The people of St. James generously donate to missions on an ongoing basis.
Our Lenten Missions this year are:
Evangel Hall Mission
Evangel Hall is located at 552 Adelaide Street West in Toronto. It is an inner-city ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Their purpose is to build community with poor, homeless, and socially isolated people in Toronto, through support, housing, services and advocacy.
St. James has assisted Evangel Hall by preparing and serving community dinners and by collecting good used clothes and toiletry items throughout the year. This Lent (2012), 50% of our Congregation’s Lenten donations will go to Evangel Hall as well.
PWS&D in the Horn of Africa
As famine and drought continues to spread across countries in the Horn of Africa, PWS&D is increasing its response to this crisis by working through the ACT Alliance to support Somali refugees arriving at the ACT-run Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya.
More than 3.7 million Somalis—50% of the population—are in need of humanitarian assistance and struggling with extremely high rates of malnutrition. Across the country, crops have failed, a substantial proportion of livestock have died and local food prices have skyrocketed.
According to the United Nations, an average of 1,300 new Somali refugees arrive each day at Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp, in search of food and water. Many of these families have walked up to 1,000 km in order to receive assistance, and 55% of children are immediately admitted to therapeutic feeding centres for treatment for malnourishment.
In response to this humanitarian crisis, PWS&D is helping provide desperately needed food, water, shelter, clothing, hygiene kits and psychosocial support to 300,000 refugees at the camp and 10,000 host community members. Emergency education and livelihood recovery initiatives will also be provided.
St. James will donate 50% of our Lenten offering to this mission.
Other Missions:
- St. James annually contributes to Presbyterians Sharing. Presbyterians Sharing is the name of the fund that supports the national programs and ministries of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. The fund is supported by gifts from congregations. It was formerly called the General Assembly Budget. Presbyterians Sharing does not fund development work and emergency relief, they are funded through gifts to Presbyterian World Service & Development.
- Each year at the Stouffville Strawberry Festival, St. James sells used books to raise money to support clean water and sanitation through PWS&D.
- Each year at our Vacation Bible Camp, the children generously bring in offerings for a mission. In July 2012, the children donated $303.62 to Flemingdon Gateway Mission’s “Vision of Hope Summer Camp” which offers the perfect camp experience to young people whose families cannot afford to send their children to camp.
- Shoe box Ministry: St James generously fills Christmas boxes that are distributed to children in developing countries within Central America
- DayStar Native Christian Outreach at Wikwemikong, Ont., benefitted from donations received at the 41st annual Sacred Music Night held Sunday, May 1, 2011.
Opportunities for Mission:
Save cancelled stamps for the Leprosy Mission
Save Canadian Tire money for Evangel Hall
Save Heinz Baby Food Labels for the Hospital for Sick Children
Save plastic milk bags for the making of mattresses