Missions

Glorify God Make Disciples Meet Human Need

How First Presbyterian Church Carries Out Its Mission

• Volunteering - Our best resources are our gifts and abilities. We can match your interests and talents with the needs of one of our mission partners, so you can make a difference in the lives of others. You can be a mentor, tutor, administrative assistant, house builder, painter, board member, teacher, visitor, care giver, and more. Also, you can help on a workday or go on a mission trip. Call Mary Cae Livingston, our Mission Coordinator, at 407-810-7831 to find out more.

• Major Projects - We covenant with local and global ministries in multi-year partnerships involving significant financial support and hands-on involvement of the whole church family in helping that ministry move to the next level. Current major projects include Dr Mike and Nancy Haninger, Missionaries in Africa and Loaves and Fishes in Apopka.

Loaves and Fishes

Loaves and Fishes was created in 1984 when a need arose to help feed the victims of two devastating freezes. Area churches combined their resources to create a ministry to help those less fortunate. Now, the need is even greater as the nations economic slump puts more people in desperate circumstances.

Loaves and Fishes is funded by contributions from churches, businesses, schools, civic groups and individuals. There are a number of churches that support our ministry in many different ways. Some offer to volunteer services and monthly donations, while others hold food drives to help keep our pantry full.

If you are searching for a ministry which practices good stewardship of your donations, we are proud to share these facts:

We have only two paid employees!
Services and daily duties are provided by 94 volunteers.
We currently serve 550 families every week. These families are screened and proven to
have legitimate needs. Loaves and Fishes feels God wants us to be good stewards
with each and every donation.

We invite you to visit their website to learn more about this worthwhile mission opportunity.

Feeding the Needy-a coalition of local Churches gather at our Church on the 1st Friday of the month to provide spiritual and physical nourishment to those folks that have fallen on hard times and may be in need. Should you feel the call to help this particular mission please contact the Church.

Pack 601/Troop 601 Scouting
First Presbyterian Church of Apopka has sponsored Troop 601 Boy Scouts for over 40 years and more recently including Troop 601 Cub Scouts. The Troops are very active in the community including food drives, fundraising and summer camps. The Boy Scouts meet every Monday at 7:00 p.m. and the Cub Scouts Meet every Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. in our Fellowship hall. Membership is open to all boys regardless of where he lives or church affiliation.

For more information please visit the Cub Scout website and for Troop 601 Boy Scouts web site.

February Scouts hosted breakfast for the congregation and
joined Sunday worship service

The Thornwell Home for Children

The Thornwell Home for Children in Clinton, South Carolina, has been taking care of children and youth in need since its founding on October 1, 1875. With the support of Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations and private donations, the home nurtures more than 100 children, many of whom suffer from mild to moderate emotional problems stemming from the death of parent(s); a separation or divorce resulting in a temporary inability to care for a child; a temporary financial and/or physical inability to care for a child; families experiencing types of dependency or abuse; and parent's/guardian's disabling health or advanced age.

One of the most successful homes for children of its type, the care of Thornwell's residents is based on sound Christian principles and a warm, loving cottage atmosphere staffed by Family Teachers dedicated to providing the finest in Christian development.

We invite you to Visit the website to learn more about this worthwhile mission opportunity.

The Duvall Home

Founded in 1945, the Duvall Home is registered in the state of Florida as a not-for-profit organization. We enjoy a Covenant of Affirmation relationship with the Presbyterian Church (USA) through the Synod of South Atlantic. We are also blessed to have a Covenant of Affirmation with Central Florida Presbytery, Peace River Presbytery,Tropical Presbytery, St. Augustine Presbytery, Presbytery of Florida and Presbytery of Greater Atlanta

The Home exists for the benefit of adults, both young and old, who have developmental disabilities and require care. The Home seeks to provide the highest quality of life and independence for each resident and to provide for their physical, emotional and spiritual health within a family setting.

We thank Mama and Papa Duvall for having the vision to provide for other families an opportunity for a safe, friendly and caring environment for their loved one. The staff of over 200 provides around the clock care to our 150 residents.

The Home is a popular destination for many youth mission groups from all over the United States. Annually, more than 250 volunteers provide in excess of 15,000 hours of volunteer service to the Home. We believe the dedication shown by our staff, volunteers and Board of Regents exemplifies the ongoing commitment to the successful completion of our mission.

We invite you to visit the website to learn more about this worthwhile mission opportunity.

Church Missionary Support
Nancy and Mike Haninger
Mission Co-workers, PCUSA

Good Shepherd Hospital, Democratic Republic of the Congo

February 9, 2010

Dear Friends,

It has been several months since we wrote all of you. As you may remember, we have taken a leave of absence from the field for personal family matters. We are living in Columbus, Ohio, to be near to our family. Looking at the snow out the window is quite a change from life in Congo! We didn't much miss the snow in Congo but, now that we are back, we realize just how much natural beauty God has provided for us around the world.

Our presence is greatly needed here in Columbus, and we are grateful to be able to help at this difficult family time. However, in spite of our current need to be "home" with our families, our devotion to serving our dear Congolese has not and will not ever wane.

Since our departure from Tshikaji, we remain in almost daily email communication with our partners in Congo. We are thrilled to report that all the programs and projects that have been part of our ministry in Tshikaji continue to perform excellent health and development work that greatly benefits our Congolese brothers and sisters. Mike and I continue to play an active advisory role as facilitators of these programs in collaboration with the skilled Congolese directors of these programs and projects. We want to share with you how the mission which you support in your prayers and with your financial gifts continues to serve the people of Congo.

Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet.
Photo of a men wearing a lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck holding a child on his lap.

Dr. John Bimvulu holding child with lymphoma.

A recent development in the fistula program is that Dr. Leon Mubikayi, the Congolese OB/GYN with whom we worked and have written of many times, has left Good Shepherd Hospital. For many years, Leon had done wonderful work caring for fistula patients. We are grateful for his service and know that others in Congo will benefit from his talent and expertise. Following Dr. Mubikayi's departure, we received the most exciting news that Dr. John Bimvulu, the son of the IMCK hospital administrator, Bernard Kabibu, had completed residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Lubumbashi and returned to serve at Good Shepherd Hospital. Many of you are familiar with John's story as you have provided gifts that were essential in supporting Dr. John's specialty education. Today, he is in charge of the OB/GYN services at Good Shepherd Hospital, including the care of fistula patients. Last week we received a letter from John describing how he successfully repaired the fistulas for three ladies who now no longer suffer the misery of constant urine or stool loss. What a blessing John is!

I (Mike) must admit how much I personally enjoyed helping deserving ladies with this terrible problem. I cannot tell you how much joy it gave me to share their happiness with successful surgeries. However, when I received the email from Dr. Bimvulu relating his fistula success, my joy was just as great! He remarked in his letter how the training he had received working with me and Dr. Walter Hull (former PC(USA) missionary at IMCK) had served him well. The need is great for this medical work, and thanks to God the ministry for these ladies continues.

Village child eating food enriched with moringa.

The other projects that have been an important part of our ministry, including the moringa tree malnutrition project, the nutrition rehabilitation center, the women's literacy and development project, the Tshikaji village health center, the Presbyterian indigent care program, the single women's sewing school, the agricultural development program and the orphan scholarship program, are all progressing well under the very capable direction of our amazing Congolese partners and project coordinators. Thanks to their many talents and endless devotion to serving God and their Congolese brothers and sisters, these programs continue successfully to provide vital services each month to hundreds of poor and vulnerable villagers. We are happy to provide the 2009 annual evaluation reports of these projects at your request.

It pleases us tremendously to see the successful transition and continuation of the Tshikaji programs, which are good examples of the current recommended paradigm in mission. Since arriving in Tshikaji in 2001, our goal has always been to encourage the Congolese to take increasing responsibility for identifying and solving their own problems in their own way. This developmental step is built upon years of trust, mutual respect and perseverance, and is a profound break from a "dependency" mission relationship. We are deeply grateful to our Congolese colleagues who continue this fine work in our absence.

Today the greatest developmental challenge facing the Congolese is the lack of resources, combined with the level of poverty in Congo, which remains extreme and severe. Even in the presence of great enthusiasm, intelligence and talent, "nothing comes from nothing." This is where great partners like you play a critical role in helping the Congolese not only survive, but advance by providing those necessary resources that lift the Congolese up and permit them to determine their way out of poverty and disease.

As we stated earlier in this letter, our love for and dedication to the Congolese, as well as our commitment to pursuing God's mission for the Congolese remain alive and strong. Over the years, we have had the privilege of sharing our Congo "love" stories with you when visiting your congregations, or through emails, phone calls, and newsletters. We have come to know you as our dear friends and partners in mission, without whom not one of these many good programs would be possible.

Many of you have been writing us, asking if contributions can be sent to support the Tshikaji ministry. The answer is yes! Designated gifts can be sent as usual to PC(USA) through ECO 320402 with the designation Healthy Mothers Healthy Children (HMHC) which supports all the Tshikaji ministry projects. You may also send gifts to ECO 320402 for a specific project by writing the designation HMHC/fistula, moringa, orphan scholarship, etc.

Thank you, God bless you, and have a fantastic 2010!
Nancy and Mike

We invite you to visit the website to learn more about this worthwhile mission opportunity.

Samaritan's Purse International Relief-Operation Christmas Child

Samaritan's Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan's Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God's love through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Operation Christmas Child-For churches, packing gift-filled shoe boxes is a hands-on missions project and a great way to bring congregations together. In the classroom, Operation Christmas Child provides an opportunity to study other cultures and current events while responding to suffering with the love of Jesus Christ.

We invite you to visit the website to learn more about this worthwhile mission opportunity or contact our Mission Coordinator.

October 2008 Mission trip to Atlanta