Good Shepherd Serving The World

Good Shepherd has a history of responding to people in need through food and emergency assistance, holiday gifts, financial support to local non-profits, and "sweat equity" projects for a downtown homeless shelter. Our youth are also involved with local teen outreach programs and summer mission projects. On an international level, we support missionary families in Tunisia and Hungary, and we are involved in the Colorado Haiti Project and a dental/medical mission project in Jamaica. As members of the Diocese, we also support the work of the Episcopal Church in Colorado and around the world.

The Mission of the Good Shepherd Outreach Ministry is to reach out in love through Christ as we minister to a needy world through compassionate outreach that empowers, educates, uplifts, and offers hope to people in need, both locally and globally.

Current Outreach Opportunities:

The Outreach Ministry at Good Shepherd has focused on transformation this year. In an effort to understand our mission as not only in-kind and financial support, we have undertaken the task of developing relationships both with our partners and within our team. Our monthly time of sharing scripture and inspirational thought has broadened our concept of Outreach.

As a result, a significant change in organization has taken place this year. The Outreach and Mission Teams spent many months in 2009 looking for common ground in our separate missions and team cultures. We are thrilled to announce that at the end of 2009 we are fully integrated - one team sharing a common goal serving locally and globally as the Outreach Ministry. In the future, all information regarding local and global opportunities can be found on the bulletin board in the parish hall and in our communications in the monthly newsletter and weekly bulletin. There are numerous ways to become and stay involved as Jesus' hands in our world.

Growth in relationships with our partners has resulted in our priority support, gifts in-kind and financial, for: St. Francis Center, House of Hope, 32nd Avenue Jubilee Center, Covenant Cupboard, Colorado Haiti Project, Denver Inner City Parish, Mary's Hope, St. Clare's Ministries (St. Peter and St. Mary Episcopal Church) and the Douglas County Women Crisis and Family Outreach Center.

Members of the parish provided numerous hours of volunteer support to partners, such as Covenant Cupboard, where we typically volunteer 8-10 hours/week staffing the food pantry on Fridays and gathering up donated food from grocery stores and other sources, and St. Clare's Ministry, where we volunteer about 25 hours/month. Good Shepherd volunteers staff a crew to serve the meals and clean up afterwards once a month.

Children were supported locally through camp sponsorship at the Denver Inner City Parish and globally through the Konbit school sponsorship in Haiti. Blankets and hoodies were collected with the Youth during their World Vision weekend. Outreach supported collections of vitamins for the Colorado Haiti Project and collected backpacks for students at area elementary and middle schools.

Special projects this year included a Bonfils Blood Center blood drive with 33 donors held in August. The Angel Tree program enabled 90 children to receive a gift at Christmas through outstanding participation of the parish.

MISSIONS:
Good Shepherd missionaries report that all is well with their ministry in Florida. They continue to prepare hundreds of young students for the mission field, as well as traveling to support missionaries world wide. Our second missionary family continues to work in North Africa and evolve in many unexpected ways. They hope to be joined by new missionary families in 2010 and to make their first trip home to the US in three long years. A third missionary couple continues to acclimate to their new home in Arequippa, Peru. They are encouraged by positive developments in the orphans ministry there, additional housing and education opportunities and in their music ministry with students and in their local parish. They hope to visit the US in 2010 as well.

The fulfillment of our mission statement goals is made possible through the continued support and encouragement of each of you. Thank you for your generous response to each in-gathering throughout the year and your financial support during special offerings.

Many of the projects will be held again this next year but we desire to hear from you. Please let us know if you are involved in serving the community and would like Good Shepherd to be a part of that program. Please join us on the 1st Tuesday of each month, 6:30 pm at Good Shepherd.