SERVICE

The kind of service we do best is that which is based on person-to-person relationships. Projects change as the Spirit brings new needs into contact with our community. The following are our current active ministries.

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity builds on April 26, May 3, and May 10. There will be limited space for last-minute workers. For more information, contact Nathan Hartman.

Mad Housers Hut

The 2007 Fall Festival raised money for materials for a Mad Housers shelter for a homeless person. We built the hut on January 20, 2008. See Karen's photos of the build.

Gulf Coast Mission Trips

Katrina rehab is an ongoing need and an ongoing mission of our church. We spent Thanksgiving week 2007 in New Orleans, and the trip was even better than the May 2007 trip to Mississippi described below. Talk to Pastor Jill if you want to be part of the next trip.

In May we traveled to Gulfport, Mississippi, to stay and work at the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Camp. The group joined volunteers from all over the country, plus Canada, to do what we could to help the people of the Gulf Coast recover from Hurricane Katrina.

Each of us discovered skills we never knew we had, made new friends and learned new things about each other, and ourselves. We slept on cots in corrugated plastic pods, chatted with folks while brushing our teeth at outdoor sinks, worked as laborers and sweated like linebackers, and laughed till it hurt.

Everyone of us met remarkable people whose lives were changed forever when Katrina hit, heard amazing testimonies of faith and endurance, and experienced the blessing that comes from participating in something much, much bigger than ourselves.

It was an amazing week.

Safe Havens

Our eighteen Safe Haven volunteers have been quietly working to serve children in the foster care system. They provide a positive, loving environment at our church where children in foster care can meet with their parents in preparation for reunification. This Safe Havens for Children Initiative is a partnership with the Presbytery, DeKalb County DFACS and DeKalb Juvenile Court.

In our first year we provided visitation space and monitoring for 11 families with 14 children. Of those, 1 was still at our visitation center at the end of the year, 4 families had reunited, one foster family had adopted 2 children, and 5 families had changed their location for various reasons.

Parents are very grateful for this opportunity to spend quality time with their children and work things out for their children's welfare. They appreciate the time that they have to get on the floor with the kids to play, read or just hug their children.

If you are interested in being trained to help monitor these meetings, please contact Libba Pendergrast, 404-634-3204.

Safe Havens information from Presbytery (PDF)

Stephen Food Pantry

The Stephen Food Pantry, housed at Rehoboth Presbyterian Church, is funded by and staffed by volunteers from Rehoboth and Emory Presbyterian. EPC volunteers are at Stephen every other week on Mondays and Thursdays, from 9 am to noon, supplying an average of 6 families each day with emergency groceries.

The congregation's support of Stephen is greatly appreciated. During 25 years of operation a total of 408,450 meals have been provided. Please help keep the pantry full by bringing an item each week, or make a donation designated to Stephen.

Those in need are referred by the following agencies: Decatur Emergency Assistance Ministry (DEAM) 770-373-2300; DFAC, 404-370-5000; United Way, 211; Partnership for Community Action, 404-929-2500. For information on receiving assistance, contact one of these agencies.