Reported by Rev. Jesse Larson
Bethany’s Session met May 23. Here are some updates.
1. We approved a $500.00 donation to resume support of the PCUSA mission work in Guatemala concerning illiteracy - under the leadership of Rev. Eliane Menezes.
2. We approved a $772.00 donation to support a year of education for Mercy Mbilinyi - a student in Tanzania. This donation will provide for Mercy's books, school uniform, meals, and transportation. The organization working towards the goal of educating Tanzania's girls is "Global Girls Empowerment Foundation."
3. In January, session approved SSIP's exclusive use of the Fisherman's House. They have found the Fisherman's House to be vital part of their ever-expanding food distribution process. They are hoping to do some improvements to the structure. Bethany's session is working with our Presbytery to create an updated lease agreement with SSIP.
4. Ron Carlsen has added additional cameras on our facility; alarms can be activated remotely to encourage folks to not stay on our property. The South Sacramento Interfaith Partnership (SSIP) Food Closet and Bethany continue to negotiate SSIP's expansion on our campus. We have approved two different expansion proposals which currently involve The Fisherman's House. Presbytery will also be providing a task force who can help us best approach land leases, property sales, etc. For the past year, we've had a small subcommittee from Bethany working on the details of the SSIP expansion, but Session recently voted to disband this small sub-ommittee. We want to be sure that our Session first reaches a shared vision as to how we want to approach our relationship with SSIP. Are they a mission we support?
