MISSIONS SUPPORTED BY ST. MATTHEWS BY-THE-SEA
“I like the fact that we are a praying church and a giving church.” Sheryll L.
“I am amazed by the generosity of the congregation -- always an overflow.” Anita A.
LOCAL
Sussex Community Crisis Housing: Supporting homeless women and children in Sussex County.
Sussex Pregnancy Care Center: Offers education, information, and support services to enable women to make informed decisions about lifestyles and pregnancy issues. www.sussexpregnancy.com
Shirley Grace Pregnancy Care Center: A holistic approach to the three options women face with a planned or unplanned pregnancy. The center is located in Worcester County, Maryland. www.sgpcenter.com
Neighbors Helping Neighbors: Thanksgiving food baskets and food gift cards for needy area families. Families are discovered through contact with area schools in Sussex County (Delaware) and Worcester County (Maryland.)
SMBTS Angel Tree adopt-a-child for Christmas: The Pyle Center coordinates this program to assure confidentiality of needy families. Each child’s Christmas list is hung on a Christmas tree in the Narthex. Congregation members take a list, noting the sex, age, sizes, and desires of the child. Unwrapped presents are returned to the Pyle Center identified by the child’s personal ID code from the list.
SMBTS BIBLE MINISTRY: Free Bibles are distributed to children and homes without a Bible during the Christmas season.
SAMARITAN THRIFT SHOP: St. Matthews By-the-Sea operates Samaritan Thrift Shop in the Williamsville Shopping center. Annual net profits of $60,000 are distributed to local charities. A complete list of the charities supported by Samaritan Thrift Shop is available on their website, www.samaritanthriftshop.com.
NATIONAL
Society of Saint Andrew (SOSA): This group uses volunteers to glean food that would otherwise be destroyed or end up in landfills. The fresh, nourishing produce is then provided to food distribution centers for needy families. www.endhunger.org
Red Bird Mission Team from SMBTS: We support volunteers from St. Matthews who spend a week building, organizing, cleaning, or whatever at Redbird Mission in Kentucky.
Redbird Mission School: Redbird, Kentucky www.rbmission.org
Missionary, Susan Pohli: Program director assisting women in Redbird, Kentucky with issues such as domestic violence, health, nutrition, child care, education, and other female related issues. www.rbmission.org
UMCOR: United Methodist Committee on Relief uses 100% of donated funds for disaster relief. Administrative costs are covered under church apportionments. www.umcor.org
UMCOR: Disaster Cleaning Buckets & disaster hygiene kits are prepared by the UMW from donated supplies and funds. The department of Homeland Security was recently quoted as saying their work in Houston, Florida, Puerto Rico, California would not be possible without the over 10,000 UMCOR disaster relief volunteers. www.umcor.org
INTERNATIONAL
Christian Friends of Korea – Support of the Kaesong Provincial Pediatric Hospital located in South Korea.
Advocate against Human Trafficking – Increasing awareness and recognition of the problem locally, nationally, and internationally.
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF): Supplying human survival needs by small aircraft onto otherwise inaccessible islands. www.maf.org
Central Congo Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church consists of 14 districts; about 168,000 people of faith, 739 local churches, 5 provinces, 26 districts, and 3 annual conferences. We have a special relationship with missionaries, Mr. & Mrs. Baker as Mr. Baker’s Father was the founding father of SMBTS. www.congo-mission.org
The Mission Society: A seventeen year commitment to a mission family operating in the Far East, working as teachers in schools while proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. www.tms-global.org
The Seed Company: This is a Wycliffe Bible Translators affiliate for accelerated Bible Translation. http://theseedcompany.org
World Link: Empowering indigenous Christian missionaries to share God’s love in some of the most difficult countries in the world. Contact & CEO Jack Nelson has a 13 year history of mission work with St. Matthews. www.worldlinkonline.org
Missionary MD Mark Zimmerman and his nurse wife, Deirdre, have been instrumental in the building, management, obtaining equipment, and educating practitioners in hospitals and medical facilities in Nepal.
UMCOR: United Methodist Committee on Relief uses 100% of donated funds for disaster relief. Administrative costs are covered under church apportionments. www.umcor.org
UMCOR: Disaster Cleaning Buckets & disaster hygiene kits are prepared by the UMW from donated supplies and funds. The department of Homeland Security was recently quoted as saying their work in Houston, Florida, Puerto Rico, California would not be possible without the over 10,000 UMCOR disaster relief volunteers. www.umcor.org
IN ADDITION ……
United Methodist Men, United Methodist Women, and BYKOTA Adult Sunday School Class groups contribute to the church wide missions while also supporting their individual mission efforts. Each group has its’ own accounting of monies and would be glad to provide an accounting of their supported charities.
