DO YOU LIKE TO PARTY?

"S.o.S. KIDS" needs your help! We are looking for volunteers to help with a "Harvest Festival" that we are helping to host for the families at Sarah's House, a homeless shelter in Ft. Meade. The event is Saturday, October 17 from 12:00-3:00 so "church" will leave the building that day as we minister to families through our offering of fun and service. To be sign up to help, see Caryn Wooster in the lobby after 1st service or contact us by clicking here.

Haiti Mission Project

In Mid-October, S.o.S. will be sending a container to Haiti with the van that New Hope donated to the Eden Garden Orphanage. This container will also include some water well drilling supplies for the new wells that will be drilled to replace the current well which is contaminated with parasites and causes all of the kids to be sick.

S.o.S. has committed to raise $10,000 for the drilling of 2 new water wells - one for the orphanage and one near the orphanage gate as a goodwill and prevenative health measure to the surrounding community as their drinking sources are also contaminated, causing much sickness.

Aside from financial donations for the wells, we are also requesting donations of MULTI-VITAMINS for adults and children that we can send in the container. Since these items are very heavy, we would like to send them in advance for our next trip there in January 2010. There will be a donation bin in the lobby.

We took 25,000 vitamins to Haiti on the last trip and ran out. Vitamins are very effective in improving the nutritional deficiencies that cause so many illnesses - this one item can make a huge impact on a person's nutritional health as we have seen over and over again!

Ways to donate towards the Haiti project:

• New Hope tithe envelope (specify "S.o.S. HAITI")
  
• Make a "DROP IN THE BUCKET" in New Hope's children's Sabbath School classes and kids church during offering time
  
• Donate through online giving at lookingforachurch.org
  
• Mail a check to New Hope at 12350 Hall Shop Rd., Fulton MD 20759.

THANK YOU for caring about the kids at Eden Garden Orphanage and the people of Haiti! These new water wells will make a HUGE impact on their overall health and well-being!

S.o.S. KIDS "Back-to-School" Summer Mission Project

We are thrilled to report that 62 backpacks were already received as of last weekend, before the collection deadline of this Saturday (8/22). The children of "Sarah's House" (a homeless shelter in Ft. Meade ) will be sporting their new backpacks when they start school on Monday, August 24. Big thanks to all who contributed!

"BACK TO SCHOOL" Summer Mission Project

New Hope's "S.o.S. KIDS" are collecting new backpacks for the kids of Sarah's House, a local homeless shelter.

Please bring your new backpacks to New Hope by Saturday, August 22. There is a purple bin in the lobby.

New Hope's Sabbath School classes and Kingdom Kids will be taking up a missions offering to help purchase the needed backpacks as well. A $10-15 donation will be enough to give a child a brand new backpack for their first day of school! Donations of gift cards to Target & Wal-Mart for the purchase of school uniforms are also needed and appreciated by Sarah's House.

For more information, e-mail us at NewHopeSoS@comcast.net.

BERNARDO

Last summer, members of the New Hope S.O.S. Missions team fell in love with the people of Mozambique as they helped build a school, operated medical clinics, drilled water wells and conducted a Vacation Bible School. One boy in particular, Bernardo, touched everyone’s heart as he watched the construction of the school on a daily basis and attended the Vacation Bible School. Bernardo also desperately needed medical attention because parasites had turned his head into a big wound with open sores covering his scalp. Due to his condition, (a sort of modern-day leprosy) Bernardo was an outcast. You could see how the other children treated him differently, and didn’t want to be around him. It was heartbreaking to watch the lack of interaction and to see his head hanging low, as if ashamed.

The needed treatment only cost about $5 for the anti-fungal cream and anti-parasite pill, but his family could not afford the doctor’s visit and prescription. We administered the pill, rubbed the cream on his head and visited his mother to give her the medication so that she could continue treating Bernardo. By the end of our trip, the medicine had already begun to take effect and there was a noticeable change in Bernardo’s disposition, as the other children seemed to be more accepting of him. We saw him smile!

Recently, some New Hope members visited Mozambique and found Bernardo well on the way to complete recovery from the parasites! They also learned that his parents earn about $60 per month and that it is hard to feed the family sometimes. If Bernardo’s family couldn’t pay for medical care, they certainly can’t afford to pay for a quality Christian education.

The thought that Bernardo and other children in the neighborhood would not be able to attend the New Hope Adventist School was not acceptable to the New Hope S.O.S. team. As a result, New Hope has established a scholarship program so that children in Mahotas can obtain a Christian education. For just $20 per month ($240 per year), a child can attend the New Hope Adventist School in Mahotas. We intend for Bernardo to be one of the students. Would you consider sponsoring a child like Bernardo? For more information on the scholarship program or other S.o.S. activities, e-mail NewHopeSoS@comcast.net

(Bernardo is pictured here with one of the New Hope Mahotas Adventist School teachers during the Jacobs' recent visit to Mahotas, they brought another batch of medicine for Bernardo's head which is healing up nicely!)

Mozambique Scholarship Program for the New Hope Mahotas Adventist School

We have been blown away by the support that the school has received! We currently have enough funds to send about 65 kids to the new school - the capacity is 400, so there is still room for more if you'd like to support a child. For $20 a month (or $240 for the 10 month school year), you can give the gift of Christian education and a uniform to a child who may otherwise not get to go to school. Full school year sponsors of $240 or more will receive a little gift from Mozambique (while supplies last). You can donate through online giving at New Hope's website (lookingforachurch.org) or by checks payable to New Hope with "Mozambique Scholarship" in the memo field.

Be sure to see the bulletin board display upstairs in the childrens wing at New Hope for pictures, brochures and info on the "Birthday Club" option where you can give a birthday offering in someone's honor that will help send a child to school in Mozambique.

New Hope Kids Helping out at Winterhaven

New Hope's kids also had a chance to be involved in the Winterhaven Homeless Mens Ministry that took place the first week in January. Sabbath School classes, Pathfinders and S.o.S. kids all hosted dinners and helped with serving and mingling with the guests.

"Operation Christmas Child" a Success

S.o.S. is now planning opportunities for kids to be involved in missions at New Hope, with the introduction of S.o.S.: "Kids Edition!" in the fall. The first kids mission project we had was "Operation Christmas Child" which brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world, through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God's love (a ministry of Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief agency).


Kids decorated their shoeboxes with wrapping paper in Sabbath School classes or kids church and then took them home to fill with gifts. About 65 shoeboxes were filled and brought back in, then delivered to a drop-off center where they were be put on planes and taken to poor villages all over the world for a big Christmas party!

NOVEMBER 15: "OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD" SHOEBOX COLLECTION

Time to turn those shoeboxes in this Saturday, November 15, at New Hope! The kids enjoyed decorating their boxes at church the last few weeks and were excited to take them home and fill them with presents. Be sure to involve your kids in the shopping process so that they can see how good it feels to give!

This Saturday, bring your completed shoeboxes in with the $7 shipping donation and form inside the box, and the age bracket label on the outside. Both of these items were in the brochure but can also be downloaded from this website (see right sidebar).

If you didn't get the coloring page letter we passed out, this is on the website too. It's an opportunity for your child to tell about themselves and where they live, and might help them connect with the idea that these boxes are going to far away places that are different from home. It also has a section that lets your kids share what they love about Jesus!

Thank you for your participation in this project which will help make needy children around the world SMILE this Christmas!

CURTAINS, FOR PANTS?

I will never forget seeing this little boy outside one of the medical clinics we held in Mozambique. It appears that his pants are made out of curtains - there was no button, no zipper or even a safety pin to hold them together. When he let go of them, they fell to the ground. He wore curtains for pants.

In our on-going relationship with the water well drilling project we were a part of in Mozambique, we are preparing to send over another sea containerfull of drilling supplies. Local corporations have donated thousands of dollars worth of equipment and materials to help in the cause!

We will also be accepting donations of school supplies for the New Hope Mahotas school we helped build, as well as gently used clothing, shoes and toys to fill in any extra space we have leftover in the container. These poor children will LOVE to have the clothes your kids have outgrown and were planning to give away.

Please bring your items to New Hope on Saturday, November 1 or bring them to the PIPE and PIZZA pipe loading party on Sunday, November 2 at 11:00 a.m. when we load the well pipe that will provide clean, safe drinking water to thousands in Mozambique who do not currently have it.

For more information, e-mail us newhopesos@comcast.net, or visit the S.o.S. website at http://newhopesos.blogspot.com.

Kingdom Kids Mission Project for Christmas 2008

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD has been chosen as this year's Christmas missions project for the Kingdom Kids at New Hope. Be sure to view the videos below for more info.

The process is simple!

1) Bring a SHOEBOX to Sabbath School and kids church on Saturday, November 1 or 8, when we will decorate the boxes together.

2) BOY OR GIRL? Determine whether your gift will be for a boy or a girl, and the child’s age category (2-4, 5-9, or 10-14) and go shopping!

3) FILL THE BOX with toys, school supplies, toiletries, etc., appropriate for the sex and age bracket you have chosen. Kids, choosing a child the same age as you will make it easier for you to shop for them since they may share the same interests and needs as you. Use the gift ideas provided on this page. You should also include a note or card to the child, you can tell them about yourself, where you live and even include a picture if you like. See coloring page available to download on this page. Label the box with the appropriate boy/girl label, mark the correct age category on the label, and tape the label to the top of your box. The label is available
on the right sidebar of this page and in the brochure we will hand out at church.

4) INCLUDE YOUR DONATION: Please donate $7 or more for each shoe box you prepare to help cover shipping and other project costs. You can give online by using their EZGIVE option (link on the right side of this page), or you can write a check to Samaritan’s Purse (note “OCC” on memo line) and place it in an envelope on top of the gift items inside your box. If you or your family are preparing more than one shoe box, please make one combined donation.

5) Bring your box, decorated and filled, to church on Saturday, November 15. If you don't get your box decorated at church on November 1 or 8, you can decorate your box at home (wrap the lid separately) and bring it on the 15th.

Note: If you're not at New Hope on the 15th when we collect the boxes, you can take it to a donation drop-off location near you from Nov 17-Nov 24. Find drop-off centers by clicking here http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/Drop_Off_Locations/

MOST importantly, PRAY for the child who will receive your gift! In addition to the presents you send, each child will receive a booklet about Jesus (translated in their language). Remind kids that the reason we give gifts at Christmas is to celebrate Jesus' birthday!