Missions Ministry Annual Report 2019

Missions Ministry Annual Report 2019

The year 2019 proved to be a busy and productive year for the Missions Ministry. Members: Deanne Bellinger, Kris Collins, Jeannette Galvin, Becky Halsey, Leah Moynihan, Jim Santsaver, Janice Tondravi, and myself, welcomed Dolores Charron to the Ministry. Duties were divided up amongst everyone – to distribute the work load. This proved to be very effective and everyone rallied around one another to ensure success of any said activity. Cindi remained chair of the Ministry, with the back-up of Kris and/or Leah if needed. Mission statement was reviewed and decided it still fits.

In keeping with our Mission Statement: “Our mission is to reach out to the outside community, (locally and worldwide), as well as our own, to spread the Word of Jesus through kindness, hope, and fellowship”, we sponsored all of the following events/missions. Some of them were simply continued from previous years, others were past projects, but changed a bit, and still others were new ideas and implemented this year. The Missions Ministry projects/events for 2019 were:

  • Honoring of American Veterans – assisted with placing the American flags at each grave at the Bourne National Cemetery.
  • Prayer Shawl Ministry – chaired by Leah Moynihan. *Pat Sanford and Kris Collins made and donated covers for the shawls. *Kris wrote a poetic message to be attached to each shawl. *A log of the shawl recipients will no longer be kept, given new HPAA regulations and need for privacy. *A donation of several shawls was made as requested by Carolyn Chretien to develop a shawl program at a Boston Hospital. * It was learned that there were Prayer Squares. They are small squares and easily taken along anywhere. A Prayer Square campaign will be held in January. It is the hope that we will acquire many squares…to be used in a basket for the AA groups, as a Valentine remembrance for veterans, as well a basket of them available to the congregation.
  • Interfaith Ministry – chaired by Jim Santsaver. Jim had begun communications with leaders of other faiths. It was hoped that an on-going communication blog would be developed to provide education and understanding between all faiths. * Jim has had to temporarily suspend this work. He has since become a new Dad again to a little girl named Vivienne. It is hoped that this project will be picked up again.
  • Outreach Ministry – chaired by Becky Halsey. After Leah’s trip to Rwanda, it was decided that we would sponsor one young boy’s education and his transportation to and from school. * Yellow ribbon pins were made to pass out at the Moving Vietnam Memorial Wall exhibition, September 26-30th.
  • Out-of-the-Box Collections – coordinated by all members.
    • Undie Sundays was initiated for each month that has five Sundays, (March, June, Sept, Dec)
    • Spring collection was personal hygiene items and donated to the Community
      School Pantry.
    • Summer collection was children’s craft/activity sets and items. Donated to New Hope, Cradles to Crayons and Boston Children’s Hospital.
    • October collection was for North Attleboro Animal Shelter
    • November was a coat drive along with scarves, hats and gloves. Donated to
      two homeless shelters in the area, as well as New Hope.
    • Adopted a family from New Hope for Christmas.
    • An abundance of yarn had been donated throughout the year. Janice Tondravi
      delivered to the Attleboro Library for their knitting/crocheting group.
    • Janice Tondravi and her daughter donated dozens and dozens of items
      (Pajamas, clothes, and other needs). These were distributed amongst several
      agencies.
  • Fundraising – coordinated by all members. A Bottle and Can Redemption donation was started. Funds will go towards the Schoolhouse renovation.
    • A new fundraiser will be initiated in the New Year.
  • Sunday Reflections – chaired by Leah Moynihan. This is an adult gathering after Church Service to reflect on the sermon, moderated by Leah with Pastor Kelly adding knowledge and background information. Discussions can, at times, take a spin to cover other issues. It has been well received but new people are always invited to join in. There is no long commitment, and knowledge of the Bible is not needed.
  • Respite Program – chaired by Leah Moynihan and Kris Collins. A program to assist the caregivers…meals cooked, light shopping done, providing a lending ear to listen or shoulder to lean on.
    • Outreach was made to Barbara Gagne after the death of her husband, Neil.
    • Outreach to the Koepflers, was made after Kim entered Hospice.
    • Biggest outreach gave us the opportunity to reevaluate the program. Further structuring and parameters were developed, and cases would hereby be evaluated case-by-case.
    • Leah spoke of a new volunteer group in North Attleborough, that sounds very much like what we are doing. She will gather more information and perhaps we could piggy back on them.
  • SERRV – chaired by Cindi Barkley. The story of SERRV was introduced and it was decided that we would begin selling their items as a way to support world-wide mission projects.
    • Spring Vendor Fair was the first exposure of the items and approximately $450.00 was sold.
    • Year round catalog ordering web link was set up to allow the church to earn 20% of the sale. * Oldtown Fall Fair saw over $600.00 in sales.
    • Winter Craft/Vendor Fair sales were approximately $200.00.
    • Items were also on sale after Service each Sunday throughout December, with our 10% profit was passed on to buyers as a savings for them.
    • Although we have not made a profit, so to speak, we have achieved our goal as Mission workers. We have provided income to hundreds of individuals and communities from all around the world, that are trying to fight their way out of poverty. Mission successful!
  • Miscellaneous – A Missions Brochure was developed and distributed to give the congregation a better idea of what the Missions Ministry does.
    • Missions, (AKA Jeannette Galvin) served as greeter for the Fall Fair. Hot cider was served.
    • Missions assisted with the church clean-up. Leah and Cindi tackled the Maxcy Hall closet…that was a chore! Assistance was also given to some of the rooms downstairs.

It was a long year of requests and everyone stepped up. Given that, a luncheon is planned in the near future to say “THANK YOU EVERYONE!” . *After all is said and done, a total of 15 agencies/groups benefitted from your generosity. And this doesn’t even begin to add in the hundreds of people helped by SERRV. A huge Thank You to everyone.

And special thanks go to each member of this Ministry. Everyone worked tirelessly and harmoniously to ensure that God’s work was carried out. It was a pleasure to chair such a dedicated group. It is an amazing Ministry and you all made me look good as your chairperson. Blessings to everyone.

Respectfully submitted, Cindi Barkley