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"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations..."  Matt. 28:19
The congregations, churches, and mission communities of Shenandoah Presbytery are active in doing mission work at home and around the world. The witness and testimonies of those who accept the charge of the "great commission" have many stories and experiences to share that can inspire us all. Whether we work together down the street at the pantry or soup kitchen, or in a foreign country somewhere around the world, helping others changes lives. We share their stories here to affirm the work of the Spirit in our lives and in our world.
New Providence Church
   Mission at New Providence is exceedingly important - it is vital.  One of things that we have worked more on since my arrival here at this church is hands on mission.  As such, we have done a fair amount of work that might be of interest to you (several of these things are activities that had not previously been done at this church).
   First of all we are going on a "traditional" mission trip.  We will be returning to Hurricane, WV and will be working to repair homes of the impoverished or physically challenged (we are anticipating working with presbyterians from Hurricane, Winstom-Salem, NC and Waverly, NY to improve 6 homes).  We will be sending at least 15 folks on this trip. More.

Timber Ridge Church
   Timber Ridge has shared in several mission initiatives this year. Our big project was the mission trip to Juarez, Mexico through the Presbyterian Border Ministry program.  We sent 10 people (youth to seniors) who worked in the Mujer a Mujer shelter for abused women over the week of March 22-29.  This was a great trip, and we look forward to continuing a relationship with that shelter.
    Another mission to which our congregation is particularly committed is Relay for Life.  For the second year, we have fielded two teams at the Rockbridge County event, and this year we were the #2 Non-Corporate fundraiser. More.

Franklin Church
Since the majority of the Franklin congregation is over 55, we haven't done a lot of "leg work" as far as mission trips are concerned.  Some of our youth have gone with the Moorefield Church youth to New York on their various mission trips.  Locally, several ladies volunteer with the Christian Assistance Network, which was established by our county ministerial association as a food pantry.  They work there 4 days per month, distributing food, clothing, and other household items to those in need.  They are also responsible for letting church members know what supplies are needed, collecting them, and taking them to the pantry building. More.

Opequon Church
The mission trip was open to 8th graders and up.  I had four respond saying they would go(many others had conflicts, but 4 was good enough for me) I had two other gentlemen help me chaperone the trip.  So, 7 of us went to Calvin Center about 25 miles south of Atlanta, Georgia July 20-July 25.  We stayed in their cabins in the woods.  Our work site each day was a house in Griffin, GEorgia.  We joined one of the other mission groups that week to scrap, prime, and paint the entire exterior of the house.
More.

Windy Cove Church
We have had a very active mission program at Windy Cove.  Here are some examples of what we have been involved with through the years.
    We have a Food Pantry that operates once a month.  We distribute USDA commodities as well as other items from the Verona Food Bank.
    We have Clothing Day about four times a year.  No clothing is held over. And we usually have 50 to 75 people who come by to "shop" for clothes.
    We helped to start recycling in Bath County.  Now the local government is mainly responsible for the collection and containers.
    We have been taking yearly overseas mission trips to Haiti since 1984.
    We have sponsored two refugee families in the past 20 years.
    We help out with utility bills.  And have cut fire wood for local people.

With hope,
Rob Sherrard

Parish of the Valleys
   The Wind River Youth Mission Conference (for high school and college students) was held July 9-18 on the campus of Central Wyoming College and on the Wind River Indian Reservation, both in Riverton, Wyoming.
   Global LOGOS, Inc. was invited to Riverton to have a conference that focused on building positive relationships between the Riverton town people (white) and the two Native American tribes that reside on the reservation (Northern Arapaho and Shoshoni - two tribes that historically have not gotten along). I am volunteer Conference Director for Global LOGOS, and this was a challenging task, because all parties are suspect of one another!
   Moreover, the task at hand was complicated by the presence of the World Church of the Creator, the hate group that recently moved its international headquarters to Riverton. While we didn't experience any obvious threats from this hate group, we certainly were protective of the youth and adults who were part of the conference. (We had representation from VA, WV, Alaska, PA, MD, IL, MI, Nevada, and WY. Three college students attended from the Parish of the Valleys.) More.

Highland Church
Here are a few of the ministries Highland is involved in.
* Food Pantry (here at the church) every Tuesday
 * One of our members  has served as the director of the clothing room at CCAP (Winchester- Frederick county Congregational Community Action Project) since 1984
 * The church has Habitat Days each year where the church is assigned 2-3 work days at a local Habitat for Humanity House (where we not only provide the work, but provide the lunch meal for all the workers)
 * Each Christmas we provide gift baskets for the needy in the community (especially gifts to some of the children).
 
Sandy Ambrose
 Potomac Highlands Mission Community
   On June 1 after worship at Trinity Lutheran Church in Keyser, West Virginia, a group of twenty-eight participants from the Potomac Highlands Mission Community departed for the Stony Point Conference Center in New York. The mission group included youth and adults from three Lutheran and three Presbyterian congregations. Two clergy took part, Rev. Sally Bartling (ELCA)and Rev. Jeffrey Lang (PCUSA).
   Prior to leaving for New York City, about a forty-five minute drive from Stony Point, the participants were led in a joint communion service led by Rev.'s Bartling and Lang along with assistance from Lutheran Student Pastor, Ken Miller. More.

Shepherdstown Church
My name is Gordon Gay.  I am the moderator of the Deacon Board at Shepherdstown Presby. in Shepherdstown, WV.  Although we do not have any "big" trips scheduled for this year, we will be doing our annual trip to a homeless shelter in Washington, DC where we help serve the meals to the homeless.  We also send some of our folks to the food bank where they help organize/store/distrubute food to the needy.  Usually, we stay overnight at Capitol Hill Pres. and our group always includes some of the youth of the church. More.

Olivet Church
   Back in January of this year, the first of seven organizational meetings for the Baja 2003 Mission Trip was held at Olivet Presbyterian Church in Staunton, VA.  Several members from Olivet attended that initial meeting along with our pastor, Rev. Joe Brandon.   After much prayerful consideration, four members signed up to go on the mission trip, Rhonda Richie, Nina Smiley, Laura Smiley, and Karen Stevens.  This was the first time anyone from Olivet had participated in such an endeavor.  We, including our church family, were all very excited!
   I have to admit I asked myself many times why did I agree to do this, what did I have to offer, what kind of conditions would I have to live in…my doubts and reservations increased.  I even thought once to cancel and find someone else to take my place.  But there was something sort of alluring about this trip…somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this…that this trip would be like no other!  Truly God’s presence and guiding hand were leading me down this path. More.

Elkton Church
In 2003, Elkton Presbyterian Church mission activities include a wide range of events.
* Meals on Wheels (started by the church long ago and still run by them) every Thursday
* Souper Bowl food drive (300 cans this year)
* Youth visit local nursing home for singing during VBS
* Youth serve at Meals on Wheels during VBS
* Youth do a city-wide food drive during VBS (goal is 1,000 cans)
* Youth do a work project at Elkton Area United Service (local Salvation Army) during VBS
(note: our youth ONLY do mission projects for the whole week of VBS!)
* Send 5 young people to the Czech Republic on a mission trip for 2 weeks ($7500 raised by the church for this)
* Give $4,000/year to local mission needs
* Give $1,000/year to local emergency calls
* Give $1,000/year to families in need at Christmas
* Give $5,000/year to world mission needs
     Hope this helps give you an idea.  EPC is a church with a missions heart.
 
Grace and Peace,
Tracie Bullis

Hedgesville Church
We participated last year (2003), even though we didn't collect a great amount . All food stays in the local area and the money is used locally too.  We have received an Update from the National Souper Bowl organization to share with you.  www.souperbowl.org.
    Though the big day is still months away, there is a lot going on with the Souper Bowl of Caring.
1.  Youth conferences- The Souper Bowl has been graciously allowed to have a presence at several big youth conferences this year.  This month we will be at the Lutheran youth conferences in Atlanta, the Methodist conference in Knoxville, and the AME conference in Dallas.  We will also be at the Catholic youth conference this fall.  Look for us there and bring some future participants by.
2.  Houston initiative- With this year's football game being played in Houston, we are placing and unprecedented amount of effort and energy in that city.  With Houston Texans owners Bob and Janice McNair as this year's
honorary chairs, we look forward to greatly increased participation in Houston and throughout Texas.
3.  Coaches-  Thanks to Sam Wyche, we now have a picture and quote in support of the Souper Bowl of Caring from 27 NFL coaches.  We hope that this will encourage participants and recruit new ones as well.  Permission from the NFL is still pending.
   You will soon be receiving an email containing a survey.  Please fill it out as we are hoping to use the information to serve you better.
   Now is a great time to recruit others to join the effort.  Look under "resources" on our homepage to get help on how to do this.  We also have plenty of youth flyers and posters will be here soon so give us a call if  you are interested in recruiting others.
   Mark you calendars for this year's Service Blitz on January 31, 2004 and the Souper Bowl collection on February 1, 2004.  Thank!!

Peace,
Jeff