February 26, 2014

Pastors or church secretaries, please note that
printable versions of the S.T.O.R.M. Report are available at
www.opcstm.org/storm-reports

Can Your Church Use a Short-Term

Mission Team this Summer?

"Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy,
in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;
the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity;
the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness."

Romans 12:6-8 (ESV)

Is there a ministry or outreach program that your church could undertake if it had the additional help of a team of volunteers from another church or presbytery? Is there a project at your church that needs doing, but keeps getting put off due to lack of available volunteers?

In making such a need known, a church actually provides an opportunity for service for those who would like to share their time, gifts and skills as a member of a short-term mission team!

Example: The photo above shows the team of OPC members from around the country who gathered in South San Francisco in July 2012 to help complete the "extreme makeover" of New Covenant OPC's church building.

Example: Rev. Chris Malamisuro, Pastor of Good Shepherd OPC in Cincinnati, recently contacted us to make a request for a team to help his church present a VBS this coming summer (see below).

Read more at www.opcstm.org under "General Information" by clicking here. Or, click here to fill out a form requesting a team.

Can your church use a team this summer?

Help Present a VBS

in Cincinnati, Ohio!
(June 9 - 13, 2014)

Cincinnati, Ohio - Roebling Bridge

Sharing your time and skills with another OP church is a great way to serve as a short-term missionary during the summer!

Good Shepherd OPC in Cincinnati, Ohio, will be hosting an Evening VBS from Monday through Friday, June 9-13, 2014. Elder Robert Taylor and other church members will oversee this ministry - selecting the curriculum, buying supplies, etc. But, they are in need of a team of 8 to 10 additional volunteers to come in from the outside to help them with everything from canvassing the neighborhood, and playing and doing crafts with the children, to setting up and cleaning up.

All team members will be housed with church families. During the day, there may be some prep work that needs to be done for the Evening VBS, but you'll also have leisure time during which you may want to visit nearby attractions such as The Creation Museum or King's Island Theme Park.

Learn more at www.opcstm.org under "National STMs - Current Opportunities" by clicking here.

Interested individuals/groups may contact:

Elder Robert Taylor
robert.e.taylor@usace.army.mil

Applications due by March 15, 2014,
for a Summer STM in Uganda!

Have you considered traveling to Uganda to serve, learn and assist in the active ministry of word and deed carried out daily by the OP Uganda Mission in Karamoja?

The OP Uganda Mission (OPUM), the largest mission station in the OPC, welcomes your visit! With a medical clinic, farm project, education outreach program, construction projects and more, the OPUM offers many ways in which you can serve on this field. Read more at www.opcstm.org under "Global STMs - Uganda" by clicking here.

Visit OPUM's excellent website at www.opum.org to find an extensive and carefully detailed visitor's handbook (Karamoja Handbook) which is must-reading for anyone interested in serving in this remote region of the world.

Applications and references for a summer visit to Uganda are due by March 15th.

You may contact one of the missionaries directly, or David Nakhla at nakhla.1@opc.org, for additional information.

The Work Continues in Japan - Summer 2014!

The logo of the Nozomi Center in Japan

The Foreign Missions Committee of the Presbytery of Ohio (POH) looks forward to organizing a team to assist at the Nozomi Center in Japan again this summer! (Review the OPC's work in Japan, and the Nozomi Center's outreach to the Japanese following 2012's Tsunami, by clicking here.)

Dates for the POH's Summer 2014 trip to Japan have not yet been set, but in the meantime, team organizer Rev. Ken B. Montgomery invites individuals interested in joining the team to contact him - especially Japanese-speakers who can help with translation!

Stay tuned to "Global STMs - Current Opportunities" at www.opcstm.org for updates!

Contact:
Rev. Ken B. Montgomery
montgomery.1@opc.org

Send a Team to Quebec this Summer

to Present an English Bible Camp!

Quebec City - Chateaux Frontenac

Rev. Ben Westerveld, OP Missionary and Pastor of St-Marc's church in Quebec, is looking for teams of English-speaking volunteers to come to Quebec and work with a bilingual coordinator from St-Marc's to conduct English Bible Camps for kids and teens this summer!

The campers are Francophone children (those whose mother tongue is French), but all camp activities (songs, Bible stories, crafts, videos/DVDs and games) are conducted in English as a means of increasing the children's language skills and sharing the gospel with them. Learn more at www.opcstm.org under "Global Opportunities - Quebec" by clicking here.

Please consider organizing and sending a team from your church or presbytery to participate in this foreign mission work!

2014 English Camps for Kids:
June 23-27, 2014
June 30-July 4, 2014
July 7-11, 2014

2014 English Camping Trip for Teens:
July 14-18, 2014 (tentative dates)

Interested individuals/groups may contact:
Pastor Ben Westerveld
westerveld.2@opc.org

Spend the Summer Witnessing on the Boardwalk!

(June - August, 2014)

A skit at the Boardwalk Chapel (2013)

How about spending the summer sharing the gospel and growing in your faith at the Jersey Shore? There are openings for Summer Assistans and volunteers to serve at the Boardwalk Chapel in Wildwood, New Jersey, this summer! The photo above gives you a glimpse into the creativity and fun involved in this ministry!

Be sure to visit the chapel's website at www.boardwalkchapel.org, or their great Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/BoardwalkChapel, to learn more about this special corner of the OPC, and consider applying to take part in this incredibly affordable short-term missions experience!

Personal testimonies of staff workers can be found at www.opcstm.org under "National STMs - Boardwalk Chapel" by clicking here.

Contact:

You are welcome to contact Boardwalk Chapel Director Rev. Jim Zozzaro directly at zozzaro.1@opc.org.

Short-Term Mission Accomplished in Haiti!

A few people can be a big blessing when they answer the call to share their skills, give of their time, and serve our missionaries on the field! A wonderful example of this is the team of workers from OP churches in Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan who traveled to Haiti in January to help build a wall around the OPC missionary property at Kaliko (team is pictured at left in front of the gate), and so much more! Read the thankful report of Ben Hopp, OP Missionary to Haiti, at www.opcstm.org under "Global STMs - Haiti" by clicking here.

Skilled Workers Still Needed

Neon, Kentucky

Neon Reformed Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Neon, Kentucky, welcomed volunteers from several OP presbyteries in 2013 in response to their request for help refurbishing the apartment/ manse on the 2nd floor of their church building! They hope to continue the project in 2014, including a "face lift" to the store-front exterior of the building. Read more at www.opcstm.org under "National STMs - Current Opportunities" by clicking here. If you have the skills and time to travel to Neon to help out, please contact Pastor Jay Bennett at bennett.1@opc.org.

New Jersey

We recently engaged the services of several skilled tradesmen who agreed to work at a discounted rate in order to complete the work necessary to get the last few OPC families back into their homes in Brick and Seaside Park, New Jersey, following Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Read more at www.opcstm.org under "National STMs - Current Opportunities" by clicking here. If you are interested in helping out in this way and are available to work for periods of one or more weeks, please contact Site Coordinator Charlie Farrell at farre954@regis.edu.

Year-Round Opportunities for Service

Uganda

The Orthodox Presbyterian Uganda Mission (OPUM) is the largest mission station in the OPC, and is ripe with opportunities for short-term mission work - year round! With an operating medical clinic, a farm project, an education outreach project and village evangelism, not to mention continual construction projects including well-drilling, there are many ways for a short-term visitor to serve on this field. Read more at www.opcstm.org under "Global STMs - Uganda" by clicking here.

Key West, Florida

How would you like to spend a week in beautiful Key West, Florida, growing in your ability to speak with boldness about the eternal hope that is in you? OPC pastor Bill Welzien presents the gospel three times a week in an engaging open-air style during the famous Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square, and he invites you to come, learn and practice hands-on evangelism with him, at any time during the year. Read more at www.opcstm.org under "National STMs - Current Opportunities" by clicking here.

Quebec City

Rev. Ben Westerveld, OP Missionary and Pastor of St. Marc's church in Quebec welcomes you to come join in a "Cafe anglais" (English Cafe) in the parks and malls of Quebec City. Since, the mother tongue of most of the citizens of Quebec is French, they enjoy any opportunity to practice English with real Anglophones (those whose mother tongue is English). This type of outreach can lead to sharing of the gospel and the Reformed church. Read more at www.opcstm.org under "Global STMs - Quebec" by clicking here.

Current Missionary Associate Openings

A missionary associate (MA) is an individual who is appointed by the Committee
on Foreign Missions to labor on an OP foreign mission field without cost to the committee.
There is an application process, and terms of service are generally 3 months to 2 years.

Asia

Individuals able to teach English at the university level (at least a Bachelor's Degree).

Japan

A married couple or two singles of the same gender to assist in the mission's various outreach activities. Learn more at www.opcstm.org under "Global STMs - Current Opportunities" by clicking here.

Quebec

An individual able to speak French (or interested in learning to speak French) to assist in the outreach ministry of Eglise Reformee St-Marc de Quebec.

Uganda

One individual to assist with homeschooling missionary children; another individual who is skilled with his hands to assist the missionary deacons.

For more information and/or to apply for missionary associate service,

Contact Rev. Douglas Clawson, Associate General Secretary,
Committee on Foreign Missions at clawson.1@opc.org

PRINTABLE S.T.O.R.M. REPORTS: www.opcstm.org/storm-reports

David P. Nakhla

Administrator, OPC Committee on Diaconal Ministries

Short-Term Missions & Disaster Response Coordinator

Phone 562-760-7606

nakhla.1@opc.org