Robert Tom and his wife Lynette owned a fabric store located in Montpelier, Ohio. The fabric store, teeming with bright colors and fun patterns and craft supplies, was a big part of Robert and Lynette’s life. When Lynette fell ill and moved to a memory care unit, they made the hard decision to close their dearly loved store. 

Robert, wanting to make good out of this situation, decided to bless others through the closing of their store. He knew many of the handmade projects Midwest Mission offers require fabric, and that Midwest Mission would occasionally send bolts of fabric on shipments. Robert decided the best thing to do would be to donate all of the fabric and craft supplies to Midwest Mission.

He is no stranger to Midwest Mission. He spent many years donating his time to the ministry, served on the Board of Directors 10 years ago, and still has the same passion for the ministry as he did when he was a board member. 

The building was given to a local church, with the stipulation that the fabric and supplies could be stored there until everything could be picked up. Picking up the supplies was a lot harder than originally planned. Two attempts were made to coordinate a pickup that didn’t work out. After the second postponed attempt in December, Chantel Corrie, Midwest Mission’s Executive Director, contacted Patty Nelson, Midwest Mission’s current West Ohio Board Member, about visiting Robert to see how much fabric there was so they would know what kind of transportation was needed.

In January, Robert called Chantel on a Monday saying he had a lot of fabric stored in his apartment… and he was moving Saturday. With that deadline in place, Chantel immediately began to think about how Midwest Mission could get the supplies from Ohio in five days.

God had a plan, and they just had to follow along. 

It “just so happened” that Gene Turner, Midwest Mission’s Mission in Motion Manager, was already going to be heading that way that same weekend for a Rice Meal Pack in Michigan. Although they previously couldn’t seem to make the pickup work, God orchestrated perfect timing.

After the logistics were set, Chantel called Patty to assemble a team to help Gene and Robert load the supplies. Patty was able to coordinate a team of three additional volunteers: John Pape, Bonnie Elsass, and Tom Wente. 

On Thursday, January 26, Gene began his trip to Ohio and Michigan in Midwest Mission’s semi truck. The next morning, they all met Gene at Robert’s apartment in Bryan, Ohio. Then, the team traveled to the location of the old fabric store, and spent the morning piling loads of fabric, sewing supplies, and craft supplies into the Midwest Mission semi truck.

In total, there were over 300 bolts of fabric.

“There’s no mission that has ever done what this mission has,” Robert said, in awe of seeing God work in and through Midwest Mission for so many years.

This fabric donation will give hope and empowerment to people around the world.

Tanya Oberg, Midwest Mission Board Member, has spent several weeks working with Early Response Teams (ERTs) in different areas in Florida. Most recently, her team worked in Ft. Myers.

To read more, see our recent Facebook post here.

Midwest Mission Weekly Projects

Work of the Mission Volunteers

Projects completed

• 1220 UMCOR Menstrual Hygiene Kits
• 1200 Rice Meals - Midland FUMC, Midland, MI

Other work done

• 16 Bikes repaired
• 18 Desks cut, routed, polyurethaned, built
• Cleaning
• Counting items into inventory

Midwest Mission is able to do this work because of your generous donations and willingness to volunteer. Thank you!

Ready to Get Involved?

Schedule Your Mission Journey

Dates are available in 2023 and 2024

Need a Saturday option for team volunteering

or assistance in booking?

Contact Pat Wright at pat@midwestmission.org

or 217-697-4063

Click below to check calendar openings and to reserve your spots.

Mission Journey  Reservation Calendar

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