The Foundation for Hispanic and Latino Ministry (FHLM) has teamed up with The Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (SPCK) to fund Vacation Bible Schools in Cuba. With a special grant given to SPCK, FHLM was able to fund three Vacation Bible Schools which together have served almost 200 children. The topics of the summer programs ranged from “The Role of the Bible in Daily Life” to “The Love Jesus Christ has for families”. The funds helped to cover the costs of food and supplies. Religious education in parishes and missions is vital to the growth of the Episcopal Church in Cuba because the government does not allow religious schools to operate.

Below is a letter from the priest of a parish in Santiago de Cuba:

Dear Brother,

I am the Rev. Halbert from Santiago de Cuba. I am sending you some photos of what is happening in the camp to our joy. This has been something formidable, although we have surpassed the quantity of participants; we had planned and hoped for 70 people between kids and adults and each day we are 100! But God is good and has provided all that we need. We are working a great deal but we are happy.

A hug to you and I am thankful for you help

Halbert.

You can support this mission by going to www.spckusa.org and clicking on MAKE A DONATION.

John Ogden, a trustee of SPCK/USA and a member of the support team of Episcopal Church Web Hosting (ECWH) announces that their first web site in the Philippines is active. ECWH is an all-volunteer mission of SPCK/USA in partnership with Dragon Networks. ECWH provides free web assistance and hosting to Episcopal organizations.

Hello,

I am member of the parish of St. James Episcopal Church in Talisay City, Cebu, Philippines. We are a very small church trying to reach out to Episcopalians and Anglicans in the community. Our Rector, Reverend Manuel Manuel B. Gunzi asked for my help in creating a website for our church. We have a registered domain name, Episcopal-cebu.info

Can you please help us with the hosting?

God Bless

Pete Onni

For many years SPCK/USA has worked with Brother Peter Daino to provide Good News Bibles for orphans in Malawi. Certainly there are Good News Bibles out there that you or your parish might be willing to donated to the orphans in Karonga, Malawi. Just remember to send a donation with your Bibles to help cover the cost of shipping.

We just received the following letter from Bro Daino:

“Blessings and greetings from Karonga, Malawi!

I pray that everything is going well for you in Tennessee. We are working hard here in Karonga and believe that we are making a real impact on the people we are trying to serve.

I am writing to you again to see if you have any funds available this year to donate another 300 or so Good News Bibles. We have greatly appreciated and really put to use the ones that you sent us in the past and were hoping you would be able to assist us again this year.

If you are able and willing to help us again this year, please let me know at you convenience.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support.

Peace,
Peter Daino
Lusubilo Orphan Care Project

Another container leaves for Liberia for the port in Charleston on October 20th. Through The Rev James Yarsiah, St Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Charleston, SPCK/USA was asked to donate theological books from the Adopt-A-Seminary Program. SPCK/USA’s Executive Director and her husband worked for three days in the warehouse sorting and packing books for the Seth C Edwards Theological Institute covering: theololgy, Old & New Testament studies, pastoral theology, systematic theology, church history, spirituality, Anglican history, and books on philosophy, psychology, anthropology. Over 1248 books were packed in 37 boxes and shipped to the port in Charleston. Just today we received an email from Fr James, “On behalf of the Liberian Episcopal Clergy in the USA (LECUSA), I wish to thank you, your husband and others … for the theolgoical books for Liberia … the books have arrived.”

Weston Vogel is a trustee of SPCK/USA and lives in the Diocese of Bethlehem.

At the Annual Meeting of SPCK/USA in April 2008, Wes asked if the Board would consider getting involved in providing Christian resources to the Diocese of Kajo-Keji in the Sudan. A motion was passed which reads, “To support as a new project, at no cost to SPCK/USA, the Diocese of Bethlehem (PA) in their on-going project in Kajo-Keji.” Just this past week SPCK/USA packed and is ready to ship to the Diocese of Bethlehem 100 Bibles, vestments, and children’s books to their distribution warehouse to be shipped to Kajo-Keji.

Bill Lewellis, Communication Minister, in the Diocese of Bethlehem writes, “Five years ago, Bishop Paul Marshall asked Charlie Barebo to help spearhead a capital campaign to develop a camp and conference center for the Diocese of Bethlehem. “A funny thing happened on the way,” said Barebo. “I woke up one morning in the Sudan.”

A global traveler as CEO of Otterbine Barebo, Inc., Barebo said it was no less than a “life-changing event that has deepened my faith and forever altered my outlook on this world.”

Parishes throughout the 14-county northeastern Pennsylvania diocese launched New Hope during the last two Sundays of September. By that time, more than half of the $3.6 million goal had already been raised through advance gifts, said Barebo who chairs the New Hope capital campaign, but not for a camp and conference center.

“We have begun something unique,” said Bishop Marshall, “a capital campaign for others and an extra mile toward the Millennium Development Goals. Some 75% of the money raised will help the destitute in Sudan; 25% will provide grants to enable parishes in our diocese to expand projects and develop new initiatives to serve the needy in northeastern Pennsylvania. Our diocese, institutionally, will not benefit from this effort.”

“We are responding to the request of the Diocese of Kajo Keji for assistance in building the educational and organizational centers that will allow them to provide for their own future,” said the bishop. “Through revolving micro-finance funds, enterprising individuals, largely women, will be able to make a new start in a war-torn country.”

Bethlehem has had a partnership relationship with the Diocese of Kajo Keji for the past seven years. Ten missioners have been deeply affected by their visits with sisters ann brothers in southern Sudan.

Just in the past month the volunteers and seminarians that help with the Adopt-A-Seminary program of SPCK/USA have processed donations of over 1,800 theological books with a value of over $20,000. To each and every donor, it is so gratifying to us who work with this program to see theological books coming to us from around the country! We know you treasure your books and, we appreciate you entrusting them to SPCK/USA. Your books will enrich the lives of many in Bible Colleges, schools, and seminaries around the world. These books have come to our warehouse from around the country:

St James Episcopal Church, Salem, NY
Laurel Stewart, Springfield, MA
Education Liturgy Resources, Oxford, NC
Decherd Presbyterian Church, Decherd, TN
Christ Episcopal Church, Mena, AR
The Rev Dominic Ciannella, Great River, NY
Virginia Flinn, St Simons Island, GA
The Rev Susan Grimm, Clarksville, VA
The Rev Loreen Reed, Madison, GA
The Rev Dr Joe Monti, Sewanee, TN
The Rev Frederick A Buechner, Thomasville, GA
The Rev Robert Spangler, Arden, NC
Cokesbury – United Methodist Publishing, Charleston, WV
St Andrew’s Church, New London, NH
Church of the Holy Family, Park Forest, IL
Grace Episcopal Church, Mt Meigs, AL
Ms Sandra Allen, Montgomery, AL
The Rev Dwight Ogier, Roswell, GA
The Rt Rev William Folwell, Hendersonville, NC
Ellen Riley, Tuskagee, NC

God’s peace to each of you!

SPCK/USA received the following letter from The Rev James Yarsiah, rector of St Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC. SPCK has worked with Fr James since early 2004 in providing theological books, children’s Christian education materials, and vestments to the Episcopal Church in Liberia. Now another container is being prepared for shipment. The new bishop of Liberia has asked athan B. B. Hart. He was consecrated on February 2, 2008. He has made this request for 1940 Hymnals. Check your parish, your diocese, your own library – if you have any to donate to this shipment, please call SPCK/USA or email us at spck@sewanee.edu.

“I’m writing to inform you that the Church Pension Fund of TEC has planned to pay for the shipping of a 20 foot freight container to Liberia. They are sending some 1982 Hymnals, Prayer Books, Lift Every Voice and Sing II (African American Hymnals), and theological books to Cuttington University College. They have asked our organization, the Liberian Episcopal Clergy in the USA (LECUSA) to collaborate with them and solicit used 1979 BCPs, 1940 & 1982 Hymnals, Bibles, commentaries, Interpreters Bibles, theological books, used vestments, altar linens, etc., for the Episcopal Church of Liberia.

In view of the above, I am kindly asking SPCK/USA, through your office to donate some of these items to be shipped to Liberia in late October 2008. Liberia currently has a new Bishop, Jonathan B.B. Hart. He was consecrated on February 2, 2008. He has made this request to us to assist him and the church in Liberia during this period of rebuilding and empowerment, after 14 years of civil war.

I am prepared to work out the means of transporting the donated items from Cowan, Tennessee to Charleston, South Carolina. If the items are packed ahead of time, then we can arrange transportation. I hope that we can work on this project in September or early October.

Blessings,
Fr. James

Twenty-eight youth and four adults from St Andrew’s (Jackson, MS), the Cathedral in the City, descended on the Sewanee mountain this week. Led by the Dean of the Cathedral, The Very Rev Edward O’Connor, these virbrant and exciting youth spent 2 1/2 hours working in the SPCK/USA warehouse. What can 28 youth and 4 adults do in that amount of time?
* Five shipments totaling over 300 books were prepared to go to the Caribbean, Ghana, and Uganda
* 30 boxes of books received from parishes and individuals were upacked (over 500 books) and shelved
* each young person wrote a personal letter to go with the shipments telling a little about themselves and their walk with Christ
The Very Rev Edward O’Connor graduated from The School of Theology-Sewanee. While he was in seminary he did work-study with the SPCK/USA Adopt-A-Seminary program. Almost every year, since he has graduated, he has brought the youth group from his parish to volunteer with the program.

To all the young people from St Andrew’s Cathedral and adult sponsors – thank you for blessing SPCK/USA with your presence.

SPCK/USA received the following letter from IWS:

Dear Patti Joy,

I hope you are doing well and your ministry is continuing to thrive. Thank you once again for the additional books you have given to IWS … You and SPCK have been such an incredible blessing to us in helping us establish our library. We are somewhere around 8,500 volumes now, and SPCK/USA played a significant role in making it all happen. Thank you!!

When we get the additional volumes we will send a more official letter with the number of volumes indicated … With your assistance, IWS has done well in resource development, and the accrediting association was impressed with our current collection. We have retained a (very) part-time MLS librarian and a seminary student as library assistant.

Again, thank you for your encouragement and support of IWS.

Grace and peace,
Dr James P. Hart
President, The Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies
Orange Park, FL