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| Mar 4, 2010 |
Make A Difference E-News |
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Opportunities to Serve:
Certified Emergency Response Team Training: A CERT class will start at the Gethsemane campus on Thursday, March 18 from 6 – 9 pm and will last for 8 weeks. If you would like to know more about disaster preparedness training, you can register by calling 713-774-7693, or email rsandria@gethsemane-umc.org or sforeman@sbcglobal.net.
River, Lakes, Bays ‘N Bayous Annual Trash Bash: On March 27th, join thousands of volunteers along the Texas waterways to cleanup the environment and participate in the largest statewide event to educate the public about the importance of our water resources. Trash Bash is a half day event from 8:30 am -1:30 pm. More information is available at www.trashbash.org, 281-486-9500 or swinformation@h-gac.com.
Youth Advocates Community Break Dancers ministry needs cooking volunteers on Mondays from 5:30-7:30 pm at St. Luke’s Gethsemane Campus. Please contact Lynda at 713-402-5155 or lisensee@stlukes-hou.org.
Gethsemane Spring Event: Join in the fun on Saturday, April 17 from 8am-2pm as we hold a church-wide work day, rummage sale and chili cook-off. Please contact Lynda at 713-402-5155 or lisensee@stlukes-hou.org.
GO Ministries Dominican Republic Mission Trip is June 1-8:
Projects will include helping with construction on Central Church's new building; Children's VBS, Baseball, Basketball and Soccer Camps and Teaching Bible Studies at the Seminary; while helping the Dominicans minister to Haitians. Cost is $1500
Kenya Mission Trip dates are August 26–September 10, 2010. Volunteers will work at the Maua Methodist Hospital and build an AIDS Orphan’s home. The trip includes a photographic safari at Lake Nakuru and in the Masai Mara. Cost is $4,000. Please contact Alice at 713-402-5067 or aking@stlukes-hou.org.
Soaring Eagles “Horses as Healers” Ministry to heal children in crisis needs volunteers on Saturdays to help with sessions from 11am-1pm or 2-4pm. Assistance is also requested for grooming and feeding the horses. Please contact Beth at info@thesoaringeagleranch.org or 832-771-6447.
The Women’s Home (helps women move from crisis to self-sufficiency) greatly needs volunteers in two important capacities: to staff the Cottage Thrift Shop and to work with their maintenance engineer on campus upkeep projects. Please contact Martha at mharwell@thewomenshome.org or 713-328-1950.
HARC (Houston Area Respite Center) welcomes helpers for its Parents’ Night Out program for caregivers of children and young adults with special needs. Be part of a team of friends and family that work together in a fun environment on Friday evenings at Gethsemane UMC. Please contact Karen at harcexdir@harc-hou.org or 713-271-6001.
Woodshop Ministry: Join the industrious men and women from St. Luke’s and the community who make classic-style wooden toys for churches, schools and non-profits all over the world. Please contact Alice at aking@stlukes-hou.org for details.
Mentors of Hope: Over a 30-minute, weekly lunch at Hope Café on the Lee High School campus, encourage students with life goals by mentoring social skills or serving as a program volunteer. Please contact Patti at 713-787-1767 or officemoh@gmail.com.Kids’ Meals: Supervisors are needed for this vital ministry that makes sandwiches to go in sack lunches for preschool children in need. Groups meet in the St. Luke’s kitchen every Monday evening to make sandwiches. The time commitment is about two hours per month. If interested, please contact Alice for more information at 713-402-5067 or aking@stlukes-hou.org.
Opportunities to Share:
Rummage Sale to Benefit Gethsemane Ministries: Item collection dates are Monday, April 5-Friday, April 16 for the annual Rummage Sale to be held on Saturday, April 17. Please drop off your treasures to St. Luke’s Westheimer or Gethsemane campus, 713-774-7693. If you have questions, please contact Bob Harrison at 713-771-5585.
Commit2Care Blood and Food Drive Sunday, April 11: Make your appointment at www.giveblood.org and enter our code 4301or contact Alice at 713-402-5067 or aking@stlukes-hou.org. Walk-ins are also welcome. From 8 am -1 pm in the Activities Center.
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Through our partnership with Kids' Meals, St. Luke's members can help make sandwiches to go in sack lunches for preschool children in need living in Houston's Second Ward. Groups meet in the kitchen every Monday to make 500 meat-and-bread sandwiches that go in to the lunch sacks that Kids' Meals delivers to these children. It only takes a little over an hour to assemble, bag the sandwiches and clean up.
Funding for this very special program is in need! Please consider donating a portion of what you spend on your own lunch weekly to St. Luke's Kids' Meals.
Industrious men and women from St. Luke’s and the community meet in the Woodshop (on Edloe behind Cokesbury Bookstore) on Mondays and Tuesdays to work on various projects. Their main task is to make classic-style wooden toys for area churches and agencies to be given away at Christmas. In 2005, they made over 9,700 toys that were given away at agencies, churches and schools all over the county, part of Texas and into Mexico!
Recently the group received emails and photos from servicemen in Ghana where the toys were distributed to youngsters following medical treatment.
Please contact at aking@stlukes-hou.org for more information on how to become a part of this creative group.
Mission Trips
Bishop Janice Riggle Huie and a 35-member delgation from the United Methodist Church have just returned from Africa where they delivered mosquito nets to children. Susan Silvus, Outreach Director at St. Luke's, was a part of the team. St. Luke's 2007 Christmas Offering raised over $150,000 for the Nothing But Nets anti-malaria campaign. See Photos
Each year, St. Luke's Outreach Ministry sends our missioners out into the world to spread the good news of our faith and help those in need, but 2009 marks a change in our missions program. Due to the economy, the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, and international safety concerns, Outreach Ministries has decided to focus our hands-on missions activities on those in need in our Houston community.
However, to continue our 10-year effort of support for missions in Kenya and to also combat the global water crisis, the St. Luke's Easter Offering will benefit Living Water International (www.water.cc). Our goal is to raise enough donations for LWI to drill and install two clean water wells in Kenya. To make a donation, go to www.H2ochallenge.org.
Blood & Food Drives
The Gift of Life can only be given by a donor. There is no replacement for blood except by what is freely given by others. If there is not enough blood on the shelves surgeries have to be postponed and those who need regular transfusions may not receive what they need. Please give so others may live.
At the same time, you can bring non-perishable food items to fill the shelves of a local food pantry.
Commit2Care Blood & Food Drives for 2009
June 7 August 2 October 4 December 13
To sign up and reserve your time go to www.giveblood.org The code for St. Luke's is 4301.
Newgate Connection is St. Luke's Restorative Justice arm. Volunteers pray with, write to and mentor prisoners at the tri-prison Visitor's Center in Dayton. 5,251 visitors went through the Visitor's Center doors in 2006 as they waited to see a friend or family member. The Visitor's Center provided appropriate clothing for the visitors, toys and books for children and an air-conditioned, relaxing environment in which to wait for their loved one.
Project Hope of Houston serves to provide a support system designed to assist "at-risk" high school students by providing trained mentors to encourage and discuss their concerns, achieve their goals, achieve graduation and pursue higher education. St. Luke's is in partnership with Project Hope by providing mentors to Lee High School (HISD) students. Contact Alice King with inquiries as to how you can be involved in Project Hope at aking@stlukes-hou.org.
Spanish Alpha
Spanish Alpha is an on-going course in Christianity that is offered in Spanish for day-laborers in the Gulfton area. It meets in a local Pizza Hut on Tuesday mornings where there is a video and follow-up discussion on issues such as:
Who is Jesus? Why did he die? Does God answer prayer?
If you speak Spanish and are available on Tuesday mornings, please contact Alan Nash at alanwnash@sbcglobal.net.
Pet Ministry
The Pet Ministry is a group of caring individuals who bring joy to many lives by their visits with their furry or feathered friends. The Pet Ministry schedule is as follows:
- 1st Saturday of the month - Clarewood House (senior citizen home) from 12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. at 7400 Clarewood Drive
- 3rd Thursday of the month - The Seniors' Place (memory care facility) from 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. at 2714 Joanel St.
- 3rd Saturday of the month - The Center (serving mentally impaired adults) from 1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. at 3550 W. Dallas St.
Please be advised that ALL animals making Pet Ministry visits must first have a certified behavior evaluation. Please contact Alice King in Outreach for an appointment at aking@stlukes-hou.org or 713-402-5067.
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