VPC Mission Partners

Located in the heart of Venice, the 180 House, an outreach of Suncoast Youth for Christ, uses activities such as skateboarding, rock climbing, ping-pong, basketball, and art to connect with high school youth to share the love of Christ. One-on-one mentoring, Bible studies, and the Alpha program help these young people as they learn to follow Christ in their ever-changing world.

Three hundred missionaries depend on Agape Flights to deliver their mail and supplies while living and working on mission fields in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas. Agape also delivers relief supplies during disasters and emergencies. Agape Flights equip the Caribbean missionaries so that they can effectively share the love of Christ. Agape has two planes and flies several times a week making deliveries.

Cedarkirk is a year-round camp and conference center owned by the Tampa Bay and Peace River Presbyteries. It has 170 wooded, swampy acres on the Alafia River. Cedarkirk's goal is to provide a place for individual and group growth, or spiritual renewal in a natural environment.

The Center of Hope assists all those in need including, the homeless, veterans, single-parents, the elderly, and the working poor. Their mission is to minister to all by bringing hope where there is hopelessness. The Center of Hope has many, many programs to offer those in need, including few include food distributions, rent assistance, health clinics, assistance with legal IDs, resume assistance, and a clothing distribution. Lives have been changed by the services of this mission partner.

The Center of Hope assists all those in need including, the homeless, veterans, single parents, the elderly, and the working poor. Their mission is to minister to all by bringing hope where there is hopelessness. The Center of Hope has many, many programs to offer those in need, a few include food distributions, rent assistance, health clinics, assistance with legal IDs, resume assistance, and clothing distribution. Lives have been changed by the services of this mission partner.

In 2024, Salud Que Transforma, which means health that transforms, will be celebrating its 15th anniversary of being established through Venice Presbyterian Church. The clinic provides free health care to local residents as well as ones they connect with through mobile day clinics. Services include medical, dental and pharmaceutical. Currently, the clinic has a staff of 16 including three doctors, medical students, nurses and an administrative staff. It is managed by Dr. Erick and Cynthia Estrada and is based on the idea of integrating physical and spiritual well-being. As the result, the Estradas mix ministry with their medical mission and include God in all that they do which has resulted in a number of programs and scholarships for children and their families that VPC helps to support on an annual basis through your continued giving.

The mission of the Community Assistance Ministry (CAM) is to meet the urgent needs of the residents of South Sarasota County, doing so with respect and dignity. Many of those served find themselves in the situation of having to decide between paying their rent or putting food on the table for their family. CAM serves local residents through food donations from the community, church members, and various “food partners” from whom we purchase at a discount. CAM believes the spiritual and emotional needs of their guests must be met, as well as the physical. We are quick to assist residents with support by connecting them to other means of assistance if we do not offer it already.

Day 4 Hope prepares disadvantaged children to start school with hope and confidence, on an equal footing with their peers. Each child receives a medical check, dental screening, vision screening, a haircut and an individual photograph, along with a photo of their family. Each also receives a new backpack filled with school supplies, a bag of hygiene products, groceries, and $100 worth of gift cards for new clothes and shoes. VPC’s event serves 250 children from 9 local elementary schools on the last Saturday of July.

Family Promise’s mission is to provide housing support to children in need and their families. They provide many programs that ensure lasting self-sufficiency in housing. Family Promise provides a bridge shelter program to assist up to 3 families in area churches, also gives rent assistance, and finally, they have a program to help with 1–2-year transitional housing to assure stability. Distributing community-donated basic needs items, like cleaning supplies, is also one of the ways Family Promise helps needy families. Lives have been dramatically changed by this mission.

Vision: To see the world transformed by Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes. Mission: To lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church. FCA is the world’s largest Christian Sports Ministry serving in every state and around the world in over 106 countries. We have both campus and community sport ministries. On campuses, we strive to reach EVERY coach, athlete, student, teacher, and administrator with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. Locally, in Sarasota County we are a growing staff who are training and equipping the Saints for the work of ministry in over 20 campuses, including all schools but one in Venice. We are reaching about 1000 students each week (and growing) with the Gospel. We have had over 100 decisions for Christ this year alone.

Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organization that uses volunteers and donations to help families build affordable housing. In 2023 we celebrated the dedication of a Faith Built Home, funded solely by the VPC Foundation and donations from VPC members. VPC members also donated many hours of volunteer labor as the home was being built. We praise God for the opportunity to bless the Razo family with a safe and beautiful new home. Habitat picks families for their homes based on need, a willingness to partner with Habitat through at least 300 hours of labor, and their ability to repay a mortgage with an affordable payment plan.

Founded in 1983 by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, we have been leaders in Jewish-Christian relations, building bridges of goodwill that have led to greater understanding and cooperation between members of these two great faiths. We have helped hundreds of thousands of Jews escape poverty and anti-Semitism and return to their biblical homeland, funded humanitarian assistance that has touched the lives of millions of Jews in Israel and around the world, provided life-giving aid to Israel’s victims of war and terror, and much more.

Venice Presbyterian partners with Helps International to bring safe, efficient, Onil stoves to rural families in the Guatemalan mountains near Nebaj. The Onil stove eliminates the respiratory problems and the horrible burns associated with open fires. The stove also uses less fuel. Cooking on open fires are a major problem in less developed countries. Helps International also installs water filters and has a school. Rural Guatemalan families live safer, healthier lives because of Helps International and the Onil stove.

Migrant farm workers live in moldy, bug infested, trailers in Immokalee, Florida. Rent is very high at $75 per person per week. Sometimes these high rents force more than one family to live in an unfit trailer. Immokalee Fair Housing’s mission is to eliminate deplorable and overcrowded rental housing for farmworkers and other low-income residents. IFHA is currently building 128 new, affordable, multi-family units in Immokalee. Safe, affordable, healthy housing will make low-income workers less miserable and benefit the entire community.

Laurel Civic Association is a community-based organization dedicated to helping low-income and at-risk children and families thrive through a variety of impactful programs. Youth Programs Our Afterschool Academic Program ensures every child has the support they need to succeed to be above average students. The Kids Café provides essential nutrition, ensuring no child goes home hungry. We also have a Summer Reading Program to keep children engaged in reading and to prevent the “Summer Slide.” For teens we have our seven-week Teen Empowerment Program for high school students to develop post-graduate plans. Adult Empowerment Programs Our adult programs focus on workforce development, emergency financial assistance, financial literacy training, and bi-monthly client choice food distribution. This empowers families to shop for the food they need, while our programs promote self-sufficiency. Positive Impact Witness the positive impact on children, teens, and families through stories in our alumni section on the website. Your support makes these success stories possible.

Mision Peniel provides food, clothing, fellowship, and emergency support to the very poor migrant farmworkers in Immokalee, FL. On Fridays, 300-450 farmworkers are served food from Mision Peniel. Pastoral Care is provided to farmworkers including counseling, hospital visits, and assistance in orienting migrants to a new culture. Mision Peniel acts as an advocate for fundamental change in the living and working conditions of the farmworkers. Migrant farmworkers live better, more dignified lives because of this ministry.

Jim and Beth Luebe live and minister in New York City in leadership with a new ministry called Oaks International. They minister to First Responders, primarily the New York Police Department (NYPD), helping them to come to faith in Christ and grow as His disciples. The NYPD recently invited Jim and Beth to provide quarterly training events for police officers to help them grow in their faith in Jesus. Beth is the oldest daughter of VPC Pastor Emeritus Burke and Eleanor Johnson. Sadly, in American culture police officers are often some of the most disrespected members of our communities. This is certainly the case for the officers we work with in New York City. We are seeking to come alongside these men and women with the love of Christ to help them grow as His disciples. Following a recent NYPD training event on “Understanding the Bible” an officer commented: “I love this training and we need more like it. This will help the suicide rate of cops go down which can mean the difference between someone feeling so alone that they want to hurt themselves and someone getting to know Jesus and deciding to live for Christ.”

Jim McGill is a Presbyterian missionary that works in Niger and South Sudan, Africa. He works to ensure clean water and sanitation at both the community and individual levels. Since these countries are by the Sahara desert water is extremely important. The organization that McGill works for drills a well and then has it run by an evangelist. The water brings prosperity and creates a positive connection in these predominantly Muslim countries. The money earned from the sale of water pays the evangelist. In Niger, water allows for better hygiene. This is crucial in a country where nearly one in four children die before their fourth birthday. Niger is an extremely primitive country where most refuse to use a latrine.

One Christ, Won City presents a grand vision: transforming the world, one community at a time. The local congregations in their area recognize the importance of unity, understanding that the well-being of the community is a collective responsibility. Together, they remain devoted to a singular purpose – the growth of faith and values in southwest Florida and throughout the world.

We are at the forefront of evangelism and discipleship in Israel’s modern-day revival. We are producing evangelistic media in Hebrew, Arabic, and English seen by millions of Israelis and others around the world, leading to a boom in the number of people accepting Yeshua as their Messiah and Lord.

Pregnancy Solutions is dedicated to providing women and men experiencing unexpected, unplanned, or unwanted pregnancies with life-affirming options and support through free pregnancy testing, ultra-sound, counseling, parenting classes, financial help, and more.

Each November and December Venice Presbyterian Church partners with South Sarasota County Salvation Army to “Do the Most Good”. The money our volunteers from VPC raise by ringing bells at Publix on the Island helps fund emergency relief for families in our area. In 2022 our location raised over $20,000!

We are dedicated to taking Christ to millions and we have found that the most effective way to do this is by training Christians for ministry. Taking Christ to Millions: TCM develops Christian leaders for significant service through higher learning. With influence in over 45 countries, we are reaching the world in a unique way by preparing nationals to reach their own people for Christ. Training Christians for Ministry: More than 700 graduates have been trained to be disciple-makers in their own countries. TCM graduates from Ukraine and adjacent countries are continuing to provide hands-on relief services to the Ukrainian people. These services address the basic needs of the refugees in the name of Jesus. Donations through Venice Presbyterian have supported this effort.