ELCIC
OPPORTUNTIES FOR GIVING
Being God's hands in the world
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CLWR Canadian Lutheran World Relief Apeal
for Family Assistance in the Middle East
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Canadian Lutheran World Relief and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada are calling on Canadians to continue to pray for families across the Middle East, and to respond as this crisis rapidly escalates.
Since I last wrote to you, the situation has worsened. This mass displacement of families is overwhelming shelters and placing enormous strain on already fragile services. Many have arrived with little more than what they could carry, and border crossings are seeing an influx of people in urgent need of food, shelter and basic support.
But even in the midst of this crisis, the support of Lutherans and friends across Canada is already making a difference.
In Lebanon, nearly 700,000 people have been displaced in just one week.
More than 60,000 Syrians have now returned from Lebanon, alongside thousands of Lebanese families seeking temporary safety in Syria.
Through our partners in the region, assistance is reaching families:
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In Beirut, we have provided 1,289 blankets, 614 pillows, 571 mattresses, 30 beds, 420 food packages and 2,500 meals to newly displaced families in just one week
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In Syria, we have delivered food and emergency relief to families arriving at the border
And yet, the need is growing faster than resources can keep up. We urgently need additional support to scale up our response and reach more families.
Your gift today will help provide:
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Emergency shelter and bedding
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Food and safe drinking water
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Medical and mental health support
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Protection for vulnerable families
In crises like this, the difference between reaching a family or not comes down to whether funding is available in time.
Will you give today to support families caught in the crossfire?
Please donate now at www.clwr.org/middleeast or call 1-800-661-2597 (Mon–Fri, 9am–4pm). Your generosity will help expand urgently needed assistance across the region.
Please continue to hold all those affected in your prayers.
May God bless you.
Rev Michael Pryse
Director Canadian Lutheran World Relief
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Socks for the Unhoused in our Community
Witness and Mission Commitee
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Many thanks for all who donated to the March sock drive for our locally unhoused brothers and sisters! they wil be dropped off soon to the Island Crisis Care Society for distribution.
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Altar flowers
Do you have a birthday, or an anniversary coming up? Perhaps you would like to provide flowers for the altar to commemorate the occasion. You can provide the flowers or provide money for purchase of the flowers for a particular Sunday. You can arrange the flowers yourself, or someone can do that for you. You can decide where the flowers go after church – your home, or donate them to a particular person or place. Just sign up on the new flower chart, which can be found on the door to the kitchen. If you wish to leave money for someone to purchase the flowers, you can leave the funds in an envelope in the church office.
Foster Children Aging out of Care
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Household items are being collected fro young people who haved aged out of foster care and are starting out in a new place to live.
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Donations are very welcome! If you have tall dressers or bed frames they can be picked up from you. (No mattresses are needed). Text Kathleen at 250-739-9544 for pick up of dressers or bed frames other items can be left in the container in the library at the church, Bedding, linens, and kitchen items are needed.
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Covenant House Vancouver
Covenant House Vancouver provides unconditional love and absolute respect for youth who are experiencing homelessness. We help young people ages 16 to 24 who have fled physical, emotional and sexual abuse; those who have been forced from their homes; and those who have aged out of foster care.
Your support is providing more than shelter and food; you’re giving young people
a loving home and a family that genuinely cares for them.
Programs and services include:
• Food, housing, and clothing
• One to one support from caring adults
• Mental health and addictions counselling
• Education and employment guidance
• Life skills training
• Wellness and recreational activities
• Help to find and maintain housing
Contact:
604-638-4438
info@covenanthousebc.org covenanthousebc.org
Succession Planning
Computer Skills Needed
Treasurer and Financial Secretary Positions
If you have a computer and computer skills and are willing to “apprentice,” we would like to get in touch with you. Council is setting up what is called succession planning. This means planning and preparing for the time when a key person is “retiring”. We have identified two very important volunteer positions that require succession planning: our Treasurer and our Financial Secretary positions. These are not council positions but often a council member will take on the responsibility. In a perfect world, we would like other volunteers to take these on. Training will be provided. Contact the church council chair at: the church office.
STAMPS FOR FREEDOM
Wondering what to do with your used stamps? The Canadian Bible Society collects donations of used stamps in a program called Stamps for Freedom! Here’s how it works: stamps collected from donations across Canada are combined to create charity boxes and are sold to stamp collectors and vendors. The revenue generated from the stamps allows CBS to purchase Bibles for the Canadian prison ministry. 10 lbs of stamps= approximately 6 Bibles for distribution St Paul’s Lutheran here in Nanaimo is coordinating this collection. A container has been placed in our narthex for your used stamps. Please keep the stamp on the envelope, cut out the stamp 8 leaving a 1/4 inch border around the entire stamp and place in the container. The Witness and Mission committee will pass them on to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. Also accepted are personal collections that are already in books, binders, etc