Mission: At home and Away

There are several mission projects to report on this month at SPPC.  The first is our "warm toes" program.  This is the time when we buy warm socks, stuff them with necessities like toothpaste and shampoo and bring them to the church where they are dedicated to God's work on earth.  We then donate them to Our Place in Victoria for distribution.  With winter coming on, the need for warm toes among the clients of Our Place is great.

Another mission that SPPC supports is the Refuge Bus, often referred to as The Blue Bus.  One Sunday morning this month, we heard from Rick Wismer, who runs the program.  The bus ministry focusses on outreach to First Nations communities on lower Vancouver Island.  Two communities Pauquachin and Tseycum are close to SPPC.  Rick reported on some success stories and some needs.  The most pressing need is a new bus.  The old double decker has reached the end of the road, so to speak, and he has his eyes on a new coach-style bus that would better suit the needs for this ministry.  He also took the opportunity to thank SPPC for the volunteers who come on board the bus and especially for the cookies.  Thousands and thousands of cookies are produced every year by members of SPPC and donated to the Refuge Bus for snacks.  

Finally, one of our members is embarked on a mission of her own.  Linda Cliff is in Nepal as part of a hospice team.  They will be there for six weeks, to teach staff at a hospice in rural Nepal.  I had a letter from her shortly after she'd arrived in Kathmandu.  "We arrived safe and sound with excellent flights on Korean Air.   Everything was on time, the service was excellent and the flights did not seem as long as expected. The first leg to Incheon , Korea was 12 hours and the second to Kathmandu was 8 hours.  The stopover in Korea made the trip doable.

The ride from the airport to our hotel was overwheming!  Dogs,cows, people, cars, motorbikes, horns blaring, all on the road at the same time, all seeming to go in different directions and us in a sketchy van traveling right down the middle of the road.  Our driver took us the back way so we saw much poverty and the road is what we would have called a trail.  It was a relief to arrive at the hotel which is an oasis of calm in a very busy, noisy and wonderful city.

So far we have explored the Thamel district where the hotel is.  Lots of shopping and amazing sites.  Feel safe and as long as you realize that when a car or motorbike sounds the horn you better step out of the way it is easy to get around.   Yesterday we went on a tour with a driver and a guide.  We went to Bhartapur and saw this ancient temple town and the real third world life style.  It is just the end of harvest so they are drying their rice in the town squares, so everywhere are these great mounds of rice they are getting ready to store.  We also drove into the country and saw the people preparing their fields for the next crop which is potatoes.  Terraced lands, worked by hand, makes me embarassed to say I work in my garden.  I play: they work.

Today we are off to Hospice Nepal and to wander around.  Have loved the food, many places to eat, both western and ethnic food.  We go to bed early and get up with the sun.  It is wonderful."

 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 ESV