Mission Central Care Kits Have Global Impact.

At Mission Central, we are on a mission to connect God’s resources with human need, and one of the ways we accomplish this is through the distribution of Mission Central Kits. You may be wondering, what is in a Mission Central Kit and who receives these kits.

Mission Central has three types of kits: Mission Central Activity Kit, Mission Central Blessing Kit, and Mission Central Care Kit.

Each kit is filled with items identified to best meet the unique needs of the people we serve. Activity Kits are packed with school supplies and are given to local school districts, community groups, and even to students internationally through mission trips. Blessing Kits include resources for personal hygiene and comfort, such as deodorant, shampoo, rain ponchos, blankets, and water bottles. Many of these kits bless individuals experiencing homelessness. Care Kits include basic hygiene items such as combs, toothbrushes, and washcloths. These kits benefit individuals both locally and around the world.

In 2024, Mission Central already distributed 10,640 Care Kits to serve 31,920 individuals, a value of $127,000. The Care Kits traveled to several local organizations for distribution in Pennsylvania, and also to Honduras and Africa through international shipments. In Central Pennsylvania, Care Kits and Menstrual Kits were distributed through the Allison Hill Project which serves 150 people weekly in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Through the Hope for Haiti Foundation, Care Kits were given to refugee families arriving at the New American Welcome Center in York, Pennsylvania. Care Kits were also distributed to Honduran villages during a medical missions trip. 

Care Kits provide essential resources to those in need in our neighborhood and around the world. Our kit distributions would not be possible without the generous donations of kit items and the volunteers who give their time to assemble and pack kits. We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with the Susquehanna Conference at this year’s Annual Conference to collect items for Mission Central Care Kits! Thank you for your continued support and partnership to connect God’s resources with human need. 

This year at Annual Conference we are collecting items for Mission Central Care Kits. You are invited as a Church to collect items and have your pastor or lay delegate bring them to Annual Conference. There will be a place in the Grand Ballroom at the Genetti Hotel to drop off donations as well as assemble kits from the collected items. 

Each Supervisory Area is asked to provide items used to build the Care Kits. See below for the list of items.

Extraordinary Crèche Collection Displayed in Newville

By Sandii Peiffer

When Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Cartwright was a boy in the 1960s, his parents took him to the W. T. Grant Co. variety store in York, Pennsylvania, and bought his first nativity scene, otherwise known as a crèche, and started a life-long collection, which was recently on display.

Speaking of the set that started it all, Cartwright remembers, "The central figures cost 19 and 29 cents each, and the camels cost 49 cents. My father splurged and bought the whole manger scene, but there were only two styles of camels and my father couldn't justify getting a duplicate, so the three wise men only have two camels." 

In the years since, his collection has grown to over 310 crèches, "And that doesn't include the ties!" 

It took Cartwright three days to set up the display at Mount Hope UMC in Newville where he serves part-time. The collection was open for viewing on Christmas Eve, Sunday, December 26, and Wednesday evening, December 29. About half of the sets were personally bought by Cartwright during his life, ministry, and travels, and the other half have been given as gifts from family, friends, and the congregations that he has served.

 

There are crèches made of glass, wood, paper, copper, brass, pewter, and other metals, clay, corn husks, resin, plastic, porcelain, stone, wire, yarn, fabric, and more. 

 

The nativities are represented in myriad styles and artforms such as tabletop ornaments, tree ornaments, books, table runners, lapel pins, thimbles, puzzles, paintings, place mats, tablecloths, wood carvings, carved stones, boxes, globes, cross-stitch, cards, calendars, flags, music boxes, Fabergé eggs, quilted panels, plates, stuffed fabric, blankets, candles, stitched plastic canvas, stained glass, blown-glass, molded glass, decoupage, cut paper silhouettes, porcelain-origami, mugs, crochet, blankets, pillows, and the aforementioned neckties. 

 

 

Many of the crèches have international origins including Haiti, Germany, Sri Lanka, Japan, Bethlehem (Palestine) and the Holy Lands, Mexico, Ireland, Peru, Burkina Faso, and Italy to name a few. 

A number of the nativity sets were handmade by parishioners from the churches he has served, and one was painted by the inmates of the Huntingdon State Correctional Institution.

The smallest scene, about the size of a thimble, is a nativity scene set inside a miniature egg carved from white and rose quartz. The largest set (pictured with Cartwright) was a gift from First UMC in Harrisburg where he served from 2009 until it was closed in October 2019.

It is likely the last time the entire collection will be on display.