JESUS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: STORIES FROM CONGREGATIONS: Mountville Church provides ‘re-leaf’ and school kits

By Angela Finet

Mountville Church of the Brethren in Atlantic Northeast District has done a couple of things recently to be “Jesus in the Neighborhood.”

Providing re-leaf

In August, the Mountville Church focused worship services on what the Bible had to say about trees, and how the church is called to care for God’s great creation. Each week, a special collection was taken to support New Community Project’s mission to plant one million trees during the next decade. Trees help eliminate carbon dioxide and prevent erosion. They also create a habitat for birds and animals.

To track their progress, the congregation added a leaf to a bare tree for each $5 raised. At the end of the month, the tree was overwhelmed with leaves! Including an anonymous donor partial match from New Community Project, the congregation contributed enough money to plant 78,790 trees, primarily for our neighbors in Myanmar, South Sudan, and the Congo.

School kits

On Sunday, Aug. 6, Mountville members gathered to create 300-plus school kits under the guidance of Church World Service. Each kit was packaged in a bag that was handmade and unique. These kits, currently warehoused at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., will be shared throughout the country and the world as needs are made known.