Welcome to the Missions & Outreach Newsletter!
What an amazing summer for people serving people. So many of you took your time, energy, and resources to leave your comfortable home to help and encourage others.
- We had two local outreach weeks for adults and middle schoolers to learn more about the needs in Greenville.
- 3 teams traveled 13,648 miles to Ecuador and Costa Rica to work in schools, provide basketball clinics, VBS, Youth programs and construction.
- We had a fantastic BSUMC Vacation Bible School run by 41 volunteers who served 132 kids.
- Our Youth served as counselors for our Children at Camp Moseley.
- Happy Days Camp which hosted local kids from PMAC and Neighborhood Focus was run by a dedicated group of BSUMC volunteers.
- Our Scout Troop went all the way to Alaska and completed service projects at the Christian Camp where they stayed for 12 days.
- We had doctors from our church serve on medical mission teams.
- We even had a staff member travel to Africa to explore full time mission work.
The stories I've heard are so inspiring and are evidence of God working in and through our church. If you were part of one of these stories, please take the time to share your experience. You never know how your words may encourage someone else.
Blessed by you,
Mignon Fowler
Director of Missions & Outreach
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With the announcement of the reimagined Housing program, United Ministries is doubling the number of families they can serve in Emergency Shelter and providing more stability for families experiencing homelessness.
The first families are moving in September 6, and they need your help collecting household goods to furnish the Emergency Shelter apartments. Please help make these families feel at home!
Please click here to visit the "Give Goods" webpage to view wish lists from Walmart and Target, as well as a detailed inventory of needs. The most immediate needs are new twin and full-size sheets, mattress protectors, comforters, towels, bathmats, kid-friendly plates, bowls, cups, and cutlery.
If you prefer to hand-deliver your items vs. mailing, please schedule a time by emailing the Volunteer Manager, Susan, at smidgett@united-ministries.org, so that they can be on hand to greet and assist you with your donations!
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Join the
Buncombe Street UMC Team
Walk for Water 2022
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Join us for the 2022 Walk for Water-Greenville.
Together, we will raise funds and awareness to fight the global water crisis by building safe water solutions for people in need around the world.
September 24 10am-12pm
Furman University
All ages welcome!
Join our
Buncombe Street UMC Team
Team Captain: Mignon Fowler
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Click Join a Team at the bottom of the page.
Enter team name: Buncombe Street UMC
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SAVE THE DATE TO
SERVE OUR COMMUNITY!
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BSUMC and Habitat for Humanity will partner to finish the final punch and landscaping on a home for a deserving family. Work will be 8am - 1pm on Saturday, November 5th for ages 13+. Mark your calendars now! |
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JULY UPDATES
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Increasing our reach! Held 37 appointments with 21 clients.
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Collaboration! Linked arms with a counselor at Hughes Academy to help a Malaysian family complete 6 vital applications and appeals, despite the language barrier.
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Impact! Helped 1 client from Soteria's women's house write her resume, prevented 5 evictions, and completed 3 government applications.
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PRAYER FOR HOPE
Father, we see the increasing number of individuals in deep darkness and the brutal attacks on homeless encampments in the news. Hopelessness seems rampant. Intervene, Father. Equip us to be the pleasing aroma of Christ (2 Cor. 2:15) and the light that points to the hope we have in you so more draw close to you. Amen.
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Please contact Emmi Kodat, Crisis Ministry Coordinator, for any crisis assistance needs. Her number is 864-371-6090. |
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by Katie Batson
Costa Rica Mission Trip Participant
I mentally backed out of going to Costa Rica many times. Our minds are powerful tools that can create scenes, clips, or near complete movies of how things are going to be before an event ever takes place. My mind had convinced me that I am not cut out for mission work, that I wouldn’t sleep a wink, that taking time away my job and home was not feasible. A myriad of reasons not to go.
Fortunately, I’m a bit too rigid to back out of a commitment, but I also knew deep down that not going would create regret. Not going would deny not only me but many others of whatever presence, gifts, service, and witness I might have to offer. That we all have to offer. While my little mind movie was trying to make sure I stayed comfortable, it failed miserably in every other capacity. It left out the incredible children we served, the families we befriended, and the leadership we witnessed and developed.
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To provide a little background, Faithful Servant Mission was founded to serve Bajo Tejares. This is a community in San Ramón, Costa Rica made up primarily of Nicaraguan immigrants who have fled political persecution and economic instability (read about Daniel Ortega), seeking a better life for themselves and their children. Sadly, the cycle of poverty is extremely difficult to break, with drugs being cited as the predominant issue among ministry and youth who serve and attend programming at Faithful Servant Mission/ La Viña San Ramón.
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Our teams led VBS lessons, crafts, and games twice daily. We were also fortunate to be able to participate with local youth (age 12–17) in the evenings. We crawled around baa’ing like sheep, illustrated the gift of transformation through mariposas (butterflies), and played games that didn’t really have rules.
Watching youth from BSUMC laugh while working across language barriers was astounding. Hearing their testimonies, the testimony of a young adult from another church, and the stories of others was glorifying. Missing from my movie was the theme of generosity. People who have very little (materially) to give chose to be present, to entrust their children to us, to open their homes and allow us into their lives. To let us see Him at work.
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If you have wanted to go on an international mission trip and your mind movies are holding you back, it is time to erase that tape (or TiVo or Betamax or whatever format you identify)! The real experience is the only way. Not to mention the development of copious inside jokes where “you just had to be there“, like “Toe’dy”.
We felt safe during the entire trip and walked in small groups to exercise or go to the local Maxí Palí (owned by Walmart). Our team even engaged in some fiercely competitive indoor soccer, Los Gringos vs Los Ticos. Los Ticos won, but not by much.
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I have heard from a reliable source that a return to Faithful Servant Missions is being planned for July 2023. I encourage you to sign up, and if your movie is getting in the way, please talk it out with anyone from the Costa Rica team. If you’re absolutely sure you’d rather stay home, you can support Faithful Servant Missions from afar. The best cup of coffee is made and served at the mission or in a kitchen nearby, but you can also order a bag and enjoy a cup home. Oh, and did I mention there’s volcanoes and waterfalls?
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If you're interested in going to Costa Rica next summer,
Plans are definitely in the works!
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Director of Missions & Outreach
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