Spring cleaning

Its becoming warm again - thank you God! And with that, comes thoughts of spring cleaning. We are told that we have enough socks to last for the next bit but there is a request for t-shirts and sweaters for the homeless. So, as you tidying up your closets, if you find such items as these and you no longer have a use for them, please pop them into the Diakonia bin as there are those who still face chilly mornings and evenings who will put them to very good use indeed.

Goodie Bags for the Homeless at Church

DIAKONIA goodie bags for the homeless. Please take a bag home from church and fill it with

Things like soap and washcloth, tooth paste and tooth brush, hair comb or brush, lip balm...and of course chocolate and treats!

Please have them back to the church by January 1st-- they will be distributed around Theophany. Place the bags in the DIAKONIA bin-- if it gets too full we will get a box.

Diakonia

 Handmade Cards

for Sale at church

$3/each or 2 for $5

all proceeds, including cost

of materials etc., to benefit

Doctors without Borders

See Angelina or Maria

A word from the street

Our Diakonia bin, the bin where you place all those warm clothes and blankets, was again full to overflowing when those who gather these gifts picked them up for distribution early...6 am early...Sunday morning. In the past, the numbers who would come were mostly men with perhaps 2 or 3 women in a group of 50 arriving. This morning saw the numbers evenly divided along the gender lines. One man told the group distributing the warm items along with hot chili and applesauce that he slept on the grass last night. It was below zero in the early hours and he woke to frost on the ground all around him. The chili was especially welcome as that kind of cold can only be fought from the inside out. And he was grateful for the warm blanket he took away with him as well.

This cold is only beginning. There will be more frosty mornings with more cold to the core bodies to serve hot chili, applesauce and blankets to. Please keep them in your prayers and please continue to provide these needed items.

Its getting cold

As announced today in our parish, we are beginning again to collect blankets and socks for distribution to those without four walls to live within. Also needed are mittens or gloves and hats of all types - anything to keep the cold out. Warmth when you have no home means life.

Please place these items in the Diakonia bin just outside the doors as you enter the sanctuary. And thank you so very much for this work to your neighbour!

The invisible and the political

Here is a link from the UK Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/famine

There are various segments about the famine. People comment throughout with some comments being more generous than others. I do not care about the politics. I do not recall Jesus telling us to check their identity cards before offering assistance or weighing whether or not the thirsty ought to be given that cup of water. People are dying. We can discuss later how to prevent another famine.

I read today that Dadaab can now be seen from space. It has even made its way into here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dadaab

What it has also done is disappear from the front page of our newspapers. How can so many be so invisible?

From the President of Doctors Without Borders

The following is a message from the President of Doctors Without Borders. He is very direct. He is realistic in what can and cannot be done.

It is the same with giving. It will be the same with our making cards to benefit DWB. Our offering is small. It will not solve the problem. But it is better than not offering anything at all. Will people die? They are and they will. But more will suffer and die if nothing is done.

Forgive the direct message. Starvation is an "in your face" event.

Please read the following message: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2011/sep/03/charity-aid-groups-misleading-somalia

And please remember to pray. The situation there is not going away anytime soon. And neither are we.