I think it is important to commemorate all the amazing mission work done this past summer, from right here in Hampton to other parts of the world. This was a busy summer where St. John’s shared God’s love in action and created a time of change, of mission, of stewardship and of transformation. St. John’s shared and showed God’s love and mission! Below are just a few of the highlights from our summer mission programs.
The Downtown Neighborhood Lunch Program ended a few weeks ago and it was, as always, a successful outreach effort. Weekly, dozens of volunteers went on mission in the parish hall providing nutritious, substantial lunches for everyone who came. Kay Perry, once again, coordinated the weekly schedule of team leaders and volunteers who prepared and served meals even on July 4th! A big Thank You is due to all those who dedicated themselves to ensuring success every single week. The average number of meals served weekly was 63, with several Wednesdays serving between 85 to 90 meals! As true stewards, these volunteers provided an important service and offered loving hospitality to those in our local community who are homeless, disabled or otherwise down on their luck.
We celebrated our third consecutive year hosting a Rise Against Hunger event! On July 15th our team of over 60 volunteers (ages 5 to 80+) again went on mission in the parish hall, where they set up, packaged over 10,000 lunches, and cleaned up in record time! We also had our most successful fundraising campaign before the event! Another hearty Thank You. Our meals were part of 280,000 meals sent to school children in Nicaragua. God is love and mission.
For the first time we partnered with Habitat for Humanity to be the lead sponsor for a Faith Build, where local churches were the stewards of this home building project. The Daily Press featured a front page article (9/24/2018) showing a new way that St. John’s models the love of God in mission, just two blocks away from us. Once again, St. John’s volunteers of all ages supplied labor and lunches to help the family build their home. You all nailed it! Funds were provided by a significant grant from The Charitable Trust and from individuals for building materials, supplies, lunches, and other needed items.
This Faith Build program, like Night’s Welcome, the Downtown Neighborhood Lunch Program, and Rise Against Hunger, models God’s love and mission at work in the world around us and shows what it means to be a good steward. People gave their “time” in volunteer hours, their “talent” in doing the work, and their “treasure” (both individuals and gifts given by the many generous members, no longer with us, that entrusted us to use their generous gifts lovingly and wisely). God is love and mission.
Originally published in St. John’s Epistle, October 2018.