Serve In The Church

There are a number of ways to serve within our church. Here are a couple:

• Volunteer in Children’s Ministry
• Deacons’ Harvest of Helpers
• All God's Children Orphan Care Ministry

Volunteer in Children’s Ministry

To volunteer in Children’s Ministry at First Pres (birth through grade 6), your fingerprints and a completed application must be on file. An interview with the Children’s Director will also take place.

Children’s Ministries offers the following opportunities for volunteers:

• Nursery Caregiver: Volunteer in our church nursery about once every six weeks to care for infants while parents attend worship and Sunday school. Three shifts are available each week: 8:15 a.m., 9:25 a.m., and 10:45 a.m.
• Little Kids Time Teacher: Volunteer to work with children ages 2 to 5 during our 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. worship hours. Teachers rotate, working about once every five weeks.
• Sunday School Teacher: Volunteer to teach our preschoolers during our 9:40 – 10:40 Education Hour each week. Children are divided into classes by age.
• Leader in Training (LIT): A ministry opportunity for our high school and junior high students to work alongside a Little Kids Time Teacher during our 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. hours.

For more information please contact us.

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Deacons' Harvest of Helpers

The members of the Board of Deacons have committed themselves to serve God by caring for the physical and spiritual needs of our members in very practical ways.

The board’s ministry is accomplished by providing meals, memorial receptions, communion, sermon tapes for homebound members, notes of encouragement, medical adaptive equipment on loan, and food and transportation to church services. We work with LOVE Inc. to provide services to the community outside our doors. We have a representative on the Thrift Shop board and Congregational Care Team. The church members are kept informed through the Deacon’s Corner, a column in the church newsletter. Each Deacon visits one or two S.T.A.R.S. (Seniors That Are Really Special), most of whom are unable to attend church regularly due to age or illness. These visits provide an important link for the S.T.A.R.S. to our church family.

The ministries of our deacons often depend on you sharing your gifts of time, skills and substance. We are thankful to all of you who help in so many ways. Help is always appreciated, so consider helping out in one of the following ways:

• MEALS: You respond when meals are needed for a family with a new baby or a family with urgent medical needs. We especially need more volunteers who are willing to help provide meals.
• TRANSPORTATION: You are willing to bring someone to church or to take someone to appointments during the week. Our list is limited at present.
• FOOD: Many bring nonperishable foods on the first Sunday each month. We occasionally have to purchase items for our food closet as we respond to the community around us.
• MAINTENANCE: Members with construction/handyman skills have helped a member in need.
• MOVING: Men with pick-ups have helped numerous individuals in the Lowell community to move furniture. (These requests are screened through LOVE, INC.)
• OTHER: Many of you help with other areas including Special Events, Memorial Receptions, Communion and Congregational Care.

All God's Children Orphan Care Ministry

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. James 1:27

All God’s Children is a ministry team at First Pres. whose mission is to:

• SUPPORT adoptive and foster families in our church;

• BUILD AWARENESS about the orphans locally and in the world and provide resources for families considering foster care and adoption; and

• PROVIDE PRAYER AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT to orphanages, orphans, adoptive families, and adoption ministries.

How can you help All God’s Children?

PRAY for families in our church who are fostering and adopting children.

LET US KNOW if you...

• Have a foster or adoption agency you’d like to let First Pres. families know about

• Have a connection at an orphanage or with an orphan mission that First Pres. could pray for, partner with, or support in some way

• Learn of any First Pres. families who are fostering or adopting who we could support with meals, clothing, and/or financial support.

To contact the All God’s Children team, email Kevin and Kendra Barcelos at kbarcelos@kermantel.net.
 
Join our ministry team at our monthly meetings and/or at our quarterly table, where we’ll have foster and adoption information:
 

Next meeting: Sunday, April 20 at 9:45 a.m. (location TBD)
Next table: Sunday, May 18th.
 
Foster and Adoptive Agencies in the Central Valley: Please note that this is not a comprehensive list or an endorsement by First Pres. Please let us know if you have another agency you’d like included.
 

FPC has always supported orphan & foster child Ministries through Mission Support.
Following is a listing of some of the ministries FPC currently supports:
 
Children to Love, Romania: We support a young man & his new wife, Josh & Edena Ory who live in Bucharest, Romania. Children to Love is ministering to able and disabled children living in government orphanages, as well as impoverished families at risk of abandoning their children to orphanages in Bucharest, Romania.

Hope Enterprises, Ethiopia: One part of Hope’s ministry helps extended families care for at-risk or orphaned children through whole or partial family based child care. Over 2000 children in a various communities receive support, guidance, education, medical attention and an education.

Hope Unlimited, Brazil: Founded by the son of the founder of Hope Enterprises in Ethiopia, Hope Unlimited ministers to the physical, educational, and spiritual needs of Brazil’s street children who live in mortal risk. Using a comprehensive Christ-centered model, these children experience personal transformation while being equipped to live successful, productive lives as adult members of society.

Foursquare Children of Promise (orphanages in Cambodia): Danielle McEntee is a new member of our church. Her family has a connection to this ministry through Valley Christian Center and she was a part of a team to work there this past December. Also visit www.warmblankets.org.

Fresno Rescue Mission’s Craycroft Youth Center: Prior to its existence, children picked up by Child Protective Services were housed at Juvenile Hall or slept on an office bench, due to an insufficient number of emergency foster homes. When foster homes were available, siblings were oftentimes separated, causing additional trauma to the children. The Fresno Rescue Mission, working in conjunction with Fresno County Department of Children and Family Services, provides these children with a safe, secure and loving environment while they are in transition, awaiting family, custodial or foster care decisions.

Casa de Fe, Ecuador: We support this orphanage for special needs and abandoned children through our alternative gift projects. We were made aware of it by Ron and Margie Grant who serve in Ecuador with MAF.
 
Harmony Outreach: Harmony Outreach is a non-profit charity, established for the purpose of blessing China and connecting people and organizations from the West to this ancient country and her beautiful people. They are located just outside of Beijing, China. Harmony runs two children's homes for orphans with disabilities. They have opportunities for child sponsorship and missions trips. Kevin and Kendra Barcelos spent time at Harmony when they were in China.
 
Heart for Africa: Heart for Africa is a non-profit faith based humanitarian organization that brings HOPE to Africa in the areas of hunger, orphans, poverty, and education. They currently serve in Kenya, Malawi, and Swaziland. In each of these countries, they work with local organizations such as orphanages and children's homes on specific projects while also working in communities surrounding these facilities.
 
Korca Evangelical Church, Korca, Albania: Ian and Caralee Loring are the missionaries we support in Korca. Their church's ministry includes a clinic which provides for many dimensions of community health and physical therapy. They also operate a center for the elderly and have established a day center for street kids as well as a home for orphaned or abandoned children. The church also maintains a relationship with a state run orphanage for handicapped and developmentally delayed children/adolescents. Lisa Goodell has gone to help do training for special education for the staff and volunteers who work with kids in the clinic and the orphanage.

You can download Scripture verses about Orpans, the Fatherless, and Adoption by clicking here.

For more information please contact us.

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