MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS! Its officially December, so we thought we would roll out out Christmas Projects for you so they are right in front of you and easy to understand. As a church, we are so excited to be getting into our community in a loving and helpful way this Christmas. Our theme this month is ‘LOVE CAME DOWN’. What Jesus did for us, we CAN now do for others…. time to get excited East Campus!
Here’s just a few of the endeavors we will be continuing to present. Please read carefully and feel free to contact the names listed below:
1- CHRISTMAS FOOD HAMPERS: We will be blessing some families with food hampers in our community. What we will be needing: 1) Non-perishable food items that include Tea, Hot Chocolate Mix, Soup, Crackers, Powdered Milk, Canned Fish/Meat (eg. Tuna, Ham, Chicken), Peanut Butter, Jam, Rice, Mac & Cheese, Pastas (wholegrain preferred), Healthy Cereal (hot/cold), Canned Fruit, Canned Veggies, Meals in a Tin (Stews, Pork n’ Beans), Boxed Scalloped Potatoes, Oatmeal, Mayonaise, Pasta Sauce; 2) Purchase a $25 Gift Tag from the tree in the foyer this weekend at church. Your donation will go towards these hampers, as well as the other Community Care Initiatives this Christmas; 3) Volunteers for assembling the hampers on Thursday, December 16th (7pm at the Garage- 2808 Garden Street); 4) Volunteers for Delivery of the Hampers on Friday, December 17th (9am meeting at the garage- 2808 Garden Street). Contact Jenna by email at jliesch@relatechurch.ca to get involved!
2- GIFT BAGS FOR THE FRASER VALLEY CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTE INMATES: As a Campus, we will be providing 75 female inmates with Christmas presents, as well as 13 of their children. To donate, 1) Purchase a $25 Gift Tag from the tree in the foyer this weekend at church.
3- CLOTHES ON WHEELS CHRISTMAS EVENTS: As a church we are blessed to be able to have adopted 10 schools within the inner-city Surrey School Board. Clothes On Wheels is an event that provides free clothing, jackets, shoes and accessories to vulnerable adults, children and babies. There are 2 events we as a campus can volunteer with (setting up, greeting families as they arrive, registration and check in, helping families ‘shop’ for clothes, checking out and re-bagging clothes, clean up, etc): 1) Monday, December 6th @ Lena Shaw Elementary School (14250 100A Avenue, Surrey) from 7:30am-1:00pm; 2) Friday, December 10th @ Hjorth Road Elementary School (14781 104th Avenue, Surrey) from 7:30am-1:00pm. These events are a great opportunity for us as an extention campus to gain vision for what we can do in our own community! To volunteer, please contact Pastor Helen Balzer by email at hbalzer@relatechurch.ca
4- Open House Christmas Service: During the week of December 13th, we will be blitzing the neighbourhood surrounding Abbotsford Christian School with invites to our special Christmas Open House Service, Sunday December 19th @ 9:30am. Yes, you read it right… SERVICE BEGINS AT 9:30AM that day! We will have an hour of meet and greet time before the program begins. All teams are required ‘on deck’ by 9:30am, and we also need some ladies to bake some Christmas goodies. Contact Jenna at jliesch@relatechurch.ca if you can help out.
5- Dinner of Hope @ CLCC (Christian Life Community Church): We love supporting the body of Christ as a whole, and what better way to do it, then to partner with a church in our very own community, who is planning a spectacular event for families in need, right in the Abbotsford area. Dinner of Hope is being planned for Saturday evening, December 18th and will consist of a served, sit down dinner for these families, as well as a time for fun and gift giving. We as a church would love to help them out by volunteering for the parking and security end of things (guys- this is a great opportunity for you!!!). You can see more info at www.clcc.ca or contact Maria Martin at 604-807-2010 or maria-jp@shaw.ca .
As you can see, its never a dull moment at Relate! Let’s get involved this Christmas- BE the hands and feet of Jesus to those in need right in our own backyards.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
