Missions 2009

Heifer International - Ending Hunger, Caring for the Earth
 

Today, millions of people who were once hungry will be nourished by milk, eggs and fresh vegetables. Families who for generations knew only poverty will be building new homes and starting businesses. Children who once headed out to the fields to do backbreaking work will be heading into schoolrooms to learn to read. And people who never thought they’d be in a position to help someone else will be experiencing the joy of charitable giving. How is this possible? With Heifer’s proven approach–almost 60 years in the making–to helping people obtain a sustainable source of food and income. We’ve developed a set of global initiatives–areas of emphasis that must be addressed if we’re to meet our mission of ending world hunger and poverty and caring for the earth.
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Trinity United Methodist Church
Trinity United Methodist Church is the oldest African-American congregation in St. Augustine. The church is located in Lincolnville at 84 Bridge Street, and its pastor is Dr. Innzia Sorey Melton. Trinity belongs to the United Methodist Cluster of Churches in St. Augustine, which also includes Shores, First, and Grace churches. The cluster enables lay and clergy leadership from these congregations to share information and programs with one another, as well as lend support to each other for the calling that unites them. In this new year, the cluster is focusing on ways to help the congregation of Trinity deal with problems associated with an aging facility. We, at Grace, have chosen the month of February to raise funds for this worthy cause.
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INTERVARSITY North Florida
 

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA® is an evangelical campus mission serving more than 35,000 students and faculty on more than 560 college and university campuses nationwide. Incorporated in 1941, InterVarsity has a rich tradition of campus witness, thoughtful discipleship, and a concern for world missions. Today, there are more than 1000 InterVarsity staff serving more than 34,000 students and faculty nationwide. In addition they produce training materials, camps, books, and media tools which serve both the Church and campus. Their work touches every kind of student including graduate students and faculty. They are seeking to build witnessing communities on the campus which are bold, broad and ethnically diverse.
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Our homeless shelter in St. John’s County needs our help. Like many small businesses, they have also been affected by dramatic increases in insurance, fuel and other costs. The St. Francis House currently serves the homeless, the powerless, the battered and fearful of St. Augustine, Hastings, Vilano Beach, Ponte Vedra and all places in between. They provide emergency shelter, food, and social services to the homeless in St. Johns County every day of the year. Along with food and shelter, they also offer clothing, laundry, showers, identification, drug/alcohol intervention, job referrals, spiritual guidance and counseling. Without the St. Francis House, many of these communities in St. Johns County would be grappling with a very serious social, economic and ultural problem. Their many and varied programs and the volunteers who operate them offer peace, hope and compassion rather than rejection or indifference to those who need our services. They also have a wide variety of volunteer opportunities available now and throughout the year. Feel free to call (829-8937) and talk to them about their programs, needs and volunteer opportunities.
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The Florida Conference

Every year at the Florida Annual Conference Event in Lakeland, a special offering is received.  This year’s offering will go to support the conference’s partnership with the East Angola Conference, and to support BICAP, the Bishop’s Initiative on Children and Poverty. Thanks to your generous support, the partnership between our conference and East Angola is bearing fruit.  Among the accomplishments are rebuilding the Quessua Church; providing bicycles for pastors who otherwise would have to walk miles between churches; and supporting an orphanage which houses 25 children, many of whom lost their parents during the war in that country. With our continued support, our partnership will bear fruit in new and exciting ways, including ongoing reconstruction of a parsonage, school of theology, and orphanage at Quessua, and the support of missionaries in East Angola.  We are also partnering with the people of the Conference to create specific, doable projects that will assist pastors and churches to become self-sustaining.
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Summer Camp for Under-Served Children
This is our District’s outreach to the children of North Florida as we invite them to spend a week with us at Epworth-By-The-Sea Retreat Center on St. Simons Island, GA. The children have the chance to come to know the love of Christ through his people of the United Methodist Churches in a wildlife setting. The mission of Camp AMP, as a project of the Community Outreach Agency and  the NE District churches is to:
¨       To teach children about the “Prince of Peace” in the midst of their violent world.
¨       To offer at-risk, low-income children a fully scholar-shipped quality one week Christian camping experience—at no cost to their families!
¨       To enable the people of the North East District United Methodist Churches to come together for a joint outreach project to the children of our eight counties.

Two one–week sessions
Session 1 - June 9- June 13
Session 2 - June 18 - 20
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St. Johns County Council on Aging


Our local Council on Aging operates two senior centers where elders can enjoy a nutritious lunch, provide Meals on Wheels for approximately 250  home- bound seniors, and offer a variety of support services such as homemaking, personal care, respite care, and a caregiver support program. All of their services are designed to enable elders to age with dignity and independence in their own home for as long as possible. Your generous support makes it possible to make a difference in the quality of life for our community’s elders.
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The Alpha Omega Miracle Home

This special place is committed to helping young women and their unborn children. They strive to assist young mothers in providing for education, job training, parenting classes and spiritual development. They are confident that not only will they be able to help the mother change the direction of her life, but to also give the child a chance to become what GOD INTENDED. Alpha Omega Miracle Home is committed to assisting young mothers during and after their pregnancy in developing the necessary skills and confidence to live a successful and independent life with the help of God and without the aid of the welfare system.
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CROP Hunger Walk



Neighbors walking together to take a stand against hunger in our world. Together we raise awareness and funds for international relief and development, as well as local hunger-fighting.
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umcor (United Methodist Committee on Relief)
Whenever disaster strikes, and wherever human suffering is brought on by famine, epidemic, or terror the United Methodist Church is among the first to arrive and the very last to depart. UMCOR, is the arm of the church which coordinates our response world-wide. The One Great Hour of Sharing special offering enables us to reach out to help those in need throughout the world. One Great Hour of Sharing gifts underwrites all the administrative costs related to UMCOR. Therefore, 100% of all money given directly to UMCOR for a particular disaster can go to alleviate suffering. Our gifts allow the United Methodist Church to respond immediately to each disaster. We do not wait for financial resources to be generated and our gifts allow us to offer needed relief even when designated gifts are insufficient. This permits UMCOR to respond world-wide in so may places, to so many catastrophes that we never hear about on the news. Our contributions are crucial for the timely and sufficiently gracious response to human need.
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Christ Church Mission
Dear Grace Church Friends,

What an exciting time to be apart of what God is doing in and through our Churches! Every week brings new adventures into our lives to challenge us in our faith and love for God and one another.

Over the years Christ Church Mission has looked to Grace Church as a place for encouragement and support; and you have always come through for us in so many ways. You have given us a place to have our church offices. You have opened up your sanctuary to us for a place to worship. And you have shown great generosity to us through your financial giving.

Recently we have been invited by the Florida Conference to be a part of Celebrate Jesus Outreach in our area on July 25 – August 1, 2009. If you are not familiar with this ministry, Celebrate Jesus is about people coming together in fellowship to share the good news of Jesus Christ. The vision statement for Celebrate Jesus is “Awaken Passion and Equip People to Share the Gospel and Reach Neighbors for Christ.”

 It is our desire to be a part of this proven ministry and reach out to our neighbors with the love of Christ. Yet, still being a mission church, we are in need of financial help. The overall cost of the program is about $1000 plus whatever expenses the church incurs for advertising, hospitality, and the large community gathering event at the end of the week.

Once again, I am asking you to prayerful consider helping us with this important outreach in order to see our little mission become a church. Your support over the last 6 years has been a tremendous blessing and has helped to establish a strong foundation for a future United Methodist Church. We believe that this outreach will help to further this goal.

God bless all of you for your prayers, your friendship and of course your financial support. Please call me if you have any questions. I would love to hear from you.

Pastor Jim Walker, Christ Church Mission
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Florida United Methodist Children’s Home
The Children’s Home was founded in 1908 as the Florida Methodist Orphanage. The Worrell Memorial Education Center provides after school tutoring, resource materials, a campus library and educational support for each resident. Each resident receives the guidance and support of a Child & Family Therapist. They minister to children, youth and families 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They rely on your generosity to underwrite their ministry.
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