The Annunciation Homeless Ministry

 

CURRENT AND UPCOMING HOMELESS MINISTRY PROJECTS

2025 Holy and Great Lent Agape Bag Project

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you to our upper-class catechism students for filling the last of our AGAPE bags on Sunday, April 6, and doing it their way!

Our catechism students filled over 100 AGAPE Bags this Lent, which our church family will distribute to those in need. May it be blessed!

“Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.” ^{(1 Corinthians 3:8-9)}

Prayers for a Blessed Holy Week and Joyous Resurrection! Καλή Δύναμη! Καλή Αναστάση!

 

On Sunday, March 30, our 5th to 7th grade catechism class students took time from their busy Sundays to discuss homelessness and fill more AGAPE bags! We talked about various topics related to homelessness, including the causes of homelessness, why some people experiencing homelessness are afraid to stay in shelters, and what we can do as a community and individually to help those in need. Food, water, clothing, shelter, and sleep are five essential needs of people who are homeless.

Let’s all continue doing whatever we can, wherever and whenever we can, to help!

Acts of service are important for everyone, from the youngest to the eldest! In addition to other benefits, acts of service help build empathy and compassion and show even the youngest that they can make a difference. Working with others to do something meaningful helps them improve their social skills, develop a sense of responsibility, and encourage community.

This past Sunday, our 1st and 2nd grade Catechism class helped the Homeless Ministry fill more AGAPE Bags! When asked if they remembered helping last year, one student joyfully announced: “I’ve been waiting all year to do this again!”

Thank you for your helping hands and hearts! Remember to pray for those who don’t have a home and food, and remember:

May God continue to guide and bless you

 

THANK YOU!!! to our bright, curious, and eager-to-learn Pre-K and K catechism students who engaged in meaningful lessons and activities this past Sunday, filling more AGAPE Bags. Remember to be kind to others and to pray to God, asking Him to help those in need!

 

 

A special message and big shout-out to our 3rd and 4th grade Catechism students and their teachers: THANK YOU for giving your hearts and hands to help fill AGAPE bags for our church family to give to people in need. Not only did you “GIVE ALMS” by helping our Homeless Ministry fill the AGAPE bags with your kind notes, food, water, and socks, but you also helped by providing a bag that someone from our church family could give to someone they see who is hungry and thirsty.

Remember, Lent is a good time for all of us to work on our three-legged stools! Let’s keep working!

We look forward to working with our Pre-K & K class next!

May it be blessed!

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Lent is a time for remembering God's great love for us in the person of Jesus Christ. It is a time for almsgiving, fasting, and prayer. These disciplines help free us from things that prevent us from loving Christ and help us enter into a deeper relationship with him. Jesus spoke of love and showed compassion. He taught us by His example to love one another and to be compassionate toward those in need.

As we deepen our relationship with Him, we also deepen our relationships with others. The Homeless Ministry thanks our catechism students and teachers for offering their time, help, and love in filling our annual Lenten AGAPE bags. Through your generous donations, the bags include food/snacks, a small water bottle, and socks. Bags will be available throughout Lent in baskets in the hallway outside Father's and George’s offices and by the exit from the social hall to the parking lot. Please take as many bags as you would like to have on hand. Keep some in your car or carry one on your commute. When you see someone in need, you can give them this small gift of hope and love. 

During this sacred season of love, may we all continue to grow in our relationship with Him while sharing His love with others.

Καλή Σαρακοστή

Prayers for a Blessed Lent

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ἐλεημοσύνη:  eleemosyne/alms, charitable giving

Great Lent is almost upon us. During Great Lent, we are encouraged to take forty days to prepare ourselves and our families to be spiritually ready and worthy of celebrating and worshiping the Resurrection. We are encouraged to fast, pray, and practice intentional charity (almsgiving).

Almsgiving is an act of love that can deepen our prayer life and bring a greater sense of meaning to fasting. When we give alms, we make a concrete donation of ourselves through money, time, talent, or service to others. Almsgiving helps us say, in crystal clear terms: “Here is what I can offer, and I offer it out of love for you and God because I care about your welfare.”

Throughout Lent, the Homeless Ministry and our Catechism students will prepare our “AGAPE” bags. We will fill each bag with a water bottle, a protein shake, Belvita breakfast bars, boxed chicken salad, individual applesauce, beef jerky, peanut butter crackers, a bag with hard candy, and packs of wet ones and socks.

Please consider making a financial contribution towards items for this drive online through Vanco to the Homeless Ministry. Please don't hesitate to contact Angela Godshall with any questions.

As we continue through the Triodion and prepare for Pascha, let us abide by the Hymn from the Matins of Forgiveness Sunday:

“The arena of the virtues has been opened. Let all who wish to struggle for the prize now enter, girding themselves for the noble contest of the Fast, for those that strive lawfully are justly crowned. Taking up the armor of the Cross, let us make war against the enemy. Let us have faith as our invincible wall, prayer as our breastplate, and as our helmet almsgiving; and as our sword, let us use fasting that cuts away all evil from our heart. If we do this, we shall receive the true crown from Christ the King of all at the Day of Judgment.”

In Christ's service,

The Homeless Ministry

 

MISSION

As a ministry of people helping people, our mission is to serve the homeless in our neighborhood and in Philadelphia in various capacities.

We offer food and clothing to those in need who stop by the church during the week; we feed college students who are experiencing food insecurity; we collect and provide clothes, dry goods, and books to local shelters; and we provide backpacks to local youth in need.

PARTICIPATION

Check our Weekly Bulletin and Community Calendar for current and upcoming projects.

CONTACT

Angela Godshall