TIDBITS ON STEWARDSHIP by Susan Angell

I will be writing about stewardship for a few months. I can hear you groaning now because you think of stewardship only in terms of being asked for money. I will touch upon that aspect in coming months. While financial commitment is an important part of stewardship, I want to let you know about ministries going on in our church as well. Peoples UMC has become a small church, population wise, BUT the ministries swirling around are exciting, dynamic and done by small groups of our people here and there. They are BIG and are having far-reaching and wonderful consequences.

This month I want to fill you in on two ministries, Hearts for Healing Pillows and hats and mittens for the homeless population in Portland.

The hats and mitten ministry was started by Belle Graney years ago and is one of her favorites. A small group of women, who want to be part of this ministry, knit them in their homes throughout the year or like me, bought them at Goodwill or the Dollar Store. This year when cold weather arrived I delivered two big bags of mittens and hats to Preble Street and to the Teen Center on Cumberland Avenue. They were delighted to receive them. The shock I got was when I entered the teen center while they were serving lunch and to my amazement that place was filled with around 60 children. Children carrying everything they own in backpacks and looking like any teens except they had that shop worn, uncared for, scruffy look. Looking at that crowd broke my heart. I know that having warm hats and mittens would make a difference for them.

We received a nice thank-you letter from Joe Conroy, Food & Volunteer Coordinator at Preble Street. He said, “We are grateful that you accept the responsibility and share the joy of making sure that youth, adults, and families in our communities who have no home will not go hungry, will not have to be on the street when they are tired or sick or cold, will not have to live in fear and danger, and will have a chance for a better life."

The making of Hearts for Healing Pillows was a fun project. Many of us sewed them in our homes from yardage purchased at WalMart, Trustworthy Hardware or from our own stock of remnants. We then brought the pillows to the Prayer Shawl and Arts & Crafts Ministries meeting one night and 9-10 gals helped stuff them and sew up that little seam allowance. We had so much fun and the fellowship was priceless! Art & Marlene Tordoff delivered the pillows to Mercy Hospital.

The thank-you letters from Lenore Kraus and Colleen O’Connor, Oncology Social Workers, brought tears to my eyes and touched that mushy spot in my heart. Lenore said, “Yesterday one patient said she brings her pillow in for every treatment because it’s such a comfortable head rest. Many of our patients use them for head or neck support, others to support an arm receiving treatment, to prop a book during the long hours in their chair or just as a warm ‘lovey’.”

A few people, nine to ten seems to be the magic number, CAN give to our community. We CAN share part of our miniscule wealth and good fortune with others. We CAN make the time to give of ourselves. We CAN make a difference!!!

I hope you too will be touched by the impact of these two small ministries. This is the just one facet of STEWARDSHIP.