Our Offerings at Work (SDOP)

SELF-DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE (SDOP)

The Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People continues to work with low-income communities across the United States to overcome oppression and injustice. In 2017, National SDOP entered into partnerships with the projects below. Projects focused on literacy, worker-owned cooperatives, advocacy, youth-led initiatives, skills development, farming, worker rights, immigration/refugee issues and capacity building. Through your gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing, over 5,000 projects in economically poor communities in the United States and around the world have had an opportunity to develop solutions to their own challenges since SDOP’s inception. Find an interactive world map with OGHS recipients at www.pcusa.org/oghsmap.

Highlighted Projects:

  • Barranco Fisher Folk Cooperative, Barranco Belize—This group of economically poor young adult villagers designed this project to increase their capacity to work together as fisher folks by cultivating a conservation.
  • Women in Agriculture Association, Atlanta, GA —A cooperative owned farmer’s association promoting their locally grown farm products within the community.
  • Youth on the Move, Pine Apple, AL— This youth-led after school project prepares low income youth in Wilcox County, AL to meet the challenges of living in a severely depressed county.
  • Tenant Coalition Training of Fargo-Moorhead Area, Moorhead, MN—This group of low-income refugees seeks to become economically self-sufficient  and to improve their financial skills.
  • The Genesis Youth Organizing Internship Project, Oakland, CA—This project is comprised primarily of low-income minority youth seeking to disrupt School-to-Prison Pipeline related problems in Oakland, CA.

National SDOP Projects:

  • Picture the Homeless, East Harlem, NYC, NY
  • Women in Agriculture Association, Atlanta, GA
  • Union Popular de Vendedores Ambulantes (UPVA), Popular Union of Street Vendors, Los Angeles, CA
  • Southside Worker Center, Tucson, AZ
  • Youth on the Move, Pine Apple, AL
  • Coalition for Police Accountability, Oakland, CA
  • Youth Rise Organizing Institute, Austin, TX
  • Rochester Refugee Resettlement Services, Inc., Rochester, NY
  • Brandworkers, Long Island City, NY

Our Offerings at Work (PHP)

PRESBYTERIAN HUNGER PROGRAM (PHP)

PHP works to alleviate hunger and eliminate its root causes. As a part of this mission, PHP gave over 160 grants totaling more than $1.2 million, impacting communities across the United States and 37 other countries in 2016. You make this work possible through gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing! Find an interactive map with OGHS recipients at www.pcusa.org/oghsmap.

More and Better Food

  • 23 Hunger Action Advocates served 1,600 congregations in presbyteries around the country.
  • 55,115 pounds of grain distributed through community food banks
  • 16 grain storage facilities built or repaired in Sierra Leone and Cameroon
  • 50 fuel efficient stoves constructed and installed in family homes in Guatemala
  • 500 chicks raised by families around the world

Solidarity with People

  • 2,600 people around the world regained access to their lands that had been forcefully taken from them.
  • 187 training sessions were held to build grassroots capacity in communities around the world.
  • Since the Fair Food Program was implemented in 2011, more than $25 million has been paid out to farmworkers in Fair Food Premiums; 135,000 farmworkers have received “Know Your Rights” materials; and 1,100 farmworker complaints have come in through the 24-hour complaint hotline,  100% of which have been resolved.
  • $9.1 million was compensated to hundreds of victims of sweatshop fires and their families in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Cincinnati became the first city in Ohio to pass a wage theft ordinance, which will provide additional protection for more than 33,000 low-wage workers.

More Livable Environment

  • 1,088 congregations ordered 192,560 Eco-Palms
  • More than 1,000 Presbyterians purchased at least 79,000 lbs of Fairly Traded coffee
  • 191 certified PC(USA) Earth Care Congregations worked holistically to care for God’s creation in their own communities
  • 93,020 planted trees, 128 nurseries and 40 family gardens in partner countries
  • 12 wells and hand pumps built or repaired in communities in Sierra Leone and Liberia with limited access to clean water

Our Offerings at Work (PDA)

PRESBYTERIAN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (PDA)

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is the emergency and refugee program of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It enables our congregations and mission partners to witness to the healing love of Christ through caring for communities adversely affected by crisis and catastrophic events. Find an interactive world map with OGHS recipients at www.pcusa.org/oghsmap.

National aid:

25 states received help following natural and human-caused disasters, including flooding in North and South Carolina, Texas, Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Michigan and New York; wildfires in California, Tennessee, Texas and Kansas; ongoing response to Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Matthew; and various public violence incidents.

Flint water crisis:

PDA is assisting in Flint by supporting the annual Fresh Flint Festival, a free event for the community to support city residents while promoting fitness, nutrition, and healthy living as a means to mitigate the effects of lead poisoning. The festival is designed to unite the community in compassion and renew commitment and hope for the future.

Fall 2017 Hurricanes:

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria devastated islands in the Caribbean and communities in the U.S. PDA will be doing long-term recovery and is expected to assist the affected areas for at least 3-5 years, if not longer.

North and South Carolina flooding:

In October 2015, the South Carolina coastline was pummeled by heavy rains and flooding. A year later, Hurricane Matthew caused havoc in North Carolina damaging thousands of homes and businesses. There were flooded areas in both states that had never flooded before. PDA has 6 volunteer host sites that have hosted over 3,400 volunteers to assist with cleanup and rebuilding.

International aid:

In the first half of 2017, 11 countries received aid and support after catastrophic events, including the violence and famine in South Sudan, flooding in Peru and Colombia, cholera prevention and food security in Haiti, drought in Malawi and Kenya, and ongoing assistance for refugees and internally displaced persons related to Syria.

Syria:

With the support of PDA, the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon has opened five schools in Syrian refugee camps, which are hosting over 300 students. Homes in Homs are being rebuilt so that displaced families who fled their embattled city can return to begin the hard work of rebuilding their shattered city and broken neighborhoods.

South Sudan:

PDA is working with Presbyterian Relief and Development Agency, the humanitarian arm of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan, to provide large-scale emergency relief projects for South Sudanese displaced persons and refugees, as well as supporting livelihood and food security, peace building, and education for civil society.

Mission Opportunity for Young Adults: 2018-19 YAV Application Dates

The YAV program is a one-year service opportunity for young adults ages 19–30, offered through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). For the YAVs, the benefits include a year of vocational discernment, the opportunity to live and work outside their comfort zone with the support of an intentional Christian community, time to explore their relationship with God and to live more simply in response to an unsustainable human demand for natural resources.

Application dates for 2018/2019 YAV year

  • Oct. 1, 2017 – Applications Open
  • Jan. 1, 2018 – Round 1 – (All sites available, early placement)
  • March 1, 2018 – Round 2 – (Most sites available, final date to apply to international sites)
  • June 1, 2018 – Round 3 – (National sites only, limited spots available)

 

For more information, contact Joyce MacKichan Walker (, 609-924-0103, x103) or visit the Presbyterian Mission Agency website: https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/yav/

Adult Education – January 2018

The Worst Bible Stories
and What We Might Learn from Them

We all know the Bible is full of quiet love, knitting grandmas, good people, and a smiling Jesus. But this January we’re overlooking the Bible’s abundant tame stuff and digging into the difficult and troubling corners of our sacred scripture. What might we learn?

Because of the structure of these classes we do not record them. Please see the links below each description to read the relevant Bible passage.

The classes at 9:15 in the Assembly Room (and Niles Chapel) are part of our continuing January “All-Ages” series: join the Middle School and High School students for bagels & hot chocolate before class begins!

Sundays, 9:15 a.m, in the Assembly Room unless otherwise noted.

For a look at Adult Education offerings in January, download the brochure: AE Jan 2018


Murder in the Royal Loo

Jacq Laplsey

January 7

You can’t make this stuff up: While on the toilet, an obese king is killed by a disabled assassin, and there’s a mighty mess to clean up afterwards. What does this smelly, violent murder in the bathroom have to do with God? Come find out as we look together at this scatological story in Judges 3!

Jacq Lapsley wears many hats, including being mom to Emma and Sam Bezilla. She has loved traveling with the church youth on their adventures. By day, she teaches Old Testament at Princeton Seminary.

Read the text here: Judges 3:12-30


Ongoing through May 13

In-Depth Bible Study: First Corinthians

George Hunsinger

9:15 AM
Maclean House

Class will not meet on January 14.

George Hunsinger returns for the 21st year to lead this verse-by-verse examination of the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. Bibles are available for use during the class. Find them on the Deacon Desk by the church kitchen. Class meets next door in Maclean House (Garden Entrance).


God Made Me Do It

Shane Berg

January 14, 9:15 a.m., Niles Chapel

King Herod, in a fit of murderous rage, orders the execution of all infants in the town of Bethlehem. Matthew tells us that this barbaric act fulfills a prophecy from the book of Jeremiah. Does this mean that God uses evil to accomplish divine purposes? Come and explore the question of the relationship between God’s will and human evil.

Shane Berg is best known around Nassau as Corrie Berg’s husband and the father of Anders, Mathias, and Soren. But his other hats include former NT professor and current Executive Vice President at PTS.

Read the text here: Matthew 2:16-18


Special Noon Event

The Lady, the General, and the Rohingya

Lex Rieffel

January 14, 12:15 p.m., Assembly Room

What has happened to democratic reform in Myanmar? In light of what the United Nations has called ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population in Rakhine state, many are asking what kind of democracy perpetuates violence against its own people. Why does Aung San Suu Kyi seem unwilling, or unable, to oppose the military  campaign against the Rohingya? Is it time for the international community to abandon her government, or is there a constructive role we can continue to play?

Lex Rieffel is a nonresident senior fellow in global economy and development at the Brookings Institution. His recent work has focused on the economy of Myanmar during the period of democratic transition. Rieffel has held positions at the Institute of International Finance, the U.S. Treasury Department, and USAID. He served in the  Peace Corps and as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Mr. Rieffel is a graduate of Princeton University and the Fletcher School, Tufts University.

RESOURCES:

For the past twelve months, he has been working with a Burmese scholar at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore on a study of options for ASEAN in promoting peace and development in Rakhine State, as ASEAN’s contribution to resolving the Rohingya crisis. The 10-page policy brief can be downloaded here (PDF): Rieffel-Thuzar-ISEAS Perspective2018-3

Recently published blog post on the Myanmar economy published by Nikkei Asian Review (PDF): Rieffel-LifeGoesOn for NAR 12Jan2018
Or on line: Myanmar economy grows despite refugee crisis


Bashing Babylonians

Nancy Lammers Gross

January 21

Perhaps the most avoided verse in the entire Psalter: “Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!” (Psalm 137:9) What’s the story here? And what is it doing in our Bible?

Nancy Lammers Gross teaches Speech Communication in Ministry at Princeton Seminary and last year was promoted to the two-year-old Sunday School class here at Nassau.

Read the entire Psalm here: Psalm 137


Pay Up or Die!

Eric Barreto

January 28

It’s hard enough to imagine that we would, like the earliest believers in Acts, choose to sell our possessions and trust the church to take care of our every need. Harder still is making sense of the strange story of Ananias and Sapphira whose deceptions and deaths don’t exactly seem to function as a lesson for us today. Join Eric as we read these puzzling texts together.

Eric Barreto is Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, an ordained Baptist minister, and a Nassau parent.

Read the text here: Acts 4:32-5:11


The digital media files posted on the Nassau Presbyterian Church website are copyrighted by the pastors and presenting lecturers. These works are only for personal and educational use through a digital media player on a personal computer or using a personal digital media device (e.g., iPod). These works may not otherwise be archived or re-posted on the Internet, broadcast in any manner, distributed, transcribed or modified in any way without written permission of the presenting lecturer. The user of the audio file holds no license (of any form – expressed or implied) to any of the content of these files. The same applies to any Powe

Youth Climb Great Heights Over Winter Break

Stop climbing the walls – come climb with us!

[ezcol_1third]Thurs,  Dec. 28, drop off 1pm, pick up 3:30pm

Rockville Climbing Center, 200 Whitehead Rd, Hamilton

Parent permission form required for participation download the Rockville Climbing Waiver (pdf) or complete one at the Center that day.

Questions? Contact Mark Edwards (, 609-933-7599)[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end]
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The Christmas Joy Offering helps form future leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Their student days may have been a generation apart, but both Lemuel Garcia-Arroyo and his nephew Jasiel Hernandez found the Presbyterian Pan American School (Pan Am) to be an incubator for Christian leadership in their lives.

Lemuel, now Associate Director in the Racial Ethnic & Women’s Ministries area of the Presbyterian Mission, came to Pan Am from southern Mexico in 1981 as a high school sophomore. He enrolled in the Kingsville, Texas, secondary school in part to escape the scrutiny that comes with being a pastor’s son. He says the space Pan Am gave him helped his faith grow and encouraged him to claim his love for the church.

Jasiel, a senior at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, made the trek from southern Mexico to Pan Am 27 years after Lemuel. He grew up hearing stories about Pan Am from Lemuel and his younger brother Joel, who is an information systems manager and lay pastor in Mexico City. Jasiel heard his uncles talk about opportunities to excel academically, create community, and grow spiritually. Jasiel and Lemuel spoke highly of Pan Am’s academic preparation, chapel services, and extracurricular activities, but both also emphasized the importance of participating in student organized
Bible study and prayer groups.

“Who would have thought teenagers would voluntarily go to chapel to pray after breakfast?” Lemuel asks. “But that’s what we did. I wasn’t pressured to do it, but it helped solidify my identity and my love for the church.”

Jasiel participated in a weekly dormitory Bible study. “It was there I discovered I wanted to learn more about God. I wanted to know more about people’s faith and their understanding about how God works in their lives through different events and situations,” Jasiel says. “So that Bible study really impacted my life. I wound up leading it my senior year.”

Lemuel is grateful the Pan Am tradition continues and that it helped shape his nephew’s calling. “I am so proud and joyful that God would call him into ministry,” Lemuel says.

Jasiel is looking toward ordination in the PC(USA) and doctoral work in theology and Christian education after he finishes seminary. Jasiel and Lemuel appreciate the scholarships that made it possible for them to enjoy Pan Am’s spiritually nurturing and high-quality academic programs. They draw a connection between the student aid they received and gifts to the Christmas Joy Offering.

“My family is from humble origins, so money was tight,” Jasiel says, “I appreciate those who gave money, because scholarships made it possible for me to go to Pan Am.”

Your gift to the Christmas Joy Offering will make it possible for the Presbyterian Pan American School to prepare more leaders. Half of the Offering goes to Presbyterian-related racial ethnic schools and colleges, and the other half supports current and past church workers and their families who are in critical financial need. Your gift will make a difference in the lives of individuals and will strengthen our church.

Return to Christmas Joy

Bell Peal, Alumni Choir Grace Christmas Eve Worship

You are invited to have a special place in the music of Christmas Eve. The Christmas Bell Peal is open to all, whether you are an experienced bell ringer or if you have never played before. Alumni of our children and youth choirs look forward to singing together every year for a special Alumni Choir on Christmas Eve.

Read on below about both opportunities.


Christmas Eve Bell Peal

Be a part of the annual Christmas bell peal at the 7:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Service. All players must attend the rehearsal on December 23 at 6:30 p.m.

Contact Lauren Yeh (x106, ) to sign up.

If you have never played handbells before or if you want a refresher, contact Noel Werner (x104, ) to schedule some practice time.


Alumni Choir Sings Christmas Eve

Dear Nassau Choir Alumni,

This past August 2017, I began working at Nassau Presbyterian Church in the position of Associate Director of Choirs for Children and Youth. My family and I moved from New York City to Pennington in 2010, and shortly thereafter I began teaching Joyful Noise and served as an Elder on Nassau’s Session. Having had many opportunities to collaborate with Sue Ellen Page on Christmas Pageants, Chancel Dramas, and the Singing Faith-All Day Long project, I felt the dedication and love she held for her music ministry, and for you, her former students. It is important to me now that I reach you, and invite you to return for Nassau’s traditional Christmas Eve service.

Nassau Presbyterian will always be your church. It will always be the church where you sang in your youth, where you began friendships and grew the seeds of your faith through music and countless other ways. These experiences will always be with you, and my prayer is that you carry with you and remember what you sang – perhaps when it matters most. My own two children are now in Cantorei, and I have the same prayer for them as well as my nieces Lily and Amy Olsen.

I hope you will consider singing with us on Christmas Eve at the 7:00 p.m. service. We will rehearse on December 23rd from 7 – 9 p.m. and have some appetizers and refreshments at 6:00 p.m. so you have a chance to visit before we sing! Please come raise your voices with those of our current youth. They look forward to seeing you, and singing with you.

With anticipation of being together.

Blessings,

Ingrid Ladendorf
Associate Director of Choirs for Children & Youth
Nassau Presbyterian Church


RSVP for 2017 Alumni Choir

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Please use this form (click on the SignUp Genius logo) to let us know that you will be able to join the Alumni Choir on December 23 and December 24!  We’re planning to begin with a social hour in the Assembly room at 6 pm on Dec. 23 (refreshments provided by our current Cantorei will be waiting!), followed by rehearsal in the Sanctuary from 7 -9 pm.  On Christmas Eve, our pre-service music will begin at 6:30 pm, followed by the 7 pm service.

We’re looking forward to welcoming you, and being together for this special service. Thank you for coming.

Saturday, December 23

6 pm – Refreshments in the Assembly Room

(6:30 pm – optional Bell Peal Rehearsal in the Sanctuary, contact Lauren Yeh)

7 – 9 pm Rehearsal in the Sanctuary

Sunday, December 24

5:45 pm – Touch up rehearsal for whomever would like

6 pm – Warm up and quick review for 6:30 pm start

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[ezcol_1quarter_end]Sign Up Now![/ezcol_1quarter_end]


Stay In Touch

Our youth choir alumni are invited to sing every year in the 7:00 p.m. Christmas Eve service. Join the Youth Choir Alumni email list to receive rehearsal and performance details.

We also invite you to follow the Nassau Youth Choir Alumni Facebook page.

Adult Education – December 2017

Art for Advent

In December join us for the inspiring art and music of Advent and learn about the “subtle hints which artists suggested to faithful eyes….”

Sundays, 9:15 a.m, in the Assembly Room unless otherwise noted.

For a look at Adult Education offerings through December, download the brochure: Adult Education Nov Dec 2017 (pdf).


Art of the Annunciation

Jason Oosting

December 3

As we enter this season of waiting, we will explore the first scene of Christ’s life on earth, the moment when Mary learns of God’s plan for salvation. Using works of art from the Medieval to the Modern, we will see how artists across time and space have chosen to represent the initial moment of awareness of the incarnation. By visualizing the revelation of the greatest of all news, we can ponder these things with Mary as we wait for Christ this Advent.

Jason Oosting teaches Advanced Placement Art History at Montgomery High School. He lives in Hopewell with his wife Shari, two sons Asher and Ezra, and two daughters Elia and Ada.


Ongoing through May 13

In-Depth Bible Study: First Corinthians

George Hunsinger

9:15 AM
Maclean House

Holiday Schedule: Class will meet on December 3, then resume on January 7.

George Hunsinger returns for the 21st year to lead this verse-by-verse examination of the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. Bibles are available for use during the class. Find them on the Deacon Desk by the church kitchen. Class meets next door in Maclean House (Garden Entrance).


Series concludes December 3

A Romp through the Bible (Fall: Old Testament)

William R. (Bill) Phillippe

9:30 AM
Niles Chapel

True to the definition of romp, “to play boisterously,” Phillippe will move participants quickly through the 39 books of the Old Testament and do it with a style he believes the writers would approve, even if the some biblical interpreters might not. One reviewer of Phillippe’s book says, “Phillippe’s work will be seen by some as blithe and brash. That’s the best part. He takes us on a tour of what and where and why the Bible happened, and by peeling off the dusty old trappings he brings to light an enchanted story about people, and a God, we’d like to know better.” Copies of the book will be provided free to the first 12 participants.

William R. (Bill) Phillippe, upon retirement, chose to move to Princeton primarily so he could worship and engage at Nassau Presbyterian Church. He is a retired Presbyterian minister and author of A Romp through the Bible, and most recently, The Pastor’s Diary. Bill has served a number of churches as pastor, was a Synod Executive for 10 years, and has served as Acting Executive Director of the General Assembly Mission Council.


Advent Hymns and Luther’s Reformation

Paul E Rorem

December 10

While Martin Luther is most often remembered for having posted his ’95 Theses’ on the door of Wittenberg Castle Church, he, indeed, wrote several pertinent Christmas Hymns. This class will serve to enlighten about Luther’s musical abilities and will focus on Glory to God Hymnal #102, “Savior of the Nations, Come,” a composition we sing at Nassau on occasion during our celebration of Advent.

Paul E. Rorem is Princeton Theological Seminary’s Benjamin B. Warfield Professor of Medieval Church History. An ordained Lutheran minister, he is interested in medieval church history. His courses cover the confessions and influence of St. Augustine, the Christian mystical tradition, medieval Christianity, and the spiritual and theological legacy of the Pseudo-Dionysian writings.


Christmas Theology for the Eye

Karlfried Froehlich

December 17

More than entire chapters, one verse in the New Testament has shaped Christian theology from its beginning to this very day: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Condensed into a single Latin word, “incarnation,” this verse expresses on its deepest level the central mystery of the Christian faith. Examine a number of art works from the early and medieval period depicting Christ’s nativity and explore the question of how the artists wrestled with the meaning of this central mystery in the context of the theology of their time. The result will be the discovery of a host of cross-connections and subtle hints which artists suggested to faithful eyes and expected to be understood by generations of people well versed in the rich tradition of Christian symbolism. This discovery may enrich our own insight into Christmas art as well.

Karlfried Froehlich, a native of Saxony, Germany, studied theology, history, and classical languages in Germany, France, and Switzerland. Moving to the United States in 1964, he taught at Drew University and from 1968 to 1992 at Princeton Theological Seminary where he held the Benjamin B. Warfield chair in church history. An active member of the Lutheran Church in America (today the ELCA), he was a member of the Lutheran – Roman Catholic National Dialogue in the 1970s and 80s and of the Reformed – Lutheran Conversations in the 1990s which led to the 1997 declaration of full communion between the churches involved.  His scholarly interests include the history of Christian art and the history of biblical interpretation, a field to which he has contributed significantly through his teaching and writing.


The digital media files posted on the Nassau Presbyterian Church website are copyrighted by the pastors and presenting lecturers. These works are only for personal and educational use through a digital media player on a personal computer or using a personal digital media device (e.g., iPod). These works may not otherwise be archived or re-posted on the Internet, broadcast in any manner, distributed, transcribed or modified in any way without written permission of the presenting lecturer. The user of the audio file holds no license (of any form – expressed or implied) to any of the content of these files. The same applies to any PowerPoint® presentations.

Princeton-Parramos Partnership drawing to a close


Dynamic relationship to be celebrated December 3 in services and reception.

Sixteen years ago, in 2002, based on a need identified by members of Princeton’s Latin American Task Force, we at Nassau Presbyterian Church and others from the Princeton community initiated a partnership with a school in Parramos, Guatemala. The small town of Parramos is surrounded by mountains, several of them active volcanoes, and by villages still lived in by indigenous Mayan people. It’s a poor area, recovering from a devastating 7.4 earthquake and from the civil war that, for 35 years, tore Guatemala apart.

The school—the New Dawn Trilingual Education Center (in Spanish, Centro Educativo Trilingue Nuevo Amanecer) with its 550 students and 28 teachers—is a bright spot in the center of town. Fully-accredited, it offers primary, middle school, and high school programs with a curriculum ranging from art to computers and language to geography. Its name, New Dawn Trilingual Education Center, reflects the three languages taught as part of the curriculum: Spanish, English, and Kaqchikel, the regional Mayan language.

This partnership will be coming to a programmed end during the next two years.

On Sunday, December 3, Nassau is honoring this partnership which, for 16 years, has made a huge difference to the New Dawn Trilingual Education Center and to residents of the town of Parramos. Nassau’s congregation, including the partnership’s hundreds of supporters here and beyond, are invited to join us for a celebratory reception in the Assembly Room immediately following the 11:00 service.

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Each year of the partnership, Nassau members and others have stepped up to provide tuition for some 100 primary and middle school students. These sponsors are matched with particular students, and the pairs often form strong “pen-pal” relationships which last for years.

Without this support, many of these youngsters would be forced to drop out of school to join their parents in the fields. With this help, however, many scholarship students have continued their schooling to become teachers, accountants, farmers, business people and other professionals who can advocate for their villages and their local region.

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Each year, Nassau members and others also provide funds at New Dawn for daily breakfast for the 250 youngsters in primary school—which their teachers say is probably the most nutritious meal of the day. In addition, special efforts have been made over the years to supply such items as textbooks, library books, and computers and to improve the kitchen facility and classroom lighting.

Most summers since 2002, members of the Nassau congregation and the broader community have flown to Guatemala for a week of service at New Dawn. Participants have ranged widely in age, skills, and interests, so activities with the school have been lively and varied each year. Hands-on work, such as painting the walls, repairing windows and roofs, and constructing blackboards and whiteboards, has been paired with classroom interaction in such areas as music, art, English, math, and photography. Some years have seen a large medical component, with pediatric, gynecological, and dental clinics set up at the school for the neighboring community. Lodging for the service group has been in a small inn near the school.

The Princeton-Parramos Partnership has also supported town services such as the Parramos Older Adult Program and the public library.

Each summer, the work in Parramos has been supplemented by sightseeing and educational visits to indigenous communities, historic cities, and Mayan archaeological sites throughout Guatemala. A final trip will take place this coming July.

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The Princeton-Parramos Partnership has been rewarding and meaningful for the Nassau congregation. Sponsors and students have formed strong relationships, the school has seen significant improvements, and the dynamic intercultural friendship has inspired both Americans and Guatemalans.

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The Princeton-Parramos Partnership in numbers

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  • 16 years of operation
  • 1600 scholarships
  • 500 scholarship students (many students have multiple-year aid)
  • 16 years of full, nutritional breakfast for primary school
  • 200 church and community sponsors and donors, many in repeated years
  • 13 summer service trips
  • 180 service trip participants, including whole families
  • innumerable computers donated
  • innumerable buckets of paint used
  • innumerable classroom and library books provided

Join the Partnership Celebrations

Celebration and Reception. Join us on Sunday, December 3, for our celebratory reception in the Assembly Room immediately following the 11:00 a.m. service.

Guatemala Bistro in January. In 2018 and 2019, we will continue to support the school, primary school breakfast, and students. To raise funds for the breakfast, we invite you to save the date for a “Guatemalan Bistro” with Guatemalan pizza, pastries, coffee, and tropical fruit juices on Sunday, January 28, at 12:15 p.m. in the Assembly Room.

July Service Trip. In addition, on July 13 to 22, a service trip is scheduled for New Dawn, with five days of work at the school, book-ended by weekends at the magnificent Lake Atitlan and at the astonishing Mayan ruins in Tikal.

For more information, contact Jonathan Holmquist () or Mea Kammerlen ().