Six members of the Church at Litchfield Park flew to Puerto Rico for a two-week mission trip, from February 16 to March 2, 2019, to assist Brethren Disaster Ministries in repairing damage caused by the 2017 hurricanes. Their home base was the town of Castañer, which is about two and one-half hours from the airport in San Juan. Brethren Disaster Ministries provided housing, meals, transportation in Puerto Rico, and tools.

Day 1, February 16, 2019

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Day 2, February 17, 2019

There are 6 photos in our slide show below:

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Day 3, February 18, 2019

There are 21 photos in our slide show below:

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photos: Julie Rataezyk, except as noted

Slide shows for all 15 days CAN BE FOUND HERE.

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The Church at Litchfield Park supports these non-proﬁt service and outreach organizations through its annual budget as part of our local, national, and international focus on the needs of others. The Missions Committee manages both budgeted and designated funds to serve these needs. We encourage you to volunteer at or take a tour of one or more of the local organizations listed below.

Local Missions

Agua Fria Food Bank

405 E Harrison Dr, Avondale, AZ 85323
(623) 932-9135 Email aguafriafoodbank1227@aol.com

Our local food bank serves a growing number of individuals and families who don’t have enough to eat. They provide emergency food, clothing, and baby food to those in need, as well as a shower facility, towels, and toiletries kits for homeless and transient people. Agua Fria Food Bank distributes Thanksgiving and Christmas food boxes to individuals and families in need. The Church at Litchfield Park has many volunteers here but there is always need for more.

Homeless Youth Connection

9950 W Van Buren, Suite 114, Avondale, AZ 85323
(623) 374-3747

Homeless Youth Connection provides assistance to homeless teens and brings community awareness to the plight of homeless teens and their growing numbers. Homeless Youth Connection provides school supplies, clothing, food vouchers, and hygiene items, and assists with mentoring, counseling, locating jobs, medical care, securing scholarships, and many other areas. All children in the program must be full-time students.

Homeward Bound

2302 W Colter St, Phoenix, AZ 85015
(602) 263-7654

Homeward Bound assists families achieve economic independence; secure long-term, safe, decent, affordable housing; and break cycles of homelessness, welfare dependence, and domestic violence. Through housing and compassionate client-centered services, Homeward Bound measures its effectiveness by a family's transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency in 12-24 months.

Mother and daughter served by Homeward Bound.

Mission of Mercy

1741 E Morten Ave, Ste C-2, Phoenix, AZ 85020
(602) 861-2233

Mission of Mercy provides free health care and prescription medication to uninsured, working poor, and homeless, with volunteer doctors, nurses, and interpreters who provide healing through love.

Since 1994, Mission of Mercy has been "bringing the doctor to the people" by taking a mobile medical unit to host sites throughout Maricopa County.

New Life Center

PO Box 5005, Goodyear, AZ 85338
(623) 932-4404

New Life Center offers shelter, safety, and services to families seeking independent violence-free lives. Programs demonstrate respect for the individual and a serene environment in which families can heal and plan for the future. 96% of families participating in NLC's comprehensive 120 day program do not return to an abusive relationship.

St. Mary’s Food Bank

2831 N 31st Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85009
(602) 242-FOOD (3663)

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance offers an array of programs designed to help those in need receive food and other types of assistance. Some of St. Mary’s programs include: Emergency food boxes, distributed at no cost to individuals and families in need; the Community Kitchen, a life skills and food service training program for those with barriers to employment; Kids Cafe and Backpack programs, which help to alleviate childhood hunger; and the Mobile Pantry, which brings the Food Bank to those who cannot come to a St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance location for emergency boxes.

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National & International Missions

International Council of Community Churches

21116 Washington Parkway, Frankfort, IL 60423
(815) 464-5690

The Church at Litchfield Park is an inter-denominational church. We are also active members of the International Council of Community Churches. This organization calls Christians to unity without demands for uniformity, to dialogue without dictation, and to diversity without division. The Church at Litchfield Park and our pastoral staff actively work with ICCC as part of our commitment to national missions.

Church World Service

PO Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515
(800) 297-1516

Church World Service, founded in 1946, is a cooperative ministry of 37 Christian denominations and organizations in the United States, providing sustainable self-help, grassroots development, disaster relief, and refugee assistance around the world. When disaster strikes, CWS works with partners on the scene to provide shelter, food and water, blankets, recovery kits, and counseling.

The Church at Litchfield Park donates to national and international disaster relief through this group as part of our national and international commitment.

Feed My Starving Children

401 93rd Ave NW, Coon Rapids, MN 55433
1345 S Alma School Rd, Mesa, AZ 85210
(480) 626-1970

Feed My Starving Children is a Christian organization committed to feeding God’s hungry children in body and spirit. Children and adult volunteers hand pack meals specially formulated for malnourished children. These meals are shipped around the world to nearly 70 countries. The state’s only packing site is located in Mesa, and Church at Litchfield Park members have been traveling to FMSC once a month since May, 2013, to help.

photo: Judy Anderson

Open Arms Home for Children

PO Box 2198, Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
(602) 920-9958

Open Arms Home for Children in the Eastern Province, South Africa, provides love and security to children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic and other tragic circumstances. This organization is committed to raising the children in its care to adulthood, serving the whole child developmentally, physically, and spiritually. The Home provides for the needs of more than 50 children ranging from toddlers to teens.

Open Arms Home for Children was founded by Litchfield Park residents Bob and Sallie Solis. This is part of The Church at Litchfield Park’s commitment to international mission.

Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child

PO Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607
(800) 353-5949

Operation Christmas Child provides Christmas shoe box gifts for about 69 million children in over 130 countries, along with the word of Jesus Christ. The boxes are packed with toys, school supplies, and necessity items. Because of this ministry and Operation Christmas Child’s Discipleship Program, millions of children who did not know Jesus have made the decision to follow Him.

The Church at Litchfield Park participates in this program for two weeks in October, so the children will have their boxes by Christmas.

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California Mission Trip

The Mission Committee sponsored a mission trip to Calaveras County, California, from March 25 to April 1, 2017. The purpopse of the trip was to help clean up and build new homes destroyed by wildfires.

There are 35 photos in our slide show below:

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photos: Judy Anderson, Sharon Matz, Katherine Soehnen, and Margaret Bradbeer

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Colorado Mission Trip

The Colorado mission team was led by Ron and Judy Anderson. In September, 2013, twenty inches of rain fell in the Loveland, Colorado area. As a result, five rivers became raging torrents through the hills and canyons of North Denver. The South Platte River followed a completely different course in some areas. The flood destroyed 1,882 homes and severely damaged 5,566 others. Our work involved clean up and repair in this area. Click HERE for more information.

photos: Judy Anderson, except as noted

This was our Colorado Mission Team.

Front row (left to right): Sharon Matz, Church at Litchfield Park (CLP); Lucette Gurley, CLP; Susan Taylor, Brethren Disaster Ministries (BDM) volunteer; Margaret Bradbeer, CLP; Judy Anderson, CLP; Katherine Soehnen, CLP; Aubrey Darby, CLP; Kim Gingerich, BDM house leader.

Back row (left to right): Phyllis Hochstetler, BDM volunteer trainee; Harry Hochstetler, BDM volunteer trainee; Bud Taylor, BDM volunteer; Ron Anderson, CLP; Hannah Bradbeer, CLP; Steve Keim, BDM project leader.

photo: BDM

Friday, April 8, 2016

Today we continued to install windows. Tomorrow we will leave early to return home.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Today we worked at a different site, installing windows. Here we are ready to go.

Removing old windows.

The windows needed shimming.

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

The Brethren gave us a wonderful gift today. We worked in the morning and were given a tour of some flood areas and of the Rockies (Rocky Mountain National Park) in the afternoon.

This large tarp almost blew away but we were able to corral it…

…and fold it up.

Yea! Small enough to fit in the van.

Perhaps there are those who would have gone on this mission just for the spectacular scecery.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Arriving on the job site early in the morning. It was very windy today.

Dinner time. [I know this not from the clock, but from the photo timestamp ~webmaster]

Loving how Ron does the dishes! We both had kitchen duty tonight.

photo: Sharon Matz

Monday, April 4, 2016

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday our team worked on a structure with a beautiful location along the Big Thompson River. The structure, which was severely damaged in the flood, is a trailer with a shop attached on one side and a large deck attached on the other. The roof going on will incorporate all the shop, trailer, and deck, and make the structure look like one building. Rusty, the owner, has been very ill. People hope he recovers soon as he is a craftsman who makes beautiful horse saddles, a craft that is in short supply.

Rustys Saddle Shop taken on the day of the flood.

Sunday, April 3, 2016

It sure is cold and windy, so we must be getting close.

Forget the clue, just give me a seven-letter word that begins M-I-S-S.

It's 7 PM, and all's well that ends well.

Saturday, April 2, 2016

We met in the church parking lot and crammed all our stuff into the car.

One last photo before we're on our way.

We ate lunch at a roadside rest area.

The Colorado mission team was consecrated during worship services on March 13, 2016. Pictured above with Rev. Dale Hopely are (from left): Lucette Gurley, Margaret Bradbeer, Judy Anderson, Ron Anderson, and Katherine Soehnen. Team members not shown are Aubrey Darby, Sharon Lappe Matz, and Hannah Bradbeer.

photo: Ned Hannah

El Paso Mission Trip

Six volunteers from The Church at Litchfield Park recently worked with the ministry of Rippling Hope, an organization which sponsors and helps to resource mission trip projects in a variety of settings around the country. Our CLP team traveled to El Paso for a week to assist in the conversion of a garage and attached carport to a two bedroom home. When finished, the home will be occupied by two elderly members of Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey (Christ the King Lutheran Church). John Schaaf, vice president of Balfour Beatty Communities and a member of The Church at Litchfield Park, helped us to connect with local El Paso Balfour Beatty skilled employees, who also worked on the project.

Our CLP team, around a table at our host church: Pastor Rose Mary Sánchez-Guzmán, Linda Hannah, Carolyn Griffin, Judy Anderson, Bill Trejbal, Ron Anderson, Rev. Carl Zerweck (Rippling Hope Director), and his dog R.H. Not shown is Ned Hannah, who took the photo.

There are 25 photos in our slide show below:

To advance through the slides you can
(1) swipe left or right,
or (2) use the commands below the slide show.

On a mobile device, move any slide slightly up or down to make the caption go away.

To see the captions, try viewing in landscape mode, or use a device with a larger screen.

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Slideshow created with Magic Slideshow™ from Magic Tool Box
(If you don't see a photo slideshow, you may need to enable JavaScript in your browser preferences.)

photos: Ned Hannah, Judy Anderson, and Carolyn Griffin

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