Looking for a tasty way to support missions at Asbury? Join us on Sunday, May 5, between 8:30 AM and 11 AM for an Asbury in Mission (AIM) Mission Breakfast, supporting Laundry on Linden! The breakfast will take place in the Wesley Center. There is no charge; but your free-will donations will support the efforts of Laundry on Linden, which provides free laundry services and healthcare to those in need in center city Allentown.
Did you know that nearly 27% of children and their families in the Parkland community suffer from hunger? Your donation of non-perishable food items in our collection Parkland CARES Food Pantry can help!
The Parkland CARES Food Pantry serves an average of 125 families each month, all living within the boundaries of the Parkland School District.
Please place your donations in the marked bins through the end of March:
– in the upper elevator lobby
– on Sundays: in the Worship Center and the Youth Lounge
This collection is being led by Asbury’s Children’s Ministries and the Asbury Preschool; and we appreciate your support!
Learn more about the Parkland CARES Food Pantry – and the impact your donation will make – in this video from a recent “Mission Moment.”
The final gift from Asbury’s 2023 Christmas Eve offering to Mobility Worldwide was $16,426, an amount that covers the cost of 38 handcarts. Gary Moreau, Executive Director of Mobility Worldwide, says “Asbury is lifting 38 persons off the ground.” Thank you for your generosity and for providing the gift of mobility and dignity through this offering!
Did you know cancelled stamps are a vital mission use? They are prepared and sold to stamp dealers, and every penny earned is used to prepare lessons and send to South American Sunday Schools to teach about our Lord, Jesus Christ.
The following is an update on the Alliance Stamp Ministry from Jan Kuhns, coordinator
January 2024
Two boxes of stamps from Asbury were just delivered to the Shell Point Community, where they are prepared for sale to stamp dealers, and the funds are then totally used for the Mission Outreach to South America Sunday Schools.
In 2023 $35,000.00 was raised and sent to the mission, bringing the total raised since inception in 1972 to $1,191,300.00.
Asbury has played a vital part in this ministry with the large number of stamps we have sent to it. It is greatly appreciated and send their deepest thanks.
Please see guidelines (at asburylv.org/stamps), and please keep them coming.
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Learn more about Asbury’s Stamp Ministry – and how you can help – at asburylv.org/stamps.
Asbury is taking part in the Lehigh Conference of Churches‘ 2024 toilet paper drive. The following is information from the Conference of Churches:
Toilet paper is in great demand as it falls outside the items covered by SNAP benefits, commonly known as “food stamps.” When families and individuals come to us, receiving just one roll of toilet paper can alleviate one expense from their tight budgets.
This February we are asking the community to donate toilet paper to help those less fortunate. Last year, because of the generosity of so many we collected over 1,400 rolls!
If you can pick up a bulk load of toilet paper, consider setting some aside to donate. It is one of the most essential household items and should be readily available to everyone—with your help, it can be that again. Remember to keep possible allergies in mind when you donate items like these. Stick to unscented toilet paper and you should be just fine.
You can help by:
· Picking up an extra package of toilet paper next time you’re at the store and putting it in a marked collection bin at Asbury
or
· Making a cash/check donation to help the Conference buy toilet paper in bulk. (Donations can be made directly to the Conference of Churches or – if you prefer – can be submitted via Asbury’s church office. If sending to Asbury’s office, please designate monetary donations as “LCC Toilet Paper Drive.”)
Collection bins – marked for the “On a Roll” toilet paper drive – will be located at both the upper and lower entrances at Asbury. Collections will be received from February 1 – 29.
An upcoming UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) project will be taking place in Philadelphia on January 13 and January 27. For more information, please contact Jerry Schuler, Volunteer in Mission Coordinator, using the form below.
About Project Restoration
An initiative of the Eastern PA Conference of the United Methodist Church (EPAUMC), Project Restoration is working to help residents recover from the severe damages – physical, financial and emotional – wreaked by floods caused by recent severe weather events in our region. People of all skill levels needed for them to be successful in their initiatives – a project manager will equip you with the tools and skills needed to help! Learn more on the EPAUMC website | Submit your volunteer information | (after submitting your information). After you’ve submitted your information, a representative from Project Restoration will reach out to you.
While a final official total is still being compiled, we are so grateful to be able to report that as of last week, $14,436 has been collected for the Christmas Eve offering, 100% of which will be donated to Mobility Worldwide (learn more) Thank you for your generosity!
The following report comes from Linda McCreight, one of the volunteers instrumental in coordinating the “Gifts for Ramos” collection:
December 18, 2023
“Once again, this December, the Asbury congregation has welcomed 16 Ramos Elementary School families into the warmth and joy of Christmas giving. In this Allentown school where 90% live below the poverty level, your generous outreach has encompassed 61 family members with donations of clothing, toys, gift cards and needed household goods. The abounding care shown by so many in our faith community is heartwarming and truly appreciated in this season of love.”
Thank you for generosity this Christmas season!
About “Gifts for Ramos”
Each Christmas, Asbury helps to spread Christmas cheer to families at Ramos Elementary, our partner school, by helping families in need with Christmas gifts. Over 90% of families of attendees of Ramos Elementary School live below the poverty level; and teachers and counselors at Ramos identify a few families in especially great need. That list is then shared with the Asbury congregation so you can prayerfully decide what individuals or families you may be able to support at Christmas.
providing the gift of mobility and dignity to those in developing countries who are unable to walk through covering 36 handcarts.
DONATED TO
THANK YOU!
ABOUT MOBILITY WORLDWIDE
Mobility Worldwide’s goal is to provide the gift of mobility for all of God’s people in need. They create and distribute hand-cranked Mobility Carts, vehicles that allow those who are unable to walk to go where ordinary wheelchairs won’t go. There is no cost to the recipient. Since 1994, Mobility Worldwide has built 100,000 Mobility Carts which have been distributed in 106 countries.
Asbury Celebrates First Graduates of Liberian Sewing School
The following article was written by Dick McCreight of Asbury in Mission. Dick has been instrumental in fostering the relationship with and infinitives for our friends in Liberia.
Asbury Church has had a relationship with their brothers and sisters in Liberia for over 20 years. It began when Asbury connected with the Reverend Jerome Kennedy, who at that time was the District Superintendent of the Voinjama District in rural Lofa County Liberia. After years of sending clothing, educational curriculum, and medical supplies through Asbury’s Barrels of Love ministry, it was suggested by a member of Asbury’s United Methodist Women that Asbury start a sewing school so that parents could earn an income to provide for the basic needs of their families.
In 2014 the first one-room school was founded in Paynesville, a suburb of Monrovia. The facility could accommodate only 14 students. In 2020 the school lost their lease on that space and was in need of a new, larger, space to accommodate more students. Through the generous support of Asbury members, construction of a new building dedicated to the sewing school began in 2021 on Tylers Island, another Monrovia-area suburb. Through the leadership of Rev. Kennedy and School Director Yamah Wymon, the school was completed and opened in 2022 with funds for sewing machines and instructors provided by Asbury.
Asbury was thrilled to hear news of the first graduation class of the Tylers Island Home Economic Training Center in October 2023. School Director, Yamah Wymon writes, “[I] am so happy to present to you the first graduates of Tylers Island Home Economic Training Center, a vocational school in Tailoring. I am so proud to be a part of history-making in Liberia. Thanks [to] the Asbury United Methodist Church [for] their continued support in the life of Liberians, They are the reasons behind our success today. May God continue to bless the work of their hands. To my students, go into the world and explore the new skills acquired and make a difference. Thanks [to] the teaching staff for their patience and tireless efforts doing every section. Thanks to our parents, friends, and well-wishers for gracing our occasion this past Sunday.”
Asbury is blessed beyond measure by being a blessing in the lives of our Liberian friends and looks forward to many more graduations from the Tylers Island school.
Your help is needed to assist with the fall shipment of much needed supplies for Liberia!
NOVEMBER 11, 9 AM AT ASBURY
Barrels will be packed with clothing leftover from the Annual Holiday Bazaar and then moved to the lower level in preparation for loading onto a truck. Additionally, 60+ boxes of textbooks will be numbered and taped for shipment before also being staged for loading. Estimated time commitment: 2 hours.
NOVEMBER 18, 10 AM AT THROUGH THESE HANDS (LEHIGHTON AND SLATINGTON) AND ASBURY
Medical supplies will be loaded at Through These Hands in Lehighton. Following this, the group will return to Asbury to load the barrels packed the previous week.
If you can assist on either date, please contact Dick McCreight.
Be part of – or support participants – in this year’s Allentown CROP Hunger Walk, beginning at 1:30 PM on October 22 at St. Timothy’s Lutheran Evangelical Church!
Choose from a golden mile or a 10k walk through downtown Allentown (find route details at the link below). Visit https://events.crophungerwalk.org/2023/team/asbury-spirit to join the team and raise funds; or to sponsor an Asbury Walker. Contact recruiter Debi Olphin with any questions.
Questions? Let us know! (Contact: Debi Olphin)
Let’s Fight Hunger Together!
More about the impact of the CROP Walk:
The Greater Allentown CROP Hunger Walk helps food-insecure neighbors locally through the Conference Kitchen and the Allentown Area Ecumenical Food Bank. CROP Walk funds also support Church World Service’s life-saving disaster assistance, displacement assistance, and long-term development assistance with our neighbors in need throughout the United States and around the globe, including victims of the humanitarian crises in Ukraine, Turkey, and Syria.
Help is needed with a project for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church’s Project Restoration.
A repair project is being completed in Downingtown as part of recovery from damage incurred from Hurricane Ida. Tasks as determined by the Project Restoration team are as follows:
install a pre-hung door into half block as a garage fire door
a small drywall project to complete the installation
A project lead will be on-site; and coordinators estimate a half day of work (depending on the number of volunteers available). They are targeting a date of September 9 or September 16.
Your hands and your heart can help provide a full stomach for those in need in developing nations! The Rise Against Hunger Experience, a meal-packing event where we will team up with Rise Against Hunger to package 20,000 meals, is taking place on Saturday, October 7, with shifts spanning periods between 8:30 AM and 3:00 PM in the Wesley Center. This is the seventh time Asbury has participated in this event, sponsored by Asbury in Mission. We hope you’ll consider being a part of this Church-wide opportunity to take part in sharing Christ’s love and compassion!
There is no cost to be part of this life-giving mission, but for reference, each meal costs $0.33 – a small price to make a big difference!
More about Rise Against Hunger Rise Against Hunger is driven by the vision of a world without hunger. Their mission is to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable and by creating a global commitment to mobilize the critical resources. They are committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #2 of ending hunger by 2030.
“How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O noble daughter!” Song of Solomon 7:1
Soil-transmitted helminth infection (parasitic worms) thrive in the warmer climates of the earth. Unfortunately, these are the areas of most of the world’s poverty. This poverty is accentuated by the presence of worms that cause the depletion of already scarce nutrients in the body. Worms enter the body in various ways. Hookworm larvae (immature worms) mature into a form that can penetrate the skin of humans. Hookworm infection is transmitted primarily by walking barefoot on contaminated soil. Flip-flops are a simple and effective means of combating the transmission of hookworm.
On July 15, Asbury in Mission will be making their next Barrels of Love shipment to Liberia. Your donation of flip-flops (all sizes) will help prevent parasitic infections in the villages served by Healthy Women, Healthy Liberia. Look for barrels to collect flip-flops in the Mission Donations Area across from the office. We will be accepting donations until July 13.
THANK YOU to all who helped with the Rise Against Hunger meal packing event on Saturday, March 25! Here are some quick statistics from the day:
20,000 meals packed
$8,000 donated to Rise Against Hunger
100 volunteers
300 volunteer hours
With the meals packed yesterday, a total of 90,000 meals have been packed by Asbury over the past 5 years. Again, thank you!
More about Rise Against Hunger Rise Against Hunger is driven by the vision of a world without hunger. Their mission is to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable and by creating a global commitment to mobilize the critical resources. They are committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #2 of ending hunger by 2030.
Our hearts break as we continue to learn about the devastation in Turkey and Syria as a result of the major earthquakes. Learn how you can help provide relief for Ukraine via UMCOR at asburylv.org/turkeyandsyria.
Asbury is pleased to announce the opening of a new donation bin area to drop off your generous donations for missions. Thank you to Elijah Kinzel, working towards the rank of Eagle Scout, and Dick McCreight of Asbury in Mission (AIM) for their work on this project.
This installation is across from the church office (on the lower level).
