About the Local and World Missions Team
St. Paulians have a long history of putting our ‘faith into action’ by being Volunteers In Mission (VIM) through groups and as individuals. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “Everyone can be great because everyone can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t even have to make your subject and your verb agree… You only need a heart full of grace…a soul generated by love.”
United Methodists have believed, from the beginning, that each of us is called to participate in the outreaching ministry of Jesus Christ. Putting our faith into action is at the very heart of our Christian calling. By volunteering to serve through programs such as United Methodist Volunteers in Mission or the Mission Volunteers program of The General Board of Global Ministries, every person in the church has the opportunity to serve and to live their calling more faithfully.
Local missions involvement includes:
Kitchen Cupboard Food Pantry, ACT (Area Congregations Together), reaching out to the homeless community, and other projects.
Volunteers in Mission (VIM) travel to regional, national, and international sites for mission work.
For more information on how you can get involved with the Local and World Missions team, contact Dwight Mengel at dwight.mengel@gmail.com.
Local Missions
Immediate Areas of Need:
All organizations have accommodations for the safety of each volunteer.
–> Ithaca’s Kitchen Cupboard food pantry is staffed by St. Paulians on the third Tuesday of every month, as well as the fourth Wednesday and third Friday in February, April, June, August, October, and December. Contact St. Paulian Jennifer Colvin (jstevenscolvin@yahoo.com) for more info or to sign up.
–> St. John’s Community Services weekday lunch distribution continues. St. Paul’s provides sandwiches the second Tuesday of each month and several other dates are open as well. If you’re able to make sandwiches or gather lunch supplies from your home, St. Paulian Carolyn Aslan (carolyn.aslan@gmail.com) can share info and needs.
–> Tompkins County Immigrant Rights Coalition, in partnership with the Ithaca Sanctuary Alliance, is seeking housing leads, as well as help with food preparation and laundry, for immigration detainees newly released in our area. Contact Jami Breedlove-Crouch (lovingcare@stpaulsithaca.org), if interested.
–> Mutual Aid Tompkins County Food Cabinets are located around Ithaca to provide our community with necessary items. Buy extra groceries or toiletries and drop them off outside the sanctuary or at one of the blue cabinets. See Locations.
–> Poor People’s Campaign is helping build a powerful national movement with strong local foundations. In preparation for increasing outreach across the Southern Tier, please email newyork@poorpeoplescampaign.org or visit nysppc.org to get involved!.
World Missions
Costa Rica VIM
Follow George Gull and Nancy Potter’s earlier blogs here.
Nepal VIM
Read the latest newsletter from Methodist missionaries the Zimmerman family in Nepal here.
Click the button above to donate online for disaster relief through UMCOR. You can credit our local church by checking a box and searching for “St. Paul’s” during the donation process.
You may also mail checks to St. Paul’s with “Disaster Response, International (#982450)” in the memo.