Missions

     Missions...a way of life for the Zion Congregation.  Our mission initiatives for the coming year include overview reports for the following:  Food Pantry, FredCamp, Friends of Barnabas, Kits for Conference, School Dressing Days, ZionCamp and Thurman   Brisben Center.   At the beginning of this year, the Food Pantry is on-going and active on the third Thursday of each month, from 4-6pm.  Friends of Barnabas is ongoing as there is a collection on the first Sunday by the children of Zion.  FredCamp will ramp-up in June (please see separate article in this newsletter).  Kits for Conference and School Dressing Days will activate later in the year.  There is always need for assistance for Thurman Brisben and in December 2010, the UMW donated $250 matched by Zion equaling a $500 gift for the Center.  ZionCamp hopes to reactivate this year with a local project.

            Headley Barnsley, At-Large Member

            for Missions

Coat Closet

     Zion United Methodist Church is proud to announce its newest mission.  We are in need of clean, gently used outer wear of all sizes, to include sweaters and hoodies with the intent of distributing them at the Food Bank, October for sweaters and November for coats.  We would also like to be able to give a knitted or crochet hat and scarf with each coat.  We are looking at expanding this mission in the future into a Clothes Closet. Please remember us as you clean out closets this summer. 

Please contact Juanita Christian  540 898-3950   nxray33chris@earthlink.net for more information.

KEEP SAVING THOSE POP TOPS!
     The Ronald McDonald House is thrilled to
see so many pop tops coming in.  On Tuesday,
August 9, Rev Barb and I took a whole load to
the House.  They weighed each bag we had
and we saved 29 pounds!!  With the proceeds,
that would cover a 3-night stay for some family
whose child is very ill.  THANKS SO MUCH.
             
Joyce Fairbanks, Coordinator

Kits for Conference Mission Area!
     Wow!  Zion people are awesome and willing to meet any challenge!!! Thank you so much for your eager participation in making Kits for Conference!  In my mind's eye, I can see the Quilters working year round, sewing and sewing and sewing:  making school bags for all of the wonderful supplies that pour in.  Each bag is different, some are made of soft corduroy, some of  bright cotton.  Others have flowers, checks, stripes....some have different handles.  All are sewed with love and prayer.
     I  see friends and neighbors gathered around a table, sorting washcloths, soap, fingernail clippers--each health kit filled with laughter, prayer and friendship.  I see moms and dads with their children shopping in Walmart, Target, or the Dollar Store for pencils, crayons, scissors, rulers, paper and those big pink erasers.  All of these school supplies are gathered with grate-fulness that our children are learning to give to others that have very little.  There are prayers of thanks for all that the Lord has given to our family.
     Sewing kits are made with loving hands by those who appreciate the feel of a good piece of cloth.  Thread, needles, scissors are carefully tucked in with wonder as to what this small gift of material will become.  Will it be a small shirt or a pair of pants, shorts or even a skirt?  The sewing kit is sent with love and the  joy of being creative.
     This year we collected 82 kits; school bags, health kits, and sewing kits.  The kits were consecrated on a Sunday morning, packed and sent on their way to the places that need them. The collection of Kits for Conference was over for the year.
     Until one hears the cry for help.  Haiti needs school kits urgently!!!!!!!
     Zion is there!  At this writing, we are in the midst of a three-week campaign to collect items for much needed school bags!  The Quilters are sewing, the children are collecting, the parents are buying extra school supplies for little ones that they don't even know.  And a neighborhood book club brings supplies by the bagful, eagerly wanting to help.  My guess is that they all bring love, prayers, friendship and warm thoughts for a small country named Haiti.
     Thank you all for your participation, in whatever form that takes:  prayer, a monetary gift, sewing items, school supplies, washcloths, combs, packing boxes. It is all so appreciated and shows what a giving church Zion always is to its community, both near and far.

Carolyn Messer, Juanita Christian; Coordinators

1.  FRIENDS OF BARNABAS COINS

     First Sunday collection of “Coins from the Children” are designated for the Friends of Barnabas Foundation to “help one child at a time” around the world, and especially in Honduras.