Outreach

2008 began with our looking for opportunities for outreach in the community and ended with having one find us. I am referring to the expansion of Baraka's ministry onto our property with additional opportunities to become involved with our sister congregation. For those of you who do not know about Baraka, it is a ministry of the Episcopal Missionary Church under the direction of Father Peter Nganga. It is directed primarily to Africans living in the area, many of whom do not speak English, at least at the present time.

In September, Father Peter approached me with a request to use our church building on Sunday afternoon for a service in Kiswahili, the language that many of his people speak. One of our members suggested that the timing for this coincided with our Experiencing God study and therefore was far from a coincidence. The Vestry very kindly opened our doors to them and they have been meeting at St. Francis since mid-November. Recently, I distributed Father Peter's own explanation of his work to the congregation in a three- page letter, detailing both his ministry and his plans for it.

Many of our parishioners seem willing to offer their services to assist in some way and I think that is wonderful. Transportation seems to be one of their principal needs, especially getting people to and from the Sunday service. It has been suggested that we might possibly be able to help some of them with English language skills. If you would like to be of assistance in some way, please contact Father Peter directly. God has provided this opportunity to get involved where He is working, in this case in the among the African community in Austin. I encourage your thoughtful consideration to become involved in some way. Please pray about it.

It is also my belief that we are going to be presented with additional opportunities to see where the Lord is working in our lives this year. With so many people having taken the Experiencing God course, there will be more eyes and ears open to new possibilities.

Fr. Len Giacolone