Outreach in the Community
and the World

 

Pine Island Presbyterian Church is committed to serving in our local community and the world. Our outreach ministries seek to share God's love and justice with all people through acts of compassion.

Outreach in the Kalamazoo Area: Ministry With Community Located at 440 No. Church St., Kalamazoo (343-5880), Ministry with Community creates a safe haven for the most vulnerable in our society by providing food, daytime shelter and other basic services to central Kalamazoo's homeless, poor, mentally ill and hard-to-serve adults. Daily, about 170 people who are accepted unconditionally, are served a mid-day meal, and are provided with a place to talk with supportive, caring staff. Services include: helping to get people to centers for the treatment of addictions to drugs and alcohol; linking people to agencies for counseling, mental health services, and medical services; and providing classes which increase self-esteem, basic skills, and education about health care issues. Pine Island Presbyterian Church supports the work of Ministry with Community by providing the noon meal on the fifth Sunday of the month and collecting goods and food for the ministry on the first Sunday of the month. Pretty Lake Vacation Camp Pretty Lake Vacation Camp is a not-for-profit organization located on 287 beautiful wooded acres on Pretty Lake in Mattawan, Michigan. Since 1916, Pretty Lake Vacation Camp has provided a cost-free summer camp experience for "at-risk" youth from Kalamazoo County! Pretty Lake Vacation Camp has always upheld a strong tradition to enrich the lives of thousands of youth by offering a safe, structured, and encouraging environment in a natural setting. Pretty Lake Vacation Camp is located just across the road from the property on which we will eventually build a church building. Pine Island Presbyterian Church holds an annual work day at the camp before the start of the summer camping season. Worldwide Mission At the worldwide mission level, Pine Island Church is in partnership with the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CAPP) in Malawi, a small, populous country in southeast central Africa, through three mission co-workers: Jim and Jody McGill, CAPP Synod of Livingstonia, P.O. Box 112 Mzuzu, Malawi, have served in Africa for 15 years. Jodi is a nurse and clinical instructor and is especially active in the areas of malaria prevention and HIV/AIDS. Jim is coordinator of protected water and buildings for the Synod of Livingstonia and is involved in many construction and maintenance projects, especially in the digging of shallow wells to provide clean, safe water to the people of the synod. The McGills have four children: twins Jason and Michael born in 1997 and Salome and Selina, born in 2001. Rev. Debbie Chase, CAPP Synod of Livingstonia, P.O. Box 112, Mzuzu, Malawi, is dean of studies at Livingstonia Theological College in Ekwendeni and also teaches at the college. She has been in Africa for six years. She will be on leave in the U.S. from November 2005 to March 2006 and recently spoke in Kalamazoo. Special offerings on the first Sunday of every other month are designated for Livingstonia Theological College

A Congregation of the Presbytery of Lake Michigan