Walt Beckwith – Co-Chair (Through September 2007)

Holly Borden – Co-Chair

 Helen Tharrington – Co-Chair (September 2007 – Present)

John Dancy – Elder Liaison

 Staff: 

Paul Ransford 

Frances Anton

Dottie Bartholomay

Dot Borden

Bruce Capehart

Nancy Chaffee

Bonnie Derr

Bill Hatch

Debbie Hatch

Helen Harrison

Bart Haynes

Mark Landis

Michael Jackson

Eileen McAvoy

Chick Palermo

Fred Starr

Mary Beck Sutton

Global Missions Committee

 The mission of the Global Missions Committee is to foster awareness of and coordinate the response to needs and concerns beyond the immediate Durham area.

 Biblical Focus:

“But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?  Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”  (1 John 3:17-18)

 Purpose:  The purpose of the Global Missions Committee is to:

• Raise awareness of denominational global mission efforts
• Assist in the coordination of fund-raising and publicity for global mission projects
• Construct an annual asking budget based on anticipated need for global missions
• Prioritize Global Mission funds for Session approval.

 Leadership:  The Global Missions Committee has two deacons as co-chairs and an elder liaison.  Other members may be deacons, elders, or any member of the congregation.  Any subcommittees that are formed to carry out a specific facet of the work of the committee include at least one deacon. 

 Meeting Schedules:  The Global Missions Committee meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 7PM.  Subcommittees meet as needed and report to the whole committee at the monthly meeting.

 Domains of Responsibility: This was a Session Committee when it originated in July 2001 and became a committee of the Diaconate in 2005. The Global Missions Committee’s current responsibilities include:  

• Responding to natural disasters within North Carolina, the United States and abroad.

·         Contributing to Music Mission Kiev and the Widow’s and Orphan’s Program.

·         Contributing to AIDS relief work and education

·         Supporting our missionaries, the Wehmeyers in Mexico, and our youth mission trips.

·         Sponsoring the Alternative Gift Fair to encourage donations to our local and
global mission organizations and support the fair trade mission of One World Market.

·         Assisting with World Communion Sunday.

·         Hosting visiting mission groups.

·         Supporting other mission work that meet the following criteria for funding:

o   Church member(s) are involved in, on the board of, or otherwise represent the organization being funded.

o   The proposed mission project is consistent with our Mission Statement.

o   Evidence that the organization group is financially responsible.

·         During its lifetime, the committee has responded to requests for flood relief assistance in Hyde County, disaster relief in the Gulf and in tsunami-ravaged areas of Southeast Asia, AIDS relief and education (for the M'tendere Church School in Lusaka, Zambia, and 2 primary schools in Arusha, Tanzania), and hosted mission groups’ visits to Durham (specifically the Kiev Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Congo Choir in 2006 and the Boyd family, missionaries from Cameroon, in the summer of 2007). 

 Summary of Global Missions for 2007 

The Global Missions Committee uses the newsletter and minute for mission to inform the congregation of committee missions. Additionally, in 2007 the committee hosted several coffee hours after both church services during which time we offered information for supporting selected mission(s). Specifically, we hosted coffees for the Wehmeyers, the Music Mission Kiev and Widow’s and Orphans Program, and the coffee during the Alternative Gift Fair.  

Section 1– Missionaries in Kiev and Mexico are funded annually in the Global Missions budget: 

·         Music Mission Kiev and the Widow’s and Orphan’s Program – MMK received $2000. The Committee provided “shoe box” gifts to our new pensioner, Galina Ryabchun, and provided $500 to help support her. Contact is Helen Harrison.

·         PC(USA) Missionaries, Don and Martha Wehmeyer, receive Sunday School collections as well as funds from the Global Missions Budget ($6000 in 2007). Because PC(USA) is significantly reducing funding to missionaries, the committee asked for $10,000 for the Wehmeyers in our 2008 budget. It is not widely known that the General Assembly will require all missionaries to raise 80% of their salary beginning in 2008 and we do not know how much he will be supported by other churches. The Wehmeyers have been a tremendous asset to WPC over the years and we felt the need to support their ministry in the Yucatan. 

 Section 2 – These missions met funding criteria and were approved in 2007 from either the Hurricane Relief Fund or the Global Missions Project Fund.

 ·         Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy – The committee approved $500 to provide hot meals to elderly Russian pensioners. This work was undertaken after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when millions of pensioners found their stipends reduced to almost nothing by economic conditions. The Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy -sponsored by five American denominations, including PC (USA)- serves English-speaking foreigners living in the Russian capital. WPC began helping finance meals in 2005. Contact is John Dancy.

·         Sister Cities of Durham, the Halo Project in Arusha, Tanzania - The committee approved $600 to provide 20 children with breakfast and lunch for a year via the Halo Project, a school lunch program for children (many of whom are AIDS orphans). This donation will be shipped as part of a larger shipment providing 1000 students with breakfast and lunch for a year. The committee also approved $830 to cover 1/3 of the cost of transporting the food from the port in Tanzania to the city of Arusha. Contact is Dot Borden.

·         The Outreach Foundation – In response to the severe flooding in Tabasco, Mexico, the committee approved $1000 for flood relief and clean up. Contact is Fred Starr.

·         NCCU Presbyterian Campus Ministry – Approved $2000 for a hurricane relief trip to D’Iberville for NCCU students. Their campus minister and Chick and Dorene Palermo went with 10 students. A second trip was taken to Pass Christian, Mississippi in December 2007 and the committee approved up to $1000 to be used to reimburse expenses. Contact is Eileen McAvoy. 

Section 3 – Other Global Missions Work in 2007  

·         Alternative Gift Fair – The fair took place December 9, 2007 in the WPC Fellowship Hall. One World Market sold $2552 in merchandise of which $255.20 (10%) of the proceeds will go to the Global Missions Projects Fund. Thirteen agencies that Westminster supports through local or global missions were represented at the fair and collected an estimated $3134 in contributions. At both church services that day, members of the congregation were given a pamphlet briefly describing the alternative gifts they could purchase from each organization. The committee was pleased with the response. Contact is Frances Anton.

·         Hurricane Relief - Westminster made 5 trips to the Mississippi gulf coast focusing on the city of D'Iberville. The March trip included 9 people from Westminster and 14 people from other Durham churches. Four other trips were made by one or two individuals. As a result of our efforts and those of many others, the volunteer center in D'Iberville will close at the end of May 2008. The reason for the closing is the work there is essentially complete. Over the past 2 plus years 700 homes will have been completed.

·         Connections With Area Churches for Disaster Relief – Westminster initiated an effort to coordinate the disaster response efforts of the Durham churches. The purpose of the group is to eliminate duplicate efforts, develop detailed plans for the three subgroups listed below and take advantage of the experience of the various churches.  

 The group's name is 'Durham Interfaith Disaster Response' or DIDR. The group met 3 times in 2007 and is in the process of defining the plans and activities of three subgroups. 

These subgroups are:

·         Remote/on site support

·         Local response/ shelter

·         Resource development/planning. 

The contact is Chick Palermo.