Things have certainly looked different this year. 2020, will be remarkable for years to come. In living out this new reality, Volunteers In Mission continues to be “Christian Love in Action”. VIM usually is very broad from local neighborhood events to 2 week trips across the globe. For the past five months, that broad realm seemed to narrow….but did it? What have you and your church been doing in missions? I’d love to share your story in future LINK editions for others to celebrate with you and to gain new ideas! Many have reached out to local organizations with donations or in person volunteering (with safety precautions). I’m sure there are many creative service ideas you have worked out. Virtual Missions has become a new term and a new practice! Teams are gathering over ZOOM and experiencing as much as the VIM Journey they possibly can, connecting with site staff, viewing photos of the site and side excursion locations. The teams are reading about the area, ministry, culture, history and related social justice issues. They are spending time in devotion and prayer together. This is all still global! Way to go VIM for your flexibility and adaptability! I ask that as you read the following VIM accounts, you think about your story as a VIM! Let’s get that in the next LINK! I celebrate all of you and the work you do in love!
Stay well and do no harm,
Michelle Schwartzman
vim@susumc.org
717-766-7441 ext. 3105
All in to Serve!
United Methodist Action Reach-out Mission by Youth (U.M. ARMY) is a national youth mission organization that typically holds “away from home” mission weeks across the U.S each summer. Because of the pandemic, the organization had to “re-imagine” mission work for this summer. They felt strongly God was still calling them into the mission field amid the uncertainty. After prayerful consideration, U.M. ARMY created a LOCAL option for churches to do mission work safely in their own communities, while allowing the participants to connect with other churches through virtual activities and worship. U.M. ARMY provided prerecorded worship materials, which involved youth and adults across the U.S. in reading scripture, giving messages and offering prayers. The theme for this year was ALL IN and utilized Matthew West’s song by the same name. Matthew West even provided a personal message to the U.M. ARMY participants to kick off the week and encouraging them to be ALL IN for God as we serve! (NOTE: All participating churches followed social distancing guidelines set forth by the state as well as their local church conference/district.)
Several churches from the Susquehanna Conference participated in this LOCAL model this summer. Christ UMC of Mountain Top participated the week of July 12th, along with two other churches from New Jersey and New York. They worshiped virtually each morning and evening with these other churches. They also participated in virtual fun, “get to know you” activities throughout the week. During the day, each church served in their respective communities doing various projects for homeowners and social service organizations. Christ UMC made a lasting impact on a local community park by doing major clean-up, painting buildings and benches, and creating a beautiful mural for the community to enjoy for years to come (see attached picture).
The week of July 19th, a group of 18 youth and adults from New Creation UMC (Dover) and Shiremanstown UMC joined forces to serve people and organizations in their respective communities. They worshiped together each morning and evening, alternating between the two churches each day. This group volunteered at Mission Central, New Hope Ministries, Susquehanna Service Dogs and York City Community Gardens. In addition to helping various homeowners with outside projects such as yard work, painting and demolition work, this group provided a meal to local families in need in partnership with the BICC ministry outreach of Fishing Creek Salem UMC. The meal was a cookout prepared ahead of time and served in individual self-service bags. They provided toys for the children such as bubbles, glow sticks, balls and stuffed animals. What a beautiful way to show God’s love to this group of families. (See pictures)
What a wonderful experience this was!!! To be able to gather, in a socially responsible way, and still serve others provided a much-needed week of renewal for the youth and adults. We praise God for guiding them into the mission field. To quote one of the youth who participated…. “even though we didn’t know what to do in the midst of a world crisis, God showed us what to do…” Praise God for these volunteers who followed the theme this year by being ALL IN to serve God and their communities.
U.M. ARMY is praying they will be able to gather in their usual “away from home” models next summer. Even if they aren’t, God has opened the door for alternative models for mission work even when the world throws them a curve ball.
For more information on U.M. ARMY, please contact Darlene Thomas (Shiremanstown UMC), Regional Director @ darlenethomas@umarmy.org or 877-771-9484 ext. 1108 or visit the website at umarmy.org.
Missions during a pandemic
By Pastor Jason Schwartzman, Grace UMC, Lemoyne
Like literally everyone else around the conference, Grace Church in Lemoyne was kind of scrambling to figure out what to do in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. Thanks to incredible volunteers and some very forward-thinking pastors that occupied this chair before me, transitioning to on-line worship was not quite as daunting as it could have been. However, I struggled to imagine what mission looks like in this new world.
Before the pandemic, Grace Church was scheduled to send three mission teams out during the months of June, July and August. There was a trip scheduled to South Carolina, one to India and one to New Mexico. Of course, each of these trips was canceled. However, the call to “go and make disciples” persisted, even in these difficult moments. In a very mission-minded church with a tremendous history, I knew it was important to do something meaningful with the congregation during this time. Enter Church World Service.
Church World Service was also struggling to deliver their life-changing work to the people of Central Pennsylvania due to the pandemic. Supplies were limited and although the volume of refugees entering the community was greatly reduced, there were plenty of people already here who needed some help. We worked with Church World Service to identify the most crucial of those needs. CWS told us what they could really use were some specific “kits” that they offered and some gift cards for their “blessing baskets”. We kind of arbitrarily set an audacious goal. 500 dollars in gift cards and 50 different kits. In a world in which we weren’t even sure about church attendance or offering coming in, setting that kind of goal seemed a bit outrageous, even to me, the one who set the goal! But we put it out there and the generosity of God was once again made evident through the people of Grace Church in Lemoyne. Further, the work of building the kingdom of God persisted! In helping Church World Service fulfill their goals, Church World Service was helping Grace Church fulfill OUR goals!
What happened after the goal was set was remarkable. Because people couldn’t really go out, we met the gift card goal almost immediately. Further, financial donations from older members of the congregation came in specifically asking the younger members of the congregation to go shopping for supplies for the kits, because they couldn’t (but they still wanted to be involved). The results? We have ALREADY met our 50 kit goal (we have 56 kits as of this writing, with two weeks to go!) and we have almost DOUBLED our gift card goal (the goal was $500, we have collected $950 to this point). I am reminded over and over again to stop thinking so small when God is thinking so big.
The main takeaway of all of this for our church is this: First, never underestimate what God can stir in the hearts of the people in our congregations. Secondly, relationships, relationships, relationships. Had our church not had an established relationship with CWS, we might still be looking for a place to unleash the unrelenting generosity of God and this congregation. I’m so proud to be the pastor of this great church and I’m so proud that they continue to listen and respond to God’s call on their lives. We are still building the Kingdom!
