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Outreach at Lynnewood includes: financial support; regular donations of food, clothing and other goods; and volunteering our time. We devote a significant portion of our church budget to outreach programs. We offer the opportunity for our members to participate in at least one outreach activity each month.

We collect a monthly offering for particular needs. These offerings are for: disaster relief all over the world; United Methodist Programs (such as Peace With Justice, One Great Hour of Sharing or World Communion Sunday); or a specific local or regional need identified by the Outreach Committee.

Coordinated by Lynnewood’s Outreach Committee, our Outreach Program includes: Partner Ministries, Continuing Ministries, Special Opportunities, Mission Trips and our annual Faith-in-Action campaign.

Pictures of several Outreach activities can be found in the Picture Gallery.

VIM Trip Reports

Every year members from Lynnewood join with members for other Tri-Valley UMC's and travel to places hit by disasters to bring reconstructive skills on a UMC Volunteers-in Mission (VIM) trip. The experiences have such a positive impact on the participants, that most return year after year. Below are a few of the recent trips. Click on each to read about the experience.

Giving Tree Fulfilled!

Thank you very much, generous people of Lynnewood! This year we had many special requests, and all were filled. Even one for a twin bed. One generous person bought a new bed, a mattress and bedding. When I thanked him he said, "We have so much. I am glad we can give back." Every request was filled for our 24 families! You are such a caring congregation.

Thanks also go to those from the Lynnewood family who delivered the gifts. A special thank you goes to Erik J. and the men's group who provided turkey dinners for each of the 24 families.

Volunteer in Mission - Joplin, MO

The spring storms of 2011 where among the most damaging in US history. Particularly hard hit was the metropolitan area of Joplin, Missouri. The rebuilding effort is well underway, but there is much to be done over the next couple of years. We are forming a team from East Bay UMC churches to go assist with the recovery. “Dare to question, love, and serve” by becoming a team member from the East Bay UMC churches to assist with the recovery efforts.

Roger Everett and Steve Elliott, from the Asbury United Methodist Church in Livermore will lead our team. As with other such trips, our focus will be on those families that have limited resources and need help. Registration for the trip is now available. We hope you will consider joining us.

The team will depart California on April 14th and return on April 21st, 2012. We will fly to Tulsa, Oklahoma and then drive to Joplin (about two hours from Tulsa). Our accommodations will be at a Methodist Church, and we will be working for the storm recovery operations of the Missouri Conference. The cost of the trip will be $650 to $700, including airfare, meals, and housing. Registrations are due on or before March 11th, 2011.

For more information or to register, contact Steve Elliott at SAE612@msn.com.

Volunteer in Mission - Haiti

On February 12th, a special Outreach Offering will be received to provide supplies and items to take to Thomas, Haiti. Four of the team are from Lynnewood and will serve under the stellar leadership of Steve Elliott (Asbury UMC). Lynnewood members, Wendy K., Carol W., Doug and Mary Ellen H. will be joined by 3 others from area UMCs.

The team will be involved in construction projects on the infrastructure of the Haiti Methodist School, formulating plans to set up a computer learning center at the school and a village internet café, serving hot meals to the school children, and hosting crafts, movies, and/or game nights for the families in the village. Sporting equipment, over-the-counter medications, crafts, and games will be part of the team’s contribution to the school and church in Thomas.

Anyone interested in the daily activities during the team’s stay in Thomas (February 21st through March 1st) may visit the blog site at http.//norcal-to-haiti-2012.posterous.com.

Faith in Action Outreach Opportunities

You are encouraged to sign-up on the patio between services to volunteer your time and talents. This is a wonderful way to demonstrate your faith in action within the community and to become better acquainted with members of our LUMC family.

Bundles of Joy

Bundles of Joy has received $605 from the Alternative Christmas program for 2012. This generous giving supports this project and allows us to continue giving to families in need through Axis Community Health. Many thanks to all who gave!

In January, we received donations of baby items from Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Livermore. Bundles of Joy has become an advent tradition for their church for the past few years. We also received 23 packs of diapers and 20 packages of wipes collected by Debra M. of Pleasanton. Debra’s son, Adam supported Bundles of Joy with his Eagle Scout project last year, and Debra has continued to support Bundles! All of these generous donations are so appreciated.

Bundles of Joy is an on-going project only made possible by the donations we receive. Please consider a donation from the list below. Help us continue to welcome these babies into the world and show them what a caring community we are. Donations may be left in the narthex or given to Kristin S., Heidi S.

Contact Heidi with any questions. Thanks!

Items Needed for the Bundles of Joy Project:
Newborn Diapers
Wipes, Baby Wash, Lotion, Powder or Ointment
Bottles (3 Pack)
Newborn Outfits
Baby Booties or Socks
Bibs
Rattles
Pacifiers
Cloth Toys or Stuffed Animals
Cash or gift cards (Target, Babies R Us, etc.)

For liability purposes, the Outreach Committee is unable to accept any infant car seats. All charitable organizations are not allowed to accept these donations. They may be taken to the Pleasanton Refuse Station on Bernal for disposal. Thank you.

Scholarships for UMVIM

If you have an interest in participating on a future VIM trip, the Outreach committee is offering scholarships to alleviate the cost. Please share your interest with Gary or any member of the Outreach committee.

God's Missionary - Katherine Parker

Katherine Parker is our Covenant Partner in Mission in Cambodia. Lynnewood UMC joined in relationship with Katherine, through the UMC General Board of Global Ministries, in order to support her mission and ministry there.

Katherine has gifts in the areas of biology and community organizing. She is God’s servant in helping the Cambodian people learn about the importance of clean water for healthy families and a prosperous future. Katherine works with CHAD – Community Health and Agricultural Development – through the partnership of the Methodist Mission in Cambodia, the General Board of Global Ministries (of the United Methodist Church) and various teams of United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM).

The goal of CHAD is to improve the health, well-being, food and economic security of individuals and families in rural communities. Katherine writes, however, that one of the hazards faced by community–development focused missions is the chance that the communities they serve will become dependent on their services. It’s a possibility missionaries like Katherine fight against daily in their quest to facilitate self-sufficiency among Cambodia’s rural population.

To this effect, Katherine tells the inspiring story of Raksmey Methodist Church. Now you need to know that the Raksmey Church is on a dirt road about 2 hours from the province capital of Kampong Tom. The members are subsistence level farmers and most fall into the 40% of the working population living on less that $1.25 per day.

With the help of a CHAD income generating project at that church of a shared hand-tractor, several reported that they can earn an extra $.75 per day, which they report goes a long way to improving the income for their family and supplementing what they get from farming.

So, to continue, through the CHAD development program and a financial gift of $750 from our global Methodist connection, in 2008 the church in Raksmey started a rice bank for its small community as a way of alleviating families’ rice shortages during the rainy season and, at the same time, giving an alternative to the high-interest rice loans that were saddling them with debt each year.

The church stands out as one of the CHAD program’s most successful projects, because through faithful repayment and contributions by members they have more than doubled its rice stores during just three years of operation — from 3,000 kilograms in 2008 to a present total of 6600 kg. This accumulation means the bank can provide aid for even more families in need of a low-interest solution to their food shortage. Even more notably, those stores also allowed the bank committee members to take proactive steps to guard against potential disasters or urgent needs in their community. AND they did just that, setting aside 500 kg of rice for a disaster relief fund.

Those funds were put to use last November, when a group of seven nearby homes were completely destroyed in a cooking fire. The families lost everything — their clothes and food supply and even the children’s school textbooks.

Upon hearing of the disaster, rice bank leaders and church members came to the aid of the families, donating their 500 kg of rice in storage and taking up a collection to help cover immediate necessities. Moreover, they did this in spite of the fact that only one of the families affected was Christian. The majority of Cambodians are Buddhists, with Christians composing a mere 2 percent of the population. It speaks to the success of the program and is especially inspiring that families on the edge of surviving would reach out to others in need.

The aid provided by the Raksmey Methodist congregation ensured the families were able to build temporary shelters and keep food in their stomachs as they began the process of putting their lives back together. The gift not only served as a form of outreach to the community’s un-churched families, but also as an example to other Methodist churches in Cambodia on how to successfully turn the corner to self-sufficiency, even to the point of becoming the aid grantors themselves.

Katherine calls Raksmey’s story an inspiration for all of the CHAD program staff and for all of us participating in missions around the world as part of our Methodist Connection.

Katherine and the CHAD program are expanding on this success and working to establish 35 new rice banks this year, utilizing a grant from UMCOR to respond to recent drought conditions in Cambodia.

Our covenant relationship with missionary Katherine Parker in Cambodia supports the community development work of the CHAD program and is a vital part to the continuation of this important ministry.

Katherine sends her greetings and gratitude to the congregation of Lynnewood UMC for our continued support and invites us to contact her or visit the program blog (http://chad-cambodia.blogspot.com). Below are Katherine's letters to Lynnewood.

From Katherine:

June, 2011

Friends at Lynnewood UMC,

I hope that you are all doing well in Pleasanton. I am writing to thank you for your support and to let you know that you and your ministry continues to be in my prayers as well. In an effort to find additional ways to connect, I'll share with you a short greeting that I prepared for another covenant church when they wanted something to read during worship. It is about 4 minutes and I offer it to you as well if it would be a helpful way to you to keep our relationship vibrant. As always there are stories and videos on our program blog, http://chad-cambodia.blogspot.com, that you are welcome to reprint or re-post as you would like to share with the congregation. I appreciate receiving the newsletter; keep up with your ministries and be in prayer for you.

peace, Katherine

May, 2011

On a personal note, I am happy to report that my visit to the USA was a wonderful success. I joined the Cambodia Consultation for just one day, but was inspired by the stories and the dedication of so many to support this country. I was also able to successfully submit and defend my masters thesis on Bacterial Contamination of Drinking Water in Rural Ghana. I completed the research three years ago before I was called to Cambodia, but the concluding steps were put on the back burner as I engaged with my work here. I am so appreciative to my adviser Dr. Robert Metcalf and the faculty of the Biological Sciences Department at Cal State, Sacramento, that saw me through the process, encouraged me to continue and gave critical and helpful feedback.

Peace, Katherine

March, 2011

Life in Cambodia continues with inspiring glimmers of hopes in the midst of constant struggle. I finally posted a few reflections from last January on our blog http://chad-cambodia.blogspot.com, which I invite you to read including the story of what actually happened to that cow I mentioned on facebook. There is also an updated vision page that includes details about our recently completed five year strategic plan.

The California-Nevada Annual Conference of the UMC will be hosting a Consultation March 31-April 2 in San Jose, CA that is bringing together folks from all over the USA and Cambodia to celebrate the mission and consult on how we can strengthen our work together. I've heard that there are about 150 people already signed up to come. I will be there and there is still time to register and make plans to join together. More information is available at http://www.cnumc.org/pages/detail/1604. I hope to see many of you there. I have also received several requests for "Alternative Giving" catalogs, and I hope to have those finished in time for the Consultation with details of specific project that you can link in to.

I am not always good at capturing those glimmers of hope that sustain me into words to share with you, my friends & supporters, but they are there. Thank you for your prayers and notes of encouragement even when I fail to communicate regularly.

With hope and a peaceful heart,

Katherine

December, 2010

Friends at Lynnewood,

It was a joy to be able to worship with you during my brief visit to California. I was overwhelmed by your warm welcome and grateful for the multiple ways you have jumped into our partnership running. It is with gratitude that I acknowledge not only your covenant partnership of $1740 this year, but also the additional gifts of fingernail clippers, lice combs, and program funds that can enrich the beauty in Cambodia with well water that can irrigate flowers there as you enjoy the beauty of your church as well. I appreciate the interest and compassion you have shown both for my work and for the people of Cambodia and I hope you will keep the email questions and correspondence coming.

Your sister in Christ's service,

Katherine

BART Tickets for Habitat for Humanity

One of our ongoing projects has been to collect small value, leftover BART tickets for Habitat for Humanity. Just bring your leftover tickets any time and leave them in the collection can by the Outreach display in the Narthex.

Outreach Responsibilities

Lynnewood’s Outreach Coordinator is Ron Rigge. Each Outreach Committee member has taken on expanded responsibilities. This includes leading Ministries of the Heart events this summer and the following programs and relationships with our outreach partner organizations:

- Bundles of Joy Program

- Homeless Initiative, Tri-Valley Haven

- Homeless Initiative, Axis Community Health

- Outreach Offerings, Heifer Dinner

- Open Heart Kitchen, Giving Tree

- Homeless Initiative

- Heifer Dinner

- Thanksgiving Food Drive

- Holiday Gift Warehouse

Thanks to the members of Outreach and our congregation for their commitment to Outreach.

Ministry Partners

Ministry Partners are the strategic outreach priorities of our church. At present they include:

Outreach Events

Each year our church identifies specific needs that we wish to address with Outreach Activities. This year these opportunities included:

Special Opportunities

Additionally, Lynnewood identifies Special Opportunities that we wish to support during the year. These opportunities included: