Mission Outreach
Announcements from the Mission Committee
More Than Words Book Drive
The Mission Committee is excited to announce a book drive for a wonderful local organization. More Than Words is a non-profit social enterprise that empowers youth who are in the foster care system, court involved, homeless, or out of school, to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business. More Than Words youth work as a team to manage their own retail and online bookstore and cafe, developing real skills and self-confidence as they transition to adulthood. Check out their bookstores on Moody Street in Waltham or their newest location on East Berkeley Street in Boston.
We are kicking off the drive this Sunday and we’ll wrap it up on Sunday, March 5th. It’s time to clean off those shelves! Below is a list of the best items to donate. All items should be in gently used or better condition.
Best Items to Donate:
» Fiction and Non-Fiction Books – Hardcovers are best, but they also accept trade paperbacks.
» Antiquarian, Unusual or Collectable Books
» Audio Books (CD or Cassette)
» University Publishers
» Music CDs
» Movies onDVD, BluRay, and VHS
» Video Games
Please do not donate the following items as they seldom sell:
vBooks in poor condition
vHealth, Textbooks, Computer Books, or Travel Guides that are more than five years old
vEncyclopedias, Magazines, Music Cassettes, VHS Tapes
vMass Market Fiction
Check out more information about More Than Words online at mtwyouth.org/
If you have any questions about the book drive, please contact Alicia Collins at aliciamaureencollins@gmail.com or 617.965.1696. Thanks!
Read “The Gift of Receiving” presented by Annie Gatewood at the Zambia Worship service on October 23rd.
Who has a hard time receiving a compliment? Instead of a simple thank you and a genuine smile perhaps you diminish the very thing you’ve been complimented on. A friend says “I love your dress!” and you reply “Oh, this old thing?” or someone remarks “You look great!” and you tell them how tired you are. I do it all the time and I wonder why? Instead of sharing a good feeling, it turns into a selfish act. It’s funny though because I don’t seem to have a difficult time receiving material gifts. Big boxes wrapped in pretty paper and tied with a curly ribbon. I am able to accept it graciously and write a thank-you note.
It is somehow much harder, though, to receive a casserole when you are sick from a friend who works a 50 hour week and has a family of her own. Perhaps the difficulty stems from knowing how much effort it took or in the case of a compliment, the reflection on oneself. But now think about how good you feel when you are the giver.
The Fountain of Hope is just that — a wellspring in the midst of a vast desert of urban poverty. It is a refuge for street children in Lusaka. Being a homeless child is difficult to imagine, but being a street kid in a city where the needs are already endless is unfathomable. The Fountain of Hope takes in these children who have been orphaned by the AIDS epidemic, who have no other relatives or caretakers to go to, who may be HIV positive themselves. They are hungry and desperate and The Fountain of Hope provides them with a place to stay and food for their bellies. More important is that The Fountain of Hope provides a way out. They provide an education. But they struggle in doing so. There are no desks and very few books.
We had been in Zambia for almost a week before we visited The Fountain of Hope. The teenage boys on our trip had been looking forward to playing soccer and basketball with the kids but I was unsure of how Julia and I were to spend our time there. But by this time in the trip I was getting used to Julia as a bit of a Pied Piper. Her white skin, long straight hair, and bright braces-filled smile was a magnet for young children. After our tour and presentation by the older boys who live there, we all went out to the courtyard. Soccer and basketball games quickly materialized, but Julia and I were clearly outmatched. We would not be joining in. As we stood watching, three small boys came up behind us giggling. Julia turned around and asked me for the hackey sacks we brought. We played variations of catch for quite some time. After a while Julia and Isaac separated from our group and sat down on a bench while still playing. They began to talk. And talk and talk. There would be some periods of silence between them where they would just play and then they would talk again. Despite his limited English and Julia’s complete absence of Nyanja and their tremendous differences in culture and circumstance, they became friends.
A couple of hours later it was time to leave. We said our goodbyes and climbed back into our trusty van. But Isaac found Julia’s window so they could continue to talk. We waited for a few minutes for others in our group to get on the van. Suddenly Isaac said “Wait, don’t leave.” He ran inside and a moment later he stretched his arm up to the van window and handed Julia a book and exclaimed, “For you!” Julia looked over to me with a look of confusion and whispered, “What do I do?” knowing how valuable the book was to The Fountain of Hope. I told her to take it and thank him. At the time my only thought was that it was important for Julia to acknowledge their relationship. We all need to be acknowledged. Feeling ignored is to feel irrelevant and there aren’t many feelings that feel so bad. And indeed their relationship was and IS important, that is after all why we had traveled all that way.
A few days later it was our last day at the Family Support Home in Mtendere. All the children and caretakers were crowded into the schoolroom. Brita, Stacy, Julia and I were in standing in the front of the room presenting the scrapbook that our children had made in Sunday School and saying our goodbyes to the group. Mrs. Mbuzi, the coordinator of the Family Support Home, a woman who is a caretaker of five children, and supports them all on the her tiny portion of the income from the cooperative of handmade beaded bags, came up and began to thank us. She said, “I wish we had something more to give to you.” then proceeded to present Brita, Stacy and me with the Zambian flag chitenges that we are wearing today. She then turned to Julia and placed upon her head a hat that she had knit in the back room. The smile on Mrs. Mbuzi’s and the other caretakers faces was filled with the same joy that Isaac had had on his. And rather than feeling guilty knowing she has spent money she doesn’t have on the chitenges and time she doesn’t have on knitting the hat, I realized that the pleasure in giving is not dependent on one’s circumstance. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” This is also true of giving. Everybody has the capacity to give. I think it is even a human need to give to others. A need that brings real joy. The real trick is to be able to receive.
Our Philosophy The Mission Committee at The Union Church in Waban builds on the interdenominational spirit of our congregation and embraces a rich tradition of inclusiveness. We involve all segments of our multigenerational community in embodying the teachings of Christ, “let us love not in word or deed, but in truth and action.” – I John 3:18 The world at large presents overwhelming needs. Rather than feeling beleaguered, we look at such needs as an opportunity for enriching ourselves through service to others. Our congregation has chosen to support projects that focus on health and education at the local, national, and international levels.
International Partnerships Church-wide involvement provides for much greater depth of understanding and commitment to a particular mission outreach effort. As a church community we have made an ongoing commitment to the communities of our sister city San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, and to Lusaka, Zambia. Our relationship with the people of Nicaragua is well developed while we are just embarking on new relationships in Zambia. Our church supports a biannual mission trip to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.
Mission Outreach at The Union Church in Waban Includes Community! Individual church members also give of themselves in many ways…beautifying our building and environment, maintaining our historical and vital presence in Waban square, and helping keep our unique interdenominational place of worship alive. We also support established community service projects and outreach in which our church members already participate. Our internal mission, therefore, is to help all of us to establish a lifelong commitment to service to others.
“…if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.” -Isaiah 58:10
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rd the congregation of the Union Church in Waban gathered for a special service of worship lead by those who had traveled to Zambia over the summer. The purpose of the summer trip was to visit Mtendere, an impoverished compound or neighborhood with whom The Union Church is partnered through the Newton based non-profit organization Communities Without Borders. Through this partnership, the Union Church supports a community based preschool for children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic and other vulnerable children. Without this preschool support, these children would have little chance of achieving a seat in the government sponsored primary and secondary schools. When children do move to the government sponsored schools, The Union Church and Communities Without Borders provide financial support to cover fees and material costs that otherwise would make this schooling unaffordable.
On Sunday, those that traveled brought this partnership alive and the people of Mtendere much closer through the sharing of stories, prayers, songs and images.
One of the highlights of the service, was the unexpected presentation of the Communities Without Borders’ Advocate Award to the Union Church in Waban. Peter Smith, on behalf of Communities Without Borders presented as an expression of sincere gratitude for the congregation’s advocacy and significant contributions to supporting the education of AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia. (photo by Tom Murphy)
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Union Church went to Nicaragua, February 2010!
In February of 2010 fifteen members of our church traveled to San Juan del Sur to support a local school, install a much needed water pump and sponsor an “Ancianos Luncheon” for senior citizens of the town. For a full trip report, click here.
Nicaragua 2010 Mission Trip Video
In March of 2008, a group of 24 church members traveled together to install a solar powered water pump connecting a neighborhood well to a holding tank and running 3000 feet of pipeline bringing clean water into 20 homes. Our group, ranging in age from 11-60, also brought clothing, shoes, sports equipment, eyeglasses, toiletries, school supplies, and books for the children of San Juan del Sur. By creating a connection with a community with so many needs, we extended our faith community while establishing a focus and purpose for our own spiritual development.
Union Church is also a sponsor of Communities Without Borders, a Newton nongovernmental organization which was founded to provide educational opportunities for AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children in Zambia in order to further hope and a better future for these children, society, and the world. As a sponsor, Union Church will partner with the Mtendere communities in Lusaka to provide scholarships for primary and secondary children to attend school, as well as to support the community schools that provide preparation for children to attend the government schools. Union Church and Eliot Church will join together in sponsoring these two communities, and three members of the Union Church and members of Eliot Church will join a delegation to meet and work with these communities this summer. Although our congregation is small, we leverage our resources and partner with others to make a greater impact. Not all of our congregants are able to directly experience our international service projects yet our whole community is involved. During the Christmas season, the church holds a poinsettia and wreath sale to fund the projects. Upon return from a trip, the participants share and reflect with the rest of the congregation. Speakers also are scheduled throughout the year to support our health and education theme. For example, Susan Murcott, an MIT engineer specializing in water and sanitation, spoke about her “Clean Water for 1 Billion People” program and helped us better understand our efforts to bring clean water to San Juan del Sur.
Annual Outreach Projects Back to School supplies collection in conjunction with The Brugger Foundation for the children of San Juan del Sur and an End of the School Year supplies collection for the children of Lhukasa, Zambia, in conjunction with Communities Without Borders. Thanksgiving Baskets with complete turkey dinners are assembled by the youth of the church and delivered to local area needy families in conjunction with Newton Community Services . The Mitten Tree is an intergenerational gift program in collaboration with Project Care and Concern in Dorchester serving formerly homeless older adults. All Things Baby Drive for The Grow Clinic at Boston Medical Center where children who are failing to thrive receive comprehensive medical, nutritional, and social services. Special Collections During Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, the Mission Committee sponsors a special collection. This past year money collected went to Newton Community Services, the Nicaragua mission trip, and City Mission Society of Boston.
The Union Church Receives Advocate Award from Communities Without Borders
On Sunday, October 23
