Outreach Projects

Our Outreach Committee strives to fulfill Jesus’ command that we help feed, clothe and care for the sick and imprisoned and that we welcome the stranger. We work in all of our programs to meet our new Mission Statement: To know Jesus and to make Him known.

Living Waters – New Initiative for the Outreach Committee

The Outreach Committee has recently joined an initiative to help create a healthy, sustainable community for the aboriginal village of Pikangikum in remote north western Ontario.

The Pikangikum Working Group was formed originally in response to a wave of youth suicides there and with the assistance of the community elders and school system. This group has the support of our National Aboriginal Bishop. Mark MacDonald’s group, Pimatisiwin Nipi (Living Water) and is associated with the PWRDF.

The top priority at present is to provide a supply of safe drinking and washing water and a safe sewage disposal system. Of the 450 homes, 430 do not have water or waste-water services. The cost is $21 000 to provide clean water and waste management for one home (about 7 people). The goal in 2013 was to equip 10 homes.

Our parish has made a commitment to raise $2000 for this project in 2014.

We feel strongly that conditions on this reserve, and many others, are unjust and intolerable. This pilot project will allow PWRDF to explore other proposals for native communities and partnerships between Pimatisiwin, PWRDF and our First Nations’ communities to improve their quality of life.

If you want to reach out to our First Nations sisters and brothers in this way, you may contribute through “Living Waters” designated givings #1. Please make your cheque out to PWRDF and designate Pikangikum beside “memo” at the bottom of the cheque.

On Feb. 16, Dave Steeves, a chair of the PWG will speak at the 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. services at St. Paul’s.

May God bless this initiative of caring.

1. Financial Support for Many Community, National and International NGO’s

We financially support community organizations such as for example, The Central Food Cupboard, Kawartha Lakes Food Source, A Place Called Home, Telecare and many more. Some of our members also volunteer at some of these organizations.We financially support several National charitable organizations, e.g. Faithworks, Council of the North, Moorelands Camp and many more.
We financially support a large number of International aid and development agencies, e.g. Stephen Lewis Foundation, Jamaican Self-Help, Doctors Without Borders, and many, many more.

2. Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund

We strongly support this fund as the Anglican Church of Canada’s agency for sustainable development, relief in time of natural or human-made disaster, refugee aid and sponsorship and global justice.

3. Council of the North

We support this important ministry of the Canadian Anglican Church as it responds to the challenges of God’s call to mission and ministry in our northern regions. One of their recent initiatives has been a program to help stem the rising number of suicides by aboriginal youth. We are involved both financially and through parish education .

4. Anglican Appeal

This national program directly supports mission and ministry with our church partners overseas and also in our north, through programs such as Volunteers in Mission and The Anglican Healing Fund. The latter can bring a homeless youth into a shelter where that person can be supported to make lasting life changes.

5. Faithworks

This diocesan program supports community ministries and partners such as the Anglican United Refugee Alliance, the Bridge Prison Ministry in Brampton, Toronto Urban Native ministry, and ten others. One of the partner organizations is Loft Community Services.

6. Semi-annual Outreach Services

In these Sunday morning services, we try to balance service and worship. At each service we focus on one particular outreach project to increase parish understanding and participation, We recently hosted Bill Huskinson who spoke about the reality of poverty locally and advanced some solutions. As a result of his input, our Friday Happy Cooks will be providing a hot lunch one Friday a month to the pupils of King Albert School.

7. Refugee Sponsorship

In 2005 St.Paul’s sponsored the emigration to Canada of a young Rwandan man from a refugee camp in Kenya. This man has done very well and is currently enrolled at Brock University. We continue to support him financially and in other ways just as he has blessed our parish with his faith, his optimism, hard work and winning smile. Karangwa is now enrolled in his last semester with plans to graduate in the spring of this year.

We sponsored a young woman from Sudan in 2006 for a brief time until she came under the umbrella of the World University Service of Canada.

Update May 9th, 2014

It is with great joy that I can now report that Karangwa has officially completed all the credits required for a Bachelor of Business Accounting degree from Brock University. He has applied for an accounting job with a business in Niagara Falls. He has completed his interview with them and awaits notice, hopefully, of his hiring.
Karangwa and the Outreach Committee would like to thank everyone at St. Paul’s who contributed their support to him prayerfully, morally and financially. The Outreach Committee will now discontinue Designated Givings # 222 for refugee sponsorship. However, we will be sending him a cheque for $3300 collected since January through the generosity of the congregation. This will help him establish himself in his career and maybe even pay off a bit of his student loan!
Please continue to keep Karangwa in your prayers as he begins this new and exciting phase of his life. We hope to hold a graduation celebration for Karangwa at coffee hour sometime in the next few months.

8. Fair Trade Coffee Sales

This program helps support small scale coffee growers by giving them a fair price for their product in order that they may sustain their operations and support their families with a reasonable income. We accept pre-paid orders the first Sunday of the month and deliver the coffee the following week. Our supplier charges us a very reasonable price for a high grade product.

9. Foster Children

We help pay educational and living costs for 6 children in the developing world.

Four of these children are in SOS homes in Latin America. Two, one in Guatemala and one in Haiti, are sponsored through The Arms of Jesus Children’s Mission.

Here are some recent images and letters from one of our Foster children.

10. Lenten Lecture Series

Our first series in 2009 offered to the general public, lectures on principles of six of the world’s major religions. These were so well received in the community that in 2010 and 2011, we focused on different Christian denominations. In 2012 we looked at 6 world religions in more depth. In 2013 we supported Dr. Sylvia Keesmat in her Lenten lecture series, as we will again in 2014.

11. Angel Tree Christmas Program

We purchase Christmas gifts for local children of prisoners at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay. These gifts are at the request of some of the inmates and are given in their names. This helps maintain the connection between parent and child as we act as Jesus’ hands and feet.

12. Kenya Outreach

In partnership with St. Barnabas Church in Peterborough, we helped support the educational training of two young women in Kenya. These women are AIDS orphans AND the nieces of one of St. Barnabas’ parishioners. They would otherwise not have been able to afford this training which will be a significant, and much needed boost to family income. These women have now graduated and are running their own catering business. In their place, we are supporting the education of 2 young children in elementary school. They are members of this same extended family.

We welcome all to our quarterly meetings after services on the second Sundays of March, June, September and December. Please consider joining us in one or more of these important ministries and you may just receive more than you give!