Goodmorning Shalom Friends!  

I can hardly believe we are approaching Labor Day weekend already.  Where has our summer gone?  

As I look back on our summer and all its activities I am so encouraged by what I see happening in our midst.  

Friendship Shalom Community

Friendship Shalom has had great success with their tutoring program which involves 4 other churches and 2 other denominations.  They reached approximately 30 children and helped them be more successful in their futures by helping them improve their reading skills.  How awesome is that!  

Friendship also, has a fantastic Job Search Skills program happening.  They have taught 3 groups of participants to date and have an 80% success rate!  They have also received a Shalom seed grant to get help offset their costs.  On September 22, from 11:00 - 2:00 at Asbury UMC the FSC will be having a Health Fair for the community.  Keep up the great work Friendship Shalom, we are so proud of all you are doing.

(Friendship Shalom Site is lead by Linda Meanor.)

West Side Shalom Community

Last year the West Side Shalom Site did a great job providing an Arts Reach program to Ferguson Elementary School, located on Newberry St.  Due to the budget cuts within the York City school district, art and music were two things that were cut and several area churches (along with the West Side Shalom Site) stepped up to the plate and provided these programs.  Each church group took one week a month.  What an experience for both the kids and the adults to share together!  Thank you all of you in the West Side site!

(Pat Armold has been the key organizer of their work.)

Far East Shalom Community

It has been tough for us in the Far East Side to make those important community connections.  But through doing prayer walking and passing out door hangers for our National Night Out event, we have made connections with some key leaders of the East Side Neighborhood!   We are in the process of planning a neighborhood cleanup this fall and looking forward to improving those connections in the future.  

In the near future it is our plan to meet together with the new Pastors in the city and discuss some next steps. We also want to bring the entire Shalom group back together to discuss where we've been, how we want to move forward, and to hopefully do some retraining since we now have 3 Shalom trainers in our city Shalom group.  

I will be in touch with all of you in the near future, looking forward to the upcoming months with great hope,  anticipation and confidence.

Blessings and shalom,

Pastor Judy Bupp  

Grateful!

Good afternoon friends!
    
      It seems impossible that we haven't posted in so long!  We have all been very busy in ministry and in establishing Shalom in our present sites, so this is a good thing, right?
   


     Next, I want to share with you how excited I am as I think of all of your accomplishments this past fall and winter season!  I applaud and celebrate all the hard work, coordination, meetings and time that you have given to bring much needed tutoring and art and music to Goode's and Ferguson elementary school students!  It has been great to watch the faces of the children who have been part of this.  The tutoring was done by Grace UMC, Asbury UMC and First Presbyterian Church for students in grades 2-3 & 4.  God's hand has truly been part of all of this as we have watched how God has coordinated and brought things together for theses events.  Also, Friendship Shalom Community has completed their "Job Search and Coaching" endeavor and have had great success in helping their candidates!  God has been busy in our city! 


  I would like to encourage all of you to spend time in prayer each day.  I know how easy it can be to pass it by especially in your busyness, or to pray "on the run.."  We each need the time to connect and refuel with Jesus and listen for his direction in our lives on a daily basis.  


Blessings,
   Pastor Judy
      


     

Friendship Shalom Community Update Nov. 2011

Rebuilding & Renewing Community Life, Spiritually

Beginning the first and second weeks of November our tutoring programs began. Collaborating with Goode Elementary School these churches included:

Asbury UMC 14 4^th graders Tuesdays 6:30-7:40 pm

Grace UMC 12 3^rd graders Mondays 7:00-8:15 pm

First Presbyterian Church 5 2^nd graders Thursdays 6:30-7:40 pm

The evenings include transportation, snacks, emphasis on reading with homework help as needed. Martin Memorial Library has supplied books at the reading levels needed. Volunteers serve as snack preparers, tutors, librarians, drivers, and substitute tutors.

In two churches Secret Pals have been recruited to send an encouraging note to the students at least once a month. They will meet the students at the end of the year party in April.

Rebuilding & Renewing Community Life, Economically

Mildred Roland and Minnie Green from Friendship Baptist and Beth Myers, Kim Hackett, and Dave and Linda Meanor from Asbury UMC have begun work on our second plan. We are preparing evening workshops (6-8 weeks) to help adult residents (18+) become more employable. Included will be job search skills, resume writing, interview strategies, computer skills, employment aptitude inventory and identifying resources or additional training opportunities.

After meeting with representatives from Community Progress Council and Career Link it was determined that many residents in our Shalom Zone are not using these resources. Some work at low paying jobs but make just over the earning limit to go to CPC or they are not able to go during the day. Career Link is outside the city limits and either distance or attitudes keep our residents away. We are currently receiving “New Job Orders” each week from CL. We have also contacted Dress for Success and now are “referring agents” for any women with whom we work who are going for interviews or secure jobs. DFS will give them complete outfits that suit the type of work they secure. God has also placed men’s clothing in our laps from the Men’s Wearhouse in East York—currently stored at Asbury.

The next step is developing the training which will begin on Dec. 6 or 8. (Anyone interested in helping with this part—please contact me.)

We hope to begin the workshops in March, 2012.

Empowering Health, Wholeness and Healing

Audra Johns and Marilou Yingling are taking the lead in this area. We will sponsor an annual Health Fair providing information and/or screenings related to overall health, visual and dental health, nutrition and physical fitness. Asbury UMC interior and exterior areas will be used. Most of the work for this area will begin in June/July as the Health Fair is scheduled for Saturday, September 22, 2012.

Strengthening Multicultural Relationships

We will join the Northeast Neighborhood Block Party with intentional recognition and celebration of diversity in August, 2012. We plan to provide opportunities to work towards removing prejudices and developing tolerance, valuation, and celebration of differences through sharing cultural richness in food, art, music, etc. Faith communities, businesses, cultural and ethnic groups, city officials, community residents, etc. will collaborate to make this happen. Work will begin in March, 2012 with Chrystal Sexton-McEachin and Sarah Yanda coordinating.

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A Tuesday morning in Autumn

     It's Tuesday morning and I'm remembering last November and the Shalom training we all attended.  Many of us had great expectations!  Some of us were disappointed and thought it was not worth our time to attend.  Some attended "just because."  
     Those of us who attended all the sessions, still seem to be the ones who are working in the community to try to bring something new in the form of collaboration, seeing a need and trying to work together to change something for the better.  Is it true that one person can really change the world?   
     To all those who are tutoring 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade students from Goode's Elementary School, we say, WAY TO GO!  YOU ARE making a difference!
    To all those who are planning together to bring ART and MUSIC to FERGUSON Elementary school, we say, KEEP IT GOING!  You will be and are making a difference in the lives of these children!
    To The Far East Shalom Community, hang in there, continue planning for the future in your community!


    Shalom in all its forms is needed so very much in our city of York.  Violence has increased in the past month alone!  
    On this Tuesday, in Autumn in York City, I would like to honor all of you and thank all of you for your courage, your humility and your hard work in all the areas you, your Shalom Team, or your Church/congregation has worked to change the world around you!

Friendship Shalom Community

Friendship Shalom Community sponsored a very informative evening with Lynne Leopold-Sharp and "Bridges Out of Poverty, http://www.bridgesoutofpoverty.com/ last Thursday, September 22, at Asbury UMC. (Thank you to Linda Meanor for arranging this.)

Those of us who attended had an eye opening experience. We were able to think about the definition of generational Poverty, situation poverty, hidden rules of class, and the most moving part of the evening for me was the last video we were shown. It was from the true life experience of someone in Adams county. It depicted just how difficult it really is to get out of poverty, and how long it would take a person to make a high enough wage to accomplish this.

If anyone of you were not able to make it to last Thursdays meeting and would like to attend this workshop, two are being held in the near future and here are the dates and times:

Sat. 10 01-11

Thur. 10-20-11 both from 9:00 - 3:00 You may contact Lynne to ask where it is being held. (lleopoldsharp@luthernscp.org)

Thank you Lynne for a very informative evening and for helping us to see poverty in a more informative way. Thanks again to Linda Meanor and Asbury UMC for accommodating this event.

May God's peace rest upon you,

Judy Bupp

The Biblical mandate is clear; both the Old Testament and the New Testament have literally hundreds of admonitions to respond in love to the needs of the poor. May our responses to need around and among us flow out of the compassion of Jesus himself.

--Bill Ehlig

The Far East Shalom Site/ 4th UM Church Co-Host N.N.O. on 8/2/11

The question on each information/drawing card was:  What would you like to see happen to improve your community?

Suggestions:

·        I represent a local business and would be able to donate coupons for promotional events.  Personally interested in recycling and community litter control.

·        A change in how the city communicates. (19 yrs.)

·        Pot holes filled. J (44 yrs.)

·        Making stuff be free. (12 yrs)

·        I would like some clean up crews & more benefits for kids (summer camp program)  (23 yrs.)

·        I would like to see more kid oriented activity for elementary school kids.  (25 yrs.)

·        Get guns off the streets of York, and also drug dealers.  Maybe more security lighting on street poles.  More nights out.  A few more police officers.

·        We (neighborhood) already quiet and everyone know everyone! (43 yrs.)

·        Car noise. (47 yrs.)

·        More light poles and more community activity. (25 yrs)

·        Positive activities for kids, games, face painting.  Family night dinners and get togethers.

·        Crime watch, garbage removal from streets. (23 yrs.)

·        More activities for children. (54 yrs.)

·        I would like to see our city cleaned up! (20 yrs)

·        More events to bring people together. (71 yrs.)

·        To be cleaner –all the streets. (11 yr.old)

·        Just all around keep drugs off the streets. (42 yrs.)

·        More community events. (28 yrs)

·        More gatherings (45 yrs)

·        More events for kids and community.  (34 yrs.)

·        Pot holes filled, crime rate dropped, more sidewalks. (29)

·        More community activities for the kids.

·        More events –community like this to get people together.