Asbury has been a big part of my life during the almost forty years my wife and I have been members; from Sunday School, Worship Services, my time with the Missions Committee of Asbury, and my time with the Senior High [youth] of the church where I was a leader on Friday nights.
Some highlights are my twenty-five years going with the Senior High youth to West Virginia, and my four years going to South Africa where we conducted a camp for Africa youth and a daily Bible-based instruction with elementary children in the townships of South Africa. We also went into the cities and did things like staff soup lines and get to know the people of South Africa. Homelessness means an entirely different thing in South Africa than it does in the United States. There are people that live IN the dumps of major cities there and everything they have in this world comes from the dump (their clothing, shelter, and food come from the dump)… but they are not referred to as “homeless.” While in South Africa, I also went on Safari where we were confronted by an elephant, visited a diamond mine, and a gold mine.
In addition to above, I have really enjoyed the Missions Breakfasts that we used to have because it gave me a chance to interact with the people as I collected their donations for the breakfast. An especially enjoyable moment was when a very young man one year volunteered to help me handle and count the money as it came in.
These are but a sample of what I have experienced during the time at Asbury.
– Manly H. Offutt, Jr.