A town surrounded by springs, lakes and a stone’s throw away from the coast, Crawfordville could be considered a nature lover’s paradise. Any given weekend you could find this note on your neighbor’s door, “Gone Fishing”. This summer, when it came to Crawfordville United Methodist Church, you would find a much different note taped to our door; “Gone Missioning” As a congregation, under the leadership Pastor Tony Rosenberger we embarked on becoming a mission driven church. We desired to truly embody the Methodist’s mission; “We exist to make committed disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
We have been exploring and moving slowly toward that mission statement for a number of years. Our church has sent teams to Ecuador the last four years, opened a successful food pantry two years ago and began a diaper drive Sunday this calendar year. Last summer we built upon a summer feeding program which we participated in for a number of years. However, this summer be adopted that statement on a whole new level. It began by examining “missions” from a different definition. Understanding the history and importance of international missions to Christianity we wanted to broaden what we thought of as, missionaries. We asked the questions, where are the hurt, needy and poor in our community and how can we be the church to them. Many issues came to mind from children of the poor to those struggling to overcome addiction, people who were homebound and taking better care of God’s earth. With these concerns in mind we tapped into organizations and outreach groups in our area partnering with them to help fill their needs both physically and spiritually. The summer activities formed from these ideas were; a going green recycling project, summer feeding program, building wheelchair ramps for the homebound, sharing meals and fellowship with a women’s transition home, mission to Ecuador, and a back to school health and wellness fair.
God made us from the dust of the earth, therefore we are part earth. (Gen. 2:7, 3:19) This point speaks to why we wanted to start a green campaign. Recently we remodeled our kitchen and added a commercial dishwasher. This purchase allowed us to cut our trash from Wednesday night dinners in half. We began using cafeteria style trays and silverware rather than paper plates and plastic ware. After dinner individuals place their silverware and dishes on a cart that can easily be rolled into the kitchen to be washed and trash can be separated into out different recycling bins. The plastic bins are located in a high traffic area and labeled clearly with picture examples of what can be recycled. Products for recycling are dropped off at a nearby location by church members.
This summer the existing summer feeding program that was such a success for us last year at another location found a home in our church. The program was two weeks long and provided breakfast, lunch and Christian based enrichment for needy children in our community. We were able to arrange with our school system to have a bus pick up enrolled children each morning at a central location. Many of the congregation were involved in providing enrichment, fellowship and preparing meals for these children. The wonderful blessing from this years’ summer feeding program was a stronger relationship with the families of these children. Many even returned for a week of vacation bible school with the children of our congregation. It was truly heartwarming to see our youth reach out to these children and make new friends.
We worked through Ability 1st, a local charity, to build a ramp for a wheelchair bound woman who had to be carried in and out of her home for doctor visits. Around two dozen church member from old to young turned out on a Saturday for the opportunity to be Jesus in a tangible way. It took a couple of days to complete the ramp. When we finished there was a new ramp and a clean mowed yard. We learned we did not need special skills we could serve with simply a desire to help. Many of our youth said it made them feel so blessed to get their hands dirty with service for someone they did not even know.
For about six months or so we as a church had been helping Radical Restoration ministries, a local transition home for women, with a monthly check. We decided we wanted to do more with these women than simply provide for physical needs. A couple of nights a month we take a trip to their house for fellowship. It began with taking toilet paper and soap to sharing dinner and conversation. Now these four women, changed by the salvation of Jesus Christ are our friends. Seeing the light of Jesus on their sober faces and hearing about how their lives are being restored by the fire they have to spread the good news burns in our bellies every time we are with them. We help them with their outreach projects and they also come to our church to join us in outreach.
The last Saturday of summer vacation we planned a Back to School Health and Wellness fair. We offered free school supplies, and health physicals to children. We provided health information for the whole family, and free gently used clothes. Our youth were instrumental in setting up, waving signs on the corner, directing traffic, filling bags with supplies and playing basketball with those who attended. At the end of the day we handed out school supplies for over two hundred children, physicals for around fifty and feed hotdogs to over three hundred. The environment was electric with smiles, laughter, and conversation with praise music in the background. Many we served were touch and took information about our church showing interest in wanting to join us in worship.
One of the most encouraging parts of the summer of 2010 was our youth. They rose to ever occasion we place before them. They agreed to do anything needed to just be involved in service. Our youth are on fire for God; hungering to know him and be more like him. Now they know what it is to be a servant to their community. What a shining example they were to our whole congregation.
So much activity it is tiring just reading all that God accomplished this summer at CUMC. Some might say all these events were too much; after all one congregation cannot save the world. Maybe in the future we should narrow our focus to one or two things. To them we would like to answer, no way. We cannot do it all, however God through our hands can accomplish great things. John Wesley summed this up in one quote; “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.” Many times things did not go right and we faced adversity but when we embraced the places in our community who needed God, he provided more than we could have ever dreamed was possible when we found ourselves, “Gone Missioning”
