Mission Opportunities

Thank you, each and every one, who supported the Adult Mission trip through your prayers, financial support, Duck Deli dining, participation in fund raisers; your gifts to the school children of Gulfport and gift cards to Home Depot for their families.  Our Mission Committee Chairman reports monetary gifts in excess of $2,000!.  Thank you, bless you all.

We had a highly successful trip.  This year we saw a lot of progress in both Gulfport and New Orleans, especially in the 9th ward, where there is a tremendous amount of new housing.  Imagine 3 years plus several months after a major hurricane has damaged your home and you still have not had it repaired.  Imagine living without heat or air-conditioning (it gets cold there, it was in the 30's a few mornings while we were there), with your ceilings caving in and black mold all over the place.  Then imagine calling a contractor, plumber, electrician or heating/air-conditioning serviceman and being told no one is available to come do the repairs for months.  My husband was offered many jobs each time he went to Home Depot for supplies.  People still need help.

Lenape Valley Presbyterian Church will receive the 2009 Pentecost Offering on the day of Pentecost, May 31. This gift provides a direct way to meet the needs of children at risk, youth, and young adults.  We will keep 40% of the Offering to support ministry with children at risk in ourcommunity.  PC(USA) General Assemble receives the remaining 60%of the Pentecost offering for leadership developmentopportunities for Presbyterian youth and young adults young adults and to support children-at-risk programs atthe national level.

Jim Beard dedicated half a day last week to hand scouring stains from mugs used for Sunday morning coffee hour. The dishwasher hadn't been able to remove them. Thanks, Jim, for recognizing a need and taking it on.

The MIST (Mothers In Support/Service Together) small group wrapped and mailed 26 packages of goodies contributed by members to our college students for Valentine's Day. Thanks to all of you!

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. (1 Cor:15-58)

Rise Malawi Ministries is a brand new Christian youth organization located in Madisi, Dowa, Malawi, whose aim is to provide a safe environment for vulnerable children through spiritual, physical and academic support.  Rise has an after school program with components of tutoring, HIV/AIDS education, counseling, feeding, scholarship, evangelism and discipleship and job training.  The ministry was founded by three African Bible College graduates who spent almost a year receiving hands-on training with Urban Promise in Camden.  Gibozi Mphanzi and Tinashe visited us at Lenape Valley last year during Urban Promise Sunday.  Rise currently ministers to 50 junior high school and 10 high school students.

Since 1949, Presbyterians have joined with millions of other Christians through One Great Hour of Sharing to share God's love with people experiencing need.  Our gifts support ministries of disaster response, refugee assistance and resettlement, and community development that help people find safe refuge, start new lives, and work together to strengthen their families and communities.  Lenape Valley will receive the offering on Easter Sunday and Palm Sunday.  Look for further news on One Great Hour of Sharing.

Mother Hubbard's Cupboard sent 58 pounds of food in December to Bucks County Housing Group (New Britain Baptist Church) Food Larder which provides food for individuals and families needing assistance in Central Bucks County.

Lenape Valley’s Activities Committee donates proceeds from their annual Craft Fair to mission. The $1,500 realized from the 2008 Fair was distributed to the listed organizations.

Food for the Poor $500

Samaritan’s Purse $500

Milk and Nutrition Projects $200

Life-Saving Food $200

Feed a Hungry baby $100

The Prayer Shawl Ministry has gone missional! They've spread to Roslyn Presbyterian Church through Dan and Amy Reid who will share the shawls made here at Lenape Valley with members and friends in Roslyn who need them!

February is Mission Month!

This year the focus is on Mission Near and Far - from Chalfont, New Britain and Camden, U. S. A. to Zambia in Africa!  There is much work to be done to help those in need. During Mission Month you will hear representatives of four activities and organizations who will spell out their mission and tell you how you can become involved.

Feb 1    Zambian Church Leaders
Feb 8    Habitat for Humanity
Feb 15  LV Adult Mission Trip Team
Feb 22  Urban Promise

On Sunday, February 1 Lenape Valley will host guests from one of our denomination's partner churches in South Central Africa.  A delegation of Zambian church leaders is returning a visit from Philadelphia Presbytery to their country in 2008.

On Becoming Missional

On the last day, Jesus will say to those on His right hand, "Come, enter the Kingdom. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was sick and you visited me." Then Jesus will turn to those on His left hand and say, "Depart from me because I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was thirsty and you did not give me to drink, I was sick and you did not visit me." These will ask Him, "When did we see You hungry, or thirsty or sick and did not come to Your help?" And Jesus will answer them, "Whatever you neglected to do unto one of the least of these, you neglected to do unto Me!" - Mother Teresa (interpreting Matt 25:34-45) from a 3 Feb 94 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.

Many of you have heard some of the stories from the last two trips that the adult mission team has taken to Gulfport, MS. Now that I am actively involved in planning the next trip, I have begun reflecting again on our trip this past March and would like to share my experiences with you. I spent most of my week working with others from our group along with a group of college students from Michigan at the home of the Flowers family. We gutted moldy walls of several rooms, insulated and installed new drywall and prepared the rooms for painting. Major repairs were done to the main bathroom and that room was prepared for painting as well. We were able to fix the heater, despite the fact that it had not worked since the hurricane.. (It does get cold in Mississippi and the houses are not insulated like ours.) Outside, we cleaned up the yard and scraped and painted the white trim on the outside of the house. Before we would start each day, we would pray with Mrs. Flowers. Then each day we had to remove furniture so that we could work inside. Mrs. Flowers was very nice but kept to herself early in the week. I couldn't understand why she wasn't helping us. When Mr. Flowers returned from work each afternoon he was eager to see how much had been done that day. He shared how he had to work at the local Veterans Hospital that Sunday before the hurricane and therefore could not evacuate. His wife and daughters were able to get out before the hurricane hit. He stayed in his home while the storm roared outside. He told me how his house literally swayed in the storm. He was "lucky" because his home was not flooded. However, it sustained severe wind and rain damage. Because it was not flooded, he was not eligible for government funds and his homeowner's policy found loopholes and also did not pay for any of the damages. He patiently waited for volunteer help from Solid Rock Ministries to replace his roof and then waited even longer for help with the inside of his home since his paycheck could not begin to cover those expenses. (He shared with Leah that he could wait patiently because so many of his friends lost everything and he at least still had a house). After two and a half years, the mold was finally being removed from his house. The last day we worked on the home, both Mr. and Mrs. Flowers worked with us. I have never seen anyone smile as broadly as Mrs. Flowers did while scraping paint. Apparently she had hesitated to help us because she wanted to stay out of our way and, more importantly, we had failed to invite her to help. She proudly shared with some of us poems that her daughter had written and wrote us a thank you note for all the work that was done. Even though there was still a lot of work to be completed when we finished our part on Friday (our last workday), progress had been made and the Flowers were delighted. The following Monday when I was driving to work to face my desk, I was envious of the group that was in Gulfport. That group would start the day at the Flower's in prayer. Then they would begin to paint the newly prepared rooms with the beautiful paint colors that had been chosen. Joyful colors that erased the mold and mildew. Joyful colors that would bring pride and happiness to a family who had so patiently endured much. And every time they would look at their home, they would remember a group of folks from Pennsylvania who cared enough to come to serve in Jesus' name and share their faith. I guess sometimes ministers come in flannel shirts, dirty sweatshirts and blue jeans.

Have you ever wanted to help others in need? Would you like to be part of the next group from LVPC heading south to continue the rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina? If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please pray about it and consider joining us on our next mission trip, scheduled for March 1-7, 2009. Sadly Solid Rock Ministries, who LVPC has worked with for three years, is currently looking for a new place to house volunteers and we cannot partner with them this year. We are currently making plans to work with Samaritan's Purse to build new homes in the 9th ward in New Orleans (this section sustained some of the worst damage from the hurricane). We are finalizing our plans so we need to know of your interest as soon as possible. Please contact Leah Weidemoyer (215-257-2190), Barbara Stechert (215-361-0691) or me (Faith Frank 215-822-8348) ASAP. Please pray for us and the people we will be serving. Thank you so much for all your support of our mission projects!!

There’s been a lot of talk about Lenape Valley becoming a Missional Church: that it will take four to six years to get there and that everyone in the congregation will need to be involved.  But no one fully understands the concept of a Missional Church and what it means for our congregation, for each of us as individuals. 

Adult Mission Trip News

The Adult Mission Trip team that traveled to Gulfport, MS, for the second time this year is busy planning and working to support their 2009 trip.

They will host Coffee Hour in June. View their incredible collection of pictures from the 2008 trip as you enjoy coffee and goodies.

They'll be offering bargains for lunch and dinner!

Help yourself and help LVPC Missons 

Wawa hoagie coupons at $3.50 instead of the new $3.99 store price. There is no expiration date on these coupons. After the June sale, see Bill Kurz or Bob Fry for the spontaneous appetite or as gifts.

Purchase a bag of Texas Roadhouse Restaurant peanuts for $1.00 and get a discount coupon for dinner at the restaurant in Montgomeryville.

Greater news! A final tally of suggestions by you, members of our congregation, for hands-on mission involvement is presented here for your information.

Habitat for Humanity                                             25
UrbanPromise workday                                         20
Prepare meals for homeless/shut-ins                   19
Support local fire department                               11
Prepare meals for Lenape Valley family                11
A Woman's Place                                                  10
Prison Ministry                                                        8
4th of July Parade Ministry                                      8
Adult Mission Trip                                                    7
Wayne Hall Workday                                              5
Odd jobs for Lenape Valley family                          5
Elder Ministry for Lenape Valley                             4
Ministry to Pine Run Community                             3
Grief Sharing Ministry                                             1

Below is a summary of our 2008 Mission Budget. In all, $56,912 of the LVPC annual budget is earmarked for what is traditionally categorized as Mission programs.

Basic General Mission                         $ 25,000

General Assembly Mission Budget              4,900
Synod Mission Budget                                1,500
Presbytery Mission Budget                       18,600

National/International Mission               8,600

Good Shepherd Hospital - Congo               1,000
Campus Crusade (Paulette Thomas)          1,000
WEC (Louis and Susan Sutton)                  3,500
Pioneers                                                     3,100