Old Business:

Mary Ellen declared the Heifer Project tube was full of quarters, which equals $120. It was decided that Mary Ellen would give a talk during the children's portion of the service about the Heifer Project. Then the children and the congregation could decide whether we would support giving a family a goat, a sheep, or a pig. We also discussed perhaps having a poster to indicate all the animals that we have given over the year through Heifer Project.

We then discussed distribution of the Mission Board's Giving Booklet. Stephen suggested that we distribute it to the congregation on November 19th, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. The sermon will reflect the theme of giving. Jackie will be the liturgist and talk briefly about the Mission Board and the Giving Booklet. We will have a collating party at the next meeting to make enough Giving Booklets. We also hope to post the booklet on the Skyland Church website.

New Business

Jackie was very excited to announce that the Skyland 10K Race had netted $6,918.It was very successful and many thanks to everyone who made it possible.The Mission Board distributed a flyer written by Jackie at the Race that described the recipients of the proceeds from the race. Mary Ellen also had a poster by the breakfast line that illustrated some of the recipients of the race money.Those that were there said that it was really well received, especially by the community at large. At the next meeting we will begin the discussion about the distribution of these monies to the various organizations that we support .

Mary Ellen spoke about the Fistula Foundation. It is a local Santa Clara organization that supports women in Ethiopia "with a horrific medical condition called obstetric fistula, that dooms women to live as outcasts. Fistula is an injury caused by long drawn out labor." Jackie said that she would do online research about the Foundation. Mary Ellen thought that she might visit the foundation to investigate it further.

Mary Ellen then spoke about the Amani Pastoralist Water Project. Skyland Church member, Jinn Easterday, is involved in raising funds for a well system for a community in Kenya of 3,700 who are suffering from drought and famine. Jinn became aware of the problem through ChildFund and a girl that she is supporting in this community who she visited while in Kenya.

Joan spoke about Fiji Island High School students who need sponsorship to continue their education. Skyland Church member, Connie, has been working with these families. $200 per student per year pays for their secondary school educational fees(tuition). Stephen said that he would ask Leslie for more information and report back at the next meeting.

Joan also spoke about a woman who has started a walk to raise funds to support AIDS orphans in Africa. Joan is currently gathering more information on this organization.

Various members will report back at the next meeting when we will decide how to allocate the race monies. The Mission Board will continue to highlight different organizations that the Mission Board as well as the Skyland Church community contributes to. Stephen suggested different ways that the mission board can respond to the various needs of different groups.He delineated between human crises that required a one time response and other organizations that needed continual support. He discussed personal giving as well as Mission Board giving. He talked about creative ideas such as charity of the month/ offering of the month. One possible role of the Mission Board is to investigate the various organizations and then give people the choice to contribute. Next meeting the board will decide which organizations we choose to support, a difficult task when there is so much need.

The sundaes at the Fourth of July picnic were a big success. Gina, Anne and Mary Ellen were present and serving. We all agreed that Stephen's recipe for chocolate sauce that Mary Ellen made was a big hit and we talked about making it for sale in the jams and jellies section of the Harvest Festival.

We sadly said good-bye to Gina who is moving to Oregon to be closer to her family. She will be sorely missed! Thank you so much for all your hard work.

We looked on the mission calendar and saw that next meeting we will begin preparations for the migrant workers kits. Also on the agenda for next meeting: 10K race monies, distribution of monies, and assembly of the Giving Booklets-which could also happen after church one Sunday.

The next meeting with this full agenda will take place on October 24 at Mary Ellen's house.

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