november / December

Mission of the Month

Angel Tree

The Mission team is anxious to begin working on our Mission of the Month for November and December– our Angel Tree!

We have chosen two groups that would be greatly blessed by our gifts.


The first group is two refugee families with children in grade school and high school in Mt. Lebanon. These students come from Afghanistan. They are in need of clothing and games. 


You can choose a tag from the Angel Tree in the church narthex or use the “needs” list that will be sent out by e-mail. The gifts should not be wrapped, no tag is needed. The Mission team will wrap and label the gifts as needed. (If you buy a piece of clothing, a gift receipt would be appreciated, since we are unsure of their specific sizes.) Gifts are due by Sunday December 11th.


The second group is Washington County Children and Youth Services. This organization serves children and youth in Washington County that have suffered from child abuse and neglect. The Christmas season is especially hard for them. Your donation ensures that these children experience the joys of the Christmas season. This year we are suggesting that you use their Amazon Holiday Wish List to purchase items for a child and ship items directly to the Agency, as they need them by December 5th. They would also be blessed by our help. 


To purchase a gift, please use this link:

https://www.amazon.com/registries/holiday/31M8UXPH0PBPW/guest-view?ref=gr_search_page_result

or simply scan the QR code to connect to an Amazon Holiday Wish List to purchase items for a child or teen, and ship directly to Washington County CYS!


If you are not able to shop for the items, you may make donations with which we can purchase gifts for the Angel Tree recipients. Please mark your giving envelopes "November / December MOM", or "Angel Tree". You may also give via our website or our mobile giving app. Under the General Donation dropdown menu, choose "November MOM (Angel Tree)". 


Thank you in advance for blessing these children, as we are blessed!


   

 

Our Sunday School Department is sponsoring two children through World Vision, by way of a special offering that is being taken up in each Sunday School class (Children's-, Youth- and Adult classes) every Sunday.  The two children are: Joman, a boy from the Philippines, who is 18, and Rihana, a girl from Albania, who is 12 years old. 


Both Joman and Rihana live in an area where online photos and videos are restricted.

(Some countries where World Vision works have child safety and privacy restrictions that prevent the organization from displaying the child’s photo or any videos of the child online.  For these specific countries, sponsored children’s photos will be shared only with their individual sponsors. Out of respect for these countries, we have been asked that we do not post or share pictures of our sponsored children online in any manner.  The church has hard copies of both Joman's and Rihana's photographs and will be glad to share them with you, upon request.)


About Joman


18-year-old Joman I lives with his parents, 3 brothers, and 1 sister. His parents struggle to provide for the family. His father is a miner. Despite their efforts, it is difficult to meet the family's needs.  Joman I is growing up in a rural community in the Philippines. A typical home there is constructed of bamboo with woven grass walls. The floor is made of wooden slats and the roof is covered with palm leaves. Families survive mostly on rice and fish with leafy vegetables. The climate is very warm, humid and tropical. Because of this, the terrain is lush with vegetation.  Joman I is in school, and he enjoys mathematics. He helps at home with the house cleaning. He likes to play basketball, and is in satisfactory health.


Our sponsorship commitment will help provide Joman I and his community with clean water, school uniforms and inoculations against deadly diseases. Our support provides feeding programs for undernourished children and hygiene training for mothers. Agricultural training for farmers and small business loans help provide increased family income and a chance to become self-sufficient. Vacation Bible school gives children a chance to know Jesus.


About Rihana


12-year-old Rihana lives with her parents, one sister, and one brother. Her parents struggle to provide for the family.  Rihana is growing up in the mountainous country of Albania. The village is very rural and poor. The villagers' single floor homes are constructed of stones and sometimes logs or sticks, with mud for mortar. Farmers grow citrus fruit and vegetables. Bread and dairy products are also staple foods. This is a beautiful country with forests, mountains and lakes. Summers are hot and dry, but the winters are cold.  Rihana is not in school at this time. She likes to play basketball. She helps at home by being good; and she is in satisfactory health.


Our sponsorship commitment will help provide Rihana and her community with better health by teaching families and health providers to address poor health and nutrition. Our support will help her parents earn a steady income and encourage Rihana to get an education. And of course, World Vision staff will reflect Christ's love to the children like Rihana through their actions and lives.


...Please pray for Joman and Rihana, and keep the special Sunday School offerings coming! 


Since the Peters Township Food Pantry has decided to close their doors permanently for now, the Mission Team is asking that the congregation give money instead of groceries each month. The money collected each month will be sent to the Greater Washington County Food Bank.  They have been overwhelmed with a huge demand for food because of the COVID pandemic, and have broadened their outreach for sources of funding in the area to meet that demand. Together, we can help considerably.

 

Please consider giving the money that you usually spent on groceries for the Peters Township Food Pantry, and donate that to the GWC Food Bank each month. Make your checks payable to the church, note on the check or giving envelope "GWC Food Bank", and mail the check to the church office. 


You may also donate via our website, or via the tithe.ly mobile app, by using the dropdown list under General Fund and selecting GWC Food Bank. This is a great way to use our website or mobile giving option-- and you can set it up as a recurring monthly donation, so you never forget.


God bless you!

 

 

SHEPHERD'S HEART

Veteran's Home Coffee


The Mission Team is putting out a plea to our membership for large cans of coffee.  We would like to receive at least two cans each week on an  ongoing basis.  If anyone wishes to voluntarily provide the gift of gratitude to these homeless veterans and staff members of the fellowship, we would welcome your gift of a can of coffee now and then.  The coffee will be delivered promptly to the veteran's home.  Let us help to do away with their rationing of coffee.... Let us help them to enjoy their time with a cup of coffee whenever they want one!

 

Please tape a tag to the top of the coffee with “For Our Veterans”.

 

Ongoing Mission Support


Peters Creek EPC financially supports five additional mission organizations monthly:


Feed My Sheep


The seed, which would grow to become Feed My Sheep Association (FMSA), was first planted in 2006, when a few residents of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania visited Costa Rica. After reading (in the Tico Times) an article about the poverty of a group of women and children living in a small shantytown in Tibas, near the Costa Rican capital of San Jose, we felt compelled to go and see the conditions for ourselves. What we saw there changed our hearts forever, and we committed ourselves to helping the needy women and children of Costa Rica. The Feed My Sheep Association is the fruit of that commitment.


Urban Impact


Urban Impact has been serving the youth of Pittsburgh's North Side for more than 20 years.  By working to meet the needs of the whole person through holistic community outreach, we can bring transformative hope to Pittsburgh one person, one family, one block at a time.



P.R.I.S.M.


P.R.I.S.M. was started by the Bellefield Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Oakland, PA on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, with the objective to share the Gospel and identify and help meet the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of international students, scholars, and their families residing in the Pittsburgh area.


Kids Alive International --Jay and Cathy Fredlund, Guatemala


Cathy and Jay knew they wanted to serve the Lord beyond the borders of the United States after Jay retired. While on a service team visiting Kids Alive Guatemala in 2015, they felt the Lord saying that Guatemala was the place to serve Him! Jay retired in December 2018, and they joined Kids Alive in March 2019 after attending a Missionary Orientation, and enrolling in six weeks of cross-cultural training at the Center for Intercultural Training in North Carolina.


Meals on Wheels @ The Crossroads


Meals on Wheels of Peters Township is a volunteer-based non-profit organization that prepares and delivers nutritious meals to seniors and other homebound individuals. Over the past 45 years, they have grown from serving a handful of local clients out of a church kitchen to serving over 160 clients in Peters Township and eleven neighboring communities out of a modern, fully-equipped kitchen, situated in a 3,500 square foot-property rented at the Donaldson’s Crossroads Shopping Center in McMurray, PA.


United World Mission


90% of churches in the world are led by men and women who have little or no training for ministry.


Our goal is bold: To make relevant theological education, practical training, and spiritual formation accessible to every ministry leader in every nation!

You can help make it happen!