Mission Trip – August 27, 2011
Volunteers are preparing for Overbrook’s third adult mission trip to Caldwell, OH, on Saturday, August 27th! During this day-long work trip they provide skilled and unskilled labor for a variety of tasks like: painting, sorting donations, and small construction projects. These mission trips share Christ’s care with a wide range of families, from those dealing with long-term illness and injuries, to those isolated in small communities with few resources. Adults interested in volunteering for this effort can sign-up on the bulletin board outside the office or contact Pastor Michael. The plan is to leave for Caldwell around 7:00 a.m., get in a full day of work, and then stop for dinner on the way home. This is also the Faith and Action service event for August.
In preparation for the trip Overbrook is collecting items in the Narthex for the Lutheran Social Services school supplies drive. These supplies help kids in this Appalachian community have the material needed for going back to school in the Fall. All can help by donating: notebooks, folders, backpacks, pencils, erasers, and any other new school supplies. There’s a box for donations at the west end of the Narthex.
On the 2010 mission trip to Caldwell, we were able to do a wide range of tasks to support the ministries of the Lutheran Social Services center there. We brought several boxes of school material to help with school supplies drive, and some volunteers ended up sorting and packing supplies for hundreds of children’s school kits. The kits assembled from the supplies donated by Overbrook members went directly to the First Presbyterian Church of Caldwell, and allowed them to offer an outreach to their neighborhood and church community. Other volunteers spent the morning unpacking donations from a large moving truck and re-arranging the donation center.
Over lunch we ended up having a very engaging discussion with Mary Woodward, the director there, about the simple but direct way she reach out in service in the name of Jesus. She also explained how the Presbyterians were elected to spearhead the inter-denominational disaster relief efforts, while coordinating faith-related social services in many parts of the country fell to the Lutherans. In the afternoon we ventured out some lonely country roads to finish putting the roof on a garage for a man who had recently been in a bad accident. A rainstorm put an end to our work, and we stopped in for dinner at a local pub before heading back to Columbus.
Overbrook volunteers also went to Caldwell in 2009 and reported back to the congregation on their experiences.
Check out the Mission home page for a summary of Overbrook missions.