Opportunities in Mission 2010
Mission Statement
Missions continues to be a vital, growing part of life at HUMC. We are dedicated to providing mission opportunities for members of all ages at the local, national, and global level.
2010 Rainbow Covenant Projects
The Rainbow Covenant is a commitment to support United Methodist mission projects in eight categories corresponding to the colors of the rainbow. Being a Rainbow Covenant Church is going the second mile, just as Jesus challenged us to do in His Sermon on the Mount. The first mile includes paying all of our financial obligation to the Northern Illinois Conference.
Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS)
HUMC fully staffs and supplies a night site at Community Presbyterian Church in Clarendon Hills the third Saturday of every month from October through April. We also are committed to serving at least one or two nights during the summer. We put sheets on the pads, register the guests, cook and serve dinner, monitor the shelter during the night, prepare sack lunches and a hot breakfast, clean the pads and the area we have used, and do the sheets and towel laundry. In addition, we are often able to provide warm clothing donated by HUMC members. There is an opportunity for almost everyone over the age of three to serve the homeless.
Bridge Communities
Through a two-year program in partnership with Bridge Communities, HUMC sponsors and mentors homeless families in transition to permanent housing and self-sufficiency in DuPage County. We work with one family at a time providing housing, material needs and mentoring. Two or three members serve as trained mentors meeting weekly with the family. A committee of HUMC members meets monthly to hear the mentors' progress reports and assist with support services. Events are held to raise funds for our family and for Bridge Communities.
Hinsdale Community Service
HUMC has supported Hinsdale Community Service (HCS) for many years. During the month of May, we collect non-perishable food items and cash donations to support their pantry operations and the many other services that HCS now provides. HCS has been serving low-income clients in its surrounding seven-village service area since 1937. HCS relies on the generosity of the community and appreciates HUMC's involvement.
CROP Walk
HUMC participates in the annual Burr Ridge, Clarendon Hills, Hinsdale Crop Walk as an interfaith response to local and world hunger. Walkers from area congregations raise money to assist both local and international agencies in relieving hunger and addressing its root cause. Walkers obtain monetary pledges from sponsors to participate in either the 5K or 10K walks. Twenty-five percent of the funds raised go to local agencies. You can be a part of the walk as a walker or sponsor.
Junior/Senior High Mission Trip
Previously, our youth have worked with Group Workcamps, Appalachian Service Project and SOS in such places as Anchorage, AK, Magoffin County, KY, Indianapolis, IN, and Memphis, TN. The youth love these mission trips because they meet new people, help out people in need and whether they know it or not, widen their cultural view. It is so exciting to see the changes in the group when they realize that the whole world is not like Hinsdale, IL.
Rebuilding Together
The mission of Rebuilding Together is to preserve and revitalize houses and communities assuring that low-income homeowners, particularly those who are elderly and disabled and families with children, live in warmth and independence. The goal is to make a sustainable impact in partnership with communities. HUMC volunteers help with renovations of a house in the spring. Everyone who is willing to help is welcome. You need not have any special skills. We have something to do for everyone and skilled people to guide us.
Adult Work Trips
Each fall, HUMC sponsors a weekend mission trip to the Midwest Mission Distribution Center (MMDC) in Chatham, IL. MMDC collects, prepares, stores, and distributes food, child education supplies, and disaster relief items to those in need throughout the Midwest, the nation, and the world. Activities include sewing school bags and children’s hospital gowns; packing health kits, school bags, and flood buckets; and constructing school desks and medicine cabinets. Other work trips taken in the past include Habitat for Humanity in Florida, Texas, and locally, trips to Honduras, and repairing homes damaged by Mississippi River flooding. This year, a Volunteer in Mission (VIM) team is going to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to repair homes damaged by last year’s flood.
I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least
of these brothers of mine, you did for me.
Matthew 25:40
