On Palm Sunday, each person who participates in services will be offered a palm cross that has been made by villagers near Masasi, Tanzania. This outreach project was founded by Fr. Alan Talbot, an Anglican priest, who served for six years as a missionary in Tanzania. In an effort to provide economic relief for the poor villagers,he helped to found a cottage industry in which villagers weave palm crosses to sell to churches for use on Palm Sunday.
St. Anne’s is supporting the outreach project entitled, AFRICAN PALMS USA. We have purchased the palm crosses from St. John’s Church in Olney, Maryland, which has been sponsoring this outreach project since 1976.
This Palm Sunday we are invited to carry palm crosses that not only remind us why Jesus came among us – to bless us with a love that includes all people – but also to reach out in a practical way to help our brothers and sisters in Africa.
You are also encouraged to support one of the humanitarian aid projects sponsored by AFRICAN PALMS USA. At the end of the Palm Sunday celebration, clergy and laity will be holding four baskets into which you may donate money for your favorite project. You may choose which project you wish to support with your financial contribution. Checks may to be made payable to St. Anne’s Episcopal Church with a notation on the check for which project you are sponsoring. We will forward one check to AFRICAN PALMS USA with the designated amount collected for each project.
- Clean Water Project
Communities with poor water sources and sanitation require assistance to dig wells and build filtration systems.
- Fish Farming Project
This project intends to increase the number of fish farmers from 34 to 200. This will occur by increasing small-scale fish farming to mitigate poverty among smallholders of wetlands. The project will also improve nutritional standards, increase household income, and reduce overall poverty level.
- Agricultural Project
The goal is to enhance food production and increase income for communities through agricultural training. Training is targeted to women and youth and will teach skills to allow the project to become self-sustaining.
- Life-Saving Food Project
Helps to provide food and medical support for African street children. This project helps to meet basic needs of the street children – clean water, shelter, sanitation, education – as well as locating families to adopt these children. Your gift will feed a hungry child for a month.
Thank you for reaching out during this week that is most sacred and holy within our tradition. This is one way that we may live our parish mission by sharing “God’s love and gifts with our neighbors far and near.”
Reaching Out to The Episcopal Church In Jerusalem and the Middle East
For over 150 years, the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East has borne, in a special way, the responsibility of sharing the cross of Jesus. By helping to maintain the Christian witness in the Holy Land, by serving all of God’s people there in a variety of ministries, by proclaiming the gospel and promoting justice, peace and love, the church serves us all. Since 1922, Episcopalians in the United States have supported the ministries of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East through the Good FridayOffering. We will continue to share in this ministry. All monies collected on Good Friday will be sent to support the ministries of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem.
