The Mission Committee would like to thank the youth group who helped top potatoes, and all the church members who purchased potatoes at our first Potato Topper Fundraiser. We raised $142.50. The youth group voted to have the money be donated to the Maine Children‘s Home. Thanks so much.

Our Spring Seedling Sale of plants, herbs and vegetables from Longfellow‘s Greenhouse is May 23rd. Orders will be taken through May 16th.

Each communion Sunday, the first Sunday of the month, we put little brown envelopes on the pews for contributions to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund. In approximately a month, we have helped nine people and families with emergency assistance for rent and utility bills totaling $645.00. We have also given funds to the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter to be used for security deposits, and to the Salvation Army for purchase of gloves and mittens. And several more requests are pending while we wait for more information.

This year the number of requests has been higher than previous years, undoubtedly a reflection of the poor economy. All the requests are handled in confidence in ways that respect those needing help, while also keeping in mind faithful stewardship of your gifts. In some cases, the recipients readily acknowledge that they have made some poor choices and decisions. Others are caught in circumstance beyond their control. In all cases, they are children of God in need of assistance.

The most common requests for help are for housing and utilities. Other requests might be for heating oil, which we usually refer to other agencies because they have greater resources, although occasionally we partner with another church for a minimum delivery; prescription medicines; diapers; clothing; and food beyond what is available at the Food Pantry. We do not normally give aid for transportation expenses. And to avoid getting into dependency relationships, we usually only help a person or family once in a period of a year.

Your generosity makes possible the church’s concrete response to their needs. 100% of the moneys donated to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund are used to help people in need – even the bank fees have been waived.

The Honduras Partnership Committee of the Maine Conference has suspended all mission trips until at least April 1, because of the political situation in Honduras. This affects our contemplated trip for this winter. While a final decision had not yet been made about whether the trip was “go” or “no go”, once we received the letter from the Partnership Committee we dropped our plans. Both we and the conference are concerned for the safety of mission trip participants. We do anticipate that by next year the political situation will have settled down. So we will continue with plans for our scheduled mission trip in 2010-11. Of course, the plans will be tentative until we are sure it is safe to go.

Inspired by the example of Muhammad Yuris, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank, a group of young entrepreneurs, familiar with the power of the Internet and the concepts of ''E-commerce'', two years ago founded an organization named ''Kiva'', the Swahili word for ''unity'', to pool small loans of as little as $25 providing capital for persons in underdeveloped countries to create small businesses to support their families and serve their impoverished communities. You may have seen a program about Kiva on PBS's Frontline or on the Oprah Winfrey Show. It is also written about in President Bill Clinton's latest book, Giving, in Business Week, and in The Wall Street Journal.

You can learn all about Kiva at its very interesting Website: www.Kiva.org . (We recommend you allow yourself at least a half hour. The ingenious way in which Kiva uses the Internet to raise and disburse capital to impoverished individuals who have no access to traditional banks nor loan collateral, the stories of the budding entrepreneurs you will find there, the journal entries showing how Kiva loans change lives is gripping.) If you do not have access to the Internet, a poster about Kiva – Loans that Change Lives will be found on the Mission Committee bulletin board.

Kiva uses the Worldwide Web and electronic funds transfer technology to pool small loans from people like members of the First Congregational Church in Waterville, ME with those of other lenders to fund loans of several hundred dollars to perhaps $1500 to support the business plans of third-world entrepreneurs which are published on the Kiva.org website. Kiva raises the funds but relies on third world ''Field Partner'' organizations which work in the local economies to evaluate the loan applications, disburse funds, and collect periodic repayments. On behalf of its lenders, Kiva monitors the diligence of its third-world field partners so that lenders can evaluate the risk of loss of their principal. When a loan is repaid in full, at the lender's option, Kiva will either refund the principal or allow the lender to select another loan recipient.

At its August meeting, the Mission Committee completed a summer-long reflection on how we might use the $455 proceeds of the Spring Plant Sale and it was decided that we would use at least a portion of this money as a revolving fund to create a portfolio of small loans through Kiva. We will give priority to businesses in the communities of Honduras which we are supporting through our mission trips and the Maine Conference's relationship with the Evangelical and Reformed Church of Honduras but we will not limit our outreach to Honduras alone. The Mission Committee will begin selecting individual loan recipients at its September and October meetings. If you would like to make a recommendation of a loan applicant that you have found on the Kiva.org Website or if you would like to make a contribution to the revolving loan fund, please contact Tom Kahl, Chair of the Mission Committee, or Dave Hedrick, Mission Committee member.

Over the past few years have you noticed some colorful letters on the Mission Committee bulletin boards? Since 2003 our church has sponsored Angel Mae from Dumaguete City in the Philippines by forwarding $30/month from either the Christian Education or Mission Committee budgets (6 months/year from both). The sponsorship is through the Global Ministries Child Sponsorship Program of the UCC's Wider Church Ministries.

Angel Mae is now almost 16 1/2 years old, and has a younger sister and two younger brothers. Her father is a mechanic in his uncle's small shop and her mother sells food stuffs in the poor neighborhood where they live. Over the last 4 1/2 years we have seen a noticeable development in Angel Mae's warm and candid letters, as she has developed from a pre-teen into a young adult. Angel Mae graduated from high school last spring and is now going to college. From her letters you can see a young lady who is filled with hope and enthusiasm as she enters adulthood.

The Mission Committee would like to thank you for your support of our church's wider mission, and the positive impact that this support has made in the life of a young Philippino girl.

‘’The world is witnessing the devastation caused by the HIV-AIDS virus on every continent, among all races and at every age level. The Nyumbani Hospice/Orphanage (in Nairobi, Kenya) was founded to care for a small segment of that population – children in Kenya who have inherited antibodies from their mothers that cause them to test HIV at birth.

‘’Hundreds of thousands of these infants are abandoned because (parents) are too ill themselves to take care of anyone else. 75% of these abandoned newborns are not actually infected with the virus – they will test negative several months later when the mother’s antibodies are no longer present.

‘’Nyumbani provides a home to these abandoned children. Those who ultimately test negative are adopted or placed in foster care. The children who are truly HIV positive remain at Nyumbani where they are given loving physical and medical care.’’ (from Nyumbani brochure)

Janice E. Conway, Kay Conway’s daughter and Martha Cobb’s sister, is on the Board of Directors for Nyumbani-USA. Last summer Martha traveled with Janice to the orphanage. Kay has shared with us that the children there need mittens. Their winter, which is very cold is in June, July and August. However it is not too early to start knitting mittens for any age child – baby through teenager. If you like to knit and want to pass the time during our long winter knitting away by the fire, this would be a great project. Please bring your mittens to the church office and we will send them on their way. Thanks for helping these special children.