April 2015 Minutes and News

Here is our blog post about our meeting from Tuesday, April 14th at Oak Grove UMC.

First off a big shoutout goes to Rev. Sam Lewis and the awesome people at Oak Grove for hosting us!

We began with prayer and an opening meditation.  First we read the amazing editorial that appeared in the Washington Post last year, This is What Happened When I Drove My Mercedes to Pick Up Food Stamps.  Here's a link to the story, it's worth your time to read; CLICK HERE

We had three topics to talk about.

First is a mission trip to Haiti led by 1st UMC Mocksville.
This is led by Kevin Neal and Dean Hendricks, who are pretty much pros at this kind of ministry.  They have two invitations regarding Haiti; one to join them on the mission trip, and two, to help financially to build a church in Haiti.
For years they have been working in Jaemel, a town south of Port-au-Prince.  The minister they support there works in 13 different Methodist churches, a present-day circuit rider pastor.  He works in conjunction with the Methodist expansion and is doing great work.  So 1st UMC wants to help him build a permanent church that's in his charge (to replace the one that's made on-site with pretty curtains and movable chairs).  The cost for this new church would be a total of $35,000, and this would cover the 4 walls, roof, and floor.  The pastor himself has already purchased the land for its construction.  So here's the details;

Right now 1st UMC is starting from scratch in raising funds for the church building, so any donations would be a big help.
The next trip will be around September or October for 10-11 days.
12 people can go on a team (if more than 12 sign up, they'll take multiple teams)
The trip to Haiti is on American Airlines (a serious upgrade from previous years)
The cost per person is $1,400-1,500 for each team member.  This covers the airfare, cost of materials, and to cover the pastor's expenses as he houses and feeds the work team.
Please contact 1st UMC if you are interested in going.  Any funds for the church building can be sent to 1st UMC with the memo being Haiti Church Building.

2.  We have an update on the Summer Food Bags Program shared by Blair Routh.

Right now funds are not coming in like past years, and this includes our own churches too.  Here's the hard data;

• Only $150 has been given from our churches
• Only $1000 has been given by area businesses
• Walmart has given a $1000 grant.
• A $2500 grant has been applied for, still waiting on that

Please work with your churches to raise funds for this ministry.  600 students last year had food throughout the summer because of this ministry, and they're counting on us!  $25,000-30,000 is needed, and we've done it every year, let's make it count this year!
Also volunteer help is needed as well!  Please contact Blair if you feel led.  These kids need us!

3.  Next was a small report from me (Brad) regarding this very blog.

I didn't take any selfies of myself at the meeting,
so here's a slightly older one...

Part of my focus and vision is to have a central place online where we can share information about who we are and what we are doing.  Right now we have notes from our meetings (as you may note already), and now I want to take it a step further.  I want to share our stories, especially our successes.  So if you have any missional praises and successes, let me know, and we'll share this narrative!  I may draft this as a kind of storytelling, and either you can volunteer to share your story or I'll check with you!  Stay posted!

4.  Other Business:

• Roy Miller at Concord UMC is collecting food items every Thursday from 9:00am - 12:00pm.  This food will be going out to people in need.  Check out this list if you would like to help;
• Peanut butter/jelly, fruit cups, pop tarts, beans and weenies, easy Mac, breakfast bars, oodles and noodles, Nabs/crackers, Instant oatmeal/grits, canned meats like tuna, SPAM, Vienna sausages, raisins, applesauce, bottled water, soups, trail mix, beef jerky, and juice boxes.
• Sam Lewis at Oak Grove is asking for help for Oak Grove regarding missional work to help them with focus and direction.  If you have a mission statement, know where to find resources, the outcomes you've experienced, and what you've learned in the process, get that info to Sam.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, August 18th at Center UMC.

Thank you everyone!  Share this info, and thank you!