Marj Carpenter, former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA), was fond of saying, "We've been focusing on other things for years. Now it's time to focus on Missions, Missions, Missions!"

At Eastminster, that same statement might be made. We have made a serious commitment to missions here. Part of our Mission Statement says -

We serve and celebrate with our hands:

• Reaching out to meet the needs of our neighbors across the street and around the world.
• Sharing our resources, our talents, and our personal relationships with Christ.

We have established a policy that mandates our mission giving to increase annually by 1% of our overall budget. In 2000, our mission giving represented 14.5% of our budget or a total of $66,000. In 2001, that figure has risen to 15.9% with $80,000 going to more than 25 mission causes.

One of the exciting features of our mission program is our hands-on involvement. We feel it is vitally important to do more than just send money to programs. We seek to be actively involved, giving time and energy as well as financial support.

The Washington Avenue Center is a significant aspect of our missions program. It is located in the building which formerly housed the Washington Avenue Presbyterian Church. An outstanding outreach program has been established there and a significant number of our members volunteer their services to assist in those programs.

We are strong supporters of the local Habitat for Humanity chapter and financed and built a house in the summer of 2000. Eastminster has also established a Disaster Relief ministry whereby congregational members can be mobilized quickly to respond to emergencies within a 500-mile radius of Evansville.

We have a commitment to minister in other areas as well, having sent mission teams to Bolivia on two occasions and our youth have regularly spent spring vacation building houses in Mexico.

It is certainly true at Eastminster that our focus is on "Missions, Missions, Missions!"

Have a heart for missions? Want to make a donation or have a suggestion for a misson project? Contact the church office for more information.