Please bag any gently used clothes and shoes that you can spare and bring them to Church. We’ll place our donations in the coat room. Your donations will be distributed to two groups working hard to help people get back on their feet:

• Local Family Stores operated by the Adult Rehabilitation Center of the Salvation Army;
• The Indianapolis Re-Entry Education Facility, which provides assistance to adult male prisoners being released from jail.

We need clean, gently-used clothes and shoes in good condition — for both men and women, as well as children of all ages. Start cleaning out those closets and drawers!

Donna Hays (who is on the Missions Board and helped to plan that trip) and her father (before he passed away) felt a special burden to respond to the request of the Toposa woman. Together, they raised $10,000. Our challenge, as a congregation, was to come up with the balance. We have now done so in the following ways:

• 20% of last Sunday’s offering was designated for the well, adding $1,986 to the total.
• Donations made by our children during Vacation Bible School added another $200.
• Tuesday the Board of Directors voted to take $814 from church reserves to complete the project.

Drilling will begin soon in the Toposa tribal area. Thank you for your wonderful generosity!

Don Hays, father of Jesus MCC Missions Board member Donna Hays, asked his daughter near the end of his life if she would help raise the funds for a well somewhere where folks need clean water.

When Don passed away earlier this year, Donna began raising funds to make her dad’s dream a reality for the Toposa tribe. Each well in this area of Sudan costs a staggering $13,000. Donna and her family have raised $10,000 but need another $3,000 to reach the goal.

This is where we can help. On Sunday, July 11, 20% of whatever you put in the offering will go toward the Sudan Well Fund. Together we can give a gift of water to the people we met almost two years ago.

There is no need to designate your giving. We will automatically set aside 20% of every dollar donated that day. This method has worked well when we donated to other global needs. The 80/20 formula allows us to make a very sizable donation to relief efforts without falling too far short in funding the ongoing ministries of the church.

So, we encourage all who can to give a little extra next Sunday, as an expression of God’s love for Sudan. Many thanks!

Specifically, $1,250 was sent to a sister congregation, Chapel Hill United Methodist Church (Indianapolis), to purchase medical supplies for their medical missions trip to Haiti. They left Friday, February 5 and expect to treat 5,000 patients at a clinic near Port-au-Prince this week. Another $2,162 was sent to Partners In Health to be used exclusively to provide medical and health services for the poor in Haiti. Thank you so much for your overflowing generosity!

If you’d like to make additional, individual contributions to help in Haiti, you can find more information here:

• Partners in Health
• Doctors Without Borders
• American Red Cross or text “Haiti” to 90999

Next Sunday, January 31, 20% of everything you put in the offering plate will automatically go to relief efforts in Haiti.

Chapel Hill Medical Missions Trip
The first $1,250 of our relief funds will go to support a medical missions trip being coordinated by a sister congregation here in Indianapolis, Chapel Hill United Methodist Church. They will be sending 17 medical missionaries to Haiti from February 5-13. They have made similar trips to Haiti for years. These medical missionaries will be stationed at a clinic about an hour north of Port-au-Prince, where refuges from Port-au-Prince are fleeing to seek medical assistance.

The Chapel Hill team expects to treat about 5,000 Haitians during their two week stay! Our funds will be used exclusively to purchase medical supplies for this trip, including antibiotics, bandages, suture kits, braces, splints, and medications. If you would like to help prepare handwritten notes of encouragement for these medical missionaries, join us at the church this Tuesday, January 26 at 7:00 pm in Room 6.

Partners In Health
Amounts collected in excess of $1,250 will go to Partners In Health. Our Missions Board is very impressed with the work PIH is doing. For the past 20 years, PIH has employed a number of native Haitians to provide medical and health services for the poor in their local communities — as well as water, food, and shelter. All of the funds we donate to PIH will go directly to their relief work in Haiti.

When you give next Sunday, there is no need to designate your giving for Haiti. We will automatically set aside 20% of every dollar donated next Sunday. This approach has worked well for us in the past when we responded to the tsunami in Asia and starvation in Africa. Our 80/20 formula allows us to make a very sizeable donation to relief efforts without falling too far short in funding the ongoing ministries of our Church.

So, we encourage all who can to plan to give a little extra next Sunday, as an expression of God’s love for Haiti. Thanks!

Won’t you sign up today to be part of Team JMCC? Your participation can make a huge difference to people right here in Indiana. The walk is Saturday October 10, 1:00 pm at University Park. You can join the team or make a donation online, or sign up and get details at church on Sunday.

If you can’t walk (or don’t want to) you can participate by gathering pledges or sponsoring someone else. You’re even welcome to join the team on Saturday for the team picture, turn in your pledges, and not walk, if that’s what you’d prefer. Our goal is to raise funds to help those in need!

The 2009 Navajo Nation Mission Service Team will depart this week for Gallup, New Mexico to lend a hand to the Navajo people. We’ll be working with the Southwest Indian Foundation to help with new home construction for those in need.

• Please pray for the Team: for our health and safety, and that we demonstrate the love of Christ in all our actions.
• Please pray for the Navajo People: that God will prepare their hearts, and that they will be abundantly blessed!

There are several local projects which have been created to bring about greater peace, prosperity, and equality for the people of Sudan. We hope to support these wonderful projects.

To provide funding for the New Community Reforestation Project and the Girl Child Education Fund, Jesus MCC will be offering delicious pizzas for sale. Every cent of profit will be directed toward the planting of trees in southern Sudan, or toward the tuition costs for a young girl’s education. The people of Sudan have told us that these two areas of concern are the most critical to their future.

Together we can make a difference on the other side of the globe and make earth a little more like heaven.

Orders will be taken at the church July 19, 26, and August 2. All pizzas will be picked up or delivered on August 15 and 16. Please visit the table in the social hall to place your order or to get more information. You’re also welcome to email Melody Merida with questions.

Six people from Jesus MCC went to Sudan with New Community Project to meet the people there, learn about the country and their needs, and to see if there is something we can do to make a difference.

See also:

• From the Be Still and Know devotional: Lessons from Sudan
• Pictures from the trip: Back from Sudan
• A Visit to the Sudan: Great Need, and Glimmers of Hope

An overview of Jesus MCC’s Missions Service Trip to Gallup, New Mexico, to work with the Southwest Indian Foundation and the Navajo Nation. The trip was in October, 2008.