Our Philosophy of Missions
The
purpose of the Outreach Committee is to pursue ways to
reach out to the local community and the world to preach
Christ to all people and nations. We define missions as any
endeavor outside our local congregation to fulfill the
Great Commission of Christ by proclaiming the Gospel of
Christ, making disciples and relating to the whole need of
mankind - spiritual and physical. As stated in Guidelines
adopted by the Committee:
Desiring
to be faithful to all the commands of Christ, we seek to
have a balanced missions program, with respect to location
(urban and rural; developed and undeveloped; local, state
and national, and world), target population (youth,
elderly, minorities, frontier missions, urban and suburban
dwellers, etc.) and type of missionary activity
(evangelism, including Bible translation and distribution;
medical; educational; agricultural;
etc.).
To
carry out these objectives, currently annual funds are
allocated for about 20 overseas missionaries and mission
projects and New England area and state projects sponsored
by Presbyterian or independent mission boards.
Additionally, we support several FPC-sponsored projects
involving both youth and adults.
We
encourage and support short-term missions, both group and
individual. Short-term mission trips have included
summer youth missions to The Boston Project Ministries and
New Orleans, and adult missions to Alternative Mission’s
ministry on the island of Helene, Honduras. We
have sponsored summer stays in China under the English
Language Institute/China
program, whose goal is to place Christians in that country
to teach the English language. The most recent
short-term individual ministry we have supported is a
three-month internship with Alternative Missions on
Helene."
An
important focus of the First Presbyterian Church’s outreach
program is those in need on Aquidneck Island. This can
perhaps be traced back to a stipulation in the gift given
the church in 1892 to purchase the land for the church
building which required “no section of the church … shall
be set aside for the use of the poor, but they shall be
provided for anywhere throughout the building.” The
building was purposefully designed with no balcony in order
to provide equal sitting for all parishioners.
Today we partner with the Newport Corps of the Salvation
Army to support their programs that assist those in need.
We do so through our mission giving and church members
serve as volunteers to assist with the weekly Sunday soup
kitchen provided by the Salvation Army and to pick up bread
and pastries from local merchants for the Salvation Army’s
daily bread pantry.
The
Outreach Committee—putting our mission philosophy to
work
Every
year members of First Presbyterian Church are asked to
pledge and donate specifically to the missions program. The
Outreach Committee develops a missions budget (reviewed and
approved by the Session) to allocate the monies given to
support the mission work of the church.
The Committee also promotes a special Palm Sunday offering
each year during Lent. This offering is dedicated to a
particular mission need, such as the local Salvation Army
activity. The Missions Treasurer receives and distributes
all missions income, including funds specially designated
to missionaries not regularly supported by the Church.
To keep FPC members informed of the work of our
missionaries, we provide occasional "Minutes for Mission"
during worship services, special presentations to Sunday
School classes, bulletin inserts, special speakers and
films, and a bulletin board display featuring a “Missionary
of the Month,” Occasionally Committee members attend
missions conferences to learn how to do their jobs better.
Keeping in touch with our missionaries is a high priority.
In addition to correspondence by regular mail and e-mail,
the Committee arranges for Christmas cards and gifts to be
sent. Committee members "adopt" a missionary or mission
family, and they commit themselves to pray for and
regularly contact their “adoptees.”
The
Outreach Committee hosts visiting missionaries, arranging
for transportation, housing and meals. Committee members
coordinate the missionaries' schedules while in Newport so
they can give presentations and meet FPC congregants.
FPC
members are directly involved in several local and national
missions projects. These include a monthly soup kitchen, an
annual International Students Dinner (with Focus of Park
Street Congregational Church, Boston), collection of baby
clothing and supplies for CareNet RI, Operation Christmas
Child, the Angel Tree Prison Fellowship Program and many
others.
We're
a busy committee! And we could use some help. If you are a
part of the FPC family and are interested in missions, join
the team! We're part of a great cause for the King of
Kings! Anyone interested in joining us should contact Dave
Tenney at 683-0192 or Ralph Thomas at 848-2718.
An example: Street Children in Harare, Zimbabwe
Lovemore Home. Experts believe that “Street Children” will be the biggest social concern that the world as a whole must face in the twenty-first century. There are about five million of these children in Zimbabwe and that number is predicted to double in the next three or four years due to governmental caused total economic failure with outrageous inflation that is prompting increasing poverty, starvation and massive emigration. Also contributing to this problem are the HIV-AIDS epidemic, and the general collapse of family structure.
Since 1998, Lovemore Home, assisted by the Outreach Foundation, has housed about 12 young boys at any one time. These are children who had been living on the streets with little or no contact with their families. The program at Lovemore Home is intended to provide the resident boys with a supportive, Christian family-style living environment, enabling them to return to regular schooling and begin the process of rebuilding their lives. Hopefully some Lovemore “graduates” may become future leaders of Zimbabwe to help restore that impoverished country. Before the present tyrannical dictator seized power many years ago, Zimbabwe was a bread basket for all of Africa. Now it cannot feed its own people and must import food.By agreeing to live at Lovemore Home, the boys have made a commitment to leave the streets, attend school and make positive changes in their lives, but they will need the prayers and support of friends around the world.
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