Mission Outreach
September 2007
How and Where We Help
To help us live Christian lives, Jesus lists a number of activities that we can undertake, then states that "as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me." Our own community and the wider world are over-rich with "the least of these." There is so much need that we can become overwhelmed and feel that we are unable to help significantly.
However, Christ's disciple, St. Paul, also provides some guidance for us when he declares that the Holy Spirit has endowed each of us with different gifts to be shared as needed to build the Church, or body of Christ, and that while none of us can do everything, we can each do one thing well.
No matter what our individual gifts, we can all contribute to Christ's mission. The Parish of St. Paul's sponsors a variety of projects to serve "the least of these." We welcome you to join us in the opportunities for Mission Outreach described in this booklet.
In addition, please consult the inside cover of the St. Paul's Parish Directory for a complete listing of ministries at St. Paul's. Call the Church office (585-271-2240) or e-mail us (info@stpaulsec.org).
Welcome!
Contents
The Hope of Sudan
Paul's Place
Adopt a Classroom
SEM (formerly known as Southeast
Ecumenical Ministries)
Trinity Church Pass Christian,
Mississippi
St. Paul's Day Care Center
St. Joseph's House of
Hospitality
A Meal And More
Episcopal Church Women
Antiques Show Committee
Mission I Funds
Water for Sudan
Music Outreach
The Hope of Sudan
The United Nations has classified Southern Sudan as "one of the most devastated places on earth."
Since 1956 a Civil War has raged in Sudan, with the Islamic fundamentalist government of Khartoum promoting genocide against the Christian South, killing two million people, leaving 6 million displaced, 70% of women as widows, and reducing literacy to below 10 percent.
In 2000, The United States of America
stepped in to help displaced orphans through an
unprecedented immigration effort, bringing 4500 Sudanese
"Lost Boys" to safety in Rochester and other US cities
for a new start. Their hope here is to
attend school, build lives, and in turn help their
families left behind and their homeland.
The Hope of Sudan is a 501(c) non-profit organization originating at St. Paul's that supports the education of these refugees in Rochester, now known as "the Young Men of Sudan," who are currently attending local colleges and universities.
This ministry raises funds to support their college education or vocational education to create a better life here in America. To date two young men have graduated from the University of Rochester, there are six more graduating in 2008 from varied four year institutions, and roughly ten young men in Community College.
Funding is a critical need for these young men as they are self sufficient and need to work to live. The extra help afforded by the Hope of Sudan enables these young men to focus more on their studies.
The program also coordinates local volunteers as mentors, tutors, and life guides.
Trauma Healing
A few years ago, the affects of the trauma on these young men began to surface. Although not a surprise in retrospect, we did find that dealing with the trauma was going to be a necessary educational focus to enable the young men to move on. The Hope of Sudan funded the expenses of Fr Paul Boyle, a trauma and Sudan expert, to come to America and assist in building awareness and commencing the healing process among the young men. We have financed three sessions in Rochester to great success and we are currently exploring the initiation of sustenance training with local social workers to continue the progress indefinitely.
A three-day trauma healing workshop provides the Sudanese with healing strategies to cope with post traumatic stress, as well as one-on-one sessions with Fr Boyle.
Sponsoring Refugees in Sudan -
The Kakuma Scholar Program
The Hope of Sudan has also identified a major need after a Mission Trip to Sudan and Kenya in the fall of 2006. Thousands of young people who were left behind in the refugee camps or within Sudan are not being properly educated. Within Sudan the infrastructure does not exist and the education within the camp is sub par. The Hope of Sudan began a "Sponsorship Program" as a pilot a few years ago, utilizing the Dominicans of East Africa as the oversight group. We have sent a few young men from the camp to private Kenyan boarding schools under the direction of the Dominicans. The success has been phenomenal! Grade levels and test scores as well as the overall health of the students has increased dramatically. We have joined forces with Province VIII of the Episcopal Church and are sending 32 children to boarding schools in Kisumu, Nakuru and Nairobi, the three major cities in Kenya. Oversight is both with the Dominicans in Kisumu and the Episcopal Church in the other two cities.
The Kakuma Scholar program also works with the local Young Men of Sudan to fund their relatives' education. This program subsidizes the cost of the education for the young men and allows the young men to add a level of direct accountability for success.
Sponsors here may support a young student through high school. A minimal cost of about $750 per year provides a student with room and board, tuition and books, health care, and substitute parental oversight through the church.
We welcome you to volunteer as a sponsor to further the Hope within Sudan. The needs are enormous.
Refugee Resettlement Ministry
In addition to Hope of Sudan supporting individuals through education, we at St. Paul's care for entire refugee families settling in the Rochester area. St. Paul's Refugee Resettlement Ministry works with volunteers from other faith communities and social agencies to help refugee families assimilate into American society throughout the entire cycle of resettlement:
We provide safe and affordable housing, transportation, and guidance with food, job procurement, and sanitation.
We mentor in education, personal and skill development, and financial planning.
We need more volunteers and welcome your call. Please visit Hope of Sudan's website at www.hopeofsudan.org, or contact co-chairs Ann Marie and Jerry DeLuccio at 585-582-2648 or jjdeluccio@rochester.rr.com.
Refugee Housing at Wainwright Hall
The Parish of St Paul's has designated the apartment on the third floor of Wainwright Hall as a Refugee Outreach apartment. The apartment enables a family with forward momentum to stay in a safe environment while gaining an education, skills, and help from parish volunteers to assimilate to this country.
Parishioners sponsor a refugee family for a period of several years, while more volunteers provide tutoring, driving lessons, vocational programs, life skills, guidance in accounting and taxes, social services, fund-raising and more.
We welcome your questions and support. Please contact the church office at 271-2240 if you are interested in promoting a family for this outreach or help out with the family in place!
* * *
Paul's Place
The Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network program, known as RAIHN, provides shelter, meals and support to families in crisis.
St. Paul's is one of 14 local faith communities that host families for one week at a time, four times a year. These hosts are supported in turn by volunteers from some 15 more faith communities. When St. Paul's hosts a RAIHN family, volunteers from the Zen Center provide support. A week's rotation involves 60-70 volunteers. Rochester RAIHN network trains the volunteers.
At St. Paul's, the RAIHN project is known as Paul's Place. Visiting families stay in the Sunday school rooms, eat in the Parish Hall, and relax in the SPY room for homework and games in the evening. St. Paul's parishioners help out in numerous ways:
- Providing an evening meal for our guests
- Hosting the evening meal
- Participating in evening activities such as homework and games
- Staying over night
- Helping with either set-up or clean-up on Sundays
Each day after breakfast the RAIHN bus takes families to the Day Center adjacent to Third Presbyterian Church at Meigs Street and East Avenue. This is the RAIHN resource center for counseling on jobs and housing, picking up mail, doing laundry, taking showers, and meeting the school bus.
Our local chapter (www.RAIHN.org) is
part of the national Interfaith Housing Network, known as
Family Promise (http://www.nihn.org/), which includes
more than 2000 faith congregations. The Network has
proven to be a cost-effective and rewarding way to
provide needed temporary shelter and services to some of
the hundreds of thousands of American families caught in
the growing gap between family income and housing costs.
Please join our hospitality network. Contact the church office at 271-2240 or visit St. Paul's web site at www.stpaulsec.org.
* * *
Adopt a Classroom
at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School #9
and Charles Carroll School #46
Now in its eighth year, St. Paul's highly successful Adopt a Classroom Project continues to focus on building literacy skills in "adopted" Kindergarten and first grade classrooms at Rochester City School District's School #9 and School #46. Tutors use specific grade level skill sets and teacher input to design individualized weekly tutoring sessions for each student in a classroom. St. Paul's provides training and a wide variety of books, educational games and teaching materials for use during tutoring sessions.
Following a program developed at School #9, volunteer
Literacy Circle coaches meet with small groups of
students at School #46 to discuss books recommended by
classroom teachers. Coaches work with students to enrich
understanding of the material, expand vocabularies and
encourage listening and responding to group members'
input. A grant from the 2007 St. Paul's Antiques Show
provides for study guides, a year-end party, and
subscriptions to Ranger Rick magazine.
In addition, St. Paul's provides the following support to School #9 by way of a Mission I grant:
- vacation book bags filled with books and educational games for students in adopted kindergarten classrooms
- an annual kindergarten field trip
- festive kindergarten graduation cakes
- subscriptions to National Geographic Explorer magazine for students in adopted first grade classrooms
- funding for monthly recognition parties for students who make "positive behavioral choices."
Our dedicated volunteers come from St. Paul's, St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church (Rochester), Christ Episcopal Church (Pittsford), St. Luke's Episcopal Church (Fairport), St. Thomas Episcopal Church (Rochester), and Incarnate Word Lutheran Church (Rochester).
Please join our team of tutors. Call Liz Cook at 442-0492 or e mail at cookliz314@aol.com
* * *
SEM
(Formerly known as Southeast Ecumenical Ministries)
St. Paul's collects and distributes food and supplies throughout the year to needy neighbors in the Rochester area.
Parishioners may deliver bulk items to the SEM office by appointment or bring single donations to the SEM basket at the back of the sanctuary prior to Sunday services. Your donations of stable foods (in a can or box), hygiene and paper products, travel and hotel personal items, and cleaning supplies, all help to improve our neighbors' independence and quality of life.
In addition, SEM provides transportation to seniors and disabled neighbors in our district. We seek and will train volunteers as dispatchers, schedulers, and drivers.
To donate your time, funds, food and supplies, please contact SEM Coordinator Ann Ryan, 271-5350.
* * *
Trinity Church,
Pass Christian, Mississippi
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed Trinity Episcopal Church in Pass Christian, Mississippi. In response, St. Paul's has reached out with funds, food and friendship. First, our Vestry designated $15,000 from the Unusual Mission Opportunity Fund (UMO) to support the rebuilding of the sanctuary.
The
next spring, St. Paul's Church School raised $765 through
its Lenten Outreach Project to purchase 52 prayer books
for the homeless parish. In addition, the children sent
an Easter basket filled with candy and decorated eggs.
The Clergy sent Easter flowers from discretionary funds.
St. Paul's members embarked on a baking campaign and
mailed homemade baked goods every week to parishioners at
Trinity. The Good Book Store of the Rochester Diocese
sent books.
In May 2006, St. Paul's parishioner Ayanna Hofmann traveled to Trinity Parish to deliver our gifts. She presented the Church School's prayer books with bookplates, a photo album illustrating St. Paul's parishioners preparing gifts, and the first half of our UMO funds to help with Trinity's reconstruction. On her return, Ayanna displayed in our Parish Hall the photos of her trip and the work underway at Trinity Church and the Pass Christian community. During the reconstruction, Trinity's congregation is worshipping at the town's Methodist Church.
Continuing our support in spring 2007, St. Paul's sent the remaining $7500 to Trinity. Currently St. Paul's parishioner Joe Willard is building a credence table for the new sanctuary.
To discuss more ways to help, contact the Coordinator of Christian Formation Barbara Warner or the Rev. Tom McCart at 271-2240.
* * *
St. Paul's Day Care Center
Since 1989, St. Paul's Day Care Center has provided outstanding care to families with children from 8 weeks to 5 years old. The Center is non-denominational and not-for-profit.
Warm relationships with families and a loving, wonder-filled environment are cornerstones of the Center's philosophy. Well-qualified teachers value the uniqueness of each child, honor the preferences and customs that all families bring with them, and seek ways to learn about and share family traditions.
As a community partner with the Rochester City School District, St. Paul's Day Care Center also offers a Universal Pre-Kindergarten program for four-year-olds.
The Day Care Center is an active
partner in the Early Childhood Education Quality Council
and is accredited by NAEYC. The Center adheres to the
principles of the National Association for Education of
Young Children (www.naeyc.org).
St. Paul's Day Care Center offers financial assistance to needy families through the Peggy Thompson Scholarship Fund. In the past, the scholarship fund has been able to support over 20% of enrolled families that would otherwise be unable to secure high quality child care.
In recent years, teachers' qualifications have improved significantly. The Center strives to recruit and retain well-qualified staff while maintaining affordable rates and continuing our scholarship program.
St. Paul's Day Care Center is seeking Board members, classroom volunteers, and community expertise. Please contact Stacia Luh at (585) 244-4527 or stpaulschildcare@rochester.rr.com. Visit our web site at www.stpaulschildcare.org.
* * *
St. Joseph's House of Hospitality
Once a month, St. Paul's volunteers join a community-wide ecumenical team of adults and youths who prepare and serve a hot meal for up to 96 people. Our guests are among the working poor, unemployed, and homeless.
On the first Saturday of each month from September to June, we gather at St. Joseph's House of Hospitality on South Avenue to heed our Lord's command to "Feed my lambs." Volunteers plan a meal and shop for food ahead. Then a team of 8-10 individuals and family members dedicate the morning to preparing a mid-day dinner for guests in a restaurant-style setting. We also provide homemade cookies to accompany every meal.
Kind words of welcome and encouragement are part of the mission to feed not just the bodies but the souls of our guests. We need volunteers with able hands and willing hearts to see what love can do. Join our "loaves and fishes" team as co-chair, shopper, baker, or chef and server. Please contact Kathy Hiltunen at 585-244-0362 or kathy.hiltunen@excellus.com.
* * *
A Meal and More
Since 1984, A Meal and More has provided hot meals and caring friendship twice a week to as many as 200 needy guests per dinner in Christ Episcopal Church on East Avenue at Broadway. In 2005, we served nearly 7,000 guests, and as needed offered advice, spiritual help, clothing, and blankets. The food for A Meal and More comes from Food Link, the U.S. Government Surplus Program, local food cupboards, food drives, and personal donations.
St. Paul's Coordinator June Hasty notes, "Those of us who have worked there know those folks who come for meals are really hungry. Seeing how some of the guests try to get in line again for seconds, we are convinced that they really are hungry! The meals include soup, salad, main dish, and dessert. Nothing fancy. When we took cakes down on Sunday, September 16, we learned that the program may stop by the first of the year. Funds which have been donated in the past are now going to disasters around the US and other parts of the world. The budget is not much by today's standard. Can we help?"
St. Paul's volunteers contribute to A Meal and More in numerous ways.
- We help prepare and serve the food on Wednesday and Sunday.
- We bake and deliver desserts such as chocolate cake and brownies once a month.
- We donate items ranging from lip balm to cocoa mix for guests' Christmas gift packets, assembled by ECW (Episcopal Church Women).
- Parishioners also donate money to purchase turkeys and hams for holiday meals. (Reminders in the November St. Paul's Newsletter.)
- We send general contributions directly to: A Meal and More, Inc., Christ Church, 141 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14604.
To bake desserts or contribute to holiday meals & gifts:
St. Paul's Coordinator June Hasty at 288-9131 or shasty@rochester.rr.com.
To volunteer serving meals:
Call A Meal and More Volunteer Coordinator Addie Roselli, 872-4454.
To donate supplies and funds:
Contact A Meal and More Co-Presidents Josephine Dewey and Shirley Gray: sgraze28@yahoo.com
For additional information visit www.communitywishbook.com/AMealandMore.html or call the Christ Church office at 454-3878.
* * *
Episcopal Church Women
As our mission statement declares, "The Episcopal Church Women (ECW) of St. Paul's Church provides fellowship, pastoral care, community service and enrichment to the members of the Parish and to the community at large." We invite both men and women to attend the Annual Tea for John Marshall High School students. Each March the ECW sponsors a tea party for outstanding senior girls in the school's Debutante program. Their school selects students who excel, to offer a social setting that will help prepare them for the world beyond school. The students come with parents and friends to our Parish Hall, where we celebrate them with roses, gift bags, tea, and conversation.
More ECW Projects:
- Contribute food and baked goods to A Meal & More
- Help plan and host the annual St. Paul's Antiques Show
- Collect Campbell Soup labels (with bar code) for the Hillside Children's Center
- Knit for the Seamen's Institute
- Assemble kits for Church World Service
- Participate in numerous pastoral ministries serving parishioners in need.
ECW raises money for:
- St. Francis Academy
- Holy Trinity School, Haiti
- SEM (formerly Southeast Ecumenical Ministry)
- Hillside Children's Center
- Church World Service
- Salvation Army
- Seaman's Church Institute
- St. Paul's Refugee Resettlement
- Episcopal Church Home
- Memorial Altar Flowers
- Alternatives for Battered Women
- Memorial Fund
- Right-On School
- Church School Bibles
- St. Paul's Day Care Center
- Capital Improvements to Saint Paul's Church
- A Meal & More
We welcome visitors to our monthly program meetings.
Please contact ECW President, Mary Critikos at (585)442-3369 or mcritikos@rochester.rr.com.
* * *
Antiques Show Committee
St. Paul's Antiques Show was founded in 1950 by the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) and expanded in 1970 to include the entire parish. Our mission is to raise funds for worthwhile causes both within and outside of St Paul's and to create an atmosphere of hospitality for our guests and faith community.
More than 150 parish volunteers participate in the Show each April, and many more donate items and support the Show financially. Volunteers welcome guests, assist the dealers, prepare the Parish Hall, and staff the parish's Old Curiosity Shop, Book Nook, Linens Room, Jewelry Room, Bake Sale, and Silent Auction. The highlight of the show and most popular volunteer opportunity is always the Gala Preview Party.
Net profits which consistently total more than $20,000 are shared by ECW-funded initiatives in recognition of the active involvement of ECW members, used to fund unbudgeted projects inside St. Paul's, and to support important local and international outreach activities.
We need and welcome new volunteers. To learn more, contact: Chris Curtis at 218-4236 or crcurtis@rochester.rr.com.
* * *
Mission I Funds
St. Paul's Mission I Funds provide support for a number of outreach programs, including:
- Paul's Place: Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network (RAIHN)
- St. Joseph's House of Hospitality
- School #9
- Theological education grants
- Greater Rochester Community of Churches
- Episcopal Life Community (Episcopal Church Home and related agencies)
- St. Paul's Day Care Center
- Hope for Sudan
- Literacy Volunteers of Rochester
- Step-by-Step
- Friends Helping Friends
St. Paul's budget includes an annual Mission I discretionary fund of approximately $17,000 that is awarded in the form of grants to deserving ministries, allocating 1/3 to local organizations; 1/3 to organizations in the U.S.; and 1/3 to organizations beyond our nation.
To learn more about any of the ministries funded by St. Paul's through its Mission I budget, contact Mission I chair Ed Rubel at erubel@rochester.rr.com or 381-7448.
* * *
Water for Sudan
Every day in Sudan and greater East Africa, hundreds of thousands of people walk for hours through the desert to collect water. Their water source is often contaminated with parasites and dangerous bacteria, resulting in rampant disease.
Every dry season, entire villages migrate with their livestock to find water. This cycle of migration prevents the villagers from establishing schools, health clinics, markets, and a general social infrastructure.
Fresh water is an absolute requirement for a community's health. In short, it is life.
Mission Logistics
In 2003, St. Paul's parishioners Salva Dut, John Bevier, and Scott Arrington founded Water for Sudan, Inc. as a Rochester-based charitable organization. This mission raises funds to drill fresh-water wells for the people in southern Sudan, thereby providing the foundation for healthy, stable communities.
From 2005-2007, Water for Sudan
drilled 17 wells in Southern Sudan, bringing clean
drinking water to over 50,000 people. Our goal for the
next several years is to drill 24 wells per year at
locations selected by local tribal leaders. Water for
Sudan trains village members to operate and maintain
their wells, which then become the property and
responsibility of the villages.
Funding
Water for Sudan depends on the generosity of donors to meet these goals. We owe our success to date to St. Paul's Mission I funding, Antiques Show proceeds, Church School children, individual parishioners, and Water for Sudan Board members John Bevier, Chris Moore, Nancy Frank and the Rev. Leslie Saint Louis. We are grateful for widening community support from matching corporate grants, music and art benefits, and resourceful students in Pittsford, Penfield, and Hilton schools.
History
Salva Dut is the inspiration and the vision behind Water for Sudan, Inc., and serves as its President today. Salva was one of the 17,000 Walking Boys (or Lost Boys) who escaped from war-torn Sudan when he was just 11 years old. He had trekked east to Ethiopia and then southwest to Kenya, where he lived with 92,000 others inside the barbed-wire fence of a refugee camp until the United Nations rescued the children.
In 1996, a U.S. initiative brought 3,000 of these Walking Boys, including Salva, to the United States. He came to Rochester without any formal education. The Moore family of St. Paul's gave Salva a home, and he began formal English instruction. Salva has earned his GED, Associate's Degree in Business, and Bachelor's degree in International Business while working in Wegman's management training program. He became a U.S. citizen in 2001.
In January 2002, Salva returned to Sudan to find his father, whom he had not seen in 16 years. His father was suffering from many maladies caused by toting and consuming unsafe drinking water. Salva, too, became infected with water-borne parasites during his trip home. The trip inspired Salva to create Water for Sudan, Inc., to enable him to drill wells and provide clean, fresh water to his homeland.
To help Water for Sudan, Inc, contact Salva Dut, President, at (585)377-9471 or salvadut@waterforsudan.org.
* * *
Music Outreach
St. Paul's Parish is blessed with outstanding musical talents which we share with the wider community. We enjoy marvelous choirs and a 4,500-pipe, 1927 E. M. Skinner organ.
St. Paul's Senior Choir offers a number of musical programs to parishioners and the greater Rochester community. Those who like to sing may join the choir in these special programs by calling St. Paul's Director of Music, Dr. Robert Poovey. In addition, we invite you to enjoy our Evensong of music and our special organ recitals.
In addition, we invite you to enjoy special organ recitals scheduled regularly during the year. To learn more, please contact the church office at 271-2240 or visit our web site at www.stpaulsec.org.
* * *