In Her Words…

I attended the Wonderful Wednesday at which the speaker was the husband of Tracee Laing (Tracee was ill), founder of Healing Arts Missions. He explained that conditions in Haiti are truly awful due to gangs controlling much of the country.  Healing Arts Missions was forced to close its medical clinic and, most recently, suspend all medical services. (They do still support a school and water program.) The doctor who ran the clinic has friends who were kidnapped.  Basic services and food are scarce.  Hearing all of this, my heart went out to the people of Haiti.

A couple of weeks later, I was reading the newspaper (Luddite that I am) and saw an article on displaced residents of an apartment complex in Columbus.  The complex had been closed due to unsafe and unhealthy living conditions.  The article said that many of the displaced residents were Haitian immigrants and that many of them had come to this country through a trafficker who lied to them and swindled them.  Had I read the article earlier, I would have thought “How could they be so stupid?”  But after the Wonderful Wednesday presentation, I realized that these folks may have been in a situation where they were desperate to get out of Haiti- that anything might seem better. 

We at the church were invited to show up for the people of Haiti by coming to the presentation and learning about their conditions.  At the time, I thought,  “That isn’t doing much”, but I was wrong.  It made me “think” differently. It changed my understanding and opened my heart to their plight.

Winter Coat Donation in Spring!

Spring is in the air! Tired of winter coats? Kids outgrowing theirs? It's a Coat Drive! There is a box in Heritage Hall to receive all sizes! Coats will be sorted and distributed among local needs. Thanks for your generosity! 

Mission Going Forward

new logo designed by Courtney Swisher

Our Mission Team, consisting of Carol Apacki, Sue and Chris Cherney, Mel Fraley, Brian Fuller, Alan Mabry, Mike Schmidt and Jody Sturgeon, spent all of 2023 planning, advising, researching agencies in our area to become our “Pilot Program” and more.   All the while, continuing to support several local agencies with mission dollars AND many hands-on opportunities for our FPC members.  Courtney Swisher also spent hours keeping us on Social Media, creating videos, fliers and our Bridges logo!  We are now partnering with Starting Strong as our pilot program going forward.  If you were not able to attend the Annual Meeting, you can ask Ellen for a recording to hear from the Director of Fostering Further/Starting Strong, Yvonne Williams.  We are moving in a faithful direction to “build bridges in our community, drawing closer to God, to our neighbors and to ourselves.”  A heartfelt thank you to your Mission Team and to all of FPC for living out Matthew 25 then, now and going forward!

75 years of 1 GREAT Hour

On Palm Sunday, March 24, we will have a special offering in worship.  The “One Great Hour of Sharing” collection goes to Presbyterian Hunger Program - (36%), Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (32%) and Self-Development of People (32%).  The children are also collecting coins for their traditional Fish Banks.  You’ll find more information in the next few worship bulletins.  On Palm Sunday, “If we all do a little, it adds up to a lot!”

Thank you, Team 78

Thank you to our seventh and eighth graders for making 50 sandwiches and assembling 50 sack lunches for the Drop-In Center in Newark.  The center was so grateful when the lunches were arrived on Tuesday.

And, a special thank you to Mark Atchison for overseeing it all this past Sunday!

Each Wonderful  Wednesday in March, we will be collecting individually wrapped food items for the Newark Drop-In Center.  The center is only open 3 days a week. The center serves people who are experiencing homelessness who need a mailing address, a place to charge their phone, help with getting needed documents for job hunting,  a sack lunch and for some….just a place to rest out of the elements.

Our church has committed to preparing 50 sack lunches each month for the center.  We are collecting the following individually wrapped items in March:

• Gatorade

• Chips

• Cookies

• Granola bars

• Trail mix

A huge THANK YOU to Mark Bruce and the Kroger organization for providing gift cards so we can purchase meat, cheese and bread for sandwiches.  Together we can serve our neighbors as Jesus asks of us in Matthew 25.  Let’s do this together!

After touring the Food Pantry Network in Newark last week, there are great changes happening!

• The organization has rethought how they distribute food, creating FPN Markets.

• Food pantries in Licking County are converting their model of distribution to be more intentional about respecting people’s dignity.

• Clients will have a “regular” grocery store experience, instead of being handed a box of food at each visit.

• Clients can “shop” for themselves, taking what they need and leaving what they don’t.

• They can shop at any location, not just the one assigned to them, at the times they are assigned.

• March is the pantry’s largest community-wide drive to fight hunger in Licking County – Operation Feed.

With an increase of 29.5% more households requesting food assistance this year, our support for the FPN of LC is important!

For more information on how to support our neighbors, visit www.foodpantrynetwork.net. 

The Blessing Box Needs a Few Volunteers

Do you have 1 hour, once a month?  If so, check out the link below.  We could use a few more volunteers to deliver items to our Blessing Box at 1st Presbyterian, Newark.  It literally takes about an hour from start to finish.  Deliveries can be made at your convenience either Thursday, Friday or Saturday.  The box is often emptied immediately because of the need. Please consider this hands-on way to live out Matthew 25, right here in our own backyard.  Questions?  Contact Melissa Mautz at melissa.mautz@gmail.com or  Ellen at eclark@granpres.org .

 https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4CA9AC29A0F58-blessing