Local church groups ready to serve in inner city New York

by Staff Pioneer Times
14 years ago

    HOULTON, Maine — EDGE Ministries, the youth ministry for the Houlton Wesleyan Church, is leading a group of people from several area churches to spend a week serving in Queens, NY. During the week of Aug. 13-20, thirty-eight local people will travel by chartered bus to the New York School of Urban Ministry.     NYSUM is a Christian training center that hosts short and long-term interns and mission teams and allows opportunities for practical ministry in the form of public church meetings, street drama and evangelism, and serving at soup kitchens and homeless shelters.  The school provides dormitory style housing and cafeteria meals for the team, and teaches seminars to prepare them for their daily service.  The school also teaches ways for the team to bring back what they’ve learned and apply it to their own community.  Although the population of New York is very different from that of Houlton, many of the same problems exist, such as poverty and drug addiction.  The participants hope that the experience will help them see needs that they would not normally notice, and that they will be more prepared to meet those needs when they return to The County.
To help fund the cost of chartering the bus, the NYSUM team is holding several events to raise money:
• Parents’ Night Off — Saturday, July 16, from 5:30 – 9 p.m. in the Children’s Ministry room at Houlton Wesleyan Church. Babysitting for kids ages 4-10 will be provided for a donation. A movie, games and snack will be provided. Please contact Hollie McAfee at 532-1165 or hmcafee@pwless.net to let the team know if your children will be attending.
• Pizza Hut Night – Monday, July 18, from 4-8 p.m. Come enjoy supper at Pizza Hut. 20% of sales from those participating will go to the NYSUM mission trip expenses.
• Car Wash – Saturday, July 23, from 9 a.m. -1 p.m. at Machias Savings Bank in Houlton Plaza.
• Pocono Mountains Vacation – Bids are currently being accepted for a vacation to the Villas at Fairway in Bushkill, Pennsylvania from Aug. 26 to Sept. 2. Proceeds over the minimum bid of $200 will go to the NYSUM trip.  Pictures can be seen at www.fernwoodhotel.net. Call the Houlton Wesleyan Church at 532-9056 to find out the contact information for the individual taking bids.
If you do not wish to take part in these fundraisers, but still wish to make a donation, checks can be mailed to the Houlton Wesleyan Church, PO Box 1146, Houlton, Maine 04730.  Make the checks payable to EDGE Ministries and write “NYSUM Bus” in the memo line.