Read about 9-year old Kathryn Commale, who has raised $140,000 for Nothing But Nets, starting from when she was five years old.

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Read about the United Methodist Church response to the aids crisis in Africa, particularly Zimbabwe.

Missions

Mission News

The Mission Committee would like to say a big Thank You to all the children who participated in VBS. The VBS offering went to The Society of St. Andrew to provide funds for shipping the food that is gleaned to the hungry. The VBS children collected $614.82, and the Mission Committee added a donation to bring the total to $1000, which will make Aldersgate a "Change the World" partner. Thank you for this blessing!
Sign up at the Welcome Booth to help build a house for the Habitat for Humanity on October 23! You can sign up for all day, or just the morning or afternoon session. If you can't help with the construction, we still need people to provide lunch. You must be 16 or older to participate, and youth aged 16 or 17 will need to fill out a special liability form.
Thanks to everyone who brought a canned good to their directory portrait session, Lifetouch® has sent a check for $282, which will be sent to United Methodist Open Door for the food pantry.
The Missions Committee is committed to a covenant relationship with a United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe East Conference. At the 2010 Annual Conference, Kansas West also began a relationship with Zimbabwe East.
There will be a medical mission trip to the Dominican Republic in January, 2011. For more information, see this flyer.
The Missions Committee is hosting missionaries from El Porvenir who will visit our church October 16th and 17th at all services to give a brief presentation. They will present more detailed information about their work during the 9:30 a.m. Sunday school time. El Porvenir is the organization that Aldersgate members supported during the Advent Conspiracy in December 2009. El Porvenir's mission is to assist people in rural communities in Nicaragua to better the condition of life through sustainable development in clean water, sanitation, reforestation, and health education. There will also be opportunities next year to participate in a mission trip with El Porvenir in Nicaragua. For more information, visit their website at www.elporvenir.org.

Mission Collections

There is a collection area in the sanctuary lobby near the Saint Francis of Assisi window for various items, including the monthly mission collection item, non-perishable canned goods and hygiene items for Community Food Ministry, and clothes Open Door Klothes Kloset. Pick up a "Got Stuff?" brochure, and watch the bulletins for current needs.

September is Hunger Awareness Month

Hunger ... it's an age-old problem which has devistating effects on those who suffer from it. All over the world, people go hungry every day ...

A laborer working full-time, 52 weeks a year, earning minimum wage ($6.55/hour) would have an income of just $13,624, falling nearly $8,600 below the poverty line for a family of four. (Dept. of Labor/US Dept. of State)
About 25% of all food produced in the US goes to waste each year - in fields, commercial kitchens, manufacturing plants, markets, schools, and restaurants. (USDA, 1999)
74% of poor children today live in working families. (Children's Defense Fund, 2000)
36.3 million Americans, including 13 million children, live in households that experience hunger or the risk of hunger. This represents more than 1 in 10 households in the US (11.2%) (USDA Food Insecurity Report, October 2004)
Worldwide, 24,000 people die every day from hunger related causes. Three-fourths of them are children under 5. (The Hunger Project -- U.N.)
1.3 billion people in the world live on less than $1 per day. (World Bank)
198,400 people in Kansas are at risk of hunger. 40% of those are children.

What can you and Aldersgate do about hunger?

Many of us feel that the problem is just too big, that there is really nothing that we can do to help all those hungry people. But there are ways for us to help the hungry, and many of these things can be done in our own communities. That's where the Society of St. Andrew steps in.

The Society of St. Andrew is a grassroots, faith-based, hunger relief nonprofit working with all denominations to bridge the hunger gap between the 96 billion pounds of food wasted every year in this country and the nearly 40 million Americans who live in poverty. They rely on support from donors, volunteers and farmers as we glean nutritious excess produce from farmers' fields and orchards after harvest and deliver it to people in need across the United States.

Their innovative and cost effective methods enable them to provide food to the hungry for just pennies per serving! That means that for under $100, the Society of St. Andrew can provide a person the USDA recommended requirement of vegetables and fruits for an entire year.

An informal meeting about gleaning and the work of St. Andrew's was held at the end of July, with over 60 people attending to learn more about this project. Aldersgate has plans to work with St. Andrew's this fall to glean the crops of local farmers. All food collected will help to feed the hungry in the Wichita area. If you would like your name added to the list to be contacted as gleaning opportunities arise, if you would like to learn more about this program, or if you know someone who would be interested in setting up this week, please contact Carolyn Janzen.

St. Andrew’s envision a world in which physical and spiritual hungers are met through God's grace and abundance. The mission of the Society of St. Andrew is to introduce people to God's grace in Jesus Christ through meeting their hungers:

Food for the body
God's word for the spirit
Community of love for the heart
Opportunity for those who desire action

See more at www.endhunger.org. Watch the Society of St. Andrew gleaning video here.

Missions at Aldersgate

It is important that our children have opportunities to make a difference in the world. Some of the ways they do this include:

Part of their church school offering goes to missions.
VBS offering went to the Society of St. Andrew's.
On Wacky Wednesday activities in the summer, children are invited to bring items that help other children.

Our Youth are very involved in missions, including:

Summer Mission Trips, such as a work trip to Kansas City (serving the homeless) and Arkansas City (helping to prepare Camp Horizon for campers).
Monthly Mission Activities during the school year: painting a church, serving food in a homeless ministry, assembling dental kits for the Sedgwick County Health department, and much more!

Our adult Sunday school classes organize to feed the homeless every 5th Saturday of the month. This is an important way that the church takes place in hands-on mission.

Aldersgate participates in international mission trips on an annual basis. Previous trips have taken place in Russia, Ireland, and Costa Rica, to name a few. The church has also sponsored Medical Mission trips to the Dominican Republic and Cameroon. Contact a member of the Missions Committee if you are interested in participating.

Check out the Mission Bulletin Board to find out more about missions, and please share with us how you are in mission by printing and filling out this form, then turning it into the church office.

Missions

Mission News

Mission Collections

September is Hunger Awareness Month

What can you and Aldersgate do about hunger?

Missions at Aldersgate

Sponsored Agencies

Advocates to End Chronic Homelessness (AECH)

GraceMed Health Clinic

Habitat for Humanity

Kairos Prison Ministry

United Methodist Open Door

United Methodist Youthville