Grace Church is at work in missions with several projects each year. All such work is rooted in scripture. For example, see Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46 or the admonition in James 2:14-26 regarding faith and deeds.

Please see our youth page for photos of the July, 2010 mission trip to Cincinnati, courtesy of John and Susan Bennett!

Below, we offer a sample of current efforts by our Missions Committee, and also several previous projects. These include the Grace youth “Sock it to Me” that immediately preceded a missions trip to Red Bird Mission; a report from 2007’s summer feeding program, plus glimpses of a house-building project under the auspices of Habitat for Humanity. See also our How You Can Help page for other opportunities.

The Mission Committee of Grace United Methodist Church brings a Mission Focus to the congregation each month. Our March, 2010 focus was ...

Mercy Manor

Mercy Manor is a guiding light for women facing great fears as they are released from prison. Each resident is interviewed and assessed to determine individual needs. Through daily case management, the resident is given support in developing life skills and positive behavior. Goals are set, with the assistance of the case manger, for the self-development of the whole person.

Mercy Manor focuses on drug recovery, employment, reunification with children and permanent housing during a six month in-house program.

In 1992, they opened their doors to five women. Currently they are assisting twelve women in the six-month program, and have 50+ units of aftercare housing. Since its opening, over 80 women have been served, of which 75% are now drug-free, employed and in permanent housing. Nearly 150 additional women have been served outside their housing program.

How can we help? Listed below are some of the needs of Mercy Manor:

• Prayer
• Personal hygiene products (soap, shampoo, comb/ brush, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, towels, wash- cloths, etc)
• Financial assistance

A laundry basket will be located in the Activities Building during Coffee Time for your gifts of personal hygiene products, and, of course, financial gifts may be made through the church office, designated Mercy Manor.

Sock it to Me!

“Last year, when we went to Red Bird Mission in late October, it was very cold,” said Grace member Carol York. “I saw children going to school wearing bread bags on their feet, because they had no socks.” Carol saved bread bags all year to remind herself to help these children to have socks for the coming winter. Red Bird is a United Methodist mission center in eastern Kentucky’s Bell County, the third-poorest in the United States.

In turn, urban youth at Grace Church are learning about children in rural eastern Kentucky and are eager to give what they can to help. In the September 23 photo below, the youth are preparing for “Sock it to Me” Sunday -- September 30, 2007-- when they distributed plastic bread bags to Grace worshippers, each with a cardboard sock inside, to remind us to fill the bags with new socks.

On Sunday, September 23, 2007, Rev. Marla E. Brown looked on as Grace youth prepared for “Sock it to Me” Sunday. -- photo courtesy of Larry Ramey

To say that this collection of socks was a success is putting it mildly. Nine hundred and thirty-seven pairs were donated altogether (and quite a number of shoes, too), a few of which are shown in the photograph below.

On Sunday, October 21, youth leaders Carol York and Larry Ramey posed with some of the youth who participated in the “Sock it to Me” project -- and some of the socks they collected. -- photo courtesy of Larry Ramey

Red Bird Mission, October, 2007

The items collected in the “Sock it to Me” project were carried to Red Bird by a work team of members from Grace and Fairview United Methodist Church that left Grace immediately following the 10:30 worship on Sunday, October 21. The team delivered 950 pairs of socks; they went to Red Bird’s medical clinic and school, for free distribution to children; and to Red Bird’s DeWall Senior Citizen Center for free distribution to elderly folks served both at the center and in the center’s meals on wheels program. They also took ten pairs of new shoes to the school (again, for free distribution) and several pairs of used shoes to the thrift store. They brought 380 “box tops for education” (for Red Bird’s participation in the General Mills program known by that name), 1,100 “labels for education” (for Red Bird’s use in the Campbell’s program), and several boxes of blankets and clothing collected by the twelve-year-old daughter of a friend of team member Carol York.

The Grace-Fairview team posed for the photographer during their trip to Red Bird Mission in October, 2007. From the left, team members included Rev. Marla E. and Len Brown, Jack Bish, Fairview’s Barbara Rowlands and Jan Patterson, Eldean and Jane Gilbert, Carol York, and Susan Nordyke. -- photo courtesy of Jane Gilbert

During their week at Red Bird, Jane Gilbert and Barbara Rowlands, joined by a volunteer visiting from Pennsylvania, clipped 3,200 more Campbell’s UPC labels and 830 more General Mills box tops, above and beyond those brought from Dayton. Other team members worked at the home of local couple Orva and Emmitt, replacing a section of flooring, laying linoleum, cleaning and painting the kitchen, washing scads of dirty dishes, repairing light fixtures and installing switches, and installing two windows. Before departing, the team left Orva and Emmitt with a prayer shawl. Because they finished their project a day early, on Friday the 26th they were able to assist a team from East Peoria, Illinois with whom the Grace team have become friends over years of trips to Red Bird. The combined teams worked on East Peoria’s project at another home, installing insulation, electric service, and drywall. The same day, Marla, Jan, Carol, and Susan worked in the Red Bird “Christmas Store,” preparing Christmas gift items for area residents, while Barbara and Jane continued their clipping.

The week’s only casualty was Len Brown, who was treated at the Red Bird clinic after suffering a finger cut down to the bone!

2007 Summer Feeding Program

Grace’s summer feeding program provides free lunches to young children during the summer when school is not in session. Program Director Jackie Borda wrote this report in late August, 2007:

This summer’s feeding program was a huge success. I am so happy to have had all of our “regulars” back and ecstatic to see the number of new faces we had. At the end of our six weeks (the shortest we’ve ever gone) we had served over six hundred lunches (the most we’ve ever done). That’s about twenty lunches per day. This summer’s feeding program could not have been possible without the generous donations of plastic ware, paper plates, napkins, and ranch dressing from the congregation. Also, the help of Donna Johnson, Pastor Leo, Pastor Marla, and the older children who attended were vital to its success. Thank you so much for your prayers, support, and time. I hope the feeding program can continue to grow in the next few summers.

God Bless,
Jackie Borda

Raising the Roof!