A letter from The Rev. Dr. Diane Givens Moffett, President and Executive Director
Presbyterian Mission Agency

Dear Friends in Christ,
You are in my prayers as we navigate the disaster of this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. I know most people are feeling the impact — health-wise, financially, emotionally. Our lives have been turned upside down in the span of just a few short weeks. Please know that the PC(USA) is with you in spirit. With God’s help, we will get through this together.
Every day, I hear stories from around the Church of how people are suffering and how their lives have been devastated. Unemployment, sickness, parents who are thrust into the role of teacher or caregiver, the rise in racism against the Asian community, the amount of deaths, including the disproportionate death rates experienced by people of color and those already living on the margins — all have been catastrophic.
In some communities, churches are barely making ends meet. They’re facing the reality of running out of money. They worry about how they’re going to pay their bills — much less support a pastor or provide critical services in their neighborhoods.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is here to help — again
In the PC(USA), we are blessed that Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, our disaster response ministry, is already at work with presbyteries and its network of partners to rush critical aid to those who are suffering as a result of COVID-19. Thanks to the longstanding generosity of the whole Church, through gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing and other gifts from generous Presbyterians and congregations, PDA is providing vital provisions where needed — food and water, hygiene and sanitation supplies, training and more.
The unprecedented nature of COVID-19 draws into focus the core commitments of our General Assembly’s Matthew 25 foci — to eradicate systemic poverty, end structural racism and support congregational vitality. Therefore, PDA is also providing ministry continuation funding through our Matthew 25 commitment to support congregations who work with and draw from communities of people already experiencing the impact of poverty, racism or other forms of oppression.
If you are able, please help us Give, Act and Pray now.
GIVE:
•Support Presbyterian Disaster Assistance’s emergency response and long-term recovery work as well as ministry continuation funding for congregations experiencing great needs during COVID-19 by making a gift today. Designate gifts to E052197 – Matthew 25.
• You can also give by phone at (800) 872-3283.
ACT:
• Wash your hands and stay at home. While we value the ministry of presence, currently the best way to care for others is to observe good hygiene and physical distancing.
• Celebrate the life-sustaining, generous engagement of congregations across the nation who are serving communities made more vulnerable by COVID-19’s impact on their lives.
• Repudiate the hateful, racist actions and expressions that have targeted siblings of Asian descent during this pandemic.
PRAY:
• Seek comfort and hope in the Risen Lord who is always with us, sustaining and supporting us through every season of life.
Thanks in advance for your generosity.

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Matthew’s Ministry continues to collect items to distribute. Each week they have 8-10 collection sites for families to pick up food. Their biggest need right now is: rice, Chef Boy-R-Dee items, macaroni and cheese, and canned chicken. They are always in need of canned meats, canned pasta sauces, pasta, soups, canned fruits or vegetables, macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, granola bars, crackers, and oatmeal packets or small boxes of cereal. There is a food drop off window on the side of their building (8500 Oak Island Drive) where food can be left at any time. Please check the packaging as they do not accept open or expired foods.

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Have extra time on your hands for a project that will help those on the “front lines” deal with the Coronavirus?
There is a need for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), also known as “face masks” for our medical professionals on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. These include many of our congregation’s family members who are medical professionals. If you have a stack of leftover fabric, can sew or can just cut out fabric to make sewing kits, you can help. Unfortunately, the need is greater than the supply for disposable PPEs, but a simple, cotton fabric face mask with a vacuum cleaner bag filter is easily made!

All you need is a pattern, tightly woven cotton or cotton blend fabric, any color or pattern, 7 1/2 inches by 9 1/2 inches – so leftover, scrap fabric is fine, elastic (even elastic hair ties will do) or you can make ties out of bias tape or ribbon, vacuum cleaner bags (available at Walmart, Amazon, or your own closet) and time – that we all have!
Pattern and directions can also be downloaded here.

If you are not a sewer, or do not have a machine, we could also use volunteers to cut the pattern pieces for the “mask kits.” Donation of laundered fabric scraps are also appreciated. For questions about sewing instructions and where to donate masks, contact RuthAnn Ferraro ruthannferraro@yahoo.com.

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A “Back to School” Drive during the Lenten Season is being sponsored by the Mission Ministry to help teachers replenish many classroom supplies to carry them through the end of the year. . A supply needs list is in the Narthex or can be download from the Mission Ministry web page. These needs can be purchased at Walmart and/or The Dollar Tree. Please place purchased items in the plastic bin in the Narthex.

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Holiday shoppers are invited to Southport Presbyterian Church Sat., Nov. 16, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. for the “Amani More Than Beads” Holiday Fair, which supports the Amani Children’s Foundation, a world-wide mission project serving children orphaned by AIDS and poverty in Africa. In addition to Amani bead jewelry, the fair will include nativities, baskets, scarfs, carved soapstone, animal art, woven art and other treasures. The church is located at 1025 East Moore Street in Southport.

The Amani organization works with churches and friends to host a wide array of artistic, nontraditional fundraising events to benefit The Amani Children’s Foundation. The foundation partners with Kenya’s Kazuri Beads partners, which provide seconds and discontinued beads for volunteer artists to make jewelry to sell on behalf of Amani.

Amani supports New Life Homes in Kenya, which has rescued more than 1,600 infants since 1993, most of whom have been adopted by Kenyan families. There are now four New Life Homes for babies across the country in Nairobi, Nakuru, Kisumu, and Nyeri. There are also family homes in Nairobi and Nakuru. The homes have strict financial accountability and are highly respected in Kenya for their high standards of care and loving environments.

Because Amani is a volunteer-run organization with low overhead covered by donations and the Amani Arts program, 100 percent of donations and Amani Arts program sales go to Kenya. The organization says it is committed to connecting people in the US to the hope that is stirring in Africa and to letting them know that a real difference can be made in this crisis. For more information about Amani in the US, go to amanichildren.org or info@amanichildren.org. For more information about Southport Presbyterian’s Amani Holiday Fair, call 910-457-6811.

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