Standing in place

Good morning Trinity Tribe!

Update: Betsy is doing better and is now in room 725 at Southeastern in Lumberton.

One of the best parts about being the pastor is that you get to stand in place of the congregation when it is unfeasible for the whole congregation to show up to something. I got the pleasure of doing that yesterday. When I went to visit Betsy in the hospital yesterday, I brought the gifts that people gave for the children that live at the Methodist Home for Children in Lumberton and stopped by there on the way back to Red Springs. Thank you for letting me have that neat experience on your behalf! Everyone was SOOOOO appreciative of our gifts. I have a card to all of us to share at worship this week.

8-10 young people live at the MHC. Most of them have had truancy issues…poor behavior…issues at school…etc. Most of what brings them there could have been avoided if their parents were better at parenting. Therefore, one of the biggest things they do there is to work with the families. Tamara took me on a tour of the facility. It is VERY clean and cared for. They have a kitchen where all the food is prepared. A teacher comes in and teaches the students there at the facility. She was very nice and had just done a math lesson on measurement using Christmas cookies. They are going visiting at another youth home and are bringing cookies. Each child has chores to do every day. They are in school from 8-3. They can only watch TV for limited time a few days a week. They play family board games and cards and things on the other nights of the week.

I was impressed by the staff and the young people I met. The young people were polite. You could tell there was a lot of structure. We are doing real good and helping people in a profound way. I don't know what the statistics are like after kids graduate from the program. However, they have been given tools to succeed in the world during their stay there.

You can be proud that the United Methodist Church does good work in the name of Jesus Christ like this. If you want to read more about the MHC, please visit their website at : http://www.mhfc.org/home/ This is one of those things that an individual church just cannot pull off by itself. It takes the hundreds of congregations in the North Carolina Conference to put our hearts, heads, and offerings together to do something of this scale and depth. In Matthew 25:45, Jesus says, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." We are certainly following Jesus' command in this way. Give yourself a pat on the back and send a prayer to God for each of these young people to be transformed.


Epiphany at the Parsonage
You are cordially invited to Epiphany at the Parsonage! Come on over to see the renovations that were done this year on the parsonage and visit with your neighbors and enjoy a Christmas cookie or two. We will have Open Hearts, Open Minds, and Open Doors from 3-5pm on Sunday, January 2nd.