The youth have been exploring these timely and relevant themes in scripture, in reflection conversations, and in action over the course of the “Love Month”, otherwise known as February.  We began with the Exodus story and subsequent passages in Leviticus and Deuteronomy that explicitly reference how we are to treat people who are searching for a sense of belonging (“exiles, foreigners, strangers in a far away land”) with compassion and generosity, and then moved on to explore comparable exhortations in some of Paul’s letters to the early Christians and several Gospel passages, most notably Jesus’ clear and explicit teaching in Matthew 25 about the importance of “welcoming the stranger” and taking care of the most vulnerable in society.

During February vacation, we got busy!  We sponsored 10 Sweet Bags from the organization “Together We Rise (www.togetherwerise.org) which provides hand decorated duffle bags filled with comfort items and practical supplies to foster care agencies for children who are in the process of moving from home to home, often in the midst of a crisis situation.  Luckily, we have some very talented artists in our group and we enjoyed a fun night together decorating and filling the bags, which have now been delivered to an agency in Waltham.

One Sunday in February, during our morning class, the youth used their artistic talents again by making birthday cards for people in WCUC’s Sunday Fellowship community.

Later in the week, the youth packed and delivered donated household goods and personal hygiene products to the Refugee and Immigration Ministry (RIM), an interfaith action agency in Malden, MA.  Members and friends of WCUC donated enough items to completely fill one minivan and a second relatively large car.  Thank you all for your generosity!