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Contact the church office (217.356.7238) to register for in-person worship each week for the following Sunday.  In-person worship is at 10:15 am each Sunday. Please wear a mask.

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CYF will be hosting a Spirituality Center in the church chapel for the season of Lent beginning this Sunday. Open House hours will be Sundays 11am-2:30pm. Come for some quiet reflection time by walking the labyrinth, contemplating scripture, and creating at your own pace. One household will be admitted at a time. Check in and temperature recordings will be necessary as well as face masks while in the building and chapel. Sanitizing wipes will be at each station for further protection between visitors. We hope you will find it a blessing for this season of inward contemplation and examination.
Sunday school continues. Follow this link for a virtual version of the Lenten Spirituality Center Lenten Spirituality Center

The Heart of Mission
March 2, 2021
 
You don’t have to be spiritual or religious to help people. Look at this Good Samaritan story sent by a friend that shows love going full circle:

HTTPS://www.youtube.com/embed/ovj5dzMxzmc?autoplay=1

Also, you might be interested to know that this is Opportunity International’s 50^th anniversary. There are virtual explorations and other opportunities to participate in this year.  Take a visit to their news/events page for calendar information. https://opportunity.org/news/events/ This April there will be a virtual insight trip to Columbia.

Enjoy this video for information about these trips https://opportunity.org/get-involved/insight-trips/
 
Peace,
 
Rev. Dr. Rachel Matthews, Mission Coordinator
 
Below is the continuation of our Lenten practice from the PC(USA) One Great Hour of Sharing material. The full map and activities can be found at pcusa.org/oghsmap. You might want to have a small coin bank (Fish bank, First Pres bank) to collect small coins as you do these activities. If you cannot give coins, think about acts of service you can do for others.
 
 

 
Wednesday, March 3, Without the right nutrition in the first two years of life, a child’s physical and mental development is compromised. Give a gift for each toddler you know.
 
Thursday, March 4, When roads are closed and electricity is off, going to see a doctor can be hard. Give a gift for each person in your family who has been able to see a doctor in the past year.

Friday, March 5, It is estimated that 1 in 5 kids in the U.S. will experience hunger this year. Give at least one gift if you have not experienced hunger this year.
 
Saturday, March 6, Tomorrow is SDOP (Self Development of People) Sunday! Visit pcusa.org/sdop and identify a community partnership that SDOP has cultivated. Give a generous gift in honor of that partnership. (Small historical fact: Ten Thousand Villages was once a recipient of SDOP funds! I believe DREAAM was once a recipient as well.)
 
Sunday, March 7, Where does your water come from? Many people carry buckets of water long distances to their homes every day. Give a gift for every faucet in your home.
            Prayer of the week: Encourage us Creator, when things get difficult. May we draw creativity and hope from your Spirit, and from our partners along the way. Amen. Lectionary: Exodus 20:1-17, Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 2:13-22
 
Monday, March 8, Find Detroit on the OGHS map. What needs is SDOP working to address there? Say a prayer of thanksgiving for those who are helping in Detroit. (See the full map at pcusa.org/oghsmap)
 
Tuesday, March 9, Social barriers are like locked doors that hold people back and keep them from thriving. Gif a gift for every door that can lock in your home.
 
The Refugee Center – Lisa Wilson, Executive Director, shared some of their recent work. Please pray for the staff who are trying to get the last payments out from their rental and utility assistance grant from the IL Department of Human Services. They are grateful but tired.
 
Please pray for a Guatemalan single mother of a young child who recently lost their trailer  and everything to a fire. They are using emergency funds but The Refugee Center is accepting funds earmarked for her and will make sure the funds get to her. She has to pay for demolition before she can even think about a new home.
 
Please pray for two Afghan families which have been devastated with COVID-19 and whose employment was stopped during their sickness. They still have to pay their rent.
 
Camp Carew work day invite –  We received a notice from Camp Carew. They will have their Presbytery wide work days this Spring. If anyone is interested in attending one of these work camps, please let Rachel know and she will get you the information. These dates are: Saturday,  March 6, then April 10 and then May 15, 2021.
 
If you are interested in attending a summer camp at Camp Carew, the brochure is out! Let Mindy know if you are interested.
 
Frontera de Cristo on their Coffee, Conversation and Compassion
 
Frontera de Cristo sent some videos in their recent newsletter regarding last month’s Coffee, Conversation and Compassion zoom Thursdays. If you missed those and would like to know what is going on at the border, Take a look at some of these videos. Information addressing the
Migrant Resource Center partnering with border officials, providing care packages to the community, in-person children enrichment center, as well as the new industrial kitchen that is being built to be able to provide food with their coffee shop as well as provide catering to the community.
 
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR1jNTo7YZdftCTK6W39Ypt6L5BB-Wx9CQK-vjzMBJFh81AHviPdTFXaTTQ&v=TUr12yKIiNM&feature=youtu.be
 
If you are interested in the environment, view this 5 minute video to see how our border policies can affect the creation and natural wildlife. Jenea created this video documenting our Pilgrimage of Prayer, Lament, Repentance and Commitment done in solidarity with the Not Another Foot Movement.  It wonderfully captures a bit of the spirit of the border community and you can see both the beauty and the destruction of our borderlands.”
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y_LNakpk9A&feature=emb_logo&fbclid=IwAR3bjUKWRav2G5Fi_sUT0DP7-gLJQxTPjnpHWgNqQMAbDGZ6fTLN6FRnqz4
 
 

 
Let us keep all our mission partners in our prayers, those who are waiting to go back to their place of ministry and those who are able to work where they are. Listen for God’s call to you in their ministry.
 
Our PC(USA) Mission CoWorkers:
 
Mark Adams and Miriam Maidonado Escobar (Mexico)
Farsijanna Adeney-Risakotta (Indonesia)
Jeff and Christi Boyd (Central Africa)
Bob and Kristi Rice (South Sudan)
 
Our regional and global mission partners:
 
Kemmerer Village (and Camp Carew)
Lifeline Pilots
Marion Medical Mission
Mission Aviation Fellowship
Opportunity International
Friends of Presbyterian Education Board in Pakistan Presbyterian Cuba Partnership
Special Offerings of the PC(USA)
Theological Education Fund
Young Adult Volunteers
 
Here in Champaign – Urbana:
 
CU at Home
CANAAN S.A.F.E. HOUSE
CANTEEN RUN
COURAGE CONNECTION
DREAAM
eMPTY TOMB, INC
FAITH IN ACTION
JESUS IS THE WAY PRISON MINISTRY
THE REFUGEE CENTER
RESTORATION URBAN MINISTRY
SALT & LIGHT
 
Here at First Presbyterian Church
 
FPCC Amateur Preachers
FPCC Environmental Committee working with Faith in Place
FPCC Presbyterian Women
FPCC ESL
FPCC Children, Youth and Families
FPCC Mission Possible/Go and Serve
FPCC Mission Team, World Mission and Community Mission Deacons

 
 

 
  302 W. Church Street
  Champaign, IL 61820
  217-356-7238
  info@firstpres.church
 
 

• The_Heart_of_Mission_030221.pdf