Operation ReHabitat 2008
The Summer 2008 Operation ReHabitat is well underway. We have spent the last three weeks demolishing and cleaning in preparation for the next phase - construction! In the next few weeks there will be a new kitchen and bathroom installed along with interior and exterior painting, and landscaping. Please feel free to join us any Saturday from 8:00 a.m. until noon at 2750 Killgore Place (in the Kensington Park area off of 17th Street and Lockwood Ridge.) Regardless of your skills, there is always something that you can do if you come with a willing heart. Veterans of previous summers and newcomers alike, we look forward to working together and seeing what God is going to do in our midst. If you have any questions, please contact Mary Ann Vollrath at dale.maryann@verizon.net or any other member of the Coordinating Team: Brad Wilson, Mark Usher, Tom Webber, Gerry Hailey, Al Higginbotham, Bill Mallett and Dale Vollrath.
Our Wycliffe Missionaries,
Dale & Carole Hoskins family, visit Church of the Palms
For two years Church of the Palms has been a supporter of the Hoskins family- Dale and Carole and their three sons, Eric, Joel, and Carl- who work with Wycliffe Bible Translators among the Orma people group in Kenya where they are translating the Bible into the Orma language. They will be visiting COP during the week of February 20 -26, there will be several special opportunities for the congregation to meet the Hoskins and learn more about their mission work in Kenya.
There are three events that will require reservations as space is limited.
1 Wycliffe Bus Trip to Wycliffe Headquarters and WordSpring: On Thursday, February 21, a one-day trip to Orlando is planned. We along with the Hoskins family will visit the Wycliffe Headquarters where we will have a guided tour of Wycliffe, have lunch, walk through the WordSpring Discovery Center and stop in at Campus Crusade to see the Jesus film project. We will leave the church parking lot at 7:00 a.m. and return about 6:00 p.m. The total cost for the day will be under $10 per person. Since space is limited, please visit the mission table between services to sign up. For more information, please contact Reyn Kamphuis, 941 360-8474 or rakamphuis@aol.com
2 Pancake Breakfast and “Getting to know the Hoskins, our Wycliffe Missionary Family”: On Saturday morning, February 23 at 8:30-10:00 a.m. in the Campus Center, we will enjoy a wonderful pancake breakfast buffet for the entire family followed by a special presentation and Q&A session with the Hoskins family. Since space is limited, please visit the mission table between services to sign up. There will be no cost for this event, but there will be a free will offering. For more information, please contact Helen Dickinson at ddickinson200@verizon.net or see Phil Goodell.
3 Wycliffe Dinner Theatre entitled “Sunong”: On Sunday evening, February 24, there will be a special dinner theatre event in the Campus Center. The Campus Center will be converted into a Southeast Asian village replica. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. and the dinner theatre begins promptly at 6:30 p.m. This will be presented by Wycliffe’s professional touring group, headquartered in Portland, Oregon. They will present a live play and cultural meal which will inspire and educate us about the work of Bible translation in a remote Asian village that does not have the Bible in its own language. There is no charge for this event, but there will be a free-will offering. Space is limited to 170, so sign up early and get your ticket(s) “under the tree” on February 3, 10 and 17. Or call the church office to sign up and get your ticket(s). For more information, please contact Dr. David and Barbara MacMillan at 966-0425 or email them at dbmacmillian@hotmail.com.
Back to Basics Tutoring Program
Contact : Ruby Daley 925-4584 Back to Basics Tutoring began January 1992 as a Church of the Palms mission to provide supplemental academic assistance to students. Since that beginning, the program has grown from serving 12 students from two schools to 230 students from 25 schools. Classroom teachers, school principals, school counselors, students, friends and various agencies now refer students to Back to Basics Tutoring. This assistance is provided September through May on Tuesday and Thursday from 2:00 to 5:30 p.m. and 6:00-7:00 p.m. on Tuesday through one-to-one tutoring in the Campus Center. Students in grade one through college attend one of the scheduled six one-hour sessions. During a school year over 5000 hours of one-to-one tutoring will be provided. Many volunteers not only dedicate a portion of their time but also have the expertise to provide tutoring in reading, math, writing, spelling, Spanish, German, French, history, English, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, biology, trigonometry, chemistry and physics. Each tutor gives his/her undivided attention to the student, helps with the schoolwork, listens intently, encourages the student and genuinely cares about the student. Parents and students often report improved grades and confidence.
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Children's Haven and Adult Services
Contact : Jeannie Starostecki @ 929-9352
Children's Haven is a non-profit organization that provides group homes and/or day care for adults and children with special needs. Certified persons work with both adults and children, helping them reach their highest level of competence. Once a week a group of adults from the center are bused to Church of the Palms, where church volunteers help them with crafts, music, and games designed to build their self- confidence and social skills. Jeanie Starostecki chairs the Volunteer group, and Judy Lutes and John Ferreria help with the music. Once a year the whole group presents a musical for the Church of the Palms congregation at a Wonderful Wednesday gathering. Volunteers are welcome and needed.
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Daystar
Contact: Jeanne Armstrong
Stella Graduates - Click here to read
Daystar University is a Christian four-year liberal arts college located on two campuses in Kenya. In Kenya there are two major problems that Daystar seeks to address. First, many Kenyan students leave the country to receive quality education in other places such as England or the United States. Many times, those students never return to Kenya, which is in so much need of an educated leadership. By offering quality education in Kenya, many students now stay in their own country, and remain there to help make Kenya a better place. The second problem Kenya faces is widespread corruption in places of responsibility and leadership. Daystar is deeply devoted to the development of Christian character and integrity in all of its students. The result is that Daystar is producing quality Christian leadership in all areas of Kenyan life. Our church is funding a scholarship so that a deserving student can achieve something that is becoming much cherished in Kenya, a Daystar Education.
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Duval House
Contact: Gloria Knox @ 371-0848
This is a State facility for autistic and disabled persons. Women in the various Circles save and collect stamps, Campbell soup labels and tabs from soda cans (there are bins in the church office). These items are delivered to Duval House where volunteers separate and count them to be redeemed for purchases of equipment, such as new vans, for the facility.
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Early Childhood Center
Fred Chamberlain @ 922-4413
For over 40 years, the Early Childhood Center has, as a mission of Church of the Palms, has been providing day care and pre-school programs for children from the ages of 6 weeks to 4 years. Serving both Church members and the community at large, the Center provides care, activities and education for over 200 children in an atmosphere of Christian love and concern.
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Emma E. Booker Elementary School
Contact: Dee Webber @ 379-3500
Emma E. Booker is the elementary school in Sarasota with the greatest number of children who qualify for a free lunch. The majority of the youngsters are African- American and Hispanic. Our church has befriended this school for the past seven years. We have assisted with volunteers, school uniforms, purchases of socks, shoes, hygiene items, school supplies, after school sports equipment, cookies and treats and books for children who rarely have any of their own.
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Fish
Contact: Dell McAbee @ 371-5528
FISH is a non-denominational organization, which first started in England and soon became international. While FISH is not an acronym, many say it means Feel I Should Help. In the early 1970s, a chapter was organized in Sarasota, with financial aid from our Mission Committee. The mission is to drive patients for medical appointments five days a week, with no charge. Our big need today is for volunteers: drivers and/or telephone volunteers who work from home. Call Dell McAbee (371- 5528) or Ruth Peirce (924-8098) to help this worthy cause.
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Food Pantry
Contact: Barbara Burger @ 922-5947 and Paul Ross @ 364-8495
The Food Pantry, a mission supported by Deacons, supplies food to hungry people in Sarasota. From January through August of this year, 1,772 bags of food from 952 requests were given out, helping 3,207 people. Ten Deacons work on this project. The food is provided by purchases from All Faiths Food Bank and food donated by members of the church. Funds are provided from the Deacons budget and from donations of church members. The church has an annual food drive in November.
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Good Samaritan Mission
Contact: Wayne Kindt @ 342-6494
Visit the website.
Good Samaritan Mission is a mission to the largely Hispanic migrant community located in Wimauma in eastern Hillsborough County Florida. It is supported by many denominations and led by Rev. William Cruz, a Presbyterian Minister, and assisted by his wife Dora and their son, Rev. William Cruz Jr. and his wife Theresa. Dr. Douglas Perry was a founding member of this mission. Church of the Palms contributes financially through the Mission budget and the Children, Youth and Presbyterian Women contribute school supplies, shoes, food clothing and household good. Read about the recent mission activities
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Habitat For Humanity
Contact: Mark Usher @ 923-4923
Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Since 1976, Habitat has built more than 175, 000 houses, providing shelter for nearly 900,000 people worldwide in 100 countries. By 2005 Habitat houses will be sheltering 1 million people. Families that put sweat equity into their house, building it along with volunteers and assisted by trained supervisors, purchase habitat houses. Houses are sold at no profit, with no interest charged on the mortgage. Individuals, corporations, faith groups and others provide financial support. Church of the Palms is currently building its second house in Jordan's Crossing here in Sarasota.
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Healthy Start
Contact: Gloria Knox @ 371-0848
A county program to support the health needs of uninsured women with funds provided by Wal Mart grants and our church. Bassinets are purchased and delivered to Sarasota County Clinic to be given to mothers of newborn infants to provide safer sleeping. The number of infant suffocations in the Sarasota area has dropped significantly since the inauguration of this program. The Presbyterian Women of Church of the Palms support this Ministry. Read a "Thank You" from Healthy Start
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High School Mission Involvement
Contact : Derek Thompson @ 924-1323 x 48
Our high school youth are a very important part in the life of our church. With a Christ centered purpose; youth are encouraged to explore their faith through a variety of mission experiences that seek to build up the body of Christ. Once a month throughout the school year during our SAIL program on Wednesday evening's youth participate in all kinds of mission activities. These mission experiences range from support of other church functions; like bible stories for our children or yard work days, to working with our local Boys and Girls Clubs or Agape flights. Each year during the summer months one mission trip is planned usually out of state that consists of a full weeks worth of work toward projects and opportunities to serve others who find themselves in desperate situations and who are in need of some kind of assistance. We have repaired homes, cleaned up after disasters and worked in inner city missions to feed and cloth those who are in need. Both high school youth and their adult leaders find themselves not just doing good things for others, but also answer Christ's call to lift each other up through mutual encouragement and care.
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Honduras Eye and Dental Clinic
Contact: Maxine Perry @ 349-3282
click here to view update
Centro Cristiano de Servicios Medicos (CCSM), located in El Progreso, Yoro, Honduras, was founded by the late Dr. Douglas Perry, a member of Church of the Palms, in collaboration with Rev. Daniel and Ruth Castro, Directors of Sociedad Medica Cristina, and Willie Hunter, General Director of Medical Ministry International. The Christian medical center, opened in 1997, was designed to provide quality ophthalmic and dental care for the poor who were unable to afford medical services elsewhere. Its main objective is to witness the love of God by caring for the poorest of the poor. Church of the Palms played a major role in helping establish the clinic and continues to provide both financial and spiritual support.
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The Kalish Group Home is a residential group home for 12 boys ages 11-17. All of the children come from the state's foster care system. In this home in an urban setting the boys learn life lessons from trained counselors and “coaches” who enable them to grow to be responsible young men. The boys must attend school and many of the older boys work part-time. Church of the Palms is a partner to the Kalish house providing a wide variety of activities and outings that the boys eagerly anticipate. In addition to the organized events and outings, church members are a regular and steady presence in the home. They have and are doing such things as painting a picket fence that surrounds the house and the Joanna Circle cooks meals for the boys each month. This is a deep and rewarding partnership that has cultivated strong relationships and many wonderful memories for boys and adults alike.
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Malawi Missionaries
Contact: Jodi and Jim McGill mcgill@africa-online.net or mcgill@wissmw.com or P.O. Box 1000 Mzuzu, Malawi
Church of the Palms directly provides partial support to a missionary couple, Jim and Jodi McGill in Mzuzu, Malawi Africa. PC (USA) partners with the Synod of Livingstonia of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian. Jim serves as the coordinator of protected water and of buildings for the Synod's three hospitals and the shallow wells work of the Marion Medical Mission. As a trained nurse, Jodi is a coordinator of primary health care and works with the Synod's three hospitals, the congregation-based malaria prevention program, HIV/AIDS prevention and care and support-programs in the surrounding communities and the hospitals, plus a variety of other public health programs.
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Meals on Wheels
Contact: Carl Epperley @ 922-0865
Meals On Wheels is a program to provide hot nutritious meals to people in Sarasota who need them. These are individuals who are unable to shop or cook meals for themselves because of illness, disability or infirmity due to age or recent hospitalization. A majority receives their meals free of charge; less than one third contribute what they can up to $2.50 per meal. The program receives no government are prepared and delivered daily.
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Middle School Mission Trips
Contact: Derek Thompson@ 924-1323 x 48
There are two mission trips planned each year for Middle School youth and one week long day camp. For those going through confirmation, they are able to go on a weeklong intercity trip to Charlotte. There they work at two different sights each day cooking and serving food at shelters and working with foster children, etc. Another weeklong trip is planned for 6 th and 7 th graders. They typically go to Copperhill, Tenn. and perform environmental, humanitarian, and interactive mission work. We also offer a local weeklong camp where the middle school youth do a half-day of mission work and a half-day of adventure. The work varies each year, however, they typically work with handicapped adults at Easter Seals, children or adults at Adult and Children's Haven, the Humane Society or Southeast Guide Dogs, migrant children at Beth-El Missions, Southeast Guide Dogs, and the food bank or in some other mission activity.
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Middle School Activities
Contact: Derek Thompson@ 924-1323 x 48
Throughout the year, the middle school youth are involved in monthly mission projects that aid the local community or people around the world. Some of these activities include collecting school supplies for Kalish House, visiting with residents at Colonial Park Club, doing environmental work at Oscar Scherer State Park, visiting the homeless and distributing mugs, washing cars to raise funds for the Good Samaritan Fund in Honduras, writing to disabled veterans and wounded soldiers, sorting food at the food bank and during their food drive, and providing gifts at Christmas for the Honduran Eye Clinic children. These are a few of the many activities that Church of the Palms Middle School youth participate.
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Resurrection House
Contact: Kathy Dain @ 953-7919
This is a faith-sponsored facility providing help for the homeless in various ways – identification, an address and telephone #, showers, laundry, clothing as well as counseling, job leads and more. This is to enable them to become self sufficient and productive members of the community again. This ministry is supported by the Presbyterian Women of Church of the Palms.
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Samaritan Counseling Services of the Gulf Coast
Contact: Rick Howell @ 926-2959
At Samaritan we seek God's leadership and empowerment to provide a wide range of spiritually sensitive, high quality, cost-effective, behavioral-health services to our community. These services, including mental-health counseling, family life education and consultation, are provided in a compassionate, professional manner and are guided by the values of the Judeo-Christian heritage. In the year ending August 31, 2004 we provided 2520 sessions an increase of 25% over the prior year. We had 187 new intakes an increase of 31% over the prior year and we provided $42118.50 of subsidized care an increase of 30% over the prior year. In addition to being the founding church, Church of the Palms participates in a variety of salient ways to enable Samaritan to successfully accomplish its mission. Some of the ways Church of the Palms participates include: providing quality leadership through participation on the Board of Directors, helping us to keep our overhead down by providing us free dedicated space (approximately 800sq.ft) and covering the cost of electricity, security, internet access, and some office equipment, offering substantial annual contributions to the Client Assistance Funds ($12,000 in 2004), encouragement from many church members, and passing on the community goodwill that Church of the Palms has earned through years of serving the community.
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SURE
Contact: Paul Mercer @ 371-8091
Sarasota United for Responsibility and Equity, Inc., a non-profit Florida Corp., is a multi-issue, direct action, community organization of multi-racial and interfaith members, who are committed to gaining justice and equality for low to moderate income communities in Sarasota County through the power of a united voice. S.U.R.E. seeks to empower these communities to identify community problemsand inequities and effectively negotiate resolution to those problems with the appropriate decision-makers. S.U.R.E. members believe God's power of love and his spirit of justice guide our work for others in Sarasota and beyond. Church of the Palms is a Charter Member of S.U.R.E., which saw its formation in our Sanctuary in 1997. Since then, our members have actively served in S.U.R.E. on committees in education, drugs and crime, affordable housing, youth concerns, and transportation. Other annual special events include: issue assemblies, one on one interviews, public actions, annual meeting and awards dinner, Justice & Equity Day Breakfast, quarterly pastor networking and SURE prayer meetings. Paul Mercer is the SURE Congregational Representative for COP and a SURE Board Member.
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Time Tithers
Contact: Al Higginbotham @ 927-8585
Inspired by the mission work of Dr. Douglas and Maxine Perry, Time Tithers was established in 1999 by members of the Men's Wednesday Morning Bible Study group at Church of the Palms. Time Tithers is a volunteer organization of church members who have pledged to the Lord that they will devote one-tenth of their discretionary or “spare” time to studying His Word and doing His work (or, who pledge to work toward that goal.) The program is designed to increase member involvement in current church programs and the formation of small groups to complete various tasks on the church campus or in the community. We have formed a team of "handy persons" who are making repairs on the church campus and are supporting the Senior Friendship Center of Sarasota by making minor repairs to the homes of elderly or disabled persons who are unable to accomplish these repairs themselves.
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Wycliffe is an association of member organizations involved in language survey, Bible translation, literacy development and Scripture-use initiatives. Today there are more than 2,700 languages worldwide known to be without a translation of God's Word. As part of the global Bible translation movement, it is Wycliffe's desire to see translation programs begun in every language that needs it by the year 2025. Toward this end, Wycliffe USA assists the Church through providing a wide range of information, training and opportunities for involvement in Bible translation.
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