Social Ministry and Mission
| Visit the Missions table in the patio on Sunday mornings to learn more about the various ministry outreach opportunities. | |
| Mission Elders: |
Ray Warrington Nick Valestrino |
| Deacon Moderators: |
Carol Spiegel Tom Tracy |
| Around the corner……. | |
| WPC Winter Shelter and Meals |
The WPC Community Outreach Center opens its doors every Wednesday evening, all year, to offer hot meals, compassion and encouragement to the homeless in the Conejo Valley community. From December through March we also offer a place to sleep and shower. Outreach is to the working poor and the unemployed; to singles and families of all ages. What can I do? Help with meals the first Wednesday of the month, be a supply coordinator, or a sleepover host, donate needed supplies. We need help in many areas. WPC Contact: Katie Menees |
| Westminster Free Clinic |
Westminster Free Clinic, started at WPC and now the largest clinic in the Conejo Valley, including a licensed pharmacy, provides medical screening, referrals and care and health education. Free Clinic has an intern program for teens interested in a medical career (highly competitive application process; preference given to WPC teens). What can I do? Provide clerical support. Doctors, nurses, and others with medical experience are especially welcome. Provide snacks for the clients on Wednesday nights. WPC Contact: Cindy Vinson for clinic opportunities, or Linda Hamilton for Wed. night food. The clinic operates from the United Methodist Church, 1000 E. Janss Road, Thousand Oaks, every Wednesday from 6:00 – 10:00 pm. For more information: www.westminsterclinic.org |
| A.C.T.I.O.N. |
ACTION is here to challenge and mobilize the Christian community to live out their faith through compassionate acts of service and love toward others. We believe the most powerful force for positive community transformation today is the power of the Holy Spirit moving in the lives of Christians who unite, open their hearts, and serve. What can I do? Come and join us: watch for the next community Serve Day. Contact Yolande or Noelle for ongoing local projects – perhaps for a small group. WPC Contacts: Yolande Brizendine and Noelle MacDonald For further information: www.actionvc.org |
| CROP Walk |
Walkers raise money to fight hunger, and make new friends along the way! What can I do: Join the next CROP Walk WPC Contact: Dan Givens For more information: www.churchworldservice.org |
| Habitat for Humanity |
Habitat for Humanity provides affordable housing for local families, who also participate in the construction of their new home. What can I do? Join a work crew on the current build in Piru. Watch for the Saturday work day schedule. WPC Contact: Chuck Seabury Be on the planning committee for the next Habitat Coalition Golf Day and Dinner, September 2011 at WPC. WPC Contacts: Bill and Jean Amador For more information: www.habitatventura.org |
| Christmas Giving Tree |
The Christmas Giving Tree involves the collection of practical holiday gifts for needy families in the Conejo Valley. What can I do? Assist in organizing December gift drive. WPC Contact: Brenda Ruckstuhl |
| Anysoldier |
AnySoldier provides gifts for service personnel stationed abroad. What can I do?Purchase gifts for service men and women stationed abroad. Assist in organizing and packing gifts for shipping. Watch for the next collection and packing drive in Fall 2011. WPC Contact: Judy Dobrowski For more information: www.anysoldier.com |
| Prayer Shawl |
Prayer Shawl knitters gather to knit comfort shawls as gifts to new babies and those who are ill or in recovery. WPC Contact: Cathy Howell |
| Manna |
MANNA exists solely because of the caring people of the Conejo Valley. The most important source of consistent giving is from clubs, churches like WPC, temples and businesses who have agreed to be involved in a giving program. MANNA accepts anything that would have to be purchased in a grocery store, from food to personal care items (no liquor or medicines). What can I do? Donate food every week to the box in the Narthex. WPC Contact: Sheryl Brownfield |
| Lutheran Social Services |
Lutheran Social Services (LSS) provides emergency assistance and life coaching to hundreds in the Conejo Valley. WPC generously supports LSS with volunteers and donations. LSS offers counseling services to clients as a direct result of WPC's partnership. The agency successfully serves many local clients in the area, thanks to the faith-based community, including WPC. WPC Contact: John Burnett For more information: www.lssccc.org/about-2/locations/ventura-county |
| Bos Scholarships |
The Bos Scholarships were founded in 1993, Dr. Bos' 25th year as pastor of WPC. The Robert C. Bos Seminary Education Scholarship is designated for students hoping to enter the pastoral ministry. The Carole Hoffs Bos Teacher Education Scholarship is awarded to students in the field of education. All previous Bos Scholarship recipients are recognized on a plaque that hangs in the narthex. Completed applications must be received by the Bos Scholarship Committee in WPC's office by April 15. Download Application for both scholarships. WPC Contact: John Folkeson or Cathy Howell |
| A little further around the corner: | |
| Lighthouse Mission |
The Lighthouse Mission provides a wide range of services specifically tailored to assist women and children who are homeless and in need. The Lighthouse, located in Oxnard, offers programs that address the whole person: body, mind, and spirit. What can I do? Involvement: The Lighthouse Committee meets the first Friday of the month from October to June. WPC Contacts: Gayle Fish and Judy Dobrowski For more information: www.erescuemission.com |
| Around the world: | |
| Los Angeles: World Impact/Los Angeles Christian School & Watts Christian Health Center |
World Impact ministers to the under served in the inner city by planting churches and training indigenous pastors through TUMI (The Urban Ministry Institute). This church plant outreach is supported by holistic ministries such as camps, schools, medical clinics, and thrift shops. WPC supports the missionary principal at Los Angeles Christian School and the director of the Watts Christian Health Center. What can I do? Volunteer at Los Angeles Christian School or the Sonshine Shop thrift store; donate furniture and clothing. Watts Clinic needs volunteer medical personnel. WPC Contact: Linda Hamilton For more information: www.worldimpact.org and www.tumi.org |
| Around the world: | |
| Plant With Purpose: Helping humanity by healing the earth |
Plant With Purpose is a Christian non-profit organization working to reverse deforestation and poverty in the world by transforming the lives of the rural poor. "We teach, we plant, we create enterprise, we share the gospel." What can I do? WPC sponsors the village of Cherident in Haiti, which is also the location of a Haiti Education Fund school and the WPC sponsored Haiti Healthcare Partners clinic. WPC Contact: this is an opportunity to get involved! For more information: www.plantwithpurpose.org |
| Mexico: Amor Ministries |
AMOR provides durable housing for families along the U.S./Mexico border. What can I do? Join a weekend build team. A great family project (16 or older). Watch for the next work trip planned for October. WPC Contact: Paul Harris For more information: www.amor.org |
| Haiti: Haiti Healthcare Partners/Haiti Education Foundation |
Haiti Healthcare Partners, started at WPC, is a national network of churches supporting a medical clinic outreach in the mountain village of Cherident. WPC also supports students in the Haiti Education Foundation schools. What can I do? Be a part of this exciting outreach – organizing, writing, communicating, sharing the vision. Be part of a Haiti travel team. WPC Contact: Ben Small For more information: www.haitihealthcare.org |
| Turkey: Ken and Norita Erickson/Kifas Wheelchairs |
Ken and Norita Erickson's "tentmaker" ministry in Turkey includes a wheelchair factory called Kifas (‘Peter' in Turkish), a mercy ministry to the disabled population, and ministry to the growing Christian church in Turkey. What can I do? Become involved in a prayer group that meets once a month. WPC Contact: Suzanne Thompson For more information: www.friendsofkardelen.com |
| Kenya: Makobe Children's Home/Baraka Foundation |
Baraka Foundation helped the locals build a children's home for AIDS orphans in the remote village of Makobe in 2001. Baraka currently supports 21 orphan girls there and has expanded care to include helping special needs children with meals and education costs. Baraka is a 501c3 foundation committed to providing ongoing educational support for the Makobe girls as they transition to high school, trade schools and university. What can I do? Support the education fund. Join us for Baraka Foundation meetings. Help update our web page and brochure design. Join a travel team to Kenya – July 19-Aug 2, 2012. WPC Contact: Bob Each |
| Peace Child India/World Children's Center |
Peace Child assists single parent families AIDS orphans and untouchables in becoming self-supporting via micro-loans; supports schools and libraries in Bangalore and Hyderabad, India. WPC Contact: Stacey McEnnan |
| Alternative Christmas Market |
The Alternative Christmas Market offers meaningful "gifts" from our own WPC mission outreach ministries. All of these funds go directly to the various mission groups and are being used to meet urgent and real needs both locally and around the world. What can I do? Volunteer to help with the Market in December. THANK YOU for shopping with us!! |
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Westminster Presbyterian Church |