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OUTREACH MINISTRIES

Jesus said: "Then the king will say... 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me... Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of those who are members of my family, you did it to me.'" (Matt. 25:34 & 35)

Food Bank/Outreach Ministry

The Ouray County Food Bank reopened at the Calvary Assembly of God Church on September 16. Frank Leonardi of that church is the coordinator. He has decided initially to limit the hours to Tuesdays from 1- 4:00 pm. St. John's is asked to provide 2 persons to staffthe Food Bank on the first Tuesday of the month, beginning October 7, 2008.

Please contact Carolyne Kelly or Bob Larson if you feel called to participate in this ministry. St. John's will also resume accepting food donations of nonperishable items, such as canned vegetables and fruit, rice, beans, oatmeal, dry cereal, canned tuna and meat, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, soups, crackers and cookies on the first Sunday of each month, beginning October 5, 2008.

The congregation of St. John's supports the Kairos Prison Ministry at the Delta Men's Correctional facility in Delta, Colorado in a variety of ways. Various members of the congregation help to serve on the weekend teams within the prison and others attend the closing worship services at the end of the weekend. We also support this ministry by baking dozens and dozens of cookies for the men to have during the weekend. This is a wonderful change for the inmates to have home baked cookies instead of their regular institutional food. We also support the weekends and those participating through prayer. And finally we provide financial support for the weekends so that the team can purchase needed supplies.

Kairos is a wonderful and life changing experience for many inmates. Instinctual survival during incarceration runs counter to the life giving gospel of Jesus Christ. During the course of the weekend the inmates are often overwhelmed by the love and the lack of judgment they experience from the team members, and often find it difficult to believe that someone would voluntarily give of his time to 'spend the weekend in prison'. And yet it is this very willingness to share God's unconditional love which motivates the team members and through Gods grace both the team members and the participants are drawn into even deeper encounters with one another and with God.

Bethlehem Home in Kenya

While on a mission trip to Kenya, Lisa Baker, a pediatrician and a member of St. John's Episcopal Church in Ouray met a Kenyan medical technologist named Habil Ogola. Habil is also a pastor who has created a community of AIDS orphans and elders in the Sandu Province of Western Kenya. He named this community Bethlehem Home and it currently consists of 35 elders and 25 orphans. Their community is on a high plateau making water problematic and placing the people at the mercy of seasonal rains for their crops. Droughts are common and this year the civil war created additional problems for the community. These people are among the poorest of the poor in Kenya, solely dependent upon God and one another to meet their daily needs. In 2006, when Lisa and her husband Troy Abell shared the story of Bethlehem Home with the congregation of St. John's, the membership opened their hearts and their wallets to reach out to these brothers and sisters in Kenya. The most urgent need has been for food during times of drought. When the rains do come, some of the money is used to buy seed and fertilizer. A by-product of this outreach is that the members of St. Johns have helped to create a micro-economy not only supporting the orphans and elders but also the two women who bring bags of fertilizer on the backs of their donkeys and the man who plows the fields with his ox.

The goal of the partnership between St. John's and Bethlehem Home is to help the community move beyond a crisis mode and begin to develop long term sustainability. The first effort has been for St. John's to market "fair trade" baskets which are made by the elders of Bethlehem Home. In addition members and of St. John's and others who have heard of the project have “adopted” several members of Bethlehem Home and are supporting them while they are being trained: one is in medical school, one will be trained in medical technology, and five are going to trade school to learn tailoring. During a recent trip to Bethlehem Home (See Photos of the Trip) it was discovered that while it may not be practical for St. John's to finance the digging of a well, it might be possible to help build a systems of gutters on some of the buildings and provide cisterns to gather water. This project is currently being explored.

But the project is not one sided. The lives of the members of St. John's have been enriched through regular updates from Pastor Habil, through the sharing of our lives and stories with one another, and through the weekly prayers of each community for the other.

Other Ministsries

Wayfarers Fund: This is a program operated out of the Ouray County Sheriff's Department that provides emergency vouchers for persons passing through town who are in need of a place to stay, emergency car repairs, or a meal.

Neighbor to Neighbor: A local program that provides neighborly services to those who may need a ride to the doctor or grocery, a minor repair they are unable to do themselves, etc. In addition the area churches rotate providing a senior meal on a monthly basis.

Ridgway Cares: Provides holiday gifts and food to area residents .