Union Presbyterian Church of Los Altos, California

MISSION PROFILES/REPORTS ARCHIVE:

Green Pastures

Hansen, Bruce Jr. and JJ

Harro, Gretchen

Kostov, Viktor and Teresa

Lawrence, Bill and Kay

New Hope International

Rancho Santa Marta

Russell, David and Giselle

Tham, Nellie

Wildemuth, Chaplain Larry

Love In Action - Making a Difference
Thanks so much for all of your support for the needy. Your donations can really make a difference. One can of soup feeds 2 or 3 young children. A box of pasta can suffice for dinner for a family of 5 or 6. Please continue to generous and faithful in giving of your non-perishable food items each week. The barrels for food are located in Bailey Hall by the library and by the door to the main entrance. Remember, Jesus said to feed the hungry!

Real Help Where it Helps Most
When you see someone on the street, there is a better way to help them than to just give them loose change. When you know a neighbor needs some special help because they lost a job, there is a great place to refer them. Our local Community Services Agency does an outstanding job of helping people in need, whether they are homeless or in a crisis economic situation. This March we collected $652 in loose change to help people in need of food and clothing.

I took this money down to the Community Services Agency. They were thrilled to receive our check. They are also grateful for our monthly support from the Mission Committee and for our hosting their Alpha/Omega mission for a month once a year. Maureen Wadiak, one of their staff members, gave me a tour of their building and mission. They provide food to many in our community and to many who are homeless. They provide clothing and shelter too. Many volunteers help each day to hand out the food and clothing. This is an efficient operation closely interlinked with our neighbor communities service agencies such as Santa Clara, Palo Alto or Cupertino. This one serves Los Altos and Mountain View.

I watched one person fill up a bag with bread donated by Costco and canned goods from Safeway. Maureen showed me the special section for people on the streets that don't have any way to cook. The foods in this section were pop top cans of ready to eat food. Shelves full of fresh vegetables from the Farmers Market offered tempting salad makings. Everything was clean, orderly and very welcoming to those in need.

When people come to our church in need, we refer them to the Community Services Agency, as they will get them the best help there. This also keeps us from being taken by con artists, as the agency does a great job of screening there. We will continue to support their mission to people in need in our communities with donations and volunteers. If you would like to offer some hours or some resources to the Community Services Agency, call the church office. Watch for the list of what foods they need to stock their pantry in the Sunday bulletins.

MISSION SUPPORT

We support over 45 different missionaries and mission agencies world wide including; Community Pregnancy Centers; Young Life high school ministry; campus ministries to Stanford and University of California-Berkeley; international work in Eastern Europe; Mexico; Spain; Guatemala; Honduras; Chile; India; Cameroon and Ivory Coast, Africa; Chiang Rai, Thailand; and Hong Kong.

HANDS ON MISSION WORK INCLUDES:

Trips to Baja California to help at Santa Marta Orphanage and School
Trips to City Team in San Jose for food distribution help.

Spring 2007 Mission Report

WYCLIFFE DINNER THEATER PRESENTATION: “Sunong”
We are excited to again enjoy the Wycliffe Dinner Theater with a new presentation called SUNONG. It will be held on Wednesday, May 2, 2007 at the Mountain View Presbyterian Church located at 1667 Miramonte Avenue at the intersection with Cuesta in Mountain View. The doors open at 6:00 pm. with the program beginning promptly at 6:30. We have been working with the Mountain View Church to have a great setting for fellowship with this new presentation which is held in the round. Please save this date for a wonderful experience.

In this story, Sunong, the main character, is a brilliant Buddhist boy from a remote Asian village where they speak an unwritten minority language. His dream is to learn English, get an education in business, become wealthy and eventually support his clan. He loves learning. He loves language. And he loves American country singer legend Johnny Cash.

Jonathan and Darlene Banks are Bible Translators who come to Sunong’s village with the dream of learning his language, putting it into writing for the first time, and translating the Bible into that language.

This is a story of suspense, of romance, of lofty hopes and dreams, of bitter heartbreak and awesome achievement. It portrays the power of God to fulfill His purpose of reaching the world with His Word. Sunong is a fictional story based on true events. To tell the real story would endanger lives. The story boldly expresses the crushing heart break, inner struggles and the power of God in the midst of real dangers, as He works through modern heroes of our faith.