WORLD OUTREACH (MINISTRY) ACTIVITIES

EPC PRESBYTERY OF THE WEST

• Strictly local activities managed and directed by some local organization, and
  
• Local activities of an organization having a regional, national or international scope.
  

•  JOSHUA STATION -- Helping homeless families build stability:  Joshua Station, a former motel located at I-25 and 8^th Avenue in West Denver (2330 W. Mulberry Place, Denver, Colorado 80204), is a faith-based community which helps people who are homeless or in unstable housing situations make the transition to healthy interdependent living. The program operates under Mile High Ministries.  Joshua Station provides a 60 to 90-day program in which basic needs of food and housing are met and family needs are assessed. Families help prepare community meals and participate in employment training and placement during this phase.  Families who demonstrate growth are invited to participate in the extended phase, which is one year. In addition to the components of the short-term phase, families receive life-skills training, start savings plans for future housing, receive spiritual, emotional and physical health counseling, and are required to volunteer in the surrounding community.
• The Senior Fellowship at Cherry Hills Community Church supports this outreach both financially and by serving as volunteers, but they welcome the involvement of others.      
  
• Typically, we offer different levels of opportunities from providing a meal or funds to going down to Joshua Station.
  
• Volunteer training is available; long-term involvement is welcome and needed.  You are welcome to participate helping the families in various ways.
• Like to build?  A play area is being built where resident children can play while their parents are in the newly refurbished kitchens preparing meals.
• Folks can volunteer one time, but long-term involvement is more productive and rewarding.  We are looking at establishing a Joshua Station Team, for folks that would like to make a commitment to continued involvement.  For more information and contacts, follow this link.
  
  
• CROSSROADS OF THE ROCKIES -- A Place Where People Really Matter:  Crossroads of the Rockies began in 1988 as a food bank to address the needs of the poor; it has grown to where Crossroads now serves over 1000 people each month, through various programs and efforts.  The Crossroads Community is committed to providing a safe haven where children can learn and grow, where the lost can find healing and direction, where the poor and needy can get relief and assistance and all can experience the miracle of God’s love in shaping and guiding our daily lives!
• The Crossroads community, which is comprised of over 300 people who share the value of giving and sharing what they have with the underserved of Denver, welcomes volunteers.
• Visit Crossroads online at this link.
  
  
• RESTORATION OUTREACH ministries are dedicated to serving the community on East Colfax in West Aurora and East Denver, and work closely with Restoration Worship Center, our partner church.
• Prodigal Gatherings staff and volunteers live out the gospel of Christ by having a ministry of presence and by developing redemptive friendships with our teens and children.  Prodigal relationally connects youth and children to area organizations and ministries for their holistic needs.
• Heart-to-Hand Resource Center reaches out to the community on by providing resources to help individuals lead lives of self-sufficiency.  By having a presence in this community, it is our hope that we will continue to have the opportunity to share Christ with those who are hurting and without hope.
• Restoration Worship Center (RWC) is our partner church and a vital part of our community-building efforts.  RWC seeks to restore broken lives by bringing Restoration and hope to hurting people, providing a rich Worship experience that enables people to connect with God, and providing a Center as a place to gather each week for fellowship.  RWC meets every Sunday at 10:45 a.m. at 1540 Boston Street.
• The Restoration Outreach welcomes volunteers, and provides training when appropriate.  Find further information by following this web link.
  
  
• STREET'S HOPE provides an escape for women and girls in the "sex for sale" industry.  This  faith-based non-profit organization assists women desiring to leave sexually oriented businesses. Our clients include women working in prostitution, exotic dancing, and pornography. The goal of Street's Hope is to encourage each woman to become balanced (physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually), to be self-supporting apart from the sex for sale industry, and to become an active part of a healthy community.
• Street's Hope now offers housing and housing assistance, individual counseling, group counseling, life skills training, case management, mentoring, and Bible studies. We partner with other non-profit organizations in the Denver metro area to provide education, employment training, employment referrals, drug and alcohol counseling, and twelve step recovery groups for our ladies.
• Compassionate, encouraging women volunteers are needed to mentor our participants. Training is provided and mentors are able to set their own level of participation.  For more information, follow this web link.
  
•  Find further information by following this web link.
  
  
• INTERNATIONAL NEIGHBORS NETWORK: iN² is a faith-based organization that exists to build relationships with international university students and the greater Denver faith community. Through partner relationships, together we share the love of Jesus Christ with cultures across the world. Partnerships for hospitality and service are paramount to the nature of the ministry. We also believe that as team member volunteers share every day life locally, they can impact lives globally and eternally. Team member volunteers can match their commitment levels based on their time and talents. Much of ministry happens as students get to know team members over shared meals, family picnics and outings, or whatever real life experiences are shared. Training is provided as part of the experience and for spiritual formation and discipleship opportunities with students. Consider service or hospitality through
  
• Prayer partners,
• Friends with international students,
  
• Engaging them in English conversation,
  
• Eating meals with them,
  
• Participating in social events with them,
  
• Assisting them in spiritual formation, and
  
• Serving the community together with them.
• For more information, or to inquire about an application for involvement, please follow this link.
  
  
• EXTREME COMMUNITY MAKEOVER:  Get involved in the Denver area, or start a project in your city.  Follow this web link for more information.
  

• GOSPEL RESCUE MISSIONS, like the Denver Rescue Mission, serve the needy in almost all large cities, and in many smaller cities, too.  Each serves a needy clientèle.  Most Rescue Missions have several opportunities for volunteering or even short-term outreach work.  To identify nearby missions, visit this web site, click on "Directory of Member Missions, and enter the zip code of your city of interest near the upper right on the displayed page.  A wide range of opportunities for volunteering are accessible by clicking the "Volunteer" entry on the far left.
  
  
• OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD (OCC) is a ministry of Samaritans Purse.  OCC collects shoe boxes of gifts from churches, civic groups and interested individuals across the US and around the world, transports them around the world, and distributes them to destitute children.  The shoe boxes provide an opportunity to bring the Gospel to children who may never have heard of Jesus Christ.  This annual ministry requires volunteers at both the local and regional level:
• Local volunteers organize groups to fill boxes, and supervise the collection of boxes in mid-November.  To identify your local contact, go to this web site to contact your regional representative who can direct you to your local representative.  Information about suitable items to place in shoe boxes is available at the bottom of this web page.
• Regional volunteers process and pack the shoe boxes for shipment at one of the six Regional Processing Centers in Atlanta, GA, Boone, NC, Charlotte, NC, Denver, CO, Minneapolis, MN, and Orange, County, CA.  Find out about the processing centers by visiting this web site.  Many youth groups volunteer to work at these processing centers; if you want to take a youth group to help, contact your nearby processing center as early as August, as group slots fill up quickly.  Volunteers at the regional centers must participate in a brief training program related to what they will be doing.
                                                                                  
  
• ANGEL TREE is a ministry of the Prison Fellowship which annually seeks the reconciliation of prisoners and their families to God, to each other, and to their communities through the transforming love and grace of Jesus Christ. Signing up for Angel Tree gives prisoners a way to send their children not only a Christmas gift, but also the reassurance of their love. Many of the people confined in our jails and prisons have children left with care takers such as spouses or grandparents.  Angel Tree provides a way prisoners can arrange for gifts for their children.  The process of identifying children begins with chaplains who make recommendations to personnel at Angle Tree, and leads to volunteers from 10,000 churches  purchasing and delivering gifts.  Go to this web site for more information and how to become involved.