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September 23, 2011
Volume 157, Number 24
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Offering hope in the midst of tragedy
 Leaders at Bee Creek UMC set the building up as a donation/fire information site just after the Spicewood fire destroyed many homes in the community. Now leaders are helping uninsured homeowners clean up their property.
By Rachel Toalson
Managing Editor
More than 2,000 homes were destroyed and damaged in wildfires that swept through Central Texas earlier this month, a catastrophe that’s being called one of the most destructive wildfires in Texas history.
The wildfires in Bastrop, which began Sept. 3 and had burned more than 34,000 acres by Sept. 14, were declared a national disaster Sept. 10.
Leaders in the Southwest Texas Conference have been on hand to serve those who have lost homes and those still waiting to assess the damage.
Gene Hileman, disaster response coordinator for the conference, said a minimal early response team is in the Union Chapel area, where a 1,000-acre fire destroyed several homes, including the homes of 10 families from Cedar Creek UMC.
An early response team also is working with Bee Creek UMC to address the Spicewood fire, which burned 6,500 acres, destroyed 37 homes and damaged 30. A spiritual and emotional care team had been working in Bastrop for more than week.
 A Spiritual and Emotional Care team has been stationed in Bastrop since early September, ministering to the victims of one of the worst fires in Texas history.
“Barbara and I want to add our voices to yours as we join together with all God’s children experiencing great loss in praying for peace, healing and hope. Please do all you can to extend the love of Christ across the dark shadows of those once smoldering embers. May God bless us as we seek to do his work in the days and months ahead.”
The Rev. Laura Heikes, pastor of Bee Creek UMC, said the church played a significant role in the aftermath of the Spicewood fires and will continue to do so.
Leaders and volunteers set up the church to be a relief center for people affected by the fire. Leaders saw 164 people come through the doors, she said. A space was also given to the Austin disaster relief network.
Heikes and three volunteers took sunscreen and water and food to the people who had lost their homes once the damaged neighborhoods opened back up.
“These folks were going back to their homes and seeing them burned down,” Heikes said. “They were going to need someone there.”
She said leaders have so far found 11 people who did not have insurance on their houses and need help clearing away the property.
Church leaders helping homeowners sift through the rubble to “see if we can find anything valuable that may be left to the homeowner.” The church could use some help providing lunches for the people working, she said. They could also use some help locating a wood chipper, which they need to help clear away the debris.
Those who might want to help could call the church at (512) 264-2225. Needs will continue for several weeks, Heikes added
“It’s so burned,” she said. “There’s so much to clear out that it’s going to take a while.”
The Rev. Andy Smith, pastor of First UMC, Bastrop, said the church has been providing lunch for those helping with recovery efforts and also some people who have lost their homes. If other church leaders would like to help out with that provision, they can contact the church at (512) 321-2201.
At least 30 families from the church have lost their homes, Smith said.
The church, he said, is going to serve as the staging area for recovery efforts.
While the fires have been an unexpected tragedy, Smith said they have already brought a close community even closer.
“It’s kind of renewed that sense of community in some of us,” he said. “This community was already united, but this is going to make us even stronger. There have been wonderful partnerships between political and faith-based entities.”
Smith paused to clear away emotion. “Our church and our community wants to say thank you to the whole state, to the conference and the Austin District and to UMCOR. I am proud to be a United Methodist.”
Hileman said the disaster response team is already looking toward the future for cleanup and recovery efforts. Those interested in being part of a recovery team can visit the Southwest Texas Conference Web site (www.umcswtx.org) and register to be part of a team. For long-term recovery, volunteers do not have to be trained. The Austin District office will also continue to provide assistance (www.umcad.org).
As far as specific needs, Hileman said, “in all honesty, we don’t know yet.”
“It’s such a different disaster,” he said. “We’re still trying to figure out what’s going on and how we can be in ministry.”
An Advance Special #2050 has been set up for victims of the fires. Make sure donations are designated for wildfire assistance. Donations can be sent to Treasurer, Southwest Texas Conference, 16400 Huebner Rd., San Antonio, TX 78248.
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Generosity brings God’s kingdom to a broken world
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
“Often, the stories of great giving do not come from people of extraordinary wealth. True, there are philanthropists who have distributed vast sums of money to people and institutions worthy of their gift. But great giving is not determined by dollar amounts but by the amount of sacrifice. And once that standard is used, the playing field becomes level between the rich and the poor. In other words, one does not have to be rich to be a generous giver.” –Gordon MacDonald, author of Generosity
Food given to the hungry, who will rest in the love of Jesus. Beds offered for first-time summer campers, who will make a decision to join the kingdom.
Eternal life for a practicing atheist, who met Jesus in his campus ministry.
Leaders agree that generous giving in the Southwest Texas Conference has a significant impact on the kingdom of God.
The local church
Bob Allen, pastor of First UMC, Kerrville, said his congregation is filled with generous people, which enables the church to extend its arms into community ministry.
One of those is the Mustard Seed Ministry. For years, Allen said, the congregation had been giving out groceries and gas cards and essential items to people who needed them. They’ve expanded into a new dimension—a personal dimension.
“We had been in a bad habit of saying, ‘Yes, we have diapers for your baby. God bless you, and you’re eligible again in 30 days,’” Allen said. “We felt strongly that we were not doing what God wanted us to do.”
Now, he said, volunteers sit down with those who come in for assistance and talk with them about their lives, listen to their stories, try to determine if there’s a way they can help them more specifically.
“We’re offering real hope,” Allen said. “Those who come in now understand when they come that they’re not just going to get a bag of groceries. They’re going to get a friend in Christ. We have lay people who are getting involved with people’s lives and showing them brotherly and sisterly love.”
In the last few weeks, he added, some of the people coming in for assistance have also been attending church services.
Money given to the church also funds a Christmas outreach, Allen said. Every year they’ve thrown a party for children whose parents are incarcerated. They celebrate with about 100 children.
And every September, he said, church members buy backpacks and fill them with school supplies. This year, 135 backpacks were given out.
On Fridays, volunteers take food to the local school for the counselor to divvy up among the students who are on free lunch programs.
“Generosity helps with all of those things,” Allen said. “There are so many generous people in Kerrville. But we still have a long way to go. Generosity never stops at a given measure. The tithe is a minimum. He calls us to way above that, to take us farther and farther along into what it really means to be extravagant in our giving.”
The conference level
A portion of local giving makes its way to the conference and national levels, too, funding things like youth ministry events, campus ministry programs and disaster response work. Apportionments are unique to each church but are pooled into resources that fund the same ministries.
The Rev. John Feagins, San Antonio Campus minister, said almost the entire campus ministry is funded through apportionments—at least 90 percent of it.
It pays for everything, he said—property and upkeep costs, salaries for the director and administrative assistants and student interns, utilities and other expenses.
Even more significant, Feagins said, is that the money that comes into his San Antonio unit serves three different college campuses.
“Campus ministry is important to United Methodists because had it not been for campus ministry, there wouldn’t be a Methodist Church,” Feagins said. “The earliest expression of Methodism was John Wesley at Oxford.
“Wesley understood very well that ministry needed to be taken into the students’ context. The campus ministry is not a passive ministry or open hearts and doors and minds. It’s an opening of hearts and opening of minds and opening of doors.”
Campus ministry is unique, he said, because when students go off to college, they don’t always immediately plug into a local church.
“We can interact with them where they live and where they study,” he said. “And then we can begin to do our mission statement: uniting students together in Christian community, engaging the academic community with Christian witness and developing principled Christian leaders. This cannot be done in the local churches.”
Campus ministry has been changing students’ lives for years, Feagins said.
Recently he had a homeless student, an atheist, come into the campus ministry looking for a cup of coffee.
“He left us a committed Christian,” Feagins said. “Through the love he received here at the student center, he became a changed person. This is an investment.”
Patti Zaiontz, administrator of Mt. Wesley Conference Center in Kerrville, said only a small apportionment is given to the conference center; it’s funded mostly through user fees. But the apportionment is still very much needed, she said.
“The apportionment keeps us from having to raise our user rates,” Zaiontz said.
The problem that Mt. Wesley has, she said, is that most of the buildings are more than 80 years old, and aging buildings require more attention. More things break, the infrastructure begins to deteriorate and replacements become vital.
So the conference center relies on the generosity of many, Zaiontz said.
“The generous people who help fund Mt. Wesley are the ‘rocks’ of the conference center,” she said. “They’re the cornerstone of the church. Mt. Wesley benefits from their generosity. Their generosity enables us to keep going.
“And no matter what the gift is, it’s like a ripple on the pond. It goes in the plate and keeps going from there. Mt. Wesley benefits from one of those ripples.”
She said that Mt. Wesley also has an adopt-a-bed program right now, where individuals “adopt” a bed to pay for a new mattress and box spring. They are also trying to do some preventative maintenance right now throughout the center.
Not long ago, a well pump at the center went out, and it was going to be expensive to fix, but they were able to get it fixed through the “generosity of a person in a local church,” Zaiontz said.
Mt. Wesley leaders try to be good stewards of what the conference gives them through apportionments, she said. They don’t waste, they shop around and compare prices, and they get three bids for contract work.
“We make good use of duct tape,” Zaiontz said. “But if we can keep the (user) costs down through the benefit of having the apportionment, if we don’t have to raise the prices, people will continue to come.”
The greater good
Apportionments and the programs they fund almost always come back around to the local churches that funded them.
For the campus ministry, Feagins said, that’s seen in students’ volunteer work at churches around the conference.
“One of the questions I get asked is, ‘How does campus ministry serve the interest of the church—how does it come back around and bless the local church?’” Feagins said. “In my program, we have students involved in four or five different local church ministries on a weekly basis.”
One is Corredor de Esperanza and another is an outreach that’s meeting at Los Angeles Heights UMC. Students are also a part of a music team for University UMC and some help out with Coker UMC’s youth program.
The San Antonio unit also offers a lay ministry planter’s network with training through the Board of Discipleship—to teach lay people how to plant new churches.
And many campus ministry students go on to seminary and become first-career United Methodist clergy members.
“Campus ministry gives them an experience prior to going on to seminary,” Feagins said. “The revival, revitalization, the vitality of the local church is of primary concern for us, for the sake of the kingdom. The campus ministry develops students into leaders who later go back into the same churches (that funded it).
“It’s a ministry that’s geared to extend the reach of the church as the church, not as a congregation.”
Campus ministry students, he said, “are always willing to give back” to the churches that support them.
“We want to have a relationship with our contributors,” Feagins said. “The bad thing about the apportionment systems is that relationship doesn’t always happen. (The giving) is so automatic. I’m willing to correct that.
“We don’t take the giving for granted. We want it to bless the hearts of the people doing it.”
The generous support of those givers who give above and beyond the bottom-line apportionment also help the ministry grow, he said.
“Our apportionment is maintenance,” he said. “It keeps us at the same size. When we’re looking at opening ministries in some new campuses or buildings or student residences, when we want to expand a little, we can’t do it without people getting involved beyond what our apportionment provides.”
Generosity proves vitality
Feagins said generosity among the people who attend a congregation is directly related to that congregation’s vitality.
“Our effectiveness in ministry, our productivity as a Christian fruit-bearing congregation or denomination is directly related to the level of proportional giving on an individual basis,” he said. “It’s not directly related to how much money is raised on the bottom line. It’s related to what percent the individual disciples are contributing to God’s work. That’s setting a priority in their heart and life for God’s work.
“Show me a church in decline, and I’ll show you a church that got stingy, that had a stewardship crisis. Generosity is the secret to all of it.”
How generous individuals are also demonstrates their inner life, he said.
“Generosity reflects our response to the great commandment, ‘Love the Lord your God with all our heart, soul and strength,’” Feagins said. “It reflects our love and our faith. We are placing faith in other Christians when we give to the church, that they are going to be faithful stewards of our gift, to use it for divine and holy purposes, not to use it in vanity or to build idols. That’s a faith that we have.
“And then it’s hope that what we’ve done is going to make an eternal difference in someone’s life. Generosity is motivated by the most foundational Christian virtues of faith, hope and love. It’s a reflection of how much those spiritual virtues have taken root in my heart.”
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Kerrville District news
On the road with Bill Henderson
Annual Conference had ended; Sunday morning’s return to Kerrville was underway from Rockport. Then I saw an amazing sight. My wife, Jody, and I were driving toward Gregory and Portland when we began to notice again those newly erected wind turbines. As we then moved between Gregory and Taft we found ourselves in the middle of hundreds and hundreds (or thousands?) of those power-producing wind turbines. There were miles and miles of them in every direction. That coastal wind which produces “bad hair days” every day down there in the Corpus Christi District was now producing a huge amount of power for homes and businesses across South Texas. These turbines were planted along side all manner of crops in some most fortunate farmers’ fields, paying far more cash probably than the maize, cotton, or corn does.
We were amazed to watch those giant fans capture the wind and slowly turn, or seemingly so because when we were right beneath the great fans the blades were moving quite fast.
I am grateful that a South Texas utility company has found a way to capture this renewable energy.
Then “the day” dawned on me. This day of our experience was Pentecost, a celebration of the Holy Spirit, or that Holy Wind coming upon the disciples of Jesus Christ. We read of the Spirit rushing the church into being, and energizing a movement that has pushed through the world and the centuries and brought the Gospel even to you and me.
Can you picture those miles and miles of wind turbines capturing the power? Or better yet, can you imagine all of the Spirit-empowered Christians and all of the Spirit-empowered churches capturing their combined power for the sake of God’s reign of love in this world. Upon each of us the Spirit has come. Each of us has been gifted and empowered with a uniqueness intended to build up the Body of Christ in this world.
That utility company had connected all those wind turbines together. Great transmission lines carried that power to places needed. Imagine a connection that might bind us together and make sure of our combined power to make God’s love known through our witness and mission. We could call that connection “the United Methodist Church!”
We are connected! And I celebrate that connection upon such tragedies as these Central Texas fires that have brought devastation to Bastrop, Spicewood, Smithville and elsewhere. While the personal tragedy is immense for many of our members and neighbors, we are finding this an occasion to give God glory. The compassionate outreach of our people can empower new beginnings and rebuild homes and hope.
The Annual Conference session is long over, but the Annual Conference service is still going strong. May the Holy Spirit continue to empower us.
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District Happenings
First UMC, Johnson City
George Barnett
Blanco County’s first shipment of burn buckets has been assembled and sent off to help victims of last week’s wildfires to help clean up their damaged homes. The first assembly line was at the Johnson City fire station. Next week the First United Methodsit Church will sponsor the event.
On another note, the Kerrville District’s Church Conference schedule is as follows.
All are called as Church Conferences unless the pastor requests Charge Conference. If DS is scheduled to attend worship, and your worship times have changed, please contact the District Office with the updated information.
If you have an evening Church Conference and would like to have a dinner prior to the meeting please notify the District Superintendent .
OCTOBER
2 Lakehills, Preach/CC @noon
Hunt, 7 PM
3 Llano, 7 PM
4 Comfort, 7 PM
5 New Fountain, 7 PM
6 Liberty Hill, 6:30 PM
9 Bertram, Worship@ 9:30 AM/ CC @11 AM
10 Leakey Montell, Dinner 5:30/ CC 6:30 PM
11 Star Center City @ Star, 6 PM dinner/7 PM CC
16 Chapel Hill, Worship/CC @ noon
19 Harper, 6 PM Dinner/7PM CC
20 Granite Shoals, 6 PM
23 Hondo, Worship/Lunch/CC @ 1 PM
Yancey, 3 PM
Devine, 7 PM
24 Center Point, 6 PM
30 Eagle Pass, Worship/Lunch/
CC @ 1 PM
Carrizo Springs, 3 PM
Crystal City, 5 PM
NOVEMBER
1 Blanco, 7 PM
6 Sabinal, 6 PM
7 Bandera, 7 PM
9 Uvalde, 7 PM
13 Kempner, 4 PM
14 St. Paul’s, 7 PM
15 Valley Spring/Cherokee @ VS, 5 PM
16 Highland Lakes/Walnut, 2:30 PM
20 Cotulla, Worship/Lunch/CC @ 1 PM
Dilley, 3 PM
Pearsall, 5 PM
21 Burnet, 7 PM
28 Castroville: Medina Valley, 7 PM
DECEMBER
1 Utopia, 7 PM
4 Goldthwaite, Worship/Lunch
CC @ 1 PM
Lometa/Bend @ Lometa,
3 PM
San Saba, 6 PM
5 Barnett Chapel, 6:30 PM
6 Lampasas, 6 PM
7 Medina, 6:30 PM
8 Boerne, 7 PM
11 Johnson City, Worship/
Lunch/CC @ 1PM
Fredericksburg, 5 PM
12 FUMC Kerrville, 7 PM
13 Marble Falls, 7 PM
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Corpus Christi District news
What does our worship say about us?
Our summer was blessed by the fine folks of the Corpus Christi District who made it possible for Nellie and I to attend the World Methodist Conference in Durban, South Africa. We joined some brothers and sisters from our beloved conference there and we were all blessed by what we saw, heard, did, and shared.
One of the speakers at the World Methodist Conference was a man who when as a boy he lost his home and belongings to an army of occupation. His father had first said a much hated and despised Army was making its way to their country and they had to be nice and hospitable to them. The army soon arrived and a group settled into their home. After some time in their home, the army told the father they needed exclusive use of the home for ten days. After ten days they were told, they could return to their home. At the end of ten days they returned to discover their home and their land was no longer theirs. Their only option was to walk many miles to a refugee camp. It would be later when they would start over. This would have planted the seeds of hatred in most of us. Many of our lives would have taken a different course and many of us would have sought ways to pay back this injustice. The little boy is now Archbishop Elias Chacour, archbishop of Galilee. This young man grew up with love for all people and dedicated his life to God as a priest He is a Palestinian Christian living alongside the Jews who took his land. It was in 2005 when the Israeli police chief of his town called him in desperation, that something tragic had happened and the situation could be a powder keg of destruction for both sides if he did not help out. The situation was that a young Jewish soldier riding in a bus filled with Palestinians lost his temper and shot the bus driver dead. He shot the nephew of the bus driver, and he shot dead two young women. One was on the bus to the bridal shop where she was to buy her wedding dress, and the other on her way to her college graduation ceremony. The other passengers on the bus stoned the young soldier and killed him. There was a standoff between Palestinians and Jews. The police and army could not retrieve the body of the soldier and thus the call to this priest to help them recover the body and to stop and prevent further bloodshed. He accepted the call and went. He asked permission to board the bus and was given it. He talked to the Palestinians and told them what he was going to do. The police chief told him the bus was wired to explode. He entered the bus and said he saw blood everywhere. He wanted to know which was Palestinian blood and which was Jewish blood. He said, “It was all the same!” With God’s help he diffused the situation and allowed the people to go home without further bloodshed.
Paul writes to Christians about Christian behavior in Romans 12:1-8. In fact, a lot of the New Testament is Paul writing to Christians about Christian behavior (or the lack thereof!). Paul is basically saying, let God bring out the best in you! He was echoing Jesus about this type of living that makes no sense to the world. It inspired the famous prayer, “where there is hatred, let me sow love,” etc., God bring out the best in me.
PRAYER: May our lives today be the best that God has brought out in you! PRAYER: Loving God, bring out the best in me. Let me truly be an instrument of your peace; let me show love, pardon, faith, hope, light, and joy; no matter what the world may show. I pray this in Christ Jesus’ precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
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District happenings
 Retreat Center Boardwalk
Director of District Ministries
When was the last time that you lingered in the presence of God? For most people we must admit it has been too long ago! If that is the case, then you will be excited about the upcoming Spiritual Retreat. This retreat begins on October 7th at 4pm and goes through October 8th at 4pm. It is hosted by the Leadership Development committee of the Corpus Christi District. This twenty-four hour retreat is designed to help both lay and clergy enter into the presence of God through Christ centered prayer. Your time away will allow you to bask in the presence of God as you retreat from the hustle and bustle of the world. The retreat center is located on Mustang Island with a fabulous view of the ocean. The rooms are spacious and beautiful and the food is fantastic. During the time away you will be given time to learn and to practice coming into the presence of God deeply and fully, a gift that will be cherished for many days to come. I invite you to take this time to pamper yourself as you learn this ancient method of savoring being in the presence of the Lord. If you have not registered, it is not too late, call today (361) 852-8268 and reserve your space.
Lay Speaker Training
On October 1, 2011 at First UMC, Odem, we will be having a Lay Speaker training. We will be offering the Basic Course and Advanced Course on Leading a Small Group.
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McAllen District news
Using reconciliation as an evangelism method
As I prepared to preach on September 11, I ended up wandering into Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, 5:17-19: “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against him, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ…” |
There are various scripture passages we typically use to support Christ’s call to us to be evangelists, and this one might or might not make that list. It’s a central one for me, though, because it’s a reminder that what we do as church is rooted in the reconciling, healing, inviting, death-shattering work of God. Why do we seek to be bearers of good news in the world? Partly because Jesus tells us to and partly because our well-being and set right-ness cannot be complete if it doesn’t move out beyond itself. Our reconciliation with God is inherently bound to our reconciliation with the world. That seems to be how God made us, all connected to each other, whether we realize it or live out of it, or not. So Love compels us to scoot over the chairs around the table and make room for more. Love compels us to set up new tables, too, outside in the park or in the middle of the street.
We talk a lot about an outward focus for our churches, and that talk will only increase in the days to come. It is a daunting task to think about institutionally, as the shift in focus that will be required of us is dramatic. But the fact is that the job of living out the new focus already belongs to us. We are it—ministers of reconciliation, carriers of good news, evangelists in word and deed and life. As Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message, “God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing.” The church as we know it will have to catch up with that task in some places, and it will lead in others. But the people who have encountered Love—inside and outside the church—and who are willing to act on that encounter, are Christ’s evangelists for this day. In the fulfillment of his task, I believe we will find joy and all we need to do our work.
What is the fresh start God has given you? Where has reconciliation happened in your life, thanks to the grace of God? And how can telling the story of that grace become your—and your church’s—ministry?
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First delivery made from conference disaster response warehouse
The first truckload of supplies from the Bishop Joel and Dr. Raquel Martinez Disaster Response Center in Kerrville was transported to the Sager Brown Depot in Baldwin, La., Sept. 7, said Eugene Hileman, conference disaster response coordinator.
In the load were 706 layette kits, provided by the United Methodist Women’s Christian School of Mission; 15 school kits; 18 birthing kits; 70 sewing kits; and 2,345 health kits, collected since December 2010.
“Our plan is to encourage churches to make kits and then bring them to the warehouse,” Hileman said. “We’ll store them there until we get a load, and then we’ll take it (to Sager Brown).”
Hileman said they ask for a $1 donation per kit to cover the cost of transporting them.
District happenings
Testimony of Changed Lives – A Fresh Start
First UMC Weslaco is celebrating two new adult members coming into the church under profession of faith. The couple is in their 30s/40s in age, and both had been baptized as infants. Both also had fallen away from the church before launching out into their first marriages, which turned out badly.
The couple was determined to begin any new relationship “right before God” this time around. So they began scheduling their first dates to meet at the church for contemporary worship at the rather odd worship hour we were using a couple of years ago. They would say, “Meet you at 11:11,” and then go out to eat together afterwards.
The couple has now set their November wedding date—11/11—in honor of the time of the contemporary service where they used to meet for dates. Like the “Fresh Start” worship series running currently, the wedding will end with Jason Gray’s song, “I Am New.”
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San Angelo District news
Reflections on Costa Rica
This past July, Patti and I were invited by First United Methodist Church, San Angelo to join them on a mission trip to Costa Rica. We joined 16 others in the construction of the Methodist Children’s Home in San Jose and provided a Vacation Bible School in three different churches in the area. The team was housed at the Methodist Seminary in the city. The work project in Costa Rica was organized through Ray and Linda Zirkel, who are long-time missionaries with the Evangelical Methodist Church of Costa Rica.
This is the first mission trip I have participated in since being appointed as a District Superintendent. The trip put me back in touch with the life of the local church in some incredible ways. First, I got to know persons from First Church, San Angelo in a profound way. The “shared” experience brought me into close relationship with “the body of Christ” – the church. Second, my impression of the church in Latin America was enlightening. The people of Costa Rica were friendly, warm, vital, mostly young, and committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Each night, after a hard day’s work, we would reflect in our devotional time on “Where did we see God today?” It was easy for us to answer, for all of us, to see God in the children, the Costa Rican people we worked with and the beauty of this small country that we were privileged to visit. My heart was lifted to new heights of love for the world-wide church we are a part of and the inspiration that we can MAKE A DIFFERENCE in this world. Mike Slaughter is right when he wrote in his book Change the World – Recovering the Message and Mission of Jesus – that the church will find it’s vitality once again when we are involved in “risk-taking mission” anywhere in this world. Let us all be open to God’s guidance where we can be in mission right now! Right here! May it be so!
District happenings
Haiti Mission trip
Thomas Veal
Youth Director Eldorado FUMC
Thank you so much for the support from several conferences: Southwest Texas Conference; North Texas Conference; and, South Central Oklahoma Conference. This mission trip was possible thanks to all of y’all. The country of Haiti, while devastated by natural disaster, was amazingly beautiful. The experience can’t be fully described written in words. The people there were so eager to have our help and were extremely excited to see us and were constantly thanking us for everything we were doing. We were constructing the Methodist church in the small village of La Tremblay, about one mile or so southeast of Port-Au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. While we were there working we were very blessed with tropical storm Emily missing all of Haiti but for a few sprinkles, wish I could’ve sent it all to Texas. Besides church construction, our other job was to run a VBS for one day. During VBS, the kids made arts and crafts which most made crosses or bracelets. Our translators, TuTu and Jacquito, were amazing and taught us several unique things about their culture. The children in the village would come up to us constantly and the ones that spoke English or Spanish we got to help the most in learning the English/Spanish diction and they taught us Kreyol, the native language, in return. Our money is definitely present in Haiti and I would encourage all people to continue to support Haiti, UMVIM, and UMCOR. This experience is one I will never forget and hope many of y’all will get the same opportunity to experience it as well. God bless you all.
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Briefs
Contact needed for future Witness series
Several series are planned for future issues of The United Methodist Witness, but we can’t write them without you! Please let us know if you have any contacts for the following themes:
New churches—Are you a lay person who has been a part of a new church plant within the last few years? We are planning a story that chronicles a new church plant from its beginning stages until the launch and maturation season. Contact us with your experience.
Health and wellness—what does your church do to promote health and wellness (including physical health, financial health, spiritual health)? Contact us and let us know names of people in charge of ministries that promote wellness within members of your congregation.
Environmentalism—Is your church taking steps to care for the earth? We are in the brainstorming stage of a series that examines the conscious choices churches are making to “clean” up their practices and be better stewards of the planet. Send us names and contacts of people who have spearheaded this in your church.
Evangelism—This series will focus on the ways churches in our conference evangelize. What are the ways your church practices evangelism (old-fashioned door-to-door evangelism, serving-while-evangelizing, home-group evangelism)? Let us know!
Please send all contact information to Rachel Toalson at rtoalson@umcswtx.org or call (210) 408-4524.
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Kerrville District
The Kerrville District staff has compiled
the information for Page 6 and paid to
use the space as a district newsletter.
Bill Henderson
Superintendent
dskerrville@texxa.net
Elizabeth Cover
Admin. Assistant
kdumc@texxa.net
Address:
222 Sidney Baker S # 528
Kerrville, Texas 78028
District Office
(830) 896-6400
Program Office
(830) 896-6400
Fax: (830) 896-6407
Corpus Christi District
The Corpus Christi District staff has compiled
the information for Page 6 and paid to use the
space as a district newsletter.
Eradio Valverde, Jr.
Superintendent
districtsuper@bizstx.rr.com
Sheila Campbell
Admin. Assistant
ccdistrict@bizstx.rr.com
Linda Morrow
Ministries Director
ccprogram@bizstx.rr.com
Address:
3510 Gollihar Road
Corpus Christi, TX 78415-2750
District Office
(361) 852-8268
Fax: (361) 852-3370
Program Office
(361) 852-8268
District calendar
September
26-27 Cabinet Meeting
October
6 Sea City Workcamp, District Office, 6 p.m.
7-8 District Spiritual Retreat.
7-8 UMW Annual meeting, First UMC, Corpus Christi.
12 DCOM meeting, District Office, 9-3 p.m.
13 District Professional’s meeting, Wesley UMC, 9-3 p.m.
14-15 First UMC, Beeville 150th Celebration.
17 United Campus Ministry, District Office, 5:30 p.m.
17-19 Clergy Benefits Seminar, SA Hilton.
18 Witness Deadline.
25-27 Cabinet Meeting.
November
3 Sea City Workcamp, District Office, 6 p.m.
10 District Professional’s Meeting, Woodsboro.
14 Newsletter deadline.
21 United Campus Ministry meeting, District Office, 6 p.m.
29-30 Cabinet Meeting.
December
11 Grace UMC Building Dedication.
12 Newsletter Deadline.
16-Jan1 District Office closed for Christmas Holidays.
Mark your calendars
10 days of Hidden Treasures of the Maritimes June 10-19, 2012
And 10 days of Heritage of America – October 5-14, 2012
For more information please contact Sue Dulaney at 361-991-9100
San Angelo District
The San Andelo District staff has compiled the
information for Page 8 and uses the space as
a district newsletter.
Larry Altman
Superintendent
sangds@suddenlinkmail.com
Amy Moore
Operations Manager
sangom@suddenlinkmail.com
Gini Christian
District Ministries Coordinator
sangpd@suddenlinkmail.com
Address:
1315 S. Abe Street.
San Angelo, TX 76903
District Office
(325) 486-1500
Fax: (325) 482-0033
Wesite:
www.gbgm-umc.org/umcsa
District calendar
September
24 Lay Ministries Training, Art UMC.
26-27 Cabinet Meeting.
28 BOM meeting, Larry & Amy.
29 District Youth Council, Sierra Vista UMC.
October
4 Doug Hester class, First UMC, San Angelo.
7 Amy out.
8 Gini & Jill, Family Ministries, San Antonio.
8 Wesley UMC banquet.
15 District Ministries Council meeting, Wesley UMC.
16 CROP Walk
17-19 Larry, San Antonio
20 District Spiritual Retreat, Fort McKavett.
21 Amy, out.
25-27 Cabinet Meeting.
28-30 Clergy Spouse Retreat.
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