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From Our Executive Director
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The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him. Psalm 28:7
Moving into the end of my first year at Vashti, I have recently had many thoughts on Thanksgiving and the holidays ahead. For while we all face obstacles, and trials, and tribulations, we should also remember the many reasons we have to give thanks. As I look back on the past nine months I recognize where to be thankful. We have been able to hire some incredible new staff members who understand the heart of our mission and are deeply committed to helping us fulfill it. We have been blessed with new donors, new community partners, and new board members who are determined to help Vashti be successful in its service to the children and families of our community. At the end of September Vashti had its 4th annual Dinner on the Bricks fundraiser and this year we raised more than ever before.
While I am grateful for all of those things, I am most thankful that Vashti exists to provide an environment of love, hope, and empowerment to so many children who have never known those comforts. To see the transformation occur in our children is a blessing to witness. At Vashti there is nothing greater than to observe the change that occurs in a child who arrives often depressed, broken, or lost and who then over the course of weeks or a couple of months begins to engage, and smile and beam. To be able to pour into them spiritually, encourage them in their daily lives, and illustrate to them that there are many rooting for them is powerful and transformative. And for that, I am most thankful.
I pray that each of you have a wonderful, blessed holiday season. I also thank you for your continued thoughts, prayers, and gifts to our ministry at Vashti.
Blessings,
Elijah
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| Dinner on the Bricks - A Night to Remember |
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The view from the stage at the Thomasville Amphitheater.
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This year's annual event, Dinner on the Bricks, was another great success! We had 60 tables decorated to the nines, the
Circle City Rollers jamming out on stage, and 500 of our closest friends in the Thomasville Amphitheater enjoying the festivities.
Many thanks to our presenting sponsor,
Flowers Auto Group, for their generosity and for being such a wonderful advocate for Vashti in our community.
Congratulations to our table decorating winners!
Most Original - The Lovvorn Table
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Overall Table Winner - Spence and Lane Boutique
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It's almost here - Vashti Giving Day 2017! A day set aside within the Methodist Church to support the work we do. As our mission states, we foster healing, hope, and transformation in our families and youth, and we can't do that with the support of our community.
This year we have added a new way of giving -
Text to Give.
Text
(912)348-8760 and follow the prompts to set up your account. Once your account is set up, giving is easy! All you have to do is send how much you'd like to give in one text and you're done!
And don't forget -
#GivingTuesday
is
November 28, 2017.
T
his day, which runs in conjunction with Georgia Gives Day, was created to kick off the giving season after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and. Georgia Gives Day has raised over $13 million since it beganand is a great way to support your favorite organizations.
For more information and resources on how to get your congregation involved on Giving Day or with our mission, contact Susan O'Neal at [email protected] or (229)226-4634.
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In August and September, we lost two members of our Vashti family, two extraordinary women who believed in our youth and the transformation possible during their stay. We are incredibly thankful for the lives of Mrs. Jean Jones and Mrs. Zena Dixon.
Jean Jones
was a member of Camilla United Methodist Church and a member of the United Methodist Women's Group, where she was elected as Silent Disciple twice. Mrs. Jones was also a member of the Vashti
Auxiliary
and Wesley Glenn Ministries.
Zena Dixon
came to Thomasville in 1949 and began teaching at Vashti School for Girls.Through the years she has served as a teacher, volunteer, trustee, Friends of Vashti Auxiliary and coordinator of volunteer services. In 2008 she received the Vashti Center's Humanitarian Award for her dedication to Vashti.
Mrs. Dixon was an active member of Thomasville First United Methodist Church where she taught the Sue McTier Sunday School Class for over 40 years. She was president of the UMW Unit for many years receiving the UMW award for Quiet Disciple in 2003.
For information on how to make a legacy gift to Vashti, call Susan O'Neal at 226-4634.
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| It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.... |
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| The Christmas tree in our Dining Hall last year was FULL of gifts! |
It may still be in the 80's in South Georgia, but we're already beginning to think about Christmas at Vashti. Our youth come from all walks of life, many of them never having the experience of a Christmas like the ones you remember from your childhood. We strive to give our youth normalcy and opportunities to grow, and having a fantastic Christmas is one way we're able to do that.
If you would like to be part of the Christmas Extravaganza at Vashti, there are three ways you can help:
1. Donate to our Christmas Fund. You can
click here and donate as a Christmas Sponsor (enter donation in the Christmas Sponsor box). We spend approximately $300 per child each Christmas.
2. Volunteer to go shopping for a child. We give you their list of top five items, clothing and shoe sizes, and favorite things. You get to fill up the Christmas tree!
3. Volunteer to help decorate our campus. We love the Christmas cheer and try to spread it across our campus.
If any of these options sounds right up your alley, let us know! Call or email Liz Williams at (229)226-4634 or [email protected].
For a full needs list of our most commonly used items,
click here
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If you're looking for other ways to give to Vashti, we have opportunities for child sponsorship by you, your youth group, prayer group, Sunday School class, or church - even your book club! Our mentoring program is also a chance to build healthy and productive relationships with our residents. Both programs are a tremendous benefit to not just the child, but also to those who are involved. It's a way to actively pray and support a child in our residential program.
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As the eclipse made it's way towards us, even our staff got in on the fun!
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| UMW Vashti Fun Day was all about Superheroes. |
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| The Rotary Club of Thomasville met on campus and had AirVac land right on our lawn! |
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| Our new website was launched! Have you seen it yet? |
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On each quilt, there is a square like the one above. |
In August we were excited to have the Rincon United Methodist Piecemakers group on our campus, delivering handmade quilts for our youth.
The group delivered about 15 different quilts, and when one group of our teenage boys saw them, they were so excited! They immediately wrapped themselves up in the quilts and thanked the ladies. Soon they were all curled up in chairs and couches, covered in the quilts.
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| Pastor Michael Finn and ladies of the Piecemakers Group. |
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Many thanks to Pastor Michael Finn and the ladies of the Rincon United Methodist Piecemakers for their gift of love to our youth. To know that they are not just wrapped in a soft and comfortable blanket, but wrapped in love - that's what our youth are more grateful for than anything else.
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| Pastor Shane speaking at the annual UMW Vashti Fun Day held in July. |
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You might not be aware of this, but in my high school years I was a very fast distance runner. I remember running a race at Berry College in Rome GA. I was very excited because they were giving medals to the top 15 runners. My coach informed me just minutes into our warm up for the race. I ran hard, I kept saying to myself, "don't stop now - you have to finish." I did finish and placed 14th with my best time ever, and first to cross the finish line from my team. Later my coach informed me that he really didn't know for sure about the medal, seems he made the whole thing up. He then asked me if he had said only the top ten got a medal, what would I have done? I quickly said 9th place. (However, I want you all to know that I did get a medal,the first of many to come.)
In my personal devotion time this week, I read the writings of J.D. Walt from Asbury College. He talked about the importance of prayer, and how casual we as Christians have become with our prayer time. We use phrases like "I stay in a state of prayer all day long," or "thank you Jesus" under our breath. Talk about conviction, I am guilty as charged.
In
Colossians 1:7-10, we read these words:
You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.
Notice the words in bold - Paul wanted these people to know that he was not about to stop praying for them.
What does this means for us? That we find the time for real prayer in our lives, not just enough to get our medal, or say we have prayed. We should remind ourselves daily to stop going through the motions, but to truly pray and God will answer.
Are you just going through the motions? What is the role of prayer in your life?
In Him,
Shane Lovvorn, Chaplain
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With God as our cornerstone, we foster healing, hope, and transformation to empower and promote resiliency in children, families, and communities in Georgia.
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Vashti is in a covenant relationship with the United Methodist Women national office.
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