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Several years ago, one of our long-time members, along with Church Women United, had a vision for Pocono Area Transitional Housing. Our congregation supports PATH in many ways: a) we offer financial support through our general mission budget, b) members of our congregation serve on the PATH board, c) we host the annual PATH luncheon, and d) we continue to support the many PATH functions and fundraising projects throughout the year.
One of the longest-running local mission projects of our church has been the Children's Clothing Room. Located in the basement of our Christian Education Building and run by Church Women United, the clothing room is open from September to June each year and provides children's clothes to those in need who are referred to us by local agencies.
We support Brainerd, a beautiful facility that offers youth and adults a Christian camping experience right here in our own "backyard." Each summer, Camp Brainerd offers camping opportunities for youth who have completed grades 1 through senior high. Youth who have attended Brainerd have remarked that it has played a vital role in their faith journey. We also support Kirkridge, another camp in South Stroudsburg which offers many opportunities for individuals who are seeking a closer relationship with God. We continue to provide financial assistance to Brainerd and Kirkridge each year through our general mission budget.
Nationally, an intergenerational work camp crew has volunteered each summer since 1989 at Clairvaux Farm, an ecumenical community for the homeless, located in Maryland. In 2002, we added a second work camp experience as several of our youth and adults traveled to Stony Point, New York as well as into New York City. They spent time working at a Christian retreat center and took part in a "Midnight Run": they drove around NYC between the hours of 9 pm and 3 am and delivered food, clothing, and toiletries to homeless people. In 2003, our youth traveled to Cleveland Ohio, to assist with Habitat for Humanity's Inward Bound project, and in 2004, they traveled to Cosby, TN. In 2006, members of our congregation traveled to the Gulf coast of Mississippi to aid in the restoration efforts following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Internationally, in 2001, we partnered with the Sisters of Mercy to build a school in Honduras. Also that year, our youth launched their Cookies for Christ campaign by baking and selling cookies and using the proceeds to help provide the material for the furniture in the school.
Through the efforts of our Pastor Emeritus, we have fostered a long-standing relationship with the Christian Retreat & Study Center Rajpur, India and with its action arm MGVS in Mussoorie. We have also supported Rachel Rao, former director of MGVS in her pursuit of a law degree; she now works in the area of social justice. We also continue to support a "child of our church," who is now working in ministry in Spain. In addition, several of our members have been active with Agua Para El Pueblo, which helps provide potable water in Honduras.
In addition to our regular giving, we receive four special offerings throughout the year: One Great Hour of Sharing throughout Lent, Pentecost Offering during Pentecost, Peace Offering during World Communion, and Christmas Joy throughout Advent. Through these offerings, we are able to provide assistance to the Presbyterian Hunger Fund, Presbyterian Disaster Relief Fund, Self Development of People, Camp Brainerd, the Annual Peacemaker Training Institute at Kirkridge, retired church workers and their families who experience crises, and the many Presbyterian racial and ethnic colleges around the country.
Our Presbyterian Women are mission-oriented and involve the entire congregation in three events to raise funds for local, national and international projects in addition to receiving the Thank Offering and Birthday Offering for the national PW. Each spring the group sponsors a Soup-n-Salad luncheon to benefit PATH; each autumn they invite members to Christmas shop using the SERRV catalog which allows craftspeople from underdeveloped nations around the world to sell their products for self development, and they offer the Alternative Christmas Market so that members of the Church and community may buy shares in various world-wide projects to give as gifts.
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