Churches reach out beyond the county
Whether it's halfway around the world or the next city over, church congregations are taking their mission outside of the county by adopting entire groups of people.
The congregation at Harrisville United Methodist Church has taken under its wing a group of Christians in Santiago, Dominican Republic, who have been hoping for 15 years to build a church in their community. The Harrisville church joins about five other American churches in adopting the mission.
According to the Rev. Jeff St. Clair, pastor of Harrisville United Methodist Church, his congregation has sent groups to the Dominican Republic since 2004, most recently at the beginning of this month. The trips are meant to spur the church construction, which began about eight years ago, and to support the local economy.
Members who travel to the country help with various tasks at the site, but their main thrust is to hire local workers to perform the bulk of the construction.
"This will be their wages that they make for six months to a year," said Bonnie McClaine, a church member who has made multiple trips to the site.
When the Harrisville team leaves, construction work will continue for another two to three months, depending on the amount of funds provided.
In addition to providing funds, members of the Harrisville church also donate clothing, shoes and other needed items.
Bob Fryman, McClaine's brother, originally took the idea of adopting the mission to the Harrisville church. Fryman has visited the Dominican Republic site for seven years, starting when he attended a church in Concord, Ohio. Though he now lives in Butler and attends Butler Alliance Church, he continues to participate in the Harrisville mission.
Over the years, Fryman has seen the Dominican people become more open to the message of the short-term Harrisville missionaries. Forming lasting relationships and providing work for the locals is a huge step in that process.
"When they see we're there to aid them, that wall gets broken down," Fryman said.
When Fryman first began visiting the area, few of the children had shoes. Now, all the children have shoes, he said.
Members of Harmony-Zelienople United Methodist Church are also helping children in another country. That church has adopted an orphanage in Russia through the Children's Hope Chest charity out of Colorado and has sent teams to the orphanage about every six months since 2003.
While there, team members work to build relationships between the orphans, orphanage staff and the surrounding town. They also lead organized classes and activities like vacation Bible school at the orphanage."In Russia, the orphans are considered an embarrassment to the community," said Linda Slatt, coordinator of short-term mission trips at the Harmony-Zelienople church. "If a child is not perfect, they put them in the orphanages."(But) the Christian believes that they have value in their living. They are valued by a God who created them."Church members, who visited multiple orphanages in Russia, specifically picked the orphanage now sponsored by the church. It holds 122 children, all sponsored by individual church members for $30 each per month. When the program first started, all but 20 were sponsored immediately.There is also an annual collection at the church to raise money for a Christmas party at the orphanage.When considering its options for adopting a group of people for a long-term mission project, Trinity Lutheran Church in Butler looked much closer to home. The congregation has adopted another congregation on the North Side of Pittsburgh. Both churches go by the name Trinity Lutheran.For at least seven years, the congregation has sent monetary support to the Pittsburgh church, which is located in a poor neighborhood. The Butler church also sends volunteers to help with various ministries and collects about 100 Christmas presents for the community each year."We've developed a relationship with that congregation over the years, so we know the people," said the Rev. Thomas Pierotti. "They have huge needs, and we're more affluent. It's a good opportunity for us to reach beyond ourselves and share our blessings."
Money provided by the Butler church helps to send children from the Pittsburgh church to summer camps like Camp Lutherlyn in Connoquenessing Township.Though the amount of money given to the Pittsburgh church fluctuates each year, the mission is a regular line item in the budget of Trinity Lutheran in Butler.In all, the church, which worships with about 300 people each week, gave $60,000 toward missions last year. Most of that goes to support missions through the denomination's national office, with the remaining being used for local projects and mission trips.According to Reese Fleeger, a high school senior from the Butler church, support from rural congregations is important because urban churches are charged with providing for the needs of a larger number of people. Trinity Lutheran in Pittsburgh, he said, does everything from providing food to community members for daily living to preparing them for job interviews."They need help to stay open because they do that," Fleeger said.For four years now, Fleeger has spent a portion of his summer helping to run day Bible camps at the Pittsburgh church.Pierotti said Christians adopting other groups of people, regardless of how they are related, is all part of being a good neighbor, as taught by Jesus in the Gospels."Even if people live 1,500 miles away or further, they're still our neighbors." Pierotti said. "That's an important part of who we are."We must not live to take care of ourselves but to take care of others, as well."
