Missions & Evangelism Committee Update

The Missions & Evangelism Committee (M&E) would like to take this blog opportunity to provide our congregation with an introduction to some of the activities and events we’re excited about and who we are as a committee.

First, we would like you to meet our members: Abra Banissan, Greg Brown, Matt Broshar, Jan Faber, Dave Freel, Case Hegeman, Pat Kremer, Bryan Kunz, Terri Rottink, LaCosta Van Dyk, Lavonne Watkins, Lee Wilkinson, and Michelle Wilkinson. Most of them have been on the committee for many years and have helped lead our church to a strong participation in missions. We would also like to invite any First Presbyterian member who has an interest in reaching out to others—whether across the globe or here in the Marshalltown area—to join our group. We meet on the first Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at church. Please join us! Keep reading to see our Mission Statement, which is reviewed annually. 

There are two main ways we communicate our work to the congregation: Minutes for Mission and this blog. No doubt you are familiar with these two methods, and we hope that you find them informative. Mainly they target the more well-known organizations which we support, both internationally and in the Marshalltown area. If you have any questions on any of these, please feel free to visit with any of our committee.

There are A LOT of smaller, lesser-known projects the committee supports:

·         Jennifer Davis—Jennifer is a young Marshall County native who has ties to several members of our congregation and is currently in a time of transition; we are prayerfully supporting her as she seeks God’s calling in Minnesota. We previously supported her work with college students at Sacred City Church in Rhode Island.

·         Lori Adams—student athlete support at Iowa State University. Lori is a former member of First Presbyterian and has been featured in several blog posts. Her most recent one is here.

·         One Church: This is a Mason City church plant which is growing exponentially. It was started a couple of years ago by former members of our congregation, Eric and Tressa Voss.

·         Project Thrive: This is a project that provides reusable hygiene kits for women in Africa through the work of ChildVoice. Karin Podhajsky is leading a group at First Presbyterian that is sewing these kits; please talk to her if you’d like to be involved! You don’t have to know how to sew—one component involves cutting rectangles of fleece!

·         Holiday Stroll: For several years, First Presbyterian has hosted a musical program by Bobcat Academy and by the Miller Middle School Jazz Band. This year, in addition to providing an auditorium for the performances, we served hot chocolate and cookies to the performers and audience.  This is done during the Marshalltown CBD’s annual Holliday Stroll and provides an opportunity for welcome and fellowship.

·         House of Compassion and/or Salvation Army Christmas Tree: Many of you have supported the “decorated” tree in our Narthex with opportunities to help families with needs at Christmas time. These provide joy at the holidays and items families need.

·         CAPS: We have provided financial support for CAPS for many years. The past two years we have partnered with them to host a free movie at the Orpheum during spring break for families in the community. This is a fun event for families and a way for us to show our community that we care! Over the past two years, members of our community have also joined with Faith In Action, a group born out of CAPS that helps meet needs like meals, transportation, and other practical support. This group is made up of representatives from a number of Marshalltown churches. We are excited about a grant opportunity CAPS has applied for; this grant would allow them to create an advisory board to coordinate care and services available in Marshall County. We look forward to having two of our committee members serve on the advisory board.

·         Homelessness Task Force: Several of our committee members are involved with Homelessness Task Force, which is working to prevent homelessness by assisting with rent. Clients are placed under case management with local agencies. Our committee has also made donations to the Homelessness Task Force.

·         MPACT: Recently, we have partnered with this Police Department /YSS sponsored effort that is aimed at providing support when a non-criminal police call comes in involving mental illness, family conflict, substance abuse, or emotional/behavioral situations. MPACT officers help provide the right kinds of support to prevent hospitalizations and to create better long-term outcomes. The committee has supported their work by purchasing gift cards and helping meet practical needs, like furniture, food, and clothing.

·         Marshalltown Christian School: M&E makes a yearly donation to MCS and supports their meal-packing event each year. We are excited about their mission to raise up leaders who follow Christ!

·         House of Compassion: The committee supports HOC through financial gifts and cooking and serving a monthly meal. Several of our committee members also serve on the HOC board. In the coming weeks, we will host a supply drive for their supply closet. Be watching for opportunities to donate!

·         Mission Partnership Grants:  M&E for years has spearheaded First Presbyterian Church’s effort to secure grants from our Presbytery for various mission projects “near and dear” to our heart. This year we were successful in garnering two grants: Funding to pack 30 blessing bags that we can provide to those in need who stop by and funding to aid Carter Strand’s efforts in Central African Republic for a vision restoration project. This project will provide cataract surgery to patients who are completely blinded by cataracts. In the coming weeks, Carter will share more about this project, and we will offer the congregation an opportunity to support this work.

As a final note, we have been frustrated with the Mission stance taken by PC(USA) in recent months.  The organization has eliminated almost all of its missionary programs and is attempting to collaborate with non-church groups to replace the efforts of the Presbyterian missionaries.  We have filed our formal complaint by mailing a letter to the head of the denomination and of the new mission agency. We continue our commitment to supporting world mission and have directed our funds to overseas missionaries we have relationships with. We are excited about what God is doing around the world!

We hope that you now have a better understanding of the M&E Committee. As a reminder, please take time to read the Mission Statement below.

We exist to create a culture of outreach and evangelism at First Presbyterian Church that enables this body of believers to follow Christ’s command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel.