Each Monday morning, a group of dedicated women meet in the Fireside Room from 9:15am to 12pm to create beautiful quilts for Lutheran World Relief (LWR). The quilts are distributed overseas by LWR to remote villages, refugee camps, hospitals, and disaster sites, wherever there are people in need. You can help by donating fabric and/or by helping with design, sewing, tying, etc. Contact Ordetta Hovland or Anna Hoegel via the office for more information. *Please note that we will not be meeting Dec. 12, 19, 26 or Jan. 2.*

Enjoy fun, games and food and BLS's annual spring carnival. This event is open to everyone! Sponsored by BLS OPO.

Advent Group Ministries is a Christian-based agency whose purpose is to meet the needs of troubled and abused youth and adults through Christian love and therapeutic services. Their foster homes are safe and healthy families ministering to children who have been removed from their own homes. Their Recovery Group Homes provide residential treatment for addicted and emotionally disturbed youth. Their Counseling Center offers low-cost professional mental health therapy for families and individuals. For more information on Advent volunteer opportunities, see their web site at www.adventgm.com, or call 1-800-982-3836.

Bethel School in Himo, Tanzania, was started by Pastor Godbless Mamkwe and his wife, Neema, to serve the AIDS orphans in their area. The school has both a preschool and primary school. 70% of the 200 students are AIDS orphans on scholarship.

Bread for the World is a nonpartisan citizen’s movement comprised of 50,000 people of faith, including 2500 churches. BFW seeks justice as a Christian voice for ending hunger. Members lobby Congress on legislation that addresses hunger in communities around the world.
Scheduled Offerings of Letters events are held in the Welcome Zone. Look for upcoming dates in the announcements. Stop by after services to write a letter to your senator or representative. Sample letters, envelopes, stamps, address labels, and paper are provided. Contact Jackie Jones for more information.

CIC (Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy) is a non profit agency formed in 1962 by Council of Churches and Evangelical Association to serve inmates, officers, and staff in the Santa Clara County jails and juvenile facilities. CIC Ministries depends on donations from local congregations and individuals to bring the Good News of the gospel to those behind bars.
CIC’s Programs Provide:

• Weekly Bible Study provided by volunteers in the community
• Coordination of Special Events (such as concerts, weddings, etc.)

Crop Walk is a community-based fund raising event sponsored by Church World Service to raise money for hunger relief within our local community and throughout the world. 25% of the funds donated in the South Bay go directly to Second Harvest Food Bank and Sacred Heart Community Service.
We sign up walkers and sponsors at Bethel for a 1-mile or 5-mile walk. In previous years, Bethel signed up 24 walkers who raised $3,010 (incl. matching Thrivent funds.) Watch for details about the next Annual South Bay CROP Walk (held in the Spring) in the Sunday bulletin. For more information contact Lois Brouillette.

Since 1990 Bethel Youth have taken an Alternative Spring Break and traveled to Tijuana, Mexico to join forces with Esperanza International, or “Hope”, an organization that works to build houses, schools and centers for the local community. Bethel volunteers work side by side with low-income families and the Esperanza staff, mixing concrete, pouring tiles and beams, digging trenches, and a host of other challenging work. In the process, families learn the building process, which helps make their community more self-sufficient, and Bethel volunteers practice their Spanish, and touch the lives of our neighbors south of the border.

In 1995, due to popular demand, an Adult Trip was added. This is scheduled for 3 to 4 days in the Sep–Oct timeframe. Both drive or drive/fly options are available. These three days of work, laughter, growth and fun lead to changed lives on both sides of the border. Contact Tom Hoegel for more information.

First Immanuel Clothes Closet

Habitat for Humanity (Silicon Valley) works in partnership with low-income families to build affordable, decent housing in Santa Clara County. Volunteers work side by side with homeowner families, using current skills or learning new ones. Bethel volunteers helped to complete 3 homes on Gianera St. in Santa Clara in July 2004. Watch for details in the bulletin for information on how you can help build homes in the upcoming months. Contact Dale Jones.

Help One Child is a local ministry to children in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties who have been abandoned, abused, drug exposed, or endangered. Their primary goal is to encourage individuals and families in the Christian community to become licensed foster parents. Help One Child provides a network of support to these children and families, and teaches congregations how to be part of this network. Bethel participates in the annual Help One Child walk-a-thon, funds camperships for foster families to attend Mt. Cross, and helps with their annual holiday party in December. Volunteers are needed in December to help with the annual Christmas party. Contact Jackie Jones for more information.

The Lord’s Pantry is a nonprofit, emergency food program located at 121 S. White Road in San Jose on the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church campus. They are an agency of Second Harvest Food Bank, and provide groceries to families in need by referral. The Lord’s Pantry accepts donations of food, and is looking for volunteers to help sort and bag food on a part-time basis. Each week Bethel members donate food, using the large donation bin in the narthex. Volunteers are needed to transport these non-perishable items to the Lord’s Pantry each Monday morning. To sort and bag food at the Lord’s Pantry, contact Martha Perez via the church office. To help deliver food from Bethel to the Lord’s Pantry, contact Lois Brouillette.

Put your faith into action by hosting an LWR Fair Trade Fair in your congregation or community with fairly traded handcrafts from around the world. Every sale benefits the artisans who create these products—and your congregation and community members get high-quality, beautiful crafts. See www.lwr.org/fairtrade.

The MaaSae Girls Lutheran Secondary School (MGLSS) is a residential high school (Forms 1-6) for young women from pastoral tribes, such as Maasai, located in Monduli, Tanzania. Funding and scholarships for the school are administered by Operation Bootstrap Africa.

From time to time, members of Bethel have organized trips to aid with mission work in Tanzania.

Mount Cross was dedicated in 1948 by a group of Lutheran pastors seeking a venue for youth to explore the outdoors and their faith. In addition to financial support, Bethel holds our annual Labor Day Retreat at Mt Cross. Our first LDR was held in 1959, and we have been going every year since. For more information visit the Mount Cross website.

The New Life Band serves the youth of Tanzania through youth camps, school visits, conferences and concerts, and also through their new secondary school and vocational training Center in Arusha, Tanzania.

The Bethel quilters create and send hundreds of quilts locally and all over the world all year.

Family Supportive Housing (San Jose Family Shelter) provides temporary housing and assistance for homeless families in Santa Clara Co. The shelter serves more than 150 families each year; over two-thirds of its residents are children. In addition to housing in individual family units, 3 meals per day, infant and toddler care, and Head Start schooling, the shelter provides counseling, employment and housing search assistance, access to computers, parenting and life-skills classes, and aftercare case management for families who have left the shelter.
Every other month, a meal team from Bethel provides groceries and cooks breakfast at the shelter. Volunteers are needed for these breakfasts (watch for specific dates in the announcements) and also for the Turkey Drive conducted by Bethel in November, which provides aftercare families with a Thanksgiving meal.
To help with a Sunday breakfast or the Turkey Drive, contact Deirdre Lum. For additional volunteer opportunities at the shelter, contact Nikki Orina, Volunteer Coordinator/Community Resource Specialist via the church office.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties is a private, nonprofit organization that collects and distributes more than 26 million pounds of food each year to low-income children, adults and seniors. The Food Bank currently serves an average of 167,200 people each month; nearly 60 % are families with dependent children. Second Harvest relies on the commitment of the local community to help in its fight against hunger. Volunteers are needed at the warehouse to verify, sort, label, and repack food for distribution.
Bethel participates in food sorting at the warehouse several Saturdays a year. Watch the bulletin for upcoming dates and details. For additional volunteer opportunities at Second Harvest, visit their web site at www.shfb.org. For participation with other Bethel volunteers, contact Jackie Jones.

Throughout the year, there are opportunities where worship will be in service to others and the community. On these Sundays, we begin with an abbreviated worship service at 9:00am and then go forth in service for the day. Watch for dates for this important ministry.

Contact Eleanor Incerpi to find out how you can help with various programs that have been created to help and serve the senior residents of Sunny View Retirement Community in Cupertino.

Sunnyvale FISH Junque Sale is an annual event held at St. John’s Lutheran Church (corner of Manet Dr. and East Fremont Ave. in Sunnyvale.) Each year Bethel volunteers bring donations of their upscale “junque” (such as toys, books, telephones, kitchen gadgets, clothes, tableware, sports equipment, etc.— no furniture, TVs or computers) to St. John’s several days before the sale. Volunteer workers are needed before, during and after the sale. Watch the bulletin and newsletter for exact dates, and contact Lois Brouillette for more information. Sunnyvale FISH is an organization sponsored by the Sunnyvale Area Ecumenical Parish. Their work is supported by more than 20 congregations in the community. Sunnyvale FISH provides emergency assistance, such as food and clothing, to people who cannot afford them.

West Valley Community Services, Inc. (WVCS) is a private non-profit, community based agency that has been providing direct assistance and referral services to the community for more than 35 years. We provide a continuum of basic needs, housing assistance and family support services including: information and referrals, food, clothing, shelter, affordable housing, financial assistance and case management.