our property. They will be using our lot for parking, so there will be lots of buyers! This month the focus will be on prayer for two of our mission partners. Our Malawi mission partner, Tyler Holm, would like prayer for the students graduating with a degree in theology from the University of Livingstonia. His latest mission letter highlighted three students from Zambia; one lady and two men. The young lady, Mary, was sent by her family to work as a domestic servant during her secondary school years. This was a difficult time for her as she was mistreated and did not have much time to study. She wanted to work on her education even when she could not attend school. She said the difficult times taught her to have courage and to praise God in everything. Gideon attended church with his family while growing up in Zambia, but did not feel that God was a real part of his life. Despite his lack of interest, his father and several people told him they thought he had gifts for teaching and preaching. When he was in secondary school, he had a dream in which a man came and told him to “go and preach the gospel.” He shared the dream with his family and pastor. They felt this was a true calling from God. Gideon became active in his church and affirmed his commitment to serve.
Edwin worked hard in school while he was growing up, but had to walk one hour both to and from school each day. He often prayed during these long walks. After graduating from secondary school the only job he found was at a brewery. He felt this work did not help his Christian life, so he quit and went to study at the University of Zambia. He did not feel that was the right place for him either. He talked with his pastor about becoming a pastor, but at 22 he was too young for the seminary in Zambia. He was accepted at the University of Livingstonia’s School of Theology. Let’s pray for God’s guidance for these young people as they seek ordination in the Synod of Zambia. Pastors are in short supply in most of Africa, and their services are greatly needed. Cancer Pathways needs prayer as they continue to support cancer patients and their families. The staff and volunteers give individual attention to people at a low time in their lives, such as a man who needed a haircut but could not leave home because of treatments. Someone gladly went to his home and cut his hair. Children who have cancer can enjoy a free week of camping at Camp Sparkle where they can enjoy many different activities. Several weeks ago I heard on the TV news that Cancer Pathways was having graffiti problems. They spent $2,000 on clean-up only to have the graffiti reappear. They faced fines from the city of Seattle, Please pray for the graffiti problems to stop so that all their funds can be used to help cancer patients and their families. On Saturday, June 29th (note the change of date!) we will have another parking lot sale! What a great excuse to clean out the garage. As we did last year, we will reserve you a parking lot stall when you donate $25 per reserved stall toward our local mission causes. Ministries that will benefit from the sale this year include: The Mountlake Terrace food bank and Vision House (Shoreline). All the funds you raise from selling your yard sale goods are yours to do with as you wish. Last year we made over $200 for missions. An online registration link will be posted soon on our EPC website and Facebook page. Our main mission emphasis lately has been on the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering which was collected on Palm Sunday. Our congregation gave a total of $821 to this offering. The funds collected help with disaster assistance, help alleviate hunger, and help reduce oppression, poverty and injustice through offering legal help and funds to start very small businesses to improve incomes. |
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