Make an Impact
Messiah Church is a church of compassion and community outreach. Members and friends of Messiah devote their time and talents to support local, national and global missions. From serving at the local food shelf to traveling to developing countries we serve through mission, there is a place for you to get involved! Sign up for any of these service opportunities and community outreach programs at the Missions Table in our lobby. For more information, contact Linda Seaton, Missions Committee Co-Chair.
Messiah Church is committed to supporting several organizations consistently and long-term. Each month, we do a “Second Mile Offering” to support a specific organization, and when you visit for the first time, you can elect to have Messiah make a donation to one of several organizations on your behalf.
Current Needs & Volunteer Opportunities
Helping Haiti Work
Our October “Second Mile Offering” supports Helping Haiti Work, a non-profit that enables Haitian women to acquire small business loans to grow their enterprises, as well as enable women with seamstress skills to construct reusable menstrual pad kits for distribution in their community. Since 2012, Helping Haiti Work has granted over 320 microloans and sold menstrual pad kits and reusable diapers totaling $18,000. Both of these projects provide women with a steady source of income so that they are able to pay for their children’s education as well as household supplies. Messiah women have supplied materials for the seamstresses as well as constructed some of the kits that are sold in Haiti. For more information on Helping Haiti Work visit www.helpinghaitiwork.org.
Give throughout the month of October, online by selecting “Second Mile Offering,” or in person with cash or checks designated for Helping Haiti Work.
Make a Difference Day 2018
Join us for Make a Difference Day – Saturday, October 27! We’ll be deploying servants into the surrounding community to Make a Difference in the lives of our neighbors by sharing the love of Christ. Sign up to serve as an individual, a family or with your friends. There’s something for every age & skill level. With YOUR help, we can reach our goal of 150 individuals serving on this special day! YOU can Make a Difference! Click here to see the list of opportunities and sign up today!
Pack a Box of Love
Christmas Shoeboxes (in partnership with Spirit Lake Ministry Center) go to children in the Dakotas and Minnesota who might not otherwise receive a holiday gift. Wrapped shoeboxes are now available for pick-up at the Missions Table in the lobby. Simple instructions and labels are included in each box, or click on the links. This is a fun project for families, Prayer Partners and mentors and confirmands. Filled boxes are due back by Sunday, October 28. Contact Evie with questions or visit SpiritLakeMinistryCenter.org.
The Great Birthday Book Shelf Challenge
Each year at Oakwood Elementary School, every student celebrates their birthday by choosing a book to keep as a gift from the Birthday Book Shelf. In honor of Messiah’s 150th Anniversary, we’d like to help restock their Birthday Book Shelf by collecting at least 150 new books, now through Sunday, October 28. Click here for a list of popular series and authors for elementary students.
Holiday Gift Program
It’s not too early to begin thinking about the holidays! Each year, Interfaith Outreach‘s Holiday Gift Program matches 500 in-need families of varying sizes with sponsors who provide gifts or financial support for gifts in December. Can you help make the holidays a little brighter for our neighbors? Click here to learn more, become a sponsor or volunteer. Please sign up by Thursday, November 1:
- Become a Sponsor – Sponsor registration is officially open. You will be matched with a family or individual by late October so we can provide you with their wish list.
- Volunteer – Holiday Gift Program is 100% volunteer-led. Can you volunteer to help with family registration October and November or distribution in December?
6th Annual Imara International Gala
Join us for the 6th Annual Imara International Gala and annual fundraiser on Sunday, November 4, 5:30-8:30 pm, Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West, 3131 Campus Drive, Plymouth. Come for dinner, silent auction, 50/50 raffle, Kenyan Market, Key Note speaker and Imara’s Executive Director, Carol Erickson…and a few “surprises!” Carol will share the many celebrations that have taken place at Imara. Imara empowers Kenyan women through education to build a self-sufficient future for themselves, their children, and their community. Help give these girls hope and healing with your attendance. Tickets are $60 per guest (includes $30 donation) or $400 for a table for 8, and are available by clicking here. Please RSVP by Friday, October 26. For more information on Imara, visit www.imarainternational.org.
Early Response Basic Training
Interested in volunteering for hurricane relief through UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) or responding to local natural disasters? Become an Emergency Response Team (ERT) member! This training gives you the credentials and skills to enter disaster-torn areas. The next Early Response Basic Training and Re-Certification Course is Saturday, November 10, 8 am-4:30 pm (deadline to register is Thursday, November 8) at Fairmont UMC, 119 E 2nd Street, Fairmont. Click here for more information and to register. Or contact Linda Seaton with questions – she attended this training last year.
Shop for Critical Shelter Needs for Simpson Shelter
Current needs include: cereal, coffee, new or gently used towels, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, razors, shaving cream, and men’s boxers, white t-shirts and woman’s bras in all sizes. Please drop off your donations at the Missions Table in the lobby. Click here for more information on Simpson Shelter or contact Gerry at (952) 484-2888.
Interfaith Outreach Volunteer Opportunities
Interfaith Outreach is always looking for volunteers – no experience required! Find fulfilling and fun opportunities to give back:
- Resale Select (urgent need!) – Volunteers are greatly needed to cashier at our store, assist customers, or sort incoming donations. Help especially needed on afternoon shifts, Tuesday-Saturday, 1:15-5:15 pm. Flexible schedule! Sign up online when you want to volunteer, after you’ve been trained in.
- After-School Mentor – Provide social and emotional support to elementary students through academic or enrichment programming at Interfaith Outreach Neighborhood Program Housing Communities. 2-4 times per month with a minimum 1 semester commitment.
- Resource Center & Academic Support Mentor – Provide resources (for job applications, college prep, technology access, etc.) and academic support for students in middle or high school. 2-4 times per month, Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays – late afternoons.
Interested in helping? Contact Najmo at (763) 489-7505. For more information on these and other Interfaith Outreach volunteer opportunities, visit iocp.org/volunteer. Interfaith Outreach is located at 1605 County Road 101 N., Plymouth.
Local Missions
Bloom Early Learning & Child Care
Bloom is an accredited, award-winning, non-profit early learning center housed in Messiah Church. Because poverty early in life is a proven barrier to success later on, Bloom passionately strives to break the cycle at the start through nurturing care and exceptional early learning programs.
By providing scholarship assistance to half the children in our center, Bloom enables low-income single mothers and families to work or pursue education to improve their futures while giving their children the best possible start in their lives.
- Serving children 6 weeks through Pre-K
- Providing a nurturing, safe and intimate environment
- Using values-based programs and excellent curriculum with stellar outcomes
- Dedicating 50% of enrollment spots to children from families living under the poverty level in the Plymouth/Wayzata area
Our Shirley Robinson Scholarship Fund is a memorial to the wife of former Messiah Church pastor, Rollie Robinson, who originally challenged his congregation to help break the cycle of poverty through the provision of high quality, affordable early learning and child care. Gifts from individual donors, grants and fundraising events, as well as those from corporations, public organizations and faith communities, help Bloom assist children of low-income families. Contact Mary Olsen at (763) 449-0600 or visit www.bloomearlylearning.org.
Interfaith Outreach
Messiah Church has been an important partner in Interfaith Outreach’s efforts on behalf of the community to serve at-risk families in Hamel, Long Lake, Medicine Lake, Minnetonka Beach, Orono, Plymouth and Wayzata. For opportunities to get involved, contact Linda Seaton.
Interfaith Outreach was launched in 1979 by a small group of believers who envisioned a way for our community to respond to the unmet needs of struggling families and individuals in our midst, and to help them move toward self-sufficiency. From its modest beginnings in a church basement with no budget and a volunteer staff, Interfaith Outreach has grown to a sophisticated direct service provider and respected community catalyst. To learn more about Interfaith Outreach, visit www.IOCP.org.
Habitat for Humanity
A Christian non-profit organization, supported in the Twin Cities by Messiah UMC for more than 20 years. Habitat provides guidance, materials and volunteers to help owners restore their houses, protecting their investment in the home and restoring pride of ownership. Additionally, Messiah supports, “Brush with Kindness,” a ministry of Habitat to help 125 families each year to rehab their homes. Habitat is supported at Messiah through volunteer workdays periodically throughout the year.
For more information, please call the church office at (763) 473-6968. To learn more about Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, visit www.tchabitat.org.
Simpson Housing Services
Messiah partners with Simpson Housing Services by providing many service opportunities including serving meals at the Emergency Shelter, working as an overnight volunteer at the Emergency Shelter and tutoring children. They are also in continuous need of donations such as socks, T-shirts, underwear, toothpaste, toothbrushes and deodorant.
For more information on Simpson housing services contact our office at (763) 473-6968, or visit www.simpsonhousing.org.
The mission of Simpson Housing Services is to provide free shelter and affordable housing with support services to homeless men, women and children. They assist individuals and families in their effort to improve their life situations and advocate for their human and civil rights.
The Simpson Center for Servant Ministries (Simpson CSM)
Simpson CSM is a ministry that seeks to cultivate holistic vitality in the urban community by building relationships with neighbors and partnerships across urban/suburban/rural communities. Messiah Church partners with Simpson CSM by volunteering their time and talents through community meals, food pantry, clothing store donations and produce fairs.
The CSM carries out its work through Health and Wellness activities, service opportunities and through the Poverty and Justice Institute. For more information on Simpson CSM, call the church office at (763) 473-6968 or visit www.simpsoncsm.org.
Imara International
Messiah Church is proud to be in partnership with Imara International and to support its Executive Director, and Messiah member, Carol Erickson, through its prayers, and donations of time, talent, gifts and service. To find out about the next mission trip opportunity, and ways you can help, contact the church office at (763) 473-6968 or visit www.imarainternational.org.
Imara International is a U.S. based non-profit 501(c)(3) organization working in Kenya. Imara’s purpose is to provide an opportunity for teenage mothers to earn a high school degree and learn marketable skills to support themselves and their children. Imara fosters a safe, healthy environment where respect, faith, and teamwork are a central focus. Infants and children who are part of the Imara family are provided healthcare and early childhood education. Imara’s program is structured to teach life-sustaining skills that build strong families and communities while breaking the cycle of poverty. To learn more about Imara International, visit www.imarainternational.org.
Light of Hope
Light of Hope provides care, shelter and education to Kenyan girls in need. They develop leadership skills and help girls realize and reach their potential. For information about Light of Hope, visit www.LightOfHopeKenya.org or contact John Harmon at (612) 298-2069 or at jpharmoncpa@msn.com.
Feed My Starving Children
Feed My Starving Children is a non-profit Christian organization committed to feeding God’s children hungry in body and spirit. Messiah Church partners with FMSC by providing financial resources and countless volunteer hours packaging healthy meal-packs. To learn more about Feed My Starving Children, visit www.FMSC.org.
The approach is simple: children and adults hand-pack meals specifically formulated for malnourished children, and we ship these meals to nearly 70 countries around the world.
United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)
UMCOR is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to alleviating human suffering around the globe. UMCOR’s work includes programs and projects in disaster response, health, sustainable agriculture, food security, relief supplies, and more. UMCOR is a ministry of The United Methodist Church through the General Board of Global Ministries.
Messiah Church supports UMCOR through various project (health kits, flood buckets) as needed by the organization. To learn more about UMCOR, visit www.umcor.org.
