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Everyone is Invited to a

SUB and SUNDAE SEND OFF!

June 22   ® Fellowship Hall

Immediately following 11:00 Worship

Build your own Sub and Sundae and send our Intergenerational Mission Team off to Charlotte with your prayers!

Make your reservation by June 16th

Child Care Available

A love offering will be received to defray the cost of lunch.

Menu: Sub Sandwiches, Watermelon Wedges, Ice Cream Sundaes
Want to Be Part of the Team?
You can partner with the Intergenerational Mission Team through your donation of needed items to several of the ministries where they will be serving in Charlotte, June 23-27. Collection baskets will be located in the narthex and by the Fellowship Hall. Here’s what’s needed:
Double Oaks Nursery:
Brand New items such as baby toys (that don't need batteries), baby diapers/wipes, Preschool books (faith based would be great)
Charlotte Rescue Mission
Men's socks and underwear and shower shoes
Urban Ministry Center
Hotel toiletry items such as small lotions, shampoos and conditioners

One Great Hour of Sharing

Updated Total: $4,804.07

Thank You for Your Generosity!

 

You won't want to miss the blog from our most recent 'missionaries'.  There are many pictures and stories from their time in Honduras.  Scroll down for instructions on posting your comments.

(Click on the graphic to go to the blog)

To Access the Blog:

      1. Go to FPCA’s website: www.aikenpresbyterian.org

      2. Click on the Mission Trip Blog icon

Then read and enjoy the stories and pictures!

To post a message:

      1. Click on the word “comments” (it is underlined) at the end of a particular entry

      2. Type your message in the box; you can choose to sign your message with your name, initials, or remain anonymous. You can also choose to include that you are from FPCA, since people from other participating churches will view the blog.

      3. Complete the letter verification (simply retype the letters that appear wavey in the box beneath them)

      4. You do not need to choose an identity, just click anonymous (even if you signed your name in the message)

      5. Click “preview” if you want to see how it will look or go ahead and click “publish your comment”.

      6. It will take a short amount of time before your message is posted since all messages are verified.
2008 Mission Trips
(as of January 11, 2008)
 
Honduras
June 11 – 21
July 9 – 19
 
 
Summer Intergenerational Trip
June 22 – 27
 
Disaster Relief Trips
(Mississippi)
TBA

March 2008 Honduras Mission Trip:

Photos from the chat by Dr Elsa and the diabetic patients.  They all learned a lot about how they could help their situation with a healthy lifestyle.  Each patient spoke of their personal experiences.

                   

HONDURAS UPDATE

Plans are still coming together for this year's mission activities in Honduras, serving in the area of Quimistan through the Honduras Agape Foundation. Space is still available for men to serve on the July 9-19 trip (space for women has already been filled). The July effort is likely to focus on the traditional mix of construction and medical/dental help.

Sheila Jackson, Allen Blancett, Ken Blohm and June Blohm are among First Presbyterian's representatives serving with the Aiken-based foundation.

This mission is supported through a variety of ways, such as sponsoring kids (to help provide the basics in terms of nutrition, education and spiritual growth), helping fund a particular project (such as the construction of a simple, sturdy home for a Quimistan family) and actually serving in Honduras on a mission team.

Quimistan trips vary in length and precise goals, but the cost is usually around $800, considering all expenses, which include travel, room, board, a souvenir or two and plenty of clean, safe water. Familiarity with the Spanish language is helpful but not required. Flexibility and patience are essential. Accommodations are a long way from deluxe, by American standards, but still safe and reasonably comfortable.

The foundation was established in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, which ripped Honduras and much of Central America in October and November of 1998. Donations are tax-deductible. Details are at www.hondurasagape.com and from Roxanne Turnipseed (with South Aiken Presbyterian) at 649-6915.

—Bill Bengtson, Aiken resident

Aiken County Habitat for Humanity has an urgent need for volunteers to work in our ReStores, which support our mission of reducing sub-standard and poverty housing in Aiken County. Specifically we are looking for pick-up drivers/helpers, cashiers and sales floor helpers at our ReStores in Aiken and Burnettown. Drivers are needed on Wednesday and Thursday mornings in Burnettown and on Monday and Wednesday mornings in Aiken. Our drivers need to be able to lift 50 pounds and must have a good driving record. Cashier and sales floor help is needed in Aiken on Tuesdays through Saturdays and in Burnettown on Wednesdays through Saturdays. ReStore volunteers are asked to work from 10 AM till 1PM or 1 PM till 4 PM on weekdays and from 10 AM till 1:00 PM on Saturdays. Training for all positions will be provided and teaming up with a friend to volunteer is a great way to help our ministry. For more information or to volunteer, please call Eric Lenser, Program Manager at 642-9295, ext. 108 or email him at Eric_Lenser@habitataiken.org

ACTS (Area Churches Together Serving)

340 Park Avenue, SW

Many in our area are within one paycheck or less of financial trouble. Many are hungry, need warm clothing or help with prescriptions, utility bills or in furnishing a home after a fire. The mission of ACTS is to reach out in Christ’s name to those among us who need temporary and emergency aid. For the past twenty-one years this vital ministry has been assisting people in need. All recipients are systematically interviewed before any aid is awarded to ensure the validity and determine the extent of their needs.

In this new year as you evaluate your priorities consider making a difference in our community by serving at ACTS. Volunteer service is the only way ACTS can operate. The many ministries that are part of ACTS provide various opportunities for service. You can become involved as a receptionist, interviewing clients, sorting and filling clothing orders, filling food orders, delivering and picking up furniture, or working at Senior Food. You can sign on for as little as two hours or as many as four hours a week and training is provided.

For more information about how you can become part of this mission contact Ms. Karen Perry, Operations Manager at 649-3800.

Presbyterian Coffee Project News

Thank you to all of you who purchased Equal Exchange Coffee through the Presbyterian Coffee Project this past month.

These are quality products that compare to the high-priced premium brands available at the grocery store. Don’t miss out on your chance to enjoy these wonderful products that are grown and produced by small farmer cooperatives all over the world.

Don’t forget that we will take orders on the last Sunday of each month! Look for the table in the Narthex after Worship services.

Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry Seeks Support (click for more information)

Did you know that one out of five children in America goes to bed hungry? As the gap between the rich and the poor widens, the number of children and families going to bed hungry are on the rise.  To make matters worse, recent statistics reveal that America’s deer population, which numbered 20 million in 1990, has grown to over 34 million!  As a result, crop damage sustained by farmers, as well as incidents of deer-automobile collisions are on the rise.  Now there is a solution that addresses both of these problems…

Our local Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry program needs your support to transform deer donated by hunters and landowners into nutritious venison for the poor and hungry of our community.  One deer can feed up to 200 hungry people!  Funding is the primary obstacle to providing nutritious meat to those in need.  FHFH raises financial support locally to pay licensed, inspected, and insured butchers to prepare and freeze donated venison.  The meat is then picked up and distributed to the hungry by Golden Harvest Food Bank through many local feeding agencies.  While FHFH did not invent the idea of using venison to feed the hungry and homeless at soup kitchens, shelters and pantries, we have certainly worked on improving and organizing the process. 

Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that offers a unique opportunity to address the plight of the hungry along with the problem of rapidly expanding deer populations.  Our mission is very simple.  FHFH transforms deer—a God-given renewable resource—into food for the hungry among us.

Please consider joining us in combating the age-old plague of hunger as well as the dangers of a growing deer population.  Your financial support is tax deductible, and will put a warm venison meal on the plate of a hungry person. Contributions, made payable to FHFH, may be sent to the church office. Alternatively, if you are a deer hunter, you can donate deer at Ralph’s Meat Market on Hwy 278 in New Ellenton.

To support Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry, please make checks payable to CSRA FHFH and send to the church office. Any questions about the program may be directed to:

John Kilgo, Local Area Coordinator
CSRA Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry
648-9296
jkilgo@gforcecable.com

MWANDI HOSPITAL – OUR HISTORY OF CARING

The Mwandi Hospital is located in the village of Mwandi, Zambia. Mwandi is about 75 miles up the Zambezi River from Victoria Falls and the city of Livingstone. This hospital was originally built circa 1914 and had fallen into disrepair and was woefully inadequate by today’s standards.

In the early 1990’s a group of Presbyterians from the Salisbury area of North Carolina, was asked if they could assist in the refurbishment of the hospital by providing electrical service to the hospital. It was decided not to refurbish the old hospital once reliable electric power was available. Many Presbyterian churches throughout the Southeast were invited to participate in the building of a new hospital, clinic, residences, preschool and chapel.

Most all of the construction has been completed, and this 150 bed hospital now serves about 30,000 people from Mwandi and the surrounding area. A Scottish missionary couple, Keith and Ida Waddell, are the present overseers of the complex and the hospital has a Zambian administrator and two Zambian doctors. A board of directors, half of whom are Zambian, governs the entire project.

First Presbyterian Church of Aiken first became involved with Mwandi around 1992 when we pledged $30,000 towards the construction of the pediatric ward. In 1997 we contributed $2,500 for windows for the chapel and about $400 for a refrigerator and miscellaneous items. Also, in the period from 1992 –1997 we commissioned eight members of our congregation to go to Mwandi and assist in the construction work. Our involvement with Mwandi lay dormant for the next ten years, but seems to be reawakening.

A member of our congregation is now on the board of directors. Two of our members, Bruce Eberhard & Jim Kelley went to Mwandi in October to assess maintenance needs and make what repairs can be effected. Aside from general hospital care there is a lot of good work being done by the Presbyterian Church in Mwandi such as AIDS prevention and treatment, upgrading of the local school, and revitalization of the sewing center. Our congregation can support, financially and through volunteering of our talents, this humanitarian effort.

—Bruce Eberhard                       

The Savannah River Cancer Foundation, established in 2003, is a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting cancer patients in our community, the South Carolina counties of Aiken, Edgefield, Barnwell, and Allendale.

The Foundation's mission is to provide education, emotional support, and economic support to cancer patients.

The Foundation is guided by a board of directors, who have all either had cancer or have been closely affected by cancer.

The Foundation is not part of a national organization, therefore all monies received stay here, and are used to aid cancer patients in the community. The Foundation operates from monies received through donations and fund raisers.

Emotional Support is available through our CanHope organization of volunteers. Financial support is available to cancer patients that meet designated criteria. Assistance is provided for

* Certain cancer-related medications

* Gas vouchers to help cover costs of transportation to and from treatment and doctor's appointments. If you can't drive, we may be able to arrange for transportation by local agencies if you live in certain areas.

* Certain cancer-related medical support equipment

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