When the earthquake in Haiti hit, a five-year-old girl from First United Protestant Church UCC in Hilo, Hawaii, asked her congregation to save its change and help buy shoes for the children in Haiti. The Sunday School children collected the money and were amazed at how much they received. When an earthquake hit Chile the little girl did the same thing again and showed her congregation that one person can start something.

This winter, food pantries and homeless shelters in many parts of the country are serving increased numbers of people. Homelessness and hunger are crises any time of year, but in winter the situation is acute—especially for families. UCC churches across the country are mobilizing and focusing on what they can do in these uncertain financial times. Certainly many churches are cutting back expenses, but they are also looking deeper at what they are able and equipped to do for others—and it’s a lot. Congregations are offering all kinds of assistance, to community members and church members alike. At St. Mathews UCC in Wheaton, IL, the youth group volunteers at the People’s Resource Center, a local food pantry. The youth work hard to get their jobs done, but it isn’t until they see the people coming in that they realize just how important food pantries are. That’s when they realize that not everyone gets to wake up from a warm bed and eat a hot breakfast before leaving the house to spend a short time in the cold. Some people may be in the cold all the time, and without the sustenance of three meals a day. It’s humbling to see the many people in need, but also good to know that the food pantry has a good stockpile of food at the moment. Projects like this provide defining moments in fellowship and service for church members. This winter, UCC congregations are stepping up to the plate and seeking opportunities to serve the vulnerable among us.

When the local food bank was asked to relocate, it had no place to go and was going to have to close its door if a new location could not be found. First Congregational Church UCC in Madison, Conn., realized that with a little rearranging it could give the food bank space to continue helping others. In just two years the food bank has tripled the number of families it serves and is now in need of a bigger space. The church has also helped a refugee family from Iraq, providing the empty parsonage as their home for a year. The youth of the church also have been helping others. On a mission trip to the Dominican Republic they experienced first hand what the homeless go through - sleeping where they sleep, eating common food, and loving the families they served. The church is continuing to help others in their community and all over the world.

First Congregational Church of Buxton, Maine, had two options: Deep Change or Slow Death. It chose the former and made drastic changes to the small congregation. After rearranging committee members, reducing the number of council meetings, moving Sunday School to the church and adding activities for the youth group, First Congregational Church found it is discovering new life, not heading for a slow death.

There is room enough for all at God’s table. Members of the Disciples of Christ and the United Church of Christ, along with leaders of the Disciples and Congregational Churches of Mexico, gathered in San Diego in February 2011 to participate in a conference called, “Turning Walls into Tables”. If we turn walls on their sides that’s just what they become – tables at which to gather instead of barriers to keep us apart. Part of the group’s commitment is “identifying the walls that exist in our communities—from language, education, residency and economic disparity, to other political, religious and social boundaries. These walls impede the creation of God’s Realm on earth.” The commitment further states, “We commit ourselves to respond to the Gospel call to welcome the stranger, for we have become even more aware that we are “no longer strangers and aliens, but citizens with the saints, and also members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).”

Within a few months of the pastor of Zion UCC in Lenoir, N.C., starting, she walked to the neighboring elementary school and asked if the church could help them in any way. The principal said they needed tutors and “A Homework Ministry” was born. Once a week children walk next door to Zion after school for an hour tutoring session with active and retired schoolteachers and administrators. Children have the opportunity to get help with homework and a safe space to gather, talk, laugh and pray.

The Super Bowl is just a few weeks away and, like every year, there will be variables – the teams, the players, the play book, the venue. Unfortunately, one thing will remain constant – the shame of child trafficking. Change.org, an online organization that raises awareness about important social causes, says that children as young as 11 are trafficked in hosting Super Bowl cities every year. If you’ve never heard of this travesty, you’re not alone. Child trafficking at the Super Bowl is not something host cities want to advertise. At the 2011 Super Bowl in Texas, a local organization called Traffick911 created the "I'm Not Buying It" campaign in Dallas. According to change.org’s website, Traffick911 “offered The Host Committee free PSAs, posters, banners and informational cards to educate the public and protect children from being abused and raped.” The Host Committee refused to display the information. Get involved in protecting children this year at the Super Bowl.

Even when every door is closed to us, God will make a way for us to become who we are meant to be. And so, when Teresinha, a young girl from Brazil, heard that a rural school would be opening near her small town, her heart sang with joy. At last she would be able to learn to read and write—a privilege her mother never had. But her father refused to give his permission, insisting that there was no reason for his daughter to learn such things. Schools were rare in rural Brazil many years ago, and girls were not allowed to attend. The only place that Teresinha and her sisters were allowed to go outside the home was to church. Teresinha made her decision on one of the three-mile walks to church. After Mass, Teresinha told the priest she wanted to become a nun. The priest secured her father’s permission to take Teresinha to the convent in the city, where she learned to read and write. While still a novice, she became an assistant teacher in a local grammar school and after four years, met her future husband, married, and had a family. Today, Teresinha has but one paper diploma, from the Course for the Training of Community Health Educators, a program sponsored by Global Ministries of the United Church of Christ. Teresinha’s self-esteem as a woman, able to be an active member of the community besides being a wife, mother and now grandmother, is a victory example for women. We can be proud of the role Our Church’s Wider Mission played in Teresinha’s story.

The Zimbabwe Synod is one of five synods comprising the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa. The UCCZ has been affiliated with Global Ministries since 1893. The Ukama (family) relationship of ‘critical presence’ continues today. The UCCZ has 47 congregations with 30,000 members. The synod supports various schools, hospitals and orphanages. The Mt Selinda Hospital is located in the area of one of the first UCCZ congregations. It is a 175 bed hospital. There is currently not enough water to use the second holding tank available. This means there is not sufficient water for crop irrigation in the drought affected area. There is also a children’s home named Chirinda Orphanage- sometimes called Daisy Dube Children’s home. The home cares for children living with the extreme challenges of being abandoned, or without parents. About 50 children reside in the home, and the Global Ministries Child Sponsorship Program matches sponsors and children at the orphanage.