Members and friends of Zion Mennonite Church are committed to following Jesus’ example of serving others in love, locally and around the world. Our small congregation participates in many service activities throughout the year, and is committed to providing service opportunities for our children and youth so that they can experience the joy of helping others. While our service activities change somewhat from year to year, some of our more recent service projects are highlighted here.
North Lee County Food Pantry – ZMC regularly collects donations of cash and food for the North Lee County Food Pantry. From 2015-2017, the Mission Committee provided support and assistance for the Community Garden project started by Roberta Krehbiel in 2014. The harvest from the garden was donated to the North Lee County Food Pantry. The congregation also donated a butchered hog to the food pantry in 2015.
Emma Cornelis Hospitality House – ZMC occasionally collects donations of personal care items, cleaning supplies, and other items for the use of residents of the Emma Cornelis Hospitality House in Ft. Madison, Iowa.
Sunday School MCC Breakfast – In the spring, the youngest Sunday School children usually work together to prepare and serve a breakfast to the entire congregation as a fundraiser for MCC My Coins Count. Over the years, other Sunday School classes have held numerous other fundraisers for MCC. Typically the children are very involved in the planning of these fundraisers so that each project is truly the work of the children.
Other Mission Projects – ZMC collects food and supplies for food baskets for families in the Central Lee school district twice each year, and collects school supplies for MCC school kits each year. In 2015 the congregation collected enough supplies for sixty (60) school kits.
Service trips for high school youth and young adults – ZMC is committed to providing opportunities for our high school and college age youth to participate in service projects through MDS. In 2014, seven youth and six adults worked at the Staten Island MDS site for one week helping rebuild homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy; you can read about their experience here. In 2006, ten youth and four adults worked at the MDS site in Buras, Louisiana to help with clean up from Hurricane Katrina.