Our minutes for tonight's meeting aren't as pretty as normal (no pics this time), but the info you need is here!
For our meeting tonight the attendance was, okay. Not great. And considering the importance of the items needing covering, we decided to meet again in a month and push for greater attendance. So our next meeting will be on March 14th at Salem UMC at 7:00pm.
Also the need for a vice chairperson was raised. Rev. Sam Lewis volunteered, and we’re thankful for his devotion and dedication.
Our first item to be shared is in reference to the Summer Food Bags for 2016. Blair Routh shared. For last year we served over 600 children. Two buses were used to help deliver the food to the communities where they resided as many lacked transportation. Some would walk a mile to get it, kids walking for food. A big thank you goes out to Tom Baker for his hard work with last year’s ministry. So how can we help for this year? On March 12, 7-10am at 1st Presbyterian Church in Mocksville will be hosting their pancake breakfast, and the funds raised that day go to Summer Food Bags. So come on down! Different businesses and churches are also giving, yay, but we need more! Have a special offering, do a kids car wash, host your own Fellowship Meal, and put it in the paper. If you do something like this, call Blair (336-936-9178) or myself (980-521-3531)!
I shared the email that our DS Jeff Patterson shared with me and other missional leaders. It's a mission to feed the homeless in Portland Oregon during General Conference. I'm going to include a PDF of this at the bottom of the blog.
Rev Sam Lewis is getting Oak Grove started with Faith Health NC, with Baptist Hospital. In this ministry the hospital tells Sam which folks leaving the hospital who have high needs, and the folks at his church help them in the transition. Examples are like going to the grocery store for them, help with the pharmacy, giving a ride, stuff so they don’t get sick and go back to the hospital. Feb 25 at Oak Grove at 5:30pm there is a followup meeting with Faith Health NC, and if you are interested, have questions, or are just curious you are welcome to come.
Rev Glenn Myers gave a couple of updates: Stop Hunger Now hosted by 1st UMC in late December had 50 volunteers, and in 3 hours made 16,000 meals which are going to Nicaragua. Also Jerry Banks of the new When Ministry, (giving free meals and sharing Christ), the meal thing wasn’t quite working at first. So they connected with Just Hope and Crystal Dumas, so 4 weeks ago they box up meals and deliver them to the folks living in the hotels (that Just Hope helps). 30 adults and 10 children are regularly served. In talking with Crystal, 1st UMC will partner any church or group to help with the Thursday meal deliveries. 1st will box and deliver, and if you want to help with that too that’s great! Lots of donations are coming in too! Check it out!
Dean Hendrix shared about Family Promise. This ministry helps homeless families. As he explained, when we envision homeless families we usually think of DEADBEATS, but they are cool, regular people who have no one to turn too. Very isolated families. There are kids too, many with special needs. Family Promise works with families to keep them together and help them as a family. There are identified 105 homeless children in Davie Co. Family Promise is a national program. There are 199 networks in 40 states already in operation. There are 3 here in NC in Gastonia and Durham, and is non-denominational.
It is structured to screen the families, it’s rule based, and it works. It helps the families as it provides shelter, meals, and also with stuff you don’t think of (transportation, jobs, job training, education), to help them become independent again. Average stay for a family is 64 days, and works 75% of the time. The group here will be contacting each church individually so more info to come.
There are 6 components of Family Promise in getting it off the ground:
Finding host churches and support churches to provide places for these families to stay. All the churches in our network will be needed to make it work. Families stay for 1 week on average, and host a family 3-4 times a year. Host church provides the housing, 4 families at a time, 14 peoples total, and the church provides the meals. They move in on Sunday afternoon and stay to Sunday, and move from church to church. The support people may not have the space but can serve meals, help the day to day stuff. Other organizations are welcome. The families stay at your church place overnight. The families themselves will help moving, not the churches. During the day the families will be at the day center
Need a Day Center. Here the families spend the day there, kids go to school. Kids 5 and under stay with the family. At this place they can shower, laundry, look for work or go to their jobs.
Need transportation. 15 passenger van needed to go from church to day center and back.
Fundraising is being worked on. They’re getting at 501C3, so donations welcome, fundraisers, grants. Annual 1st year budget is $100,000-125,000.
Finding families from local social services. They’ll provide names of families, like Just Hope, Salvation Army
Need volunteers. Essential. They don’t have to be from the church doing the hosting, they can come from anywhere. The meals will be needed; cold breakfasts, food for a sack lunch for school kids and families to day center, and a hot meal for supper where the volunteers serve, eat with teh families, socialize, play with the kids, help with homework, the works. The host church will provide 2 people who will stay at the facility overnight with them. 50 volunteers needed, which can be individually to a couple of hours for your thing. We want to spread out the jobs.
The school situation; the kids will stay at the same school, we transport them there so they have the same class.
Rev. Glenn did Family Promise at High Point. Much of it is behind the scenes (cooking and hospitality). This isn’t a homeless shelter, it’s a hospitality ministry. Materials are being shared! We need churches who can support and/or host. Bobby Owens at Smith Grove is the main chair guy! The fact this helps homeless kids is really a powerful thing for Bobby, as kids have no control over their situation, they are needing help. If we get all the volunteers, it only takes up 8 hours out of the entire year! Paperwork is being passed around!
Oh, bedding travels around. Each host congregation will need to provide linens, but the beds are transported by the FP. Within the program, it doesn’t exceed 4 families or 14 people. They kind of need their own space. 12-18 month start up. Early to mid 2017. The one criteria to get in is that a homeless family has custody of a child under 18. It’s about families. The day center will have full time staff, a full time director, with a part time assistant director if necessary, and then a part time van driver. Some social work background will be needed.
Churches, invite this group!!!! Oh wait, they’ll be calling you! Every church in the network will be contacted by FP. Best to know who they are, and get on board quickly!
Here is the Feeding the Homeless during General Conference Ministry. The email is copied from Amy at the district office:
This past weekend, Dr. Patterson and I attended a meeting for the delegates to the General Conference. At this meeting, we learned of a project being initiated by two clergy from our Western North Carolina Conference. Their project is a large undertaking, and the suggestion was made to share it with the leaders of the missional networks. Thus, my email to you today.
When Rev. Laura Beach and Rev. Kevin Miller attended a meeting recently in Portland in preparation of General Conference meeting there in May, they were given a map of the city that detailed routes that would lead people around the homeless population of the city. This did not set well! As followers of Jesus, we are called to minister to the least and lost. Laura and Kevin, working with someone from Portland, have devised a “Jesus map” that will allow General Conference attendees to interact with the homeless. But the real heart of the project is this: the plan is to give General Conference delegates cards that have been handmade by children that they will hand to the homeless when they are making their way to the Convention Center. This is a simple way to share God’s love with people who perhaps do not feel loved or valued in the world today. And inside of the card will be a voucher they can exchange for a good, hot meal at the “Sisters of the Road Café” in Portland. More detailed information is in the attached flier.
We are asking that you share with your missional network the attached instructions on GC4JC (General Conference for Jesus Christ) and encourage the children in each church to participate in this project. I am listing the instructions found in the email as well:
- Using the attached GC4JC information, talk to the children in your church about the purpose of the GC4JC initiative.
- Have children make a card of any size (standard 8.5x11 copy paper or construction paper folded in half is recommended) with a drawing and perhaps a brief message sharing the love of God.
- Send completed cards to: Messiah UMC, 4102 W. NC Hwy 27, Vale, NC 28168 by March 31.
- In addition to sending the cards, please raise $2.00 for every card made that will pay for a meal for the person receiving the card.
- Send all collected money to: UMRA c/o Mollie Stewart, PO Box 27, Waveland, MS 39576. All checks should be made payable to UMRA with “#GC4JC” in the memo line.
- Pray for our General Conference delegates and those they will meet in Portland.
- Look for stories of how God used your card in Portland at www.GC4JC.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GC4JCUMC, or Instagram and Twitter using #GC4JC.
Please let me know if you have any questions. The hope is to have at least one card for all of the 800+ General Conference delegates to give away while in Portland. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the delegates were able to give several cards away – not just one?
Amy Johnson
Administrative Assistant
Yadkin Valley District Office
Western North Carolina Conference
The United Methodist Church
336-725-4502
