Bottle Drive for Justice and Compassion

We are so excited about our bottle drive because it is a beautiful collaboration across multiple ministries in the church and allows everyone to participate! Together, Global Response, Local Response, SPACYOUTH and Adventurekids invite you to bring bottles to the church on Sunday April 19 when you come to our Sunday Gathering, OR drop off bottles on Wednesday April 22 7:00-8:30pm during SPACYOUTH.  

Our youth regularly engage in Justice and Compassion, on their “Love in Action” nights throughout the year, and on Wed April 22 they will express God’s love by sorting the bottles for delivery to the bottle depot. In this way they are contributing to our project of raising money for our Impact Ministries school classroom in Guatemala AND they are participating in the creation care aspect of Justice and Compassion, as we join in the rest of the world in honouring Earth Day’s 2026 theme of “Planet vs Plastics”.  

Our Global Response Team also invite you to stop by their information table in the foyer on Sunday April 19, to learn more about our Impact Classroom and to write encouragement cards to bless our Guatemalan students. We welcome families to participate together, and would love drawings to be incorporated in the cards, by children (and adults!) who enjoy doing that. For those who want a bit more time, cards can be taken home and returned to the church by Sunday April 29.  

Together, our children’s ministry (AdventureKids) and youth ministry (SPACYOUTH) commit to raising $800 each year for our sponsorship commitment. We started with a grade one class in January 2025, and this winter they have moved into their grade two level with 20 students now in attendance.   

Your bottles help to raise money that provide not only an education (supplies and teacher’s salary), but also daily meals, health care and dental care. Our school, Vida de Agua (which means Living Water), is located in a small, impoverished mountain village. Food is a daily struggle, and for many of the students, the meal they receive at school is the only meal of the day for them. For some of the students, the walk to school (one way) is 2.5 hours through the mountains. Schoolteachers not only share the love of Jesus with the students, but they also provide pastoral (and social) care to the whole family.  

Last year, Impact celebrated their 25th anniversary, and we invite you to “flip” through their digital photobook.

Would you like to “see” our school? You can watch this short video from their 25-year celebration. In the video, you will see Impact Ministry’s founders, Les and Rita Peters.  

These resources highlight the way that as children are educated, they grow up to become leaders in their community, helping to address the issues of poverty. The staff of Impact is predominantly Guatemalan, empowered to be able to care for their own people. After 25 years, 50% of teachers and principals, pastors and social workers, are graduates of the Impact school program! Agricultural programs have been implemented to help with food insecurity. The dental and health clinics serve not only the students but the whole community. A children’s home, with certified Guatemalan social workers, provides refuge for children abandoned by their parents. We celebrate the way that the kingdom of God is bubbling up in this region of Guatemala! 

If you would like to continue to hear updates about our global partners and learn about future Global Response team opportunities, you can join the Global Response group on SPAC’s Church Centre app. [by clicking here?] 

And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

Hebrews 13:16 NLT