Active Outreach

View and download the 2009 Short Term Mission Field Journal

2010 short term mission trips
Chile earthquake disaster response
Haiti earthquake disaster response
Outreach programs at FPC Bethlehem

Thank you for your generous support for SOUPER BOWL OF CARING!
Your generous donations for the Souper Bowl of Caring totaled $1,362. These funds were forwarded to New Bethany Ministries and Victory House to help feed the poor and homeless in the Lehigh Valley. Thank you for your support!

2010 SHORT TERM MISSION TRIPS (STM)
Download a 2010 STM application.
Two Lehigh Presbytery Helping Hands Care Team “Work Trips”
– Long Beach, Mississippi, March 6–14: Rebuilding homes after the hurricanes.
– Oakville, Iowa April 24– May 2: Helping rebuild the Iowa River Flood Plain.
Vist the Lehigh Presbytery website for more information. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , trip registrar, and This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , FPCB liaison.

Appalachia Hearts and Homes Dunlow, West Virginia, June 19–27
Partnering with CabWayLinGo Presbyterian Chapel to provide meaningful and sustainable care to the people of Appalachia.Email trip leaders This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Allegany Indian Reservation (AIR), Salamanca NY, July 10–18
Coming alongside members of the Jimersontown "Native American" Presbyterian Church in their outreach to the wider AIR community. Email trip leader This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

High School Outreach Camp, East Asia, July 15–26
Extending and encouraging the work of FPC Bethlehem’s mission partners in Chinese high school students growing up in a complicated cultural climate.Email trip leaders Don & Joan Spangler.

Christo Rey & Hogar La Casita, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct. 22–31
Partnering with Christo Rey & Hogar La Casita as they reach out to homeless and disadvantaged families in inner-city Buenos Aires. Email trip leaders This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Brainerd Work Weekend Camp Brainerd, Stroudsburg PA, August 20–22
Helping to make Brainerd more beautiful and sustainable. Visit the Camp Brainerd website for more information. Email trip leaders This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Information meetings February 21 and 28, 10:15–1:00 a.m. and 11:45–12:30 p.m. in the Parlor
Come and find out how you can be part of short term mission for 2010. Trip applications will be available at these meetings or by contacting This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Pastor for Mission & Outreach, ext. 250.

Chile Earthquake Disaster Response
A devastating 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck Chile on Saturday, February 27, 2010, causing widespread damage and triggering tsunami warnings throughout the Pacific Rim. Upwards of 700 people have died because of the quake, and approximately 1.5 million homes have been damaged or destroyed leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Damage to infrastructure has been widespread as well. While Chile is a country well known for disaster preparedness (particularly in the case of earthquakes), the recovery from this disaster is obviously going to take a global effort.

To participate in this effort Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), in partnership with Church World Service (CWS), is working to provide basic humanitarian assistance and to help local partners in assessing the needs in Chile. To contribute to this effort. donations can be made out to First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem with either “Chile Earthquake” or PDA Acct DR000185 in the memo.

PDA has already committed $25,000 of its funds to this effort and will be giving more as the damage from the quake is further assessed.To learn more or to donate directly to PDA, please visit their website.

If you are interested in volunteering in the disaster response or recovery effort in Chile, please first consider InterAction’s guidelines on the most appropriate ways to help. Those with technical skills or international experience who would like to volunteer are encouraged to do so through the Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI).

Thank you for your faithful responses to this and other global crises. It is through your response to and participation in these efforts that the hope of Christ is made known.

Haiti Earthquake Disaster Response
The catastrophic 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti on 1/12/10 has devastated not only the capital, Port Au Prince, virtually the entire country. Many survivors are without shelter, food and water.The best way to respond to this disaster in the immediate future is to donate money through a relief organization with a presence in Haiti.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is collecting aid in order to respond to this earthquake and has set a one million dollar goal for their response, PDA account number DR000064. You can donate online, or you may write a check to First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem with Haiti Earthquake in the memo. We will be sending monies collected through FPC Bethlehem to PDA next week.

You can also donate through Red Cross, World Vision, and Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

On the local font, we can come alongside our brothers and sisters at Life Church in Allentown as they seek to respond. As some of you know, Life Church has been active in the development of an orphanage just outside of Port Au Prince this past year. Althought the children and staff made it through safely, the orphanage suffered structural damage and the security wall that surrounds the perimeter of the compound has completely crumbled. The children and staff are sleeping outside and have enough food and water for a week.

Life Church Senior Pastor Randy Landis and Mission Pastor Ramon Crespo are currently in Haiti assessing the situation and bringing initial aid.There will be a second group brining supplies, and they hope to help the areas surrounding the orphanage as well.

If you would like to donate supplies to help Life Church minister to the orphanage and its neighbors, you can take them directly to Life Church or bring them to the main office at FPC Bethlehem marked "Aid for Haiti." Monetary donations are also welcome. Feel free to call Life Church at 610-434-3117 for more information. You can also call FPC Mission & Outreach Pastor Jack Brace at 610-867-5865, ext. 250.

List of supplies Life Church is accepting:
Tarps
50" x 60" throw blankets
Heavy-duty work gloves
flashlight\batteries
Large Ziploc bags
Face masks
First aid items
Children's medicine
anti-diarrhea medicine
underwear (all sizes)
hand sanitizer
Tuna in vacuum-pack bags
Funds to ship the items and to purchase fuel for generators.

OUTREACH PROGRAMS AT FPC

Get Involved!
New Bethany Ministries needs food donations and volunteers from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. on the 1st and 4th Mondays of each month. Please call Melinda Behrens at 610-282-3501 and offer your help.

The Giving Tree
Take an ornament from the Giving Tree in Fellowship Hall and bring a Christmas gift for someone less fortunate.

Gift World
Visit the global marketplace held in Fellowship Hall in November. See wares displayed from the countries in which First Presbyterian Church Bethlehem currently has missionaries. Buy "shares" to help the missionaries purchase what they need for their particular ministry.

One Great Hour of Sharing
A special offering collected over the course of a month that helps support Presbyterian ministries around the world.

Disaster Recovery and Short-term Mission Experiences
Our core values include the following implementation statement: Relevance—we live this value by reaching out beyond our social, political, economic, ethnic, generational, denominational and linguistic boundaries without compromising the Good News and, in doing so, being relevant to the people we touch.

Mission Partnering
We practice intentional partner with other churches and organizations to accomplish ministry and evangelism in the community and the rest of the world. Partnerships, overseen by our Mission Partner Support Committee, are comprised of:

- 22 missionary families and individuals ministering throughout the globe.
- Local mission organizations ministering evangelistically and holistically to members of our community. Local ministries we support include Victory House, New Bethany Ministries, Northeast Ministries, Youth for Christ, Habitat for Humanity and more.
- Denominational support for designated mission endeavors—locally, nationally and globally.