Vary annually
Children’s Cross Connection
Heifer Project
Habitat for Humanity
HomeStretch
Marybeth Vaughan
(678) 297-7606

Ever get tired of shopping for that impossible gift for the person who has everything? Northminster has the answer! Our Alternative Gift Mall provides practical gifts for mission-related groups that you can purchase and donate in someone’s name. These gifts range from inexpensive to generous. In the past two years NPC members have provided: nails, windows and doors to Habitat for Humanity; pajamas, medicines, and plane tickets to Children's Cross Connection; meals, gloves and milk to Atlanta's homeless; goats, chickens and bees to Heifer Project, and so much more. Each year the organizations represented change.
 
The Alternative Gift Mall is held one Sunday afternoon in November for 3-4 hours.  Purchases in advance are also gladly accepted.  Checks are sent to the organizations and gift cards are provided for the honorees.

Carol Millard
(770) 754-6217

Atlanta Ministry with International Students (AMIS) provides friendship and hospitality to the more than 5,500 international students from 140 nations studying at colleges and universities in the metro-Atlanta area. AMIS is a French word that means "friends" and symbolizes our mission.
 
We connect international students with "host" families and individuals in a number of different ways, providing students with opportunities for meaningful and personal relationships with American families and individuals.
 
Since March 1978, we have built friendship and hospitality bridges with over 50,000 students. Many of these personal relationships still exist today.
 
Northminster members can host international students during Christmas holidays.
 
Click here to view the AMIS web site.

North Fulton Community Charities
Laurie Bass
(770) 993-3152

Northminster erects a Christmas tree in November and decorates it with tags listing gift items for all ages.  Members of the congregation are encouraged to take a tag, purchase the item, and place it under the tree unwrapped.  The gifts are collected for 3-4 weeks and delivered to NFCC two weeks before Christmas.  Items frequently in demand include toys, books, games, videotapes, hair dryers, cologne, jewelry, fingernail polish, underwear, socks, sweat suits, etc.  We have chosen to highlight helping teenagers as they quite often seem to be over looked at this time of year.

The main ministry of CCC-I is to provide training to medical professionals in third world countries.  This mission is accomplished in two ways.
 
First, US medical professionals travel to third world countries to provide instruction in evaluation and surgical intervention.  This allows evaluation of resources in the country and training needs within the hospital.
 
Secondly, medical professional are brought to the US for training lasting from two weeks to three months.  When the professional comes to the US a child in need of medical attention accompanies them, and receives evaluation and appropriate treatment.
 
Members of NPC have taken children into their homes on a temporary basis, transported them to and from doctor appointments, and visited them while they were in the hospital.  These children need a lot of tender loving care while they are away from home and undergoing surgery.  You may contact Marybeth Vaughan to ask her about her experience in this wonderful and fulfilling mission.
 
Click here to view the Children's Cross Connection web site.

Northminster places a decorated Christmas tree in the Narthex in July. It is decorated with tags listing school supplies.  Members of the congregation are encouraged to take a tag, purchase the items while doing back to school shopping, and place school supplies under the tree.  The supplies are collected for 3-4 weeks, assembled by school level (elementary, middle, high) members and delivered to North Fulton Community Charities. Although the list of items is somewhat limited, all donations are delivered.  The basic items include markers, crayons, scissors, glue sticks, wide-ruled paper, folders, spiral notebooks, erasers, pencils, pens, index cards, rulers, calculators and binders.

Presbyterians have long celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ by giving generously to a Christmas season offering. Fifty percent of the receipts to the Christmas Joy Offering are distributed to the Board of Pensions for assistance programs that provide support to retired and active church workers and their spouses and families. The other fifty percent supports Presbyterian-related racial ethnic schools and colleges through the National Ministries Division of the General Assembly Council.
 
Click here to view the PC(USA) web site.

Northminster began to offer ESOL courses shortly after the Ebenezer Brazilian Christian Church entered into a ministry partnership with our congregation.  The first joint project with our new partners was to establish a program to assist members of the local Brazilian Community who wished to learn the English language. The first pilot class was established in March, 2001 with six students. Since then, two additional classes have been established and we could easily set up at least three more tomorrow if there were tutors available.
 
It is not difficult to help with this program. We ask that you take one evening a week to help someone learn to speak and read English. It is absolutely not a requirement that you be bi-lingual.  There are no formal class times or schedules; however, it is a good practice to meet once a week. The time and place is worked out between you and your student(s).  If you would like to teach at Northminster, you will need to coordinate it with the Church Office to make sure that space is available.  You do not need to have prior experience in this area, our certified instructors can offer suggestions and help on how to teach.  Classes have been ranging in size from one to six students.  Husbands and wives can easily “tag teach” a course.  The only requirements are the desire to help someone and the desire to make new friends.  Feel free to visit any Sunday evening at 5:00.

Northminster is assigned three months of the year to collect non-perishable food items for NFCC.  At the end of each of these months, all the food is delivered to their food pantry.  NFCC distributes the food to families in immediate need at no charge.  The most desirable donations include canned fruit and vegetables, canned soups, boxed cereal, boxed pasta, pasta sauce in jars, peanut butter and jelly, rice, beans, tuna, canned meat, laundry detergent, soap, toilet paper, toothpaste, baby diapers, etc.

Foster Care Support Group Foundation, Inc. is an all-volunteer community resource dedicated to helping provide clothing, toys, and equipment such as cribs, car seats, strollers, and high chairs, to foster families and foster children in Georgia. We accept donations from those caring enough to give. The children that visit our center receive a dress outfit, four everyday outfits, new underwear and socks, new shoes and a coat (winter), (bathing suit in the summer months), toys and books. Infants can receive a crib, car seat, stroller, and a supply of necessary equipment to keep them safe and comfy as our own.
 
By giving the children updated clothing and supplies, we are able to raise their self-esteem and they can proceed through their young years feeling good about themselves regardless of their unfortunate situation.
 
Volunteers from the surrounding communities, churches and schools run the donation center. We are the only known resource for at-risk basic care foster children in the state of Georgia. Our donation center houses 70 sizes of clothes, diapers, toys, cribs, strollers and an array of necessary equipment needed to help raise a child.
 
Distribution & Donation Center:
1240 Alpharetta Street
Roswell GA  30076
 
Click here to visit the Foster Care web site.

Northminster has participated jointly with Ebenezer Brazilian Christian Church on two International Mission Trips to the Amazon Region of Brazil. Our “away team” of Northminster and Ebenezer representatives helped with a building project, evangelized in the villages, participated in worship with the Presbyterian Church of Manaus and mission to young and old villagers they met in small villages on the river.
 
This week long boat trip covers various Amazon Regions that the Presbyterian Church of Manaus considers its Mission Field.  The Brazilian church has planted 175 new churches in the past 8 years.  Their goal is 200 new churches in a 10 year period.
 
“Home Team” involvement includes assisting in collection of gifts, prayer partners, prayer calendars, communications coordinators, etc.
 
Click here to view the Igreja Presbiteriana de Manaus site.

Habitat for Humanity is a 25-year-old organization headquartered in Americus, Georgia whose purpose is to eliminate substandard housing in the United States. There are chapters all across the country and on many college campuses. It is a faith-based, Christian organization. The organization closely interviews the eligibility of each applicant seeking a new home. They must meet specific criterion regarding steady employment, income level, family size, and attitude towards the responsibility of home ownership, willingness to work 250 construction hours on a Habitat House, and attend homeowner information classes for one year.  The homeowner will make monthly payments on a low cost, interest free loan.
 
The full house cost is $85,000 – $95,000 (North Fulton County area), so Northminster always co-sponsors with several other groups and maintains our contribution at about $5,000. The houses are built on a slab and the lot is graded. We will help with the entire house from slab to finish except for electrical, plumbing, and heating/air conditioning systems.
 
There are generally 30 workers at the house each Saturday; 20 volunteers, five Habitat employees, and up to five members of the new homeowner’s family. Northminster is entitled to provide about five of the volunteers each day.
 
Metro Atlanta, Gwinnett County, North Fulton and Cobb County each have a chapter. To date, Northminster has maintained a relationship with North Fulton Habitat.
 
Click here to view the Habitat for Humanity web site.

Homestretch is a program designed to provide assistance to homeless families during times of transition. Minimal funding is provided by Northminster to get families into a temporary home, but the bulk of the outreach is through guidance and education.  A task force of core members is formed to work with the same family throughout the transition with the goal of successful “graduation” to self-sufficiency.
 
Members of Northminster are trained to fill the following roles: Homestretch Team Coordinator, Resource Coordinator, Maintenance Coordinator, Financial Counselor, and family mentors. The member filling the Financial Counselor position requires additional training provided by Homestretch.
 
Click here to view the HomeStretch web site.

Northminster participates jointly with Ebenezer Brazilian Christian Church on our annual International Mission Trip. We visit villages in the Amazon Region of Brazil. Our “away team” of Northminster and Ebenezer representatives works with the members and ministers of the Presbyterian Church of Manaus. A week is spent on a boat on the Amazon River. We visit villages along the river helping with building projects, worship services, Bible school for the children and evangelizing.  Our “home team” acts as prayer partners and help to collect medicine, clothing, toys and money to take to Brazil.
 
Click here to view the Igreja Presbiteriana de Manaus site.

Sam and Julie Hawkins opened The Love Link in 1986 in response to the overwhelming number of starving babies in El Salvador. They have opened a “Baby House”, staffed by nannies, who care for as many as thirty babies at a time.  These babies come from poor rural families with little knowledge of the needs of an infant.
 
The babies are taken in, fed and nurtured back to health.  The mothers are given instruction in caring for their babies. The goal is to return a healthy baby to its mother, who is capable of caring for him.

Since 1949, Presbyterians have joined with millions of other Christians through One Great Hour of Sharing to share God’s love with people experiencing need. Our gifts support ministries of disaster response, refugee assistance and resettlement, and community development that help people find safe refuge, start new lives, and work together to strengthen their families and communities. Recognizing that the hope we have in Christ is lived out in our hope for one another, we respond with gifts that help our sisters and brothers around the world find the hope for a brighter future.
 
Distribution of Receipts
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance receives 36 percent of undesignated One Great Hour of Sharing gifts, while Self-Development of People and the Presbyterian Hunger Program each receive 32 percent.
 
When received
Most congregations receive the offering on Easter Sunday, Palm Sunday, or both, while many receive it throughout Lent.
 
Click here to view the PC(USA) web site.

As part of our prospective member welcome activities, pound cakes are delivered to visitors after the 11:15 a.m. service each Sunday. Visitor information is obtained from the green forms on the visitor's table or registration forms from the red pads that include an address. Volunteers are needed to bake the cakes and make deliveries. Bakers are asked to bake 2 loaf size cakes once a quarter. These may be made ahead of time and placed in the freezer.  One to three families are recruited to make deliveries each Sunday. The number of visitors varies, but the average is four per week. You can volunteer for either job or both. This is a great opportunity to meet new folks in the area and welcome them to our community.

Christmas in April is an organization that provides helping hands to individuals with their home and property. Tasks vary from mission to mission, but this list will give you an idea of what may be involved: raking and bagging leaves, pruning bushes, cleaning and painting gutters, repairing fences, painting in general (shutters, trim, exterior walls), pressure washing, planting flowers, etc.  We take care of the jobs that elderly, ill or disabled folks just can’t physically do. We use 15 to 20 volunteers (ages 9 and up) for most of a day (8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.).

Safe Havens for Children is sponsored by the Georgia Presbytery in collaboration with the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services. The purpose is to enable weekly visitation for children in foster care with their birth parents with the ultimate goal of reuniting families. Otherwise, these families, on the average, have one opportunity to meet per month, often at an inconvenient time and in uninviting atmospheres under the observation of their caseworkers. Northminster will join other Presbyterian churches in providing weekly opportunities for these families to meet in a comfortable environment, encouraging the maintenance of the parent-child-sibling bond. Volunteers are needed to greet and escort the families to their meeting rooms and to observe the families, providing their written observations to DFACS. Initially, Northminster will provide a visitation for one and one-half hours on a week night and eventually add another visitation on Saturdays. Please contact Leslie about scheduling the training sessions.

Small groups and families at NPC will again support the First Presbyterian Women's Shelter in Atlanta off Peachtree and 16th Street, by providing a meal one Sunday a month beginning in December, 2005. The women are very grateful for the love, care, friendship and conversation that we provide. Food preparation is for 14(12 guests + 2 stay volunteers. They ask that the meal be hearty, as it's probably the only true meal the women will get that day. If you want to bring wrapped breakfast items or snacks for the next morning those are greatly appreciated.
 
Stay volunteers are also in great need and many find this work to be very rewarding. You will be put with an experienced volunteer for your first time. Please contact Gail Ramey at 404-228-7767 for more information on spending the night at the shelter.