Hunger Offering – Update from the Presbyterian Hunger Program

Three years ago, the Presbyterian Hunger Program began a recognition program for Hunger Action Congregations who are serving in their communities to lessen the impacts of hunger and poverty.  This adds to our long-running recognition of Presbyterian Earth Care Congregations. We have been blessed to learn of servanthood and creativity happening all around the nation: from operating food pantries, hosting community gardens, and supporting the nutritional and education needs of students to advocating for changes in local and national policies to help achieve fair wages, sustainable food systems, environmental justice, and racial justice.  We are glad to connect with these congregations and to celebrate the love of Christ they are sharing in their communities and abroad.


Photos thanks to our grant partners:
1st photo: Theresa shows her land agreement. Photo by ARUWE in Uganda
2nd photo by Asociación Fénix in Nicaragua
3rd photo by Improvement and Development for Communities Center in Palestine
4th photo by Little Village Environmental Justice Organization in Chicago, IL

We are also glad to be in partnership with groups around the world who are helping communities to access more and better food, standing with those who are calling for justice, and working towards a more livable environment.  Together we address the underlying causes of hunger by standing with people for fair compensation, offering agricultural and leadership training, defending resource rights, responding to environmental crises caused by climate change, and trying to overcome racism, materialism, and other injustices that keep our siblings in the U.S. and around the world from having enough.

Because of your support for PHP, you have a part in this work.  Thank you to Nassau Presbyterian Church for ungirding the ministry of the church in its compassionate response to hunger.  This year, gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing and to the Hunger Program are supporting work in at least 19 countries and dozens of the United States.

In El Salvador, our Joining Hands network, Asociacion Red Uniendo Manos de El Salvador (ARUMES), is campaigning for the prohibition of agro toxins.  According to the Minister of the Environment, 95% of the waters in this nation are contaminated.  ARUMES is also seeking to stop the promotion of the sugar cane monoculture, so that farmers will be able to grow basic grains for their families.

Our partner Community Initiative for Sustainable Environment and Gender Development (CISEGD) has been at work in Cameroon for several years.  Last year’s project included the construction of a model integrated farm as well as mushroom seeds, piglets, and rabbits.  A well was built to supply water for animals, irrigation for vegetable farms, and potable water for about 150 nearby households and the general public.   The water component is especially helpful during a time when water is scarce because there are many internally displaced persons due to the anglophone crisis.  The model farm offers a place for training and hands-on learning for smallholder farmers.  This year, with support from the Hunger Program, CISEGD will offer training in animal husbandry, natural resource management, leadership skills, and gender equity.  Animals and mushroom seeds will be provided for 50 program participants.  Each farm family who receives an animal will then donate the animal’s first female offspring, along with mushroom seeds, to someone else in need, thus “Passing on the Gift.”

Our partner Ekvn-Yefolecv is a developing ecovillage led by indigenous Maskoke persons on their homelands in rural central Alabama.  Key activities include aquaculture, sustainable food production, language revitalization, and living practice of Maskoke culture.  At the forefront of the project is a commitment to environmental sustainability.  A variety of programs will focus on education, training, and deep holistic health.

This year’s work also includes support for grain banks in Niger, construction of toilets in India, installation of improved stoves in Nicaragua, advocacy for farmworkers and food chain workers in the U.S., land governance training in Uganda, agroforestry plots in Ghana, training in mango tree grafting in Madagascar, resistance to land grabbing in Haiti, agricultural training and response to famine and extreme hunger in South Sudan, and more.

In addition to our typical work, we have been blessed to be able to respond to some emergency food needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Presbyterian congregations around the nation are continuing to serve in their communities, even while making adjustments to honor state restrictions and keep safety in mind.

These are only a few examples of where your support can make a difference.  We are grateful to you – and to God for you, for our partners, and for this work.  “For we are what [God] has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” (Ephesians 2:10 NRSV)

May the grace and kindness of our God continue to work in you, and may you be blessed in God’s care,

Rev. Rebecca Barnes
Coordinator, Presbyterian Hunger Program
www.pcusa.org/hunger

 

Opportunities for Community Support

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” ― Fred Rogers

Below are a few ways you can join in helping our community in the weeks ahead. As we all practice physical distancing and social solidarity, the most direct way to support non-profit organizations is through monetary donations. Whether or not you are able to give financially at this time, we invite you to pray for the helpers in our world and to make an extra phone call each week checking in on friends and neighbors.


Little Free Pantry & Library

Find a new addition to the garden between Nassau Presbyterian & Maclean House. Stop by to leave or take non-perishable food items or a book. Thanks to Arm in Arm for making essentials more easily accessible to our neighbors.

Food donations to Arm In Arm are always welcome. Leave items in the new pantry OR drop them in the box located on the other side of Nassau Church, near the playground.

To donate electronically: Arm In Arm


Volunteers Needed at Arm in Arm!

What does volunteering at Arm in Arm look like? Glad you asked! Watch the video below…


Arm in Arm continues to serve a record number of individuals and families through our food pantries and grocery deliveries and in June provided groceries through more than 4,000 visits and deliveries. Our Homelessness Prevention Team is diligently working as well, and we have launched our 50 Family Challenge with the intent of helping to keep 50 families stably housed this summer.

Volunteer Sign Up (link)

Please note that all clients, staff and volunteers must wear masks, and that Arm in Arm provides masks to the clients who do not have them. Staff and volunteers do not have any interactions with unmasked community members. Volunteer stations are also inside and socially distant, and clients are not permitted to enter the building. Hand sanitizer, gloves and face guards are provided to volunteers as well. All volunteers must complete the COVID-19 health screening a day or two prior to reporting to the pantry to volunteer.


Donations to Nassau Presbyterian’s Hunger Offering are always appreciated as well.

We are committed to receiving the hunger offering until all are fed. The Hunger Offering is distributed locally, nationally, and internationally through Send Hunger Packing Princeton, HomeFront, Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and the Uniting Reformed Church in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Through your generosity, two additional hunger offering recipients were added throughout the first 18 months of the pandemic. Hunger Offering giving decreased to pre-pandemic levels at the beginning of Fall 2021, so the Mission & Outreach Committee has returned to the five original hunger partners.

If you redirected giving to the Hunger Offering from Arm in Arm once they were added as a temporary Hunger Offering recipient, we encourage you to re-establish your giving to Arm in Arm. Thank you for your continued generosity to the Hunger Offering, Arm in Arm, and all Nassau’s mission partners.

You may donate electronically online (select the Hunger Fund): My Nassau

or by texting NASSAU Hunger to 73256.


Thank you for all the ways, small and large, you are helping in response to COVID-19.

 

 

 

 

Valentines for Food help support Arm in Arm

February 1 – February 14 we are participating in Arm In Arm’s annual Valentines for Food drive. With other congregations, McCaffrey’s Supermarkets, and area schools and community groups, we join with Arm In Arm to raise funds, food, and awareness to end hunger in our community. For the sixth year, several generous church members have pledged to honor the memory of Bill Sword, Jr., by collectively matching total Valentines for Food donations made by Nassau Church.

Your donation can be made at www.arminarm.org/donate or in special pew envelopes on February 3 and 10. It will be greatly appreciated by everyone at Arm In Arm.

Valentines for Food is Arm In Arm’s biggest community drive of the year, and we can help support it as volunteers, donors, and advocates. To learn more, take a flier from the literature rack outside the office or download one here: 2019 VFF Flier (pdf), visit www.arminarm.org, or call 609-396-9355. Arm In Arm is grateful for your involvement — and hopes you will help this Valentines for Food will be the strongest yet.

Special Offering in Lent: One Great Hour of Sharing


Around the world, millions of people lack access to sustainable food sources, clean water, sanitation, education, and opportunity. The three programs supported by One Great Hour of Sharing — Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and Self-Development of People — all work in different ways to serve individuals and communities in need. From initial disaster response to ongoing community development, their work fits together to provide people with safety, sustenance, and hope.

Received during the season of Lent, each gift to One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) helps to improve the lives of people in these challenging situations. The Offering provides us a way to share God’s love with our neighbors in need. In fact, OGHS is the single, largest way  that Presbyterians come together every year to work for a better world.

Nassau Presbyterian Church will receive this offering on March 25, 2018, Palm Sunday, along with the “Fish Banks” the church school children will be bringing forward that day. Resources for families, below.

One Great Hour of Sharing, makes a difference in the world. Read more by clicking the links below.

PRESBYTERIAN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (PDA)

  • Works alongside communities as they recover and find hope after the devastation of natural or human-caused disasters, and support for refugees
  • Receives 32% of funds raised

PRESBYTERIAN HUNGER PROGRAM (PHP)

  • Takes action to alleviate hunger, care for creation, and the systemic causes of poverty so all may be fed
  • Receives 36% of funds raised

SELF-DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE (SDOP)

  • Invests in communities responding to their experiences of oppression, poverty and injustice and educates Presbyterians about the impact of these issues
  • Receives 32% of funds raised

Resources for Families

“Fish Banks” are handed out in church school on the first Sunday of Lent, February 18, and collected in Worship on Palm Sunday, March 25.

Use the placemat and interactive map (at pcusa.org/oghsmap) to guide your family’s conversation about One Great Hour of Sharing. Download  OGHS18-Place-Mat (pdf)

Moments for Mission:

Prayer Litany (from Isaiah 58, The Message)

Dear God,

Sometimes you need to shout at us to tell us what is wrong.
*We pray for our community.
We can be busy, busy, busy, trying to be faithful, and we complain that you don’t even notice. We bicker and fight.
*We pray for our community.
God, you call us to break the chains of injustice,
*May we be repairers of the breach.
Get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
*May we be healers of the wounded.
Free the oppressed,
*May we be fixers of the broken.
Cancel debts,
*May we be restorers of fortune.
Share food with the hungry,
*May we be providers of meals.
Invite the homeless poor in,
*May we be welcomers of all.
Put clothes on the shivering,
*May we be givers of warmth
Be available to our families.
*May we be present to those who know us best.
God, you will turn our lives around and show us where to go.
*May we be followers of the light.
We will be known as those who can fix anything, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.
*We pray for our community.
And we will all be free to enjoy God!
*AMEN.

Share Your Bread with the Hungry


GRANDMOTHER OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO FARM THE LAND
THAT FEEDS THE CHILDREN IN HER CARE

[ezcol_1half]Najjuma, a 56-year-old widow in Uganda, grows enough food on eight acres to feed the three children and eight orphaned grandchildren in her care. Without the crops that spring from this soil she carefully tends, Najjuma has no means to support these children.

However, while Najjuma was providing the nurture her children and grandchildren needed, her in-laws ordered her to leave the land her husband had inherited.

Fortunately,  Najjuma learned that laws were in place to protect widows like her. Your One Great Hour of Sharing Gifts empowered Naijuma to exercise her lawful  right to remain on the property.

Thanks to training programs held by Action for Rural Women’s Empowerment (ARUWE), a partner of the Presbyterian Hunger Program, Najjuma knew the law was on her side. She successfully appealed for help through local land governance structures.  Yet too often widows aren’t aware of their rights, says Sylvia Nalubega, program officer for ARUWE.[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]“When widows  do not know their entitlement to their property or if the husband doesn’t leave a will, many times they are evicted and have nowhere to go,” Sylvia says. One Great Hour of Sharing gifts helped Naijuma avoid this fate.

“Najjuma depends on the land for her livelihood,” says Agnes Mirembe,  programs manager for ARUWE. “It is everything to her. Her income is tied to the land.”

In addition to benefitting from ARUWE’s legal aid clinics,  Naijuma also learned more efficient farming techniques from this group. She planted two acres of corn and beans that serve as demonstration plots  for her neighbors. She freely shares how she was able to increase crop yields and take better care of her children and grandchildren.

Yet Najjuma  could have been without a place to plant even a single seed, a plight that would have spelled disaster for her family. Your One Great Hour gifts helped  keep this from happening.

In Uganda and around the world, Presbyterians are being faithful to the biblical mandate to care for people who live on the  margins. [/ezcol_1half_end]

Through your One Great Hour of Sharing gifts, Christ’s concern for “the least of these” is being expressed and lives are being transformed.

Let us pray:
Gracious God, We pray for the widows in Africa who struggle to provide for their families. We give thanks that you walk with them in their quest for  justice, and we hear your call to come alongside people who live on the margins. May we be faithful to your summons. Amen.

This Minute for Mission is available to download/ print for your convenience (presbyterianmission.org/oghs/resources)

Loose the Bonds of Injustice


THE FRONT PORCH CAFÉ SERVES AS AN ENTRY WAY
TO HOPE AND TRANSFORMATION

[ezcol_1half]The Front Porch Café in Akron, Ohio, serves up healthy portions of food and friendship for people needing a new start in life.

At the Front Porch,  individuals recovering from addiction or re-entering society after spending time in prison can eat a good meal, grow and learn alongside others who  share their struggles, and receive guidance on housing and employment opportunities.

When Diretha joined the Front Porch community five years  ago, she had been sober and drug-free for a year, but a decade of unemployment threatened the sustainability of her success. She volunteered at the café and attended its support groups. The staff helped her develop a resume and interviewing skills.

These efforts helped Diretha land a job at a  catering company, where she has worked for four years. She continues to live a life free from alcohol and drug abuse.

Your One Great Hour of Sharing  gifts contributed to Diretha’s transformation. The Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) made a grant that helped  renovate and equip the building that houses the café after Eastminster Presbytery’s Committee selected the project for funding. SDOP partners with  economically poor people in projects they present, control, own, and are the direct beneficiaries.

[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]The Front Porch Café is part of South Street Ministries, which serves youth and adults in one of Akron’s poorest and  most racially diverse neighborhoods. “We get people from the church, the recovery world, and the neighborhood who come in just for a place to gather,” says Joe Tucker, the ministries’ executive director. By purchasing one of the Front Porch’s reasonably priced meals, neighborhood patrons support its witness to hope.

“We give people a lot of hope and redirection,” Joe says. “We tell people, ‘Hey look, half of our staff are in recovery or in  re-entry themselves—we know what it’s like. What you are wanting to do is absolutely doable. We believe in Christ, and we will pray with you.’ The consistent reminder of hope is probably the deepest area we have.”

Diretha continues to attend a support group at the Front Porch and its weekly  worship service. “If I hadn’t gotten involved with the Front Porch, there is a chance I would have started using again and been in prison or even died,”  Diretha says. [/ezcol_1half_end]

Your One Great Hour of Sharing gifts help people move themselves from the depths of despair toward vistas of hope. Please give generously.

Let us pray:
Transforming God, we pray for people who struggle with addiction. We give thanks for ministries like the Front Porch Café that help people overcome  his challenge and begin new lives. May we join them in bearing witness to Christ’s desire that all people experience freedom and hope. Amen.

This Minute for Mission is available to download/ print for your convenience (presbyterianmission.org/oghs/resources)

Restore Streets to Live in


PRESBYTERIAN DISASTER ASSISTANCE RESPONDS QUICKLY
TO HURRICANE RAVAGED PUERTO RICO

[ezcol_1half]Even before Hurricane Maria made landfall in September, Edwin González-Castillo and other Presbyterian leaders in Puerto Rico  received promises of help from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA).

Edwin, the stated clerk of the Presbytery of San Juan, says PDA lived up to its word quickly. Days after the storm hit, the first wave of PDA grants  arrived and immediately pressing community needs were being met.

In the presbytery, funds were distributed among each of the 15 congregations,  and the presbytery matched PDA’s initial funding for community assistance. Desperately needed items such as food, water, diapers and medical  supplies were swiftly in the hands of hurricane survivors. “We were able to help families who had lost almost everything,” Edwin says. Maria’s 150  mph winds destroyed homes, infrastructure and vegetation across the island and resulted in the death or injury to many. In addition, Maria left  millions without electricity or drinkable water.

Your generosity helped PDA respond immediately after three major hurricanes pounded the United  States and/or the Caribbean, a devastating earthquake shook Central Mexico, and raging wildfires wreaked havoc across the Pacific Northwest. One  Great Hour of Sharing gifts enabled PDA to mount responses that were timely, nimble and effective.

[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]In Puerto Rico, Presbyterians never doubted that  PDA would respond fast, and they know that PDA will remain for the long haul, Edwin says. “The help PDA brings is long-term, and we are grateful  that when other groups leave Puerto Rico we will still have PDA giving us a hand.”

Puerto Rican Presbyterians appreciate the prayer support and encouraging words they have received from across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). When people from the  mainland ask them about providing tangible help, Edwin says Puerto Rican Presbyterian leaders have a standard reply: “We tell everybody the best  way to help us is through PDA.”

The hurricane response has elevated Presbyterian visibility in Puerto Rican communities, and Edwin expects that  denomination’s name recognition will continue to grow as the recovery efforts continue.

“In many places here, Presbyterians are not very well known,  but through things like this, when we attend disasters and when our communities get the kind of help PDA is helping to provide, the Presbyterian  name becomes familiar and people see that our church is here to help,” Edwin says.

Your gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing enable our church to bear this kind of caring witness in Puerto Rico and around the world. Please give generously.[/ezcol_1half_end]

Let us pray:
Gracious God, we pray for the survivors of disasters. Comfort them as they struggle with unspeakable grief and the monumental task of rebuilding  their lives. Help us to extend neighborly love to them wherever they live. Amen.

This Minute for Mission is available to download/ print for your convenience (presbyterianmission.org/oghs/resources)

This is Church


Have you ever taught a child to fold their fingers inside their hands and say the rhyme, “here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors and see all the people?” The wiggling fingers teach children, and adults, too, that the church is not the building — the steeples, windows, or structure, but people gathering to worship God.

There’s something else in the children’s rhyme. As the child breaks open their hands to reveal the people,” they move their fingers back and forth, often as fast as they can. This simple move reminds us that the church is the energy and actions that share the love of Christ.

  • When a disaster strikes, people give, volunteer, and pray so that those impacted receive help and hope, this is church.
  • When poverty and violence cause hunger and people join together to respond to the need and address its root causes, this is church.
  • When injustice falls on those who are vulnerable and people join hands with one another and lift their voices against the interests of power, this is church.

The church is the Holy Spirit’s transforming power emanating into the world sharing the compassion, justice, love, and peace of Christ. Presbyterians join the movement of the Spirit into every corner of the Earth — and in this season, through our church-wide One Great Hour of Sharing.

  • We share— and church happens with women who were once trafficked for domestic labor and now own their own cooperative business.
  • We share— and church happens with people through land rights training and improvements to farming methods.
  • We share— and church happens with those whose homes have been washed away by flood, as the arms of comfort wrap around them, and hands pick up shovels to assist.

The church is happening right now, all around us — because we share Christ’s love.

Let us pray:
God of Compassion, move your church into the world with imagination and love. May the gifts we give and the kindness we offer be shared with the most vulnerable of your children. Amen.

This Minute for Mission is available to download/ print for your convenience (presbyterianmission.org/oghs/resources)

Gifts at Work


YOUR GIVING REPAIRS THE BREACHES
THAT SEPARATE PEOPLE FROM LIVES OF WHOLENESS.

[ezcol_1half]When the forces of chaos and calamity rip the fabric of human life, your One Great Hour of Sharing gifts are there to sew it back together.

Your generosity fulfills a vision rooted in the biblical witness and beautifully stated in Isaiah 58:12. The prophet writes: “You shall be called the  repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.”

Around the world, One Great Hour of Sharing ministries bridge the divides that tear apart the  lives of individuals and communities.

In Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory that was devastated by Hurricane Maria last year, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance promised help to the island’s  Presbyterian leaders even before the storm made landfall. Days after Maria hit, the first wave of PDA grants arrived and immediately pressing  community needs were being met. Desperately needed items such as food, water, diapers and medical supplies were in the hands of hurricane  survivors swiftly. Your gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing made it possible for PDA to act promptly in Puerto Rico, Texas, Florida and other places  when disasters struck in rapid succession last year. In addition, PDA will continue working in these communities long after other groups leave. [Read more here.]

In Akron, Ohio, Diretha’s recovery from drug addiction was threatened by more than a decade of unemployment. She says her decision to join the Front Porch Café community helped her get a job and remain drug-free. [/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]The Front Porch consists of individuals who struggle with drug addiction or who seek to re-enter society after spending time in prison. At the Front Porch, they can eat a good meal, learn and grow among others who have  experienced similar struggles, and receive guidance on employment opportunities. A Self-Development of People grant, made possible by One Great Hour of Sharing gifts, helped renovate and equip the building that houses the café.“If I hadn’t gotten involved with the Front Porch, there is a chance I would have started using again and been in prison or even died,” Diretha says. Your gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing gifts contribute to positive change that lasts. [Read more here.]

In Uganda, Najjuma, a 56-year-old widow, depends on eight acres of farmland to feed three children and eight grandchildren left orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. However, her in-laws ordered her to leave the land her late husband had inherited. Thanks to training programs held by Action for Rural Women’s Empowerment (ARUWE), a partner of the Presbyterian Hunger Program, Najjuma knew the law was on her side. She successfully appealed for help through local land-governance structures. Your One Great Hour of Sharing gifts helped Najjuma continue to farm the land and improve farming techniques in order to feed her children and grandchildren. [Read more here.][/ezcol_1half_end]

In places far and near, your One Great Hour of Sharing gifts repair breaches that pierce the wholeness that God wants for everyone. Please give generously.

Let us pray:
Holy God, we pray for those who are separated from the fullness of life that you desire for all people. Strengthened by your love and mercy, may we bridge the gaps of injustice that keep people from experiencing lives of wholeness and fulfillment. Amen.

This Minute for Mission is available to download/ print for your convenience (presbyterianmission.org/oghs/resources)

 

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