MISSION

July 2002

Mission Treasurer Ian Amritt has sent out 50% of our pledged Shared Mission support to the Presbyterian headquarters in Louisville. Good contributions were made to the Christmas Joy Offering, One Great Hour of Sharing and also to Haiti to support the hospital with which Rev. Ruth Boling is connected. This hospital is doing work on Lymphatic Filariasis. Contributions were also sent to the "Hope in the Cities" program, and to the ministry of the Presbyterian Camp at Holmes, NY.

Details of these programs are in the Annual Report. One of the strengths of our church over the years has been an unflagging commitment to mission. We look beyond our four walls to the needs of the world, as Jesus taught us. The Session received a letter of thanks from Rev. Peter Surgenor of the Presbyterian Camp at Holmes. The pastor is on the board of the camp.

More on the HUB CHURCH PROGRAM
Over $2 million has been contributed by Presbyterians in the U.S. toward 9/11 disaster relief in our city and our congregation is one of only 10 churches in the presbytery involved in spending it! Our part has been to provide the people who do "intake interviews" of persons affected by the disaster. The final decision of the amounts to be given out are made by the Presbyterian Disaster staff and social workers.

Many people have been coming to the church on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings for these interviews and over 50 files have already been compiled. The interviewers are led by Vicky Amritt, who has been doing an incredible job of coordinating this operation, and her husband Ian. (Vicky and Ian have spent so much time at the church recently on either the hub church program or the dinner that they might as well live there!)

The original number of interviewers has expanded. They now include Ingrid Anthony, Alex Kleyevanov, Ebun Sanu, Marilyn McFadden, Wilma Berrios, Edson Tembo, Ian Amritt, ¡®Cil Shaw-Brewer, and Larry Hanau.

The idea behind the program is that instead of coming to a central location persons in need would come to one of the "hub" churches located in the five boroughs of the city. Now that the major relief programs such as Red Cross have stopped accepting new cases, church groups have seen an increase in the need for their services. The people who come to the church have often expressed appreciation for the warmth and compassion of the interviewers and the less bureaucratic setting.