Missions

First Presbyterian Church of Ottawa offers many opportunities
for you to serve in missions:

ONE-DAY MISSION PROJECTS

Opportunity School welcomes visitors to read to preschool children or help with special projects. This preschool is located in our church.

PADS offers shelter to the homeless in our community. Volunteers help to oversee three evening shifts for one Saturday a month. We serve an evening meal and breakfast for the homeless as well as keep them protected while they sleep.

The Austin Labor of Love is a quick trip to a Chicago neighborhood that needs help with household repairs. This is a wonderful opportunity to work alongside our friends in the Austin area.

The Ottawa Labor of Love is on the first Saturday of October. We have the opportunity to help people who need an extra helping hand with household repairs.

Habitat for Humanity is building a home on the south side of Ottawa starting Spring 2009. You could work one day or as many days as your time permits to help build a home for a low income family.

Angel Food Ministry is an ongoing project our church has taken on that needs helping hands one Saturday a month to fill boxes as our customers come through the line.

MULTIPLE DAY MISSION PROJECTS

During natural disasters, we have sent two teams to Mississippi to repair homes after Katrina and a team to Iowa after a disastrous flood to repair homes.

We continue to send teams to Guatemala to work with missionaries Craig & Peggy Harvey. We work with children and adults who live in Rainforests and share the Word through games and city gatherings.

We have financially supported members from our congregation who worked in the field and villages in Africa. We have also raised money to by Plumpy Nut packets (made up of peanut butter, powdered milk and vitamins) to feed and save lives of malnourished babies in Africa.

ON-GOING MISSIONS (supported financially)

Our Compassion Child, Guido, from Bolivia is a child whom our own children have supported by their weekly offering in Sunday School. Our financial support for Guido is made possible by our partnership with the international relief organization, Compassion International, and has been on-going throughout his school years. Our support of money and prayers makes sure that he receives at least one good meal each day plus education for his future and instruction for him about Jesus Christ through the Bible.

Pastor Fredy Smola is a young pastor in the Czech Republic who is starting a brand new church plant in the city of Vsetin. The Czech is a nation of people whose spiritual lives are still very influences by the atheistic indoctrination of Soviet Union communism. Fredy and his wife, Lenka, and a growing team of Christians are doing bold work, seeking to influence their spiritually hungry culture with the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. April 2009 Connection Newsletter

Craig & Peggy Harvey, members of the First Presbyterian Church and missionaries in the village of Jobompiche, in the Peten Peninsula of northern Guatemala since 2001where they minister to villagers with the saving news and every day hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Cup of Cold Water is a mission group headquartered in LaSalle County that reaches out to different people groups in impoverished places like Mongolia and Bolivia, seeking in the name of Jesus and his Gospel to help them make their lives better.

Voice of One is an effort among Ottawa area churches to promote the witness of our unity in Christ to the world around us. With other congregations, First Presbyterian is giving regular financial support to Calvary Baptist Church so that small congregation can pay its monthly bills.

Servants Heart is a local Christian-oriented help organization for homeless and financially-struggling individuals. Counseling and resources that promote people's ability to help themselves get out of poverty are offered. A soup kitchen and resale clothing store help people further to meet basic needs.

PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY
Your crochet or knits shawls will go to persons who are going through difficult times in their lives. The shawls are prayed over by loving Christians and the shawls are give to those in need. When the person put the shawl around their shoulders they know they are covered in prayer.

HANDS ACROSS THE COMMUNITY
We send cards and small gifts to troubled high school students in the Alternative Class at Ottawa High School. These are kids that need a touch of love in their lives and are struggling to find a purpose for themselves in our community & home.

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF OTTAWA 114 E. JEFFERSON STREET

OTTAWA, IL 61350 815-433-1045