mission & outreach ministry

Mission & outreach ministry is very important to members of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Galax.

We believe that our faith challenges us, motivates us, guides us, compels us, and energizes us to share the blessings of our lives and faith with other people.

Those other people can be of any race or religion. They can live anywhere -- from where we ourselves live to around the world.

Each year we choose several NEW mission ministry projects, usually a local or regional mission AND a distant mission project.

Each year we continue local and regional mission projects that are our 'ongoing ministries'.

Ongoing Ministries

This category includes our Social Welfare projects in which we reach out to people and families here where we live, and around the world.

	Hostel of the Good Shepherd, located on Center Street in Galax, VA Provides temporary homes to people. Our church owns the building and grounds which we provide rent-free to the Hostel, along with other logistical support.
	The Forgotten Elderly, serving Grayson, Carroll and Alleghany counties Provides comfort supplies to elderly folks still living in homes. We provide things like soap, lotion, towels, bed linens, personal grooming items like combs and brushes.
	Boys Home, Covington, VA We sponsor at least one resident every year at Christmas to provide gifts and necessities.
	Dunor Refugee Family and Loaf Village, Liberia For the last 5 years we have provided financial support for this family and village of lepers in Liberia, Africa. Our five years of help sustained this family of 44 plus, as they fled Civil War from their village homes, to Monrovia, then to Sierra Leone, and finally back to Monrovia, then HOME! They are now in their village in Loaf County, prospering. Br. Emmanuel, the son who has led them, and his mentor from the Order of the Holy Cross, Fr. A. G. Stevens, are now also in the village, and have founded a new monastic order, The Community of the Love of Jesus, an order for African men. This mission will provide schooling, worship, and guidance for a broad area of northern Liberia, and we are humbled that God used our help to accomplish so much.
	Lutheran World Relief: Provides aid and relief to people of all faiths and circumstances throughout the world. We participate via our annual Thank Offering and by making Layettes for distribution to new mothers.
	St Francis Blessing of The Animals: Every year, usually on the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi, October 5th, we hold an outdoor service to Bless the Animals. An offering is collected and the entire proceeds are donated -- in 2006 they were donated to Twin County Humane Society (more than $100) -- in 2005 they were donated to Animal Rescue from Hurricane Katrina (more than $120).
	United Thank Offering: Supports local and distant relief through grants and aid. Members keep a UNTO box at home and contribute in honor of their daily blessings and thanks.

Special Projects for 2008

This category includes our current year projects in which we partner with Thrivent Financial For Lutherans. Thrivent provides matching funds for many projects for Lutheran congregations. Our special projects for 2008 are:

Care in Community: Food For The Poor. This year we support Food For The Poor via sales of Fair Trade Coffee and Chocolate from small family farmers in Africa. This helps both the farmers in Africa and their families AS WELL AS our profits being donated to Food For The Poor, which feeds needy families throughout Central and Caribbean America. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is matching our gifts to Food For The Poor.

Care in Congregations: This year we are partially furnishing the Education spaces, making a better environment for our Youth Classes and their Christian Education.

Past Projects:

	Care in Community: In 2007, we are proud to partner with GLEANING FOR THE WORLD, a Virginia organization that seeks to match 'overages or excess' from industrialized areas with 'needs and shortages' in disaster-stricken or needy areas. Learn more about them: www.gftw.org.
	Care in Congregations: in 2007, our Care in Congregations projects will help to fund the expansion of our Christian Education spaces. The congregation participates in fund-raisers such as a White Elephant Sale, Dinners For Donation, yard sale, sale of Good Shepherd note cards and Christmas cards.
	Christmas in July: During July 2007 our congregation participated in a special project to bring new dog-beds and toys to the Service Dogs in Training at Bland Correctional Facility in Bland, Virginia. A select group of 11 inmates provide first year training to service dog puppies. Our congregation partnered with Sharon United Methodist in Charlotte, NC and together we received enough donations to buy each puppy a new bed and several new chewie toys, reward training treats for the trainers to use with the puppies, AND the youth of Sharon Methodist baked dog cookies for the puppies. Altogether this was was a gift of $500 to assist St Francis of Assisi Service Dog Foundation with their special mission of teaching inmates to become dog trainers by working with the VA Prison system to allow service dog puppies to live with their trainers in the prison. This type of program was first begun by a Roman Catholic Nun, and is chronicled in the film, Within These Walls. Our Church was proud to become part of the program to train service dogs AND rehabilitate prisoners. Learn more at: St Francis Service Dog Foundation.
	Pennywise for Hospice -- in 2005 we collected loose change which was matched by Thrivent. The result was a $1100 donation to Twin County Hospice in their 10th year Anniversary. The original Hospice in Galax was founded by members of our congregation.
	Food For The Poor -- in 2006 we challenged our members to forego purchasing as much food as they normally do during the time of Lent, and contribute instead to Food For The Poor, a religious based charity that provides food to people living in Central America and the Caribbean. Our contributions were matched by Thrivent and the result was more than $2400 in donations which resulted in MORE than food being provided: our donations built a small home for a family, another of the blessings made possible by Food For The Poor.