Our Silent Night candle selfies were so wonderful, we are doing it again, this time for Palm Sunday! We will be adding your palm-waving pictures to a recording of our congregation singing “All Glory, Laud, and Honor” for worship on March 28.
Palms will be distributed in front of the church on Sunday, February 28 and Sunday, March 7, 12:15-1:30. You can pick up palm branches at those times, or print out your own palm:
Your selfies can be of individuals, couples, friends, or whole families. The deadline is March 11. Your participation will add a special note of celebration to our Palm Sunday this year. Please contact Lauren Yeh (email) with any questions.
On Palm Sunday, April 5, we will take up a special offering “One Great Hour of Sharing.”
Sharing God’s Love with Our Neighbors-In-Need
in a world of disaster, hunger, and oppression
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.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Restorers of Streets to Live In
Works alongside communities as they recover and find hope after the devastation of natural or human-caused disasters
Presbyterian Hunger Program Share your Bread with the Hungry
Takes action to alleviate hunger and the systemic causes of poverty so all may be fed
Self-Development of People Loose the Bonds of Injustice
Invests in communities responding to their experiences of racism, oppression, poverty and injustice and educates Presbyterians about the impact of these societal ills
One Great Hour of Sharing lets us come together to open our doors — as well as our hearts — to share the love of Christ through our ministries of justice, compassion, and joy.
Text SHARING to 56512 to receive a link to resources to learn more about how your gift to One Great Hour of Sharing makes a difference, or visit www.pcusa.org/oghs
Questions? Contact us at 502-569-5047 or email
PC(USA) Special Offerings
100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202
TOGETHER, WE BECOME THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD.
Before a hunger emergency struck Somalia, Hawo Abdi and her husband were successful herders near their country’s border with Kenya.However, two years of intensive drought parched the land to the point that they could no longer raise the camels, cattle, sheep and goats that supported them. As her family faced economic ruin, Abdi’s husband died. She was two months pregnant with the couple’s fifth child. Desperate to feed her children, Abdi felt she had no choice but to make the two-day journey to a camp for internally displaced persons to ensure the safety of her four young children and unborn child. Against the background of Somalia’s civil war, the journey was fraught with danger, including the possibility of attack from armed groups and assault. “We had nothing to take with us, and we had to beg for water,” she says. Abdi’s mission to bring her children to a safe refuge was successful. Now she and her children receive a monthly allocation of rice, beans, cooking oil and sugar that One Great Hour of Sharing gifts help provide. While their day-to-day life remains difficult, Abdi and her children, including her new baby, are safe and nourished. “The food aid has improved the living conditions of my family,” she says. “I was able to feed my starving children.”Sadly, Abdi’s story is not unique. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 5.4 million people in Somalia are food insecure, and another 2.6 million people are displaced. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) partners with Kaalmo Relief and Development to provide food aid to people in the camp. “We are very grateful for your contribution,” says Mohamed Ahmed Iriri,
Kaalmo’s director. “It will help us a lot in fighting the hunger and poverty affecting our people in Somalia.”One Great Hour of Sharing gifts are helping to address famine and extreme hunger through PC(USA) partners in other countries, including Northern Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. These partners help with emergency food assistance and address the underlying causes of hunger and homelessness for the millions of people struggling to maintain their very existence.In Isaiah 58, the prophet calls us to be “repairers of the breach, restorers of streets to live in,” to care for the hungry, the weak and the vulnerable. Through One Great Hour of Sharing, we extend shelter to those who have no place to stay, food to those who are hungry and compassion to those who have pain—be it physical, emotional or spiritual. Together, we become the household of God; and all are welcome. Won’t you join us with a gift to One Great Hour of Sharing? Because when we all do a little, it adds up to a lot.
Let us pray,
God of refuge, gather us into your household. Under your roof, let us meet together at your table of grace to be fed with good food. Grant us the dream of your world where all are fed, all are housed and all have the dignity you granted from the beginning. May our gifts begin to build this dream. Amen.
