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30-Hour Famine When:   Every February

World Vision invites us all to experience hunger as we raise money and awareness for starving children throughout the poorest countries in the world. Each year, Bethlehem Presbyterian Church’s Youth Group joins other groups in the Presbytery of Elizabeth to raise money through donors and sponsors to help the millions of starving and hurting children in some of the world's poorest countries, offering them a hope they could not otherwise have. The groups go 30 hours without food so that they can have a real taste of what hunger is like. During this time they engage in different activities, from community service projects to volunteer work to study. Afterwards, the money raised is sent in to World Vision where it is put to work in areas like Kenya, Sudan, and here in the United States.

Alternative Gift Fair When:   During the Advent Season Where:   Fellowship Hall

During 2004, each Sunday between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Bethlehem Presbyterian Church held a fair after the worship services to offer meaningful, non-commercial gift-giving alternatives to congregation members and friends.  Handcrafted items through SERRV International; Equal Exchange Fairly Traded chocolates, teas, and coffees; gift certificates for Heifer International; and decorative pins through Interfaith Hospitality Network were just some of the many items for sale.

Hosting an Alternate Gift Fair is a positive holiday experience you can bring to your entire local community - a fun way to bypass the annual stress of holiday shopping and "stuff" accumulation while honoring friends and relatives with donations to causes that fit their values. What's more, Alternative Gift Fairs provide critical support for a diverse collection of local, national and international organizations with established track records of helping people and the environment.

Look for even a bigger selection of items during this year’s fair!

Crop Walk When:Every October

CROP WALK is sponsored by Church World Service each fall to raise money and awareness of hunger in our community and throughout the world.  Participants collect pledges for each mile completed at the walk.

Since 1974, New Jersey CROPWALKERs have come together with compassion and enthusiasm to participate in CROP WALKS – interfaith community events to raise funds and awareness for the hungry in New Jersey and around the world. In 2004, CROP WALKs and other donations in New Jersey exceeded $1 million…and over $190,000 went to food banks, pantries and other hunger fighting organizations in New Jersey.

”Gift of the Heart” Health Kits (Money for Medicine) An Ongoing Mission Project

Bethlehem Presbyterian Church has dedicated the first 50 “Money for Medicine” kits made by our youth and shipped to Church World Services for distribution to those in need. The concept started when one youth saw a news program on television that showed hospitals in Iraq with no medicine on the shelves. She wanted to do something about it! So she recruited the 6th and 7th grade Sunday School classes and decided on “Money for Medicine” for the name and came up with a logo and plan to raise money. The students made Minute for Mission announcements and it was included as the mission project during the 2004 Vacation Bible School program. From there, many of the youth, including the Sunday School classes and youth groups, worked to put these heath kits together. The first 50 kits were shipped to Church World Service in early 2005 along with a monetary offering to be used specifically for Iraqi children.

Little things mean a lot, especially when those little things go into health kits sent out by Church World Services. The contents of the Money for Medicine kits (or health kits) are such simple things, but not having them can make a world of difference in an ongoing development program or when disaster strikes.

The kits contain inexpensive items that are easily available in developed nations but often hard, or even impossible, to obtain in developing countries. Each kit, valued at $12 apiece, consists of a hand towel, washcloth, comb, metal nail file or nail clipper, bath size bar of soap, toothbrush, 4-7 oz. tube of toothpaste, and 6 band-aids.

Care, concern, and love are the invisible ingredients that go into each kit. These small items that we often take for granted mean so much to those for whom they are precious commodities. These little things bring great hope to those in need.

Assembling the kits, purchasing kits, it doesn’t take a lot of money or time – just a “lotta” heart!

The Church youth recently rose to the occasion again in the recent relief efforts stemming from Hurricane Katrina.  The Mid-High and Senior-High Youth Groups raised $875 and made 200 health kits during their “lock-in” over Labor Day Weekend 2005 which were sent to Church World Services for distribution in the Gulf Coast.  And the Explorers Youth Group is picking up where the older youth have left off!  They are assembling 50 more kits to be sent out and have adopted this as their mission project for the year; whether it be to continue helping those affected by the hurricane or those in need in other parts of the country and/or world.

Heifer Project International An Ongoing Mission Project

A Midwestern farmer named Dan West was ladling out rations of milk to hungry children during the Spanish Civil War when it hit him: "These children don't need a cup, they need a cow."  Heifer International's mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty around the world by using a sustainable system of animal husbandry and agricultural training, rather than simply supplying food. Heifer International projects include training farmers to subsist on their crops/livestock, starting aquaculture projects (farming fish), establishing small-scale poultry farms, restoring pasturelands, creating apiaries, promoting the use of wool sheep, and even improving livestock through selective breeding.  In their flagship program, heifer animals (and training in their care) offer hungry families around the world the means to feed themselves and become more self-reliant.  Children receive nutritious milk and eggs, and families obtain an income, healthcare, and better housing.  Communities go beyond meeting subsistence or emergency needs to fulfilling long-term goals, and farmers learn sustainable, environmentally sound agricultural techniques.

Bethlehem Presbyterian Church supports this mission program in various ways. The Sunday School program adopted Heifer as their mission project during the 2004-2005 school year and has chosen it again for the 2005-2006 school year to continue where they left off from the previous year. The classes are working together to FILL THE ARK and raise money for the gift of income-producing animals. Each class has selected an animal (pig, chicken, sheep, etc.) as their “mascot” and goal for purchasing in support of Heifer International’s commitment to raising the global standard of living. Youth also offered a unique alternative to Valentine’s Day gifts during 2005 by selling “Bee Mine” and “I Love Ewe” cards, as well as candy tissue-paper roses. The 2005 Vacation Bible School also adopted Heifer as their mission project for the week and children filled arks and learned more about hunger in other parts of the world.  Donations from both of these events were collected in support of Heifer. The Church’s Alternative Gift Fair also offered a different idea for holiday gift-giving by providing donation cards so that offerings could be made in recognition of a friend or relative – a great stocking stuffer!

One Great Hour of Sharing When: Collection during Lenten season and dedication of offerings on Palm Sunday

Since 1949, Presbyterians have joined with millions of other Christians through One Great Hour of Sharing to share God’s love with people experiencing need. Our gifts support ministries of disaster response, refugee assistance and resettlement, and community development that help people find safe refuge, start new lives, and work together to strengthen their families and communities. Recognizing that the hope we have in Christ is lived out in our hope for one another, we respond with gifts that help our sisters and brothers around the world find the hope for a brighter future. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance receives 36% of undesignated One Great Hour of Sharing gifts, while Self-Development of People and the Presbyterian Hunger Program each receive 32%.

Each year, Bethlehem Presbyterian Church begins its One Great Hour of Sharing collection program starting on the Sunday following Ash Wednesday and concluding with a dedication of the offerings on Palm Sunday. The Sunday School children are given “fish” banks so that they can join in and learn more about giving and sharing their blessings with those in need. Special envelopes are also placed in the pews and Narthex. Minutes for Mission are given during this time to further explain how these gifts are used to change the lives of people in need across the world.

NetWorkers Malaria Prevention Program When:   Every Tuesday at 12:00 pm Where:   Fellowship Hall Key Contact:   Eileen Kandl

The NetWorkers Malaria Prevention Program is a joint program of the International Health Ministries Office and Presbyterian Women. NewWorkers joins Christians in the U.S. and in malaria-stricken countries in community health projects which provide malaria prevention education and insecticide treated mosquito nets. Since its inception in 1998, the NetWorkers program has expanded to 25 projects in 8 nations. PC(USA) is now facilitating an ecumenical coalition to develop NetWorkers projects aimed at protecting the health of pregnant women in Africa.

The Bethlehem Presbyterian Church Women’s Association participates in this program by sewing bed nets which are sent overseas and treated with insecticide.

Souper Bowl of Caring When:   Each year on Super Bowl Sunday

Souper Bowl of Caring utilizes Super Bowl Sunday to inspire and mobilize youth to fight hunger and poverty. This program began with a simple prayer of “Lord, even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us be mindful of those who are without a bowl of soup to eat” and a single Presbyterian church youth group. The concept is simple: youth ask worshippers to donate $1 each as they depart the worship service on, or near, Super Bowl Sunday. Youth hold large soup pots and stand at sanctuary exits to receive the donations. From there, the youth sends every dollar they collect directly to the charity of their choice.

During 2005, young people in over 11,000 congregations from all 50 states together received almost $4 million for helping ministries in their respective communities.

Warm Up America! Foundation When:   Every 2nd Thursday of the month at 10:30 am Where:   Fellowship Hall Key Contact:   Eileen Kandl

The WarmUp America! Foundation has been wrapping people in warm blankets since 1992. The Foundation's primary purpose and activity is to promote, organize, implement, and assist in the creation of afghan blankets by volunteers and to distribute these blankets through social and governmental organizations and agencies serving needy and homeless people. Volunteers donate their time to crochet and knit 7-inch by 9-inch rectangles. Sections are either joined by individuals or groups in a community and donated locally or sent to the foundation headquarters for joining and distribution.

The Bethlehem Presbyterian Church Mission Circle use their talents to crochet, knit, and assemble their blocks into blankets for donation to various local charities such as Interfaith Hospitality Network, Women’s Crisis Center, and Anderson House.

The Circle also knits and crochets leper bandages for third world countries. These handmade bandages breathe better and can be sterilized for reuse.