Our
Church in Missions
Current Missions needs:
The Emergency Overflow Shelter needs ...
- Volunteers: Adult volunteers for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, 6-9pm., to interact with our guests (homeless men); assist with meal set-up and serving; handling laundry (bedlinens, towels, etc.), organizing supplies, etc. Call the Shelter (at First Lutheran Church in Albany) phone 426-1227 between 6-10 pm. Training required (and provided).
- Clothing: Winter coats & jackets for men, hats/gloves; thermal and regular underwear,T-shirts, and socks.
- Supplies: Coffee, powdered creamer, cereal; sturdy paper plates; paper cups (for hot drinks). Donations at FUMC may be placed in the Overflow Shelter box in the near the Nursery.
During the Christmas season, many people in our congregation took advantage of opportunities to assist individuals and groups in need, both locally and elsewhere in our world. There seems to be no end to what we are capable of doing for other people! We continue to demonstrate that we care – and that we are willing to share what we have with those who have far less than we do.
- For AUMS (Albany United Methodist Society), we supplied several carloads of toys, hats, mittens and scarves for parents to give their children. We also provided wrapping paper, bows, and gift bags and small items such as knickknacks, costume jewelry, puzzles, memo pads, and tools for children to select and wrap as gifts for their parents. In addition, we donated a number of “gently used” coats and boots for children and adults.
- For Support Ministries, which offers residential services for people with HIV/AIDS, we provided two “angel tree” gifts for every man, woman and child in the program. (For most of those individuals, those were the only gifts received.)
- For the Overflow Shelter, which is operated by the Capital Area Council of Churches in partnership with the First Lutheran Church in Albany, in addition to our regular contribution of “home cooked” dinners each Saturday during the winter months, we provided a special Christmas Eve dinner of baked ham, potatoes, broccoli casserole, and pumpkin pie. As Christmas gifts for the 19 men at the shelter, we provided warm “hoodies” and gift bags of candy, personal care items, hand warmers – and hand-knitted scarves and homemade cookies. What a treat for guys who need to be reminded that there are people in this world who care!
- For Cookson Hills United Methodist Center, which serves Native Americans in Cookson, Oklahoma, we provided money for the purchase of Christmas gifts such as battery cables and flannel shirts.
- Our Mission Movers were able to make several furniture deliveries the week before Christmas, making rather Spartan apartments a bit more comfortable for some families in need.
- Good Samaritan Nursing Home residents who have no close relatives to help them celebrate the holiday received 30 beautiful lap robes that had been crocheted or knitted by women in our church.
- And at last count, our “alternative to poinsettias” donations for Heifer, Inc. added to money contributed earlier in the year, totaled over $4000! That money will help people in impoverished countries become self-sufficient. It will help families feed their children. It will train farmers in environmentally sound agriculture. It will provide livestock where needed. It will help make the world a better place!
Our overall mission ministries include:
Albany
United Methodist Society
AUMS is a ministry serving inner-city Albany. We collect groceries,
provide drivers and tutors, and supply preschool lunches.
Interfaith
Partnership for the Homeless
Interfaith provides shelter and support services in inner-city Albany.
We assist with hot meals on Sunday evenings and provide bed linens
and clothing. Our children assemble "Love Kits" and they
participate in the "Pennies for Haven" fund drive.
Habitat
for Humanity
We help finance and build houses.
Volunteers
in Mission
Our volunteers have erected windmills and rebuilt a clinic in Mozambique.
They also rebuilt a church in Gay's Hill, Georgia.
Missionary
Support
We help support programs of missionaries in the Bronx and on a reservation
in Oklahoma.
Refugee
Resettlement
We're actively involved in sponsoring several refugee families in
the Capital Region.
There's a role
for everyone, with many more opportunities to reach out in mission.
There's so much to do, from simple tasks to major projects. Join
us as we strive to help make this world a better place!
this ministry provides numerous opportunities to exercise our faith by reaching out to those in need. People who need our help are all around, close to home and halfway around the globe. There are far more needs than we can possibly meet so we choose to help where the need is the greatest and most urgent. There are many ways to participate in the Mission Ministry and some of the programs we are involved with are listed below. Let's work to make this world a better place!
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