|
Athol Congregational Church Lifts Up Hope and Raises a Roof
 Chilean house to be built by monies earned by sharing talents
When the Bishop of the Pentecostal Church of Chile attends Annual Meeting on June 19th, there will be a house waiting for him.
Athol Congregational Church UCC hopes to raise $1,500 by that date in order to be able to symbolically present a house for "Lifting Up Hope" -- a project of the Massachusetts Conference to raise funds for our Mission Partners in Chile.
Between the impact of the initial earthquake and the subsequent tsunami, coupled with the substantial aftershocks that have rocked the country, about 200 million people in Chile have been left homeless. The national office of the Pentecostal Church of Chile has begun to build houses, "casitas de bendición" ("houses of blessing"), for these newly homeless. They have turned the open-air patio of the church into a factory to construct the walls and frames of prefabricated homes, which are then transported in trucks to sites where foundations will be poured and pilings built. Each home costs about $1,500 to construct and transport. The Church has a goal of completing 300 homes before winter.
The foundation for Athol's fundraising had already been started before the earthquake even hit. Missions Chairperson Carol Thompson brought up the idea of a 'Talent Sunday' to the Missions Committee because she thought this type of fundraiser was a great way to get the congregation involved in a church-wide mission project. The Mission Committee agreed, but needed to decide when to hold the event. When the opportunity arose to help build a house for Chileans, the Missions committee knew this was the perfect motivation and jumped at the chance.
"We knew that everyone has some sort of talent, but we needed to help people realize that they could use their talent for a good cause," said Thompson.
During the Talent Sunday, held April 25th, Interim Pastor Beverly Prestwood-Taylor preached a sermon about the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). The Missions Committee donated $250 and handed out 25 envelopes containing $10 each. Each envelope also included an invitation to invest the money in an area of "talent" and return the profit to the church for the "Lifting Up Hope" fund. Some members requested blank envelopes because their talent offering had no start-up cost. For example, one woman who was transplanting raspberry bushes put some out by the side of the road to sell for $5 each, so she didn't need the 'seed money.'
"I heard many creative ideas generated from the congregation about how they would express their talents," said Prestwood-Taylor. "And I learned more about the gifts and talents of the congregation that day than I had since I arrived at the church."
The first "return" from Talent Sunday was a $100 bill with a note saying "The stock market was good this week." The church also received a quilt, jewelry, a scarf and other handicrafts -- which will be sold at a special "Talent Table" at the church's Fair on June 5th.
Others have taken the money to buy seeds and will harvest their offering in the fall. Some youth have chosen to babysit, and bring the offering of their talent to the church on June 13th.
"When the people of the church heard about the need in Chile they immediately wanted to respond," said Prestwood-Taylor. "But because so many people are facing financial challenges they wanted to think of ways all could respond and follow through. The Talent Sunday was a way that empowered every person to be able to do something and act on that feeling of compassion."
"When we respond in faith, no matter how meager we feel our offering or talent might be, God will multiply the gift and we will receive an abundance!"
Beverly Prestwood-Taylor can be reached at the Athol Congregational Church at atholcc@verizon.net or 978-249-6202.
|
|
Share Your Still Speaking Story
Tell us how God is speaking in and through your church. Have you reached out to the community in unique ways? Initiated a new mission project? Found a new way to minister to those within the congregation? Share your story and help us to spread the good news! Contact Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane, Editor, at cochranem@macucc.org.
|
You may reprint this story by including the following line in your article:
"Source: Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ, www.macucc.org/spotlight" |
|
|
