World Vision is distributing relief supplies to thousands of people devastated by the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11. An emergency response team is on the ground in hard hit areas, providing water, blankets, and other urgently needed supplies to survivors. Ongoing efforts will focus on the unique needs of children, who are the most impacted.

Japan's 9.0 magnitude quake triggered a massive tsunami along the northeastern coast — sweeping away entire villages with walls of water more than 30 feet high. "We are now facing the most tragic disaster in our country's history," said Kenjiro Ban, World Vision's Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs Manager.

In the wake of a disaster, World Vision is often one of the first organizations to begin relief work by distributing emergency supplies and sending highly-trained staff to assess and respond to the most urgent needs. We remain on the ground for the long haul, rebuilding communities and restoring hope.

Our hearts and prayers go out to all who are effected by this devastating tragedy. In April, St. Paul's raised $725 for World Vision Japan Quake and Tsunami Relief.

Carolyn

Mission Team Arise60

From World Race to the Missionaries:
This trip has been designed to be a foretaste of an end to worldwide human trafficking. You will be working alongside local partners as you go into the villages and bars. You will share about the dangers and reality of this issue with those who are at-risk, and you will share love and healing with those who have come directly out of the sex industry.

In addition to the ministry you will be doing, you will also have the opportunity to live in community and work together in ministry teams.
Get ready to see God heal the broken-hearted and set the captives free! Participants for this mission trip are asked to come ready to dive into some of the darkest places in the world and share the light and hope of Jesus.

The current route looks like this:
mid-Jan through mid-Feb: Cambodia
mid-Feb through mid-March: Thailand
mid-March through mid-April: India

St. Paul's raised $740 to support Carolyn in this mission!

St. Paul's has a constant ministry to support the Jeffco action Center. There are baskets in the back of the church to collect donations every week. Additionally, we collect extra food and financial donations at special times, or times of great need. In 2010 St. Paul's donated over $2000 to Jeffco for the special collections which does not include the weekly food basket donations.

The special collections each year are:
Financial and food collection for our Souperbowl of Caring
Financial and school supplies collection for the Jeffco School Supply Distribution in August
Financial collection for turkeys for Thanksgiving

Souper Bowl

Souper Bowl Sunday was February 7th. We collected cans and other non-perishable food items, as well as a financial offering throughout February. St. Paul's has participated for 7 years and collected a total of $2394 plus $1931 in food items for the Jeffco Action Center.

“Lord even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us to be mindful of those who don’t even have a bowl of soup to eat.” Nineteen years ago, a Super Bowl Sunday prayer inspired a group of young people to do something more than celebrate a football game. They created the Souper Bowl of Caring, a youth-led grassroots movement that is now an international event. This year, our youth will once again join young people in churches all across the country to collect money for those who are hungry and hurting. Participation in the Souper Bowl of Caring helps tens of thousands of youth put God’s love into action. Being part of something that reaches around the world makes every young person feel the power of God’s love. Here at St. Paul's, we collect food items as well as a financial collection on Souper Bowl Sunday. Everything we collect goes to the Jeffco Action Center.

School Supplies

Jeffco Action has a huge distribution of school supplies for children in need each August.
(letter from Jeffco):

School Supplies Needed for 5,000 Children!
June 28, 2011

Did you know that more than 12,000 children are living in poverty in Jefferson County?The Action Center is preparing to pack more than 5,000 bags of school supplies for these children in need. Your donation of supplies in July is greatly appreciated as volunteers will work hard to pack for the annual distribution in August.

St. Paul's collects both school supplies and an offering to support this mission. In 2010 we collected 21 backpacks, over 300 other school supplies as well as $880 for this effort!

Thanksgiving!

We have a special Thanksgiving collection each year with concludes with "Turkey Sunday!" In 2010 the kids of the church passed around the turkey pans and collected $1485! That is 247 turkeys!

This is the Turkey Trolley used in previous years to collect actual turkeys on "Bring a Turkey to Church" Sunday. In recent years, the donations have far "outgrown" the trolley!

St. Paul's collects aluminum cans for recycling. All of the money then goes into the "Cans for Christ" fund, which is then used to support the missions listed on this page.

This program began in 2005. From then until July of 2011, St. Paul's has recycled and donated $1,450.40 to church missions.

Thank you all very much for bringing in your cans it truly is making a large impact in the church.

In July 2010 (as part of our Christmas in July programs) and again in January 2011, St. Paul's came together to make food snack bags for homeless folks in Denver.

A group of people from the church, in conjunction with the Youth Sunday School class, then delivered the snack bags of food to the homeless. The bags contained snack-type food: granola bars, pudding cups, cheese and crackers, juice, fresh fruit etc.

These bags were truly appreciated by those who received them.

St. Paul's has supported the Coats for Colorado campaign for seven year. This year the people of St. Paul's supported this effort in two way; both by bringing in coats and by financially donating as well. We collected 74 coats, and nearly $400 to buy more! That's a lot of Coloradoans who will be warmer this winter.

Thank you one and all!

Christmas 2010 was the seventh year for our Giving Tree.

Through a few local elementary schools, we received the names of families in need of help. These families were not only in financial need, but needed food as well. This year the people of St. Paul's were able to provide over 50 gifts of toys and clothes for more than 25 people from six families. St. Paul's also provided $50 in King Soopers Gift Certificates for each of those families.

The people of St. Paul’s are amazingly generous and have truly giving hearts. Thank you for giving Christmas to seven families who may have had nothing without you!

Women’s Fellowship supports "Warm Hearts - Warm Babies" with donations of baby clothes and other items, both purchased and hand made. Everyone in the church is invited to help in this effort. We have a collection for these babies at least four times each year.

FSHI is a Denver area program to help the homeless get off the street by providing help for housing along with a group of mentors to help the family adjust.

Did you know - 60% of the homeless are people in families with children: The most commonly reported reasons for homelessness in Denver are loss of a job (28%), housing costs (23%) and the breakup of a family (20%). The Solution: One congregation. One family. Each church can help by sponsoring a homeless family or senior. It cost $1200 to sponsor a family and get them into housing and off the street.

Here at St. Paul’s we have provided $1200 each year to help one family get off the streets and into housing each year. It is nice to note that 83% of the families and seniors that have been helped with this program have maintained their housing a year later.

Gideons Distribute Over 10 Million Scriptures To U.S. Last Year! May 31st marked the official end of the fiscal year for The Gideons International. The total Scriptures placed through The Gideons in the U.S. for 2010-2011 was 10,802,435. That includes Youth Testaments, College Testaments Hotel Bibles, Hospital Bibles, Prison Bibles, and Medical Testaments.

2010-2011 Scripture Distributions Beyond The U.S.: May 31st marked the end of the 2010-2011 fiscal year for The Gideons International. Our Scripture Placements World Report numbers show that 68,190,377 copies of God’s Word were placed through The Gideons International in 192 countries outside the U.S. That includes Service Testaments, Youth Testaments, Medical Testaments, Hotel Bibles, Hospital Bibles and more.

St. Paul's donates to the Gideons each year. Last August the church collected over $600 for the Gideon Bible Distributions. We will be taking another offering for the Gideons this Fall.

Our church has an outreach fund to help our members who may on occasion be faced with an emergency. Our mission committee has become more involved with the outreach of our church and has been working on many projects. The Compassion Fund is unique in that it will be reserved for church family needs. In the book of Acts and also in James the Bible speaks of taking care of the church family. We want to be that example set by the early church by adding this outreach.

Please do not hesitate to let Pastor Kim know if an emergency arises. This is a ministry that we want to use and share. This is a discreet fund distributed with utmost confidentiality. If you would like to give to this fund, place your offering in the collection plate and mark it "Compassion Fund".

St. Paul's collected offerings to help people in Haiti for three weeks in January 2010. Our support is through World Vision, a trusted organization we have supported in the past that has the network and resources to get support where it is needed quickly. There were already 370 World Vision staff in Haiti when the earthquake hit. Offerings were sent immediately each week as they were collected.
Week One Collection: $1851.88
Week Two Collection: $782.00
Week Three Collection: $331.00
Total Haiti Relief: $2964.88

World Vision is rushing emergency supplies to thousands of people left homeless by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti yesterday. It is reported that up to 3 million people have been affected and current estimates indicate as many as 100,000 are feared to be dead or injured. Your help is needed now!"We would be very concerned about a quake of this magnitude anywhere in the world, but it is especially devastating in Haiti, where people are acutely vulnerable because of poor infrastructure and extreme poverty," said Edward Brown, World Vision’s relief director. World Vision has worked in Haiti for 30 years and has some 370 staff members on the ground. World Vision is distributing emergency survival kits — including food, water, blankets and tents — to provide immediate aid to affected children and families. We are also providing emergency health services to the injured.

We are so grateful for the faithful support of people like you. Your prayers, and your support, are crucial right now. It is only because of friends like you that we can meet the urgent needs of Haiti's earthquake survivors.

The people who live in Haiti already have suffered so much from poverty, disease and unrest. Please pray for children and their families who have been affected by this disaster, and for World Vision's staff as they provide emergency relief in the days and weeks ahead, and over the coming years as they rebuild. Pray that God will bring hope out of despair as He builds a new Haiti from the rubble.

Thank you, and God bless you for your faithful support in times of need.

Rich Stearns
President, World Vision U.S.

Thank You St. Paul’s!

Our special collections in September 2005 for the Red Cross and the victims of hurricane Katrina brought in more than $2200! What a generous donation for our small, but mighty congregation! We also donated 10% of the proceeds from our Fall Festival, $106, which went to the hurricane victims through the Salvation Army.

The people of St. Paul’s have opened their hearts and their wallets for our fellow Americans who are in desperate need. THANK YOU!