Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:14 — “Let the little children come to me,” framed the 78th annual assembly of the United Churches of Lycoming County (UCLC) held this month at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church.

During the event, John and Sue Best, who founded Code Blue, an overnight homeless shelter at First Church during the cold months, received this year’s Ecumenical Service Award.

Announcing the award for the Bests, the Rev. Lauri Kerr, president of UCLC, cited the work that the couple had done with “a compassionate heart for the marginalized and disadvantaged; seeking to uplift and support those in need and empowering others by equipping them with tools and knowledge needed while mobilizing volunteers towards achieving and sharing that vision of that common goal.”

Code Blue has operated since 2018 and at the beginning of this year, filled 1,474 beds and served or offered 2,948 breakfast and dinner meals from Jan. 2 until the end of March, seven days a week, with the help of a volunteer staff.

The assembly also highlighted several outreaches of the UCLC in addition to the Code Blue shelter, including the Rise Up Village Bakery, which helps people transitioning from the criminal justice system; and the Church Women United, which sews busy bags and fidget quilts for children in the hospitals and nursing home residents.

Shelley Myers, who directs the UCLC’s Campus Ministry at the Pennsylvania College of Technology, shared, “I know, and I can sense that you have just been praying for us at that college.”

“Our ministry is growing, but more importantly, our students’ faith is deepening. We have two new students this semester — we had several more new students, but two new students in the ministry were baptized this semester, so praise God for that,” Myers said.

“I just always ask for continued prayers. I’m humbly asking all the time for that. I look around here, and I look at the pastors who started with me four years ago and have been just undergirding our ministry. And I can’t thank you enough for your support in so many ways,” Myers said.

“One more thing that I have to tell you — these students at Penn College have the hearts of servants. And right now, I don’t know how legit this is, but we had students go to Walmart this week, and they bought 40 pies, little box pies, and they’re selling them on campus, and proceeds are going to the food pantry down at the church on Third Street… So just continue your prayers for this ministry on that campus, God is moving in mighty ways and I appreciate your support,” she added.

Another ministry operated by the UCLC is a food pantry at New Covenant United Church of Christ. Last month they served 171 households, representing 441 people with 92 of them over the age of 60. They also distributed 25 boxes with turkeys and other staples for a Thanksgiving meal.

Representatives from three area non-profits, in keeping with the theme of the event, shared how they are reaching children and families in the community.

Sandy Spencer, from Susquehanna Valley CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) shared the following account to illustrate why they do the work they do.

“In August of 2016 a 30-year-old mother and her 47-year-old live-in boyfriend were charged with domestic battery, permitting the abuse of a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor. There were six children in the home, one being just 11 months old. But the original charges pertain to a four year old little girl. The police had received a call from a child advocacy center where a staff member told an officer that a malnourished 4 year- old had been abused in her home. She had deep purple bruises, a black eye, a swollen cheek and a mark on her forehead. She also had healing scars across her back, dried blood in the corner of her mouth and ligature marks on her wrists. When a police officer asked the little girl what her name was, she responded, ‘idiot,'” Spencer said.

“Her mother’s live-in boyfriend, police said, regularly called the child ‘idiot,’ instead of using her actual name. He also zip tied the girl to her bed as a form of punishment for climbing on the kitchen cabinets, according to the police report. The mother told police she had seen her boyfriend strike her daughter with a plastic bat, and said she heard him frequently call the child ‘idiot.’ He also admitted to hitting the child with a half-inch thick wooden paddle. The mother admitted to not seeking medical attention for her daughter, and when he admitted to calling this little girl ‘idiot,’ he said it was just a joke, a joke, but he told this joke often enough that it became believable to this child. None of this is a joking matter,” Spencer said.

Susquehanna Valley CASA was founded in 2003, but was known as Lycoming County CASA. In 2014 they expanded service to include Union, Snyder and Northumberland counties and changed their name to reflect that.

“Susquehanna Valley CASA Voices for Children is a volunteer-powered network of committed citizens from all walks of life who are specially trained to fight for the basic rights, essential needs and best interests of abused and neglected children in our local courtrooms and communities,” Spencer said.

“A CASA volunteer meets directly and regularly with his or her assigned child or sibling group, and also speaks with everyone of significance to the child, to understand every aspect of the child’s life, their placement or permanency, visitation, educational, medical, behavioral, social, financial and physical needs, vocational and life skills. And because we are appointed by judges, we have access to school records and medical records, all of those types of things, the volunteer informs the court through written reports as to what the child’s needs are, and makes recommendations regarding a permanent home, and then they needed support or services for the child,” she explained.

She urged those at the assembly to join CASA in making a difference in a child’s life by volunteering.

“Tonight. You have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable children in our community,” Spencer said.

“I’ve heard it said that we can change the world when good people do good things — good people, not only the wealthy, not only the highly intelligent, not only the most influential, but good people,” she said.

Karen Rehm, community relations director at Expectations Women’s Center which operates at locations in Williamsport and Lewisburg.

“We are a nonprofit organization that serves as an educational resource for the community, providing evidence-based education to empower individuals to make healthy choices that positively impact their lives, spiritually, physically and emotionally,” Rehm said.

“The services that we offer are free of charge and confidential, according to state law. We offer ultrasounds for pregnancy confirmation and dating, pregnancy education, parenting education, post abortion support and supplies for our ‘Earn While You Learn’ program. We offer a safe, non-judgmental environment where we hope our clients experience the love of Jesus,” Rehm added.

In the past 12 months, Expectations has served 434 clients, she noted.

“Our newest program, called “Pathways for Men,” is growing. This year we’ve seen an increase in the number of fathers coming in for parenting education and support. We’ve been able to take this program into the Lycoming County Pre Release Center to offer parenting education classes to men. We cannot serve these clients without your help. In fact, that’s our biggest need right now, is volunteers,” Rehm said, adding that the Williamsport center is also seeking a director.

Another non-profit featured at the assembly was Dwell Orphan Care which “supports foster, adoptive and kinship families here in Central PA and beyond, while mobilizing and equipping the local church and community so that children have a safe, loving forever home in which to dwell,” according to Emily Shover, Hope Chest coordinator at Dwell.

“It means that we believe that it is our duty and a biblical command to defend the cause of the fatherless right here in central Pennsylvania, while seeking a Christ-like love, while we work to empower and support foster and adoptive and kinship families,” she said.

Established in 2019, Dwell began as a “desire to see foster and adoptive families thrive for the sake of their children,” Shover said.

Statistically, Shover said, 50 percent of foster families discontinue fosters either after their first placement or within the first year of fostering, due to a significant lack of support and available resources.

“A child then in foster care will move, on average, about four times within their first year… This leads to compounded trauma and negative outcomes. So seeing the direct impact of these realities Dwell was formed to change that trajectory and bring hope and healing to families pursuing adoption, foster care and kinship care. When we feel loved, nurtured and cared for, we have a greater capacity to love, nurture and care for the littles and the bigs in our home,” she explained.

One of the main programs at Dwell is the Hope Chest foster closet, which offers children entering foster care a duffle bag filled with about two weeks of clothing, new socks and underwear, new shoes, a hygiene kit and other essentials.

“When a child enters foster care, they’re often coming with nothing but what they’re wearing, and if they are coming with anything, most of the time it’s carried in a black trash bag. If we take a moment to think about that, what do we use trash bags for,” Shover asked.

“So if we are taking a child out of anything that they’ve ever known, and now we are taking anything that they own in the world, and you’re putting that in a trash bag, that sends a psychological message to that child that we don’t really treasure their stuff, right? And that if their stuff is trash, and everything they own is trash, maybe they’re also trash. But we know that that’s not true. I have yet to meet another person that believes that to be true, and so we are seeking to change that psychological message that that child is not trash but is treasured in the eyes of their Creator,” she said.

Dwell also addresses the impact of fostering on the foster family by sending a new laundry basket filled with toys, books and games for families to do together, in addition to providing a meal for the family.

“This week alone, Dwell’s Hope Chest has served five kids who have entered care since Monday. Just today, at around two o’clock, I was sitting on the floor with two little girls who had just entered care. They were very weak and had bloated bellies from significant neglect, but being able to bring them all of these things and stick with them and interact with them, and you could just see the life come into them,” Shover said.

This year, Dwell has served over 450 kids impacted by foster care.

In addition to their Hope Chest program, Dwell provides information about resources, such as support groups and offers trauma training and trust-based relational intervention. Their adoption grant program also helps cover the significant cost of adoptions for families.

“This is the great work that you put into motion when you support Dwell. Caring for the most vulnerable is not an option, but it’s a biblical command. James 1:27 reads religion that our God the Father accepts as pure and faultless is this, to look after the orphans and the widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world,” Shover said.

“Children are mentioned over 1,700 times in the Bible. As Christ followers we must step into this space of caring for the orphan and the widow, acting as the hands and feet of Christ. This is why this matters. This is happening right in your backyard,” she said.

She urged the group to think about how they could do something to further Dwell’s ministry.

“Maybe that’s engaging in monthly giving as a family sponsor with Dwell. Maybe that’s volunteering your time or joining our prayer list and offering your prayers weekly for children that have experienced some of the worst,” she said.

“Not enough is a common phrase that we hear in the world of foster care…There’s not enough services, there’s not enough money, there’s not enough support. But I believe very firmly, but there’s absolutely more than enough in the kingdom of God, and we want to walk alongside of you, supporting you and giving you the tools to step into this ministry space, as God calls us to do, as Christ followers,” she added.