St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church
Laytonsville, Maryland

St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church is making a difference in the world,
one family, one child at a time and we invite you to join us

Outreach is not just a "church activity", but rather it is our mission. Any parish that doesn't reach out is not alive in Christ. Period. It is very important that when people approach us on the web, it is clear that as St. Bartholomew's lives so St. Bartholomew's reaches out.

International Outreach

Image a young life void of all family support and guidance; lacking needed financial assistance and educational instruction. Now imagine being able to alter this outlook. As part of its first outreach program, St. Bartholomew's has provided support to the Rev. Sosiness Demo of the Anglican Church of Kenya and his wife, Mary, as they build an orphanage for children in rural Kenya.

Father Sosiness Demo, founder and director of Mirembe Home for Girls, reports that the girls are preparing to return to school the first week in September following a busy summer for the orphanage.

Jenny, the cow that was purchased for Mirembe two years ago by a St. Bart's parishioner, has given birth to a calf. The calf was born on a damp and chilly night with the girls in attendance and was the cause for a great deal of excitement and celebration. Given the unusually cool (for Kenya) weather conditions, the girls named the calf Winter. All indications are that Winter is healthy and happy and, like her mother, promises to grow into welcome source of milk. Any milk not consumed by the girls will be sold, the proceeds going to operation expenses.

The summer also saw the completion of construction of a computer room for the orphanage. Officials from the United Nations have inspected the facility and granted tentative approval to provide Mirembe with eight computers as soon as the room can be furnished and supplied with electricity. It is common in Kenya to provide furnishing by purchasing all or a portion of a large tree and hiring artisans and carpenters to construct furniture. Fr. Demo has procured "a beautiful, big tree" for this purpose and is negotiating with local craftsmen to build the computer room furniture.

Electricity continues to pose challenges for the orphanage. With the financial assistance of a St. Bartholomew's parishioner, electricity poles have been put into place. Fr. Demo is now working to fund and procure either a transformer or a generator to complete the project.
In July the Mirembe van was involved in an accident when another vehicle struck it from behind. Fortunately, none of the girls were seriously injured. Even though the Mirembe driver was not at fault, the peculiarities of Kenyan law, culture and insurance practices are such that Mirembe had to come up with the money for the van's repairs. St. Bartholomew's was fortunate to be able to assist Fr. Demo meet this emergency expense.

Fr. Demo also reports that the local government has approved his application to host a Harambee, a traditional African community fundraiser. The application was submitted last September to help replace tuition funds which were diverted to repair the roof of the orphanage which had been damaged during a storm.

In a recent phone conversation with Fr. Demo, he reports that, as the girls grow up and prepare to graduate and enter college, their expenses are increasing. In addition, much of the local funding that Mirembe has relied on in the past is drying up due to the shaky Kenyan economy. As a result, Fr. Demo has placed a moratorium on accepting new girls into Mirembe, a move which clearly disturbs him. "We are not sure what God has in mind for us, but we have faith that he will provide as he always has."

Despite the unanticipated emergencies and expenses, Fr. Demo says as "God has blessed us with plenty of rain this summer and our flower and vegetable gardens have been abundant. We have much to be thankful for." He went on to express his "thanks to all our brothers and sisters at St. Bartholomew's for their continuing generosity and prayers. Without you, we would be unable to continue"

Parishioners who would like to help Fr. Demo and the girls of Mirembe may do so by contributing to orphanage on an as-needed/as-able basis, or by pledging on-going support on a monthly basis. The bulk of St. Bartholomew's contributions are earmarked for the girls' educational and living expenses. Any additional funds are targeted to operational and emergency expenses. For complete details, contact Brent or Stevie Grimes (301-972-3072).

Local Outreach

This spring the Local Outreach Committee assembled "goodie bags" for homeless people in the area. Parishioners have been distributing these bags, and they can also put together the bags themselves, with the recipe below. Here is a description of the program from Tim Smith:

We've all seen the homeless men and women standing at busy intersection asking for help. Often we're not sure what to do. Money seems a little dangerous and uncertain. Simply ignoring them seems callous and unchristian. The Local Outreach Committee put together these bags of food goodies to give to the people we meet. It will provide a good lunch/snack and lets them know that we care and Jesus cares about them. It also helps us be more open to them and the Lord.

This list can be modified by what’s on sale. Generally, we try to get things low in sugar, e.g. fruit in juice not syrup. Soft granola bars so that those missing teeth can still eat them. Most of the items can be bought at CostCo/Sam’s Club. A bag cost around $3-4 each.

The committee is also involved in supporting the Carol Jean Cancer Foundation-Camp Friendship. We're also open to new ideas and members!!