As we all probably remember from the hoopla surrounding the event, on October 31st the population of the world reached 7 billion people, yet here we see that 1 out of 7 have no “reasonable access” to safe water. According to Water.org, “Today’s water crisis is not an issue of scarcity, but of access. More people in the world own cell phones than have access to a toilet. And as cities and slums grow at increasing rates, the situation worsens. Every day, lack of access to clean water and sanitation kills thousands, (while) leaving others with reduced quality of life.” They further note that “half of the world’s hospitalizations are due to water-related diseases.”

At the Living Water International website (http://www.water.cc) it is noted that “More than a billion people in the world live on less than a dollar a day, including the vast majority of those without access to safe water…. Access to clean water is the foundation for other forms of development. Without (it), countless hours are spent in water collection, household income is spent on purchasing water and medical treatment for water-related diseases. These factors contribute to keeping people trapped in poverty ….This is a silent crisis experienced by the poor, and tolerated by those with the resources, technology, and the political power to end it. Yet this is a crisis that is holding back human progress, consigning large segments of humanity to lives of poverty, vulnerability, and insecurity.”

What can we do? We can take some time to learn more and act on that learning. In Sustaining Waters, part of the Just living series, (http://www.earthcovenantministry.org/RiverOfLife/PCUSA Sustaining Water. pdf) we can learn how, as Presbyterians seeking to live as global disciples, there are many ways we can more responsibly use our water resources here at home and also help protect water supplies around the world. And then, beyond the “think global, act local” aspect, what else can be done?

As they say on the Advent Conspiracy website (http://www.water.cc/advent), “CHRISTMAS CAN {still} CHANGE THE WORLD.” They report that each year Americans spend $450 billion on “Christmas”, while it is estimated that only $20 billion per year would assure clean drinking water for every person in the world (“do you see where this is going?”).

Can we each redirect some of our own holiday spending toward achieving this goal? Among many other mission efforts, PC(USA)’s Living Waters for the World is supported through the holiday’s One Great Hour of Sharing offering – please consider an extra generous donation this year to support the effort to provide fresh clean water for all, and help solve this aspect of human misery within this generation.

Riviera Presbyterian Church, PCUSA, has had a mission focus since it was founded 66 years ago in 1945.  Anybody on the mission committee would know that.  But not everybody is, so they are having a fair—and offering Sundaes on Sunday to anyone who would like to know more on November 6, 2011 beginning at 12:30pm, after their 11:00am worship service.  Riviera is located at 5275 Sunset Drive Miami, Florida 33143.   Web: www.rivierachurch.org

Led by Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus for over twenty years, Riviera Presbyterian Church started out as a community based congregation, and has been involved in social justice issues, women’s rights, and for the last ten years has been a leader in the local and national inclusivity movement to extend the welcome of the church to all, especially the LGBT community.  The Mission Fair will have representatives from a variety of missions including the following.

Local Mission

• CHILD CARE CENTER, opened in 1980 to fill a need for working parents who needed care for infants, and recognized for also offering a quality work environment including health benefits to early child care professionals.
• GATE- provides guidance/education and re-training to youth offenders involved in gun violence
• FOOD PANTRY- now more than ever,  a resource for the South Miami community
• THE SOCK MINISTRY—member Isabelle Hill, and long time nurse at Camilla’s house has a one women “mini-mission” to collect socks for homeless men and women
• THELMA GIBSON HOUSE—Local community center, focused on teenage girls
• TML (Touching Miami with Love)—urban ministry

National Mission

• EARTH CARE CONGREGATION—national environmental program of the PC(USA)
• COVENANT NETWORK- Working for full inclusion of gay, lesbian and transgender persons in the full life of the church.

International Mission

• HEIFER- mission is “to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth.”
• KENYA – supports rural boarding school,  Kiawaithanji Academy, in a country without free education
• SERRV—sale of international fair trade food and the handiwork of artisans from around the globe

Other missions, but not participating in Sundae Sunday—

YES Institute–A not for profit organization that provides education on gender and orientation to the community, and is an accredited CEU provider to mental health professionals and medical professionals. For more information, call (305)-663-7195.

Alzheimer’s Care Giver Support Group — Meets third Thursday of every month, 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. in the Riviera Church Library. For more information, call (800) 861-7826 Ext. 7;

Overeaters Anonymous (OA) Meets every Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Riviera Church Library. For more information: call S. Tarjan at 305-275-1774; Overeaters Anonymous.

SUMMARY: Riviera Presbyterian Church, located at 5275 Sunset Drive near Sunset Shoppes, is hosting Sundae Sunday, a mission fair to highlight the local, national and international organizations that the church supports.

This gathering will also afford the opportunity for some informal discussion around the table concerning where our food comes from and how we can make the food system more just and sustainable.

Please join us.

This month, as many of us enjoy seasons of respite from school and work, or times of vacation with family and friends, eleven folks from Riviera will journey to Kenya, for our partnership visit with the Kiawaithangi Academy in Nyeri. To help focus our group’s spiritual reflection during the work trip, I have prepared a journal with pictures, scripture readings, poems, prayers, and questions for reflection.

The journal invites our travelers into this time of purposeful action and re­flection by using the labyrinth picture below. Those of you who wish to pray alongside us may pick up a journal copy from the table in the sanctuary, or from the church office. And we do invite you all to pray alongside our work trip participants, and our partners in Kenya!

But my preparation for this trip has invited me to consider, why don’t we prepare as thoughtfully, as prayerfully, and as intention­ally for vacation as we do for other seasons and events in our lives?

I don’t know about you, but my vacation preparation usually involves hectic working ahead at the office to make sure my responsibilities are covered in my absence, and nothing critical left undone…late night frantic packing, plant watering, refrigerator emptying, coupled with an email search for plane reservations, and to see whether someone remembered to make the rental car reservation. I am so last minute on many trips that once I was towel­drying my hair on my way out to the taxi for an international flight! By the time we leave for vacation, we are generally stressed, snippy, and frazzled.

And I wonder—how much more enjoyable, relaxing, and restorative might our vacations be, if we took the time to prepare spiritually and emotionally for the blessing of rest? What if we used a tool like the labyrinth to help us center ourselves for a transition from work and school into a season of rest and re­creation? What if we were as thoughtful about planning a day off as we were about planning a wedding, a graduation, an anniversary, a special dinner party? What if we gave ourselves, and our loved ones, the blessing of lavishing intentional care on ourselves during a season of rest? Maybe you are not getting a week away, but only a few days, or weekends… even more reason to enter fully in the precious moments of respite!

This summer, as you go about your lives of work, or camp, or take time for play, I invite you to use the questions below, and the images of our laby­rinth, to indulge in a little “spiritual play” around intentionality in rest and re­creation.

With love and gratitude,

Laurie

• The Mission Division is collecting slightly used soccer balls and school supplies forKiawaithanji Academy.  Boxes will be in the Welcome Area/Narthex for the collection.  Also if you have any extra large duffle bags (no sports bag) please bring those as well.  We need duffle bags to pack the supplies being taken to Kenya.
• The Worship Division is still in need of ushers.  If you are interested or would like information on what the duties are, please speak to Kathy Stults in worship or contact her at kstultspt@bellsouth.net
• Per Capita for 2011 – $31.30 per member.  Please use your blue envelope in the box of offering envelopes or use one of the envelopes in the bulletin.  Please label with your name and PER CAPITA on the envelope or memo on the check.
• 2011 – 2012 Planning Calendars are now available.  $7 each.  Please call the church office to reserve your copy or pick up a form on the back table in the sanctuary.  We only have 3 copies left.  First Come First Served.
• Monday, June 20 is the deadline for submissions for the July issue of the newsletter. Please send items to rivierachurch@bellsouth.net.
• Session Members – reminder – Session meeting Sunday, June 26 after worship in the Library.
• First Quarter giving have been mailed, if you find a discrepancy please contact Barbie at the church office (305-666-8586) or email at rivierachurch@bellsouth.net by the end of June.  Please note that the statements are for January – March giving ONLY.
• I have quite a few summer projects that I need uninterrupted time to work on, if you would like to volunteer in the church office to answer phones, greet and help walk-ins, please contact me at 305-666-8586.  – Barbie
• Volunteers are needed for Nursery duty for the month of July and August.  We need two persons per Sunday.  Sign up sheets are on the back table.
• First Sunday Lunch – July 3rd – Hot Dogs and Ice Cream – please bring, hot dogs, hot dog buns, side dishes, toppings for the hot dogs, ice cream and ice cream toppings.  We will picnic INSIDE Fellowship Hall.
• Sunday July 10 – Called Congregational Meeting for the election of Elders and Deacons. Immediately after Worship.

One More Thing will return on July 1st.

Starting June 1 the Greater Miami Youth Symphony will be sharing space in the education building for their administration office. We thank Karen Picciano for bringing RPC and GMYS together. Also some of our youth, Leah Picciano and Nicole Prieto, have performed with the GMYS in the South Florida community.

Founded as the All­-Miami Youth Symphony by Robert Strassburg in 1958, the Greater Miami Youth Symphony was created to foster a love of music in young people and to enrich the cul­tural life of the community. GMYS is an independent five­level orchestra program dedicated to training young musicians between 5 and 18 years of age. Conceived as a complementary facet to musical instruction in the schools, GMYS has continuously succeeded in presenting high caliber performances to South Florida audiences.

The mission of the Greater Miami Youth Symphony “GMYS” is

1. to instill life­long values of discipline, teamwork, responsibil­ity, respect, and cultural appreciation in young musicians, ages five through eighteen, through learning, rehearsing, and performing in a professional, positive environment.
2. to enrich the cultural foundation of our community by reaching out to and recruiting young mu­sicians from different cultural, ethnic and economic backgrounds.
3. to train young people through teaching, rehearsals, and performances to function together as first rate orchestras, and ensembles that bring the communities together in outstanding music performances.

Today, GMYS serves over 600 students in seven beginning instrument classes, four orchestras, and concert/jazz band, and over 300 students in the GMYS Summer Music Camp. GMYS is also the Youth Artist in Residence at the Deering Estate at Cutler and was a finalist in 2009, 2010, and 2011 for a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

For more information about GMYS, see the GMYS website at www.gmys.org.

February 20, 2011 at Riviera Presbyterian Church.

GATE Program is a mission of Riviera Presbyterian Church and a program of University of Miami Jackson Memorial Hospital since 2001.

Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest days in the year for America, and the same goes for Riviera Presbyterian Church (RPC).

We’ve managed to turn Super Bowl Sunday into SOUPer Bowl Sunday (see what we did there?) by turning it into a day of giving back. With the help of the church youth group (which I myself am a proud member of) the church makes soup for a lunch in which the proceeds go to the Riviera Food Pantry. This is a mission of the church that reaches out to those in need in the community by giving food to the ones who can’t afford it.

This year, Henry Barrow, member of the church, made two soups, one vegan (for those who have made that lifestyle choice) and the other was a delicious chicken soup. And as I said, the youth group played their part in all this by cutting and preparing all the vegetables for the soup, as well as acting as clean up crew afterwards.

Everyone loved the soup, and the church managed to raise $500 for
the food pantry, so I’d say it went well. As you can see, it really was
one Super Sunday!