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The information below is taken from the annual report of the Missions Committee to our Annual Church Conference. It highlights the activities of the Committee for the year of 2001 and discusses some of the plans for 2002. If you are interested in working with the Missions committee, please contact Bob Ruda, the chairperson of the committee. You can reach Bob through the church office at 630-972-1011. Missions Committee Report for 2001 The year 2001 has been a very demanding year for the missions committee as we were called on to respond to several unexpected and unprecedented tragedies around the world in addition to our normal outreach programs, Friendship Church has however responded in kind to these challenges. The total monetary gifts of our members to these calls through the end of November alone amount to more than $13,000. Friendship has indeed responded to the call. India / Ell Salvador Relief -- February 2001 A call for help went out after a massive earthquake in India. Shortly thereafter a hurricane in El Salvador required another call for help from UMCOR. A love offering to assist the relief efforts totaled $780. One Great Hour of Sharing -- March 2001 Friendship Church donated $1568 to UMCOR to support its worldwide relief efforts on the behalf of the victims of natural disasters and political unrest. Connecting Congregation / Dr. Thurmond - March 2001 We held a brunch in March and Dr. Thurmond spoke on the worldwide effort of UMCOR. Approximately $680 was collected to purchase hymnals and Bibles for our connecting congregation in Kenya. Mission Trips -- July 2001 This year, in addition to the mission trip to Red Bird in July, a separate youth mission trip to Wyoming was organized. The Red Bird trip was a joint function with the Jesse Walker church of Joliet. A total of 8 adults and 4 youth traveled to Red Bird Mission in Kentucky to do "hands on" support of the rural poor in that area. In addition to love offerings from our congregation, both the youth mission group and the Red Bird mission group held several different fund-raising events. These efforts fully funded both mission trips. In September, both mission groups co-sponsored a brunch to review with their supporters and interested members of the congregation their accomplishments on these trips. Here is a photo of our work team from the 1999 Red Bird Mission Trip.
Al & Mavis Streyffeler. Missionaries to Senegal - September 2001 Pastor Ndjungu and his wife Mbwizu visited our church in September. Ndjungu spoke at all three worship services on their efforts in conjunction with Al and Mavis in Senegal. The Missions committee hosted pastor Ndjungu and his wife for the Saturday night and were able to enjoy their company over dinner and hear further details of their missionary work in Senegal. The Streyffelers regularly email their sponsoring churches about their day-to-day activities in Senegal. A sampling of these emails will be posted soon on our Streyffelers in Senegal page. You can read more about the Streyffelers on that page now. The September 11th attack - September 2001 After the September 11th attack in New York City and Washington, a special UMCOR appeal was quickly organized. Friendship members donated approximate $2900 to this special effort. Crop Walk -October 2001 Friendship Church again lent support for this years' walk with several adults and youth of the church participating and signing up sponsors. Crop Walk collects money for international disaster relief. About 25 percent of the funds collected go to local charities however. Connecting Congregation -- October 2001 In addition to supplying our connecting congregation in Kenya with funds to purchase Bibles and hymnals where there were none, a love offering in October collected approximate $1283. In 1997 Friendship Church agreed to a three-year commitment to help start a Methodist church in Kiambogo, Kenya. We agreed to stand alongside them in prayer, correspondence and financial support. Due to political unrest our connecting congregation moved in 1998 to a shopping center in Karandi. We have elected to continue our support of this effort. Russian Ministry through Bruce Inglis -- November 2001 Friendship again this year supported Bruce's Christmas card ministry to the Russian people. Members of Friendship signed Christmas cards and donated money to enclose a $5 bill with each card for Bruce to handout. A total $725 was collected. Bruce also collects (on an ongoing basis) used hearing aids and glasses to be refurbished and given to needy Russian people. Read more about Bruce's Russian Ministry Mission Communications Throughout the year the committee has done numerous "minute for missions' informational announcements at the beginning of service. We used the time to educate members on the various mission projects the church supports. Through the generosity of our church members, we were able this year to support all of our various mission programs without using any funds from the general church budget. For 2002, we are investigating a
different mission trip, as we were not able to secure a spot for Red
Bird in 2002. We also are planning to once again support Habitat for
Humanity. |
