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Dublin Church Project Team to Assist Angola Orphanage
DUBLIN, CA (June 1, 2001) - A big corporation and a small Covenant church have combined resources and an orphanage in Angola will benefit as a result.
White Stone Covenant Church, a one-year-old "start-up" church of 60-70 adults located in Dublin, will send 12 members to Angola July 12-24 to launch a major restoration effort for the Associasao de Apolo a Crianca Abandonada Orphanage and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Angola's capital city of Luanda.
California-based Chevron Corporation, which has operated in Angola since 1954, has provided financial support for the project, thanks to the church's project coordinator for the trip, Evan Simmons, a petroleum engineering advisor for Chevron. Simmons spent three and a half years working for Chevron in Angola.
"We are extremely excited about our trip to Angola and we are looking forward to helping restore a facility that means so very much to a large number of children in Luanda," Simmons said. "Not only will the team organize and conduct major construction projects for the orphanage and the church, but programs are being formulated and time will be spent teaching and ministering to children in the orphanage and the children of the Lutheran church as well."
Due to years of civil war in Angola, a large number of children in Luanda are homeless. With social services strained, many of these children find their only form of shelter in poorly funded orphanages.
The White Stone team will paint the inside of the orphanage and will provide materials and labor for a tile floor and 20 benches for the church, paid for with funds raised in the U.S. prior to departure.
"Having worked in Angola . . . I've seen first-hand the need for this kind of project," Simmons said. "While we can't help all the children of Luanda, we certainly wanted to at least try to make a difference for a few kids. After all, it is often said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
The church has been overwhelmed with the support Chevron has offered, both financially and otherwise. "Chevron executives have donated over $5,000 in shipping alone," said White Stone Covenant Church Pastor Rob Bryceson. "They will house our team and give us safe conduct and protection while we're there. Their art department has created fantastic three-color posters . . . and several great evangelism conversations have taken place in business meetings because of
this."
Local residents have supported the effort. An entire neighborhood has banded together around a family who will be going on this mission, donating clothes, shoes and other items for 54 Angolan orphan girls. A teacher in a Dublin school has used this opportunity to teach her class about Africa. She created a curriculum where her students are preparing gifts and letters that will be delivered by members of White Stone Covenant to the girls in the orphanage.
For Bay area Covenant churches in Northern California, White Stone Covenant Church announced plans for a silent and live auction fundraiser to support the trip, which Bryceson estimates will cost $40,000. The dinner and fundraiser will take place at 5: 30 p.m. June 2 at the Valley Christian Center, 7500 Inspiration Drive in Dublin. Businesses in Dublin and Pleasanton donated items for the auction, as well as supplies to help rebuild and repair the orphanage.
For more information on White Stone Covenant Church and the Angola orphanage project, contact White Stone Covenant Church at 925-362-1565. Information also will be found by visiting the church web site at www.whitestonechurch.org.
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