We believe that faith calls us to action at Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church. Throughout Scripture, God commands us to care for the vulnerable, provide shelter for the homeless, and extend love to those in need. This mission drives our deep commitment to supporting families experiencing homelessness in Austin. One of the most powerful ways we are living out this call is through our partnership with the Foundation for the Homeless (FFH) and Peace Lutheran Church’s Peace Family Housing Project, a collaborative effort to provide transitional housing for families in crisis.

BY NANCY PICKETT

Prior to Covid-19 and recent government unrest, WHPC had both a consistent financial and physical presence in Nicaragua.

Even if WHPC is currently not as physically present, our WHPC missions still has a substantial financial and spiritual presence.

One example of WHPC involvement in Nicaragua Missions is:

Colegio Christiano Presbiteriano (CCP). CCP is our oldest and dearest school ministry. They are in one of the poorest neighborhoods, but shine as a true example of how God can take that which has been cast off and make it pure and vibrant.

WITH SHER HASSAN

On Sunday, Oct 8, 2023 our Afghan Refugee families came to WHPC to share a story in worship as well as showcase their home made products and sell them to the congregation. The women and children made beautiful bracelets, handbags and more. The men prepared delicious food and blessed us all with their presence. In addition to the beautiful market experience, Sher Hassan (one of the refugees), shared his story in worship. Keep reading to hear his story. 

By Larry Bloomquist & James Gordon

You may have seen the movie, “God is NOT Dead.” That statement is certainly true, especially in the Westlake and Lake Travis area schools. In fact, God is stirring the hearts of many of our youth all over Austin through their involvement in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). In the words of one student, “Seriously, FCA has changed my life and as funny as it sounds, it’s one of the loves of my life!”

I am a father, and on Father’s Day, I contemplate and honor all of the courageous and loving fathers I have had the privilege to know and support. Whether in my personal life or professional one, most of the father’s I know are bound by a commitment to do the best they can for their children. At Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services, we serve some heroic dads, like Samuel. He was thrust back into parenting after losing his child.

Meet Élida, an extraordinary woman who works in the kitchen of a local hotel, cares for her family, and attends ESL class at Manos de Cristo. Élida’s story is not only inspiring, but also a powerful reminder of the grit, determination, and resilience that immigrants bring to this country.

As an ESL instructor, I had the pleasure of teaching Élida in an Introductory ESL (English as a Second Language) class. During one of our classes, we worked on English vocabulary for weekly schedules, and I asked Élida to share her schedule with the class. What I heard next completely blew me away!

I have a confession to make: I don’t do food drives.

by Mission Committee Member, Sarah French

To be perfectly honest, every time we pass out the blue bags to collect food for our partner ministry, Manos de Cristo, I just avoid eye contact with the people passing them out and scoot to the other side of the hallway.

I know, I know; Jesus literally told us to feed the hungry, but I usually feel like I am just barely surviving life, and buying groceries for someone else just feels like One. More. Thing. One more thing that I have to add to my mobius strip of a to-do list. One more thing that I have to make time for.

So, I have told myself for many years, I feed the hungry by giving financial support. I happily write Manos de Cristo a very generous check, which they can use to buy food for their pantry, probably at a bulk rate and tax-free, making my dollar go further. Everybody wins! Right?

Well, this approach may have been all well and good in other years, but sadly my delusion was recently shattered by my friend Julie Ballesteros, the executive director of Manos de Cristo. She told me that the Capital Area Food Bank is experiencing record-low inventory, and has been unable to offer the food they typically can supply to food pantries like Manos De Cristo. The shelves at Manos are emptier than they have ever been, at the same time they are experiencing increased demand for food.

Julie showed me a picture of the mostly empty pantry and told me that almost everything they had was being supplied by their partner churches, including WHPC. This was certainly a wakeup call for me!

I should point out that generous financial giving to Manos de Cristo is still a wonderful (and needed) thing. Manos de Cristo offers English, computer, and citizenship classes; a clothes closet; and critical dental care. Financial gifts are a wonderful way to support the ministry.

But I want to make sure there aren’t others like me in our congregation who dismiss food drives as unnecessary. I have realized that the blue bags are not just an exercise to make us feel involved in ministry. They aren’t a just an opportunity to get our kids involved in mission work and teach them about generosity. They are all of these things, but perhaps most importantly, the blue bags are now a critical supply of food that hundreds of our neighbors are counting on to feed their families.

I’ll be picking up two blue bags today, and I hope you will too.

What began as a day of service developed into a week of Service Projects! On Wed, Oct. 26th, the Choir brightened up the sanctuary entries. Then, On Sat. Oct. 29th, about 44 people pitched in to brighten up the WHPC gardens, grounds, and stonework!

The 6 tasks that were accomplished that week were:

On Wed. before choir practice even began-

1. 6 choir members arranged some 34 fall mums around the entries to the sanctuary & vestibule, as well as at the plaza, while one person clipped and fertilized the roses

On Sat. following a hearty Rudy’s breakfast served by the Deacons 5 crews got busy making things look fresh and alive-

1. 14 folks hauled & spread 155 bags of hardwood mulch in and around the Memorial Garden by 10:30am!

2. 5 guys cleaned the stone walls, columns, and some stone around the bell area using 3 high-pressure power washers

3. 3 painters coated the cinder block wall of the NEW Storage Area under the garage

4. 10 gardeners cleaned, planted fall color, and mulched the bed above the parking garage, Plus 2 folks mulched the roses at the sanctuary

5. 3 guys bushwacked the overgrown red tips at the upper lot, then loaded and hauled off a huge trailer full of limbs & cuttings

By noon several projects had been completed and clean-up begun, while the power washing and painting crews continued for a while!

Please know that WHPC’s Pastors, Leaders, and the Building & Property Committee are so very grateful for the turnout & hard work performed at this Fall Service Day 2022.

Certainly some big things were done, but the joy of fellowship while serving side-by-side in these hands-on tasks was the great gain that day. Many friendships were renewed even while new relationships birthed among members, friends, scouts, staff, and the delightful members of True Vine Church of God 7th Day.

Thank you all! We are certainly better together!

This year, our church raised $4,300 for our Peace and Global Witness offering!

While a portion of this offering goes directly to Mission Presbytery’s work, WHPC gets to designate a portion to an identified candidate.

The mission committee wanted to do something for those effected by hurricane Ian in Florida.

We were able to find a church community that is doing incredible work to help their congregation and local community recover from extreme loss due to the hurricane.

One third of the members of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Fort Myers Florida experienced a total loss of their homes. It is our joy to partner with this congregation in their efforts to bring healing and peace to this community.

Here are the prayer requests from Reverend Bill Teng, Pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Prayer Requests from Rev. Bill Teng

1. That the recovery efforts from their church would be a blessings to their community

2. Guidance on next steps for those who experienced total losses. Do they stay and rebuild? Do they move?

3. For insurance companies to be responsive and effective

4. For the psychological well being of those experience PTSD

This summer, over 200 people from Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church answered God’s invitation to service. They used their hearts, hands and feet to serve in our local community and abroad. This is a brief overview of that work.

The experience I had in Puerto Rico was a once in a lifetime experience that I could not be more grateful to have. And would like to tell you a little bit about it. Traveling there on the first day was a really long day especially since it started at 3 AM with me only knowing a few people on the trip. I was excited but a little nervous at the same time. To go on a trip like this with some people I have never talked to. Little did I know I would become incredibly close with each and every person throughout this next week. Once we got there it was almost like I imagined a tropical island which was pouring rain while we waited for our bags. But by the time we got outside it stopped raining and the sun came out and you can really see the true beauty of the island as we drove to the school that we stayed at. It was definitely a little different than what we normally stay in not much air conditioning. But at the same time I was excited for what was ahead.

For 15 years WHPC has been in relationship with Faith in Christ Ministries International located in Liberia, Africa.

This video tells the story of how God introduced these worshipping communities and how God is still actively working through the relationship we have together.

Blueprint Ministries has been serving the San Antonio area since 2005. Countless groups have gathered together all to fulfill one common goal: to restore homes and hope in San Antonio. Since it is a tradition for the WHPC middle schoolers to serve with Blueprint, I traveled on the two-hour van ride to the Blueprint facility with my group consisting of Taleesa Fox, Mae Housely, Kristie Min, and me. My leaders were Jose Suarez, Mitchell Shultz, and Andrea Murray.

When a few WHPC members volunteered to furnish an apartment for an incoming Afghan refugee family in October 2021, nobody could have imagined where it would lead. God’s plans for WHPC’s involvement were bigger than we could have imagined. What started with outfitting an apartment for one family has now grown to walking alongside five families totaling 43 people (including four brand new US citizens)!

“Carol School! Carol School!” called several voices in early November from the 2nd story window as I approached apartment building 3B, carrying my cardboard box filled with school supplies. Even though I knew they’d spotted me, I rang their bell out of respect. I could hear scurrying bare feet and rustling papers as I mounted the stairs. By the time I’d removed my shoes and peered through their front door, 10 of the 11 children, aged 12 months to 16 years old, were seated on the floor, table tents bearing their names set up, folders, papers, pencils and crayons scattered in front of each child as they welcomed me with “Salaam!” and huge smiles in expectation of today’s lessons in English. The girls were dressed in traditional Afghan clothing including a hijab, completely covering their hair. The boys wore sweat pants and shirts. The two year old, Beroj, had squeezed his kneeling body between 2 older siblings as if he, too, were prepared to read today. Zhala, the youngest of all, toddled around her siblings sucking on a dry erase cap and wearing a long brown hijab for the very first time.