Missions
Volunteers are needed to help load a truck with 100-200 boxes of medical supplies, wheelchairs, walkers and more for our friends at Healthy Women, Healthy Liberia. The packing will take place at Through These Hands‘ location in Lehighton, PA (about a half-hour drive from Asbury) at 10 AM on Saturday, June 26th. If you can help, please use the form below to contact Dick McCreight. Thank you for your continuing support of this life-changing mission.
UPDATE: We’re over halfway to our goal of 80 volunteers for Rise Against Hunger meal packing, but we still need your help!
We’re teaming up with Rise Against Hunger to package 10,000 – 20,000 meals on Saturday, May 22, roughly from 8 AM – 12 PM in the Wesley Center (if the weather cooperates, the event may be moved outdoors).
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Follow this link to register now (leads to an external website).
More about the event
This is the fourth 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! COVID safety protocols will be in place to ensure everyone’s safety (visit asburylv.org/coronavirus to learn more).
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.
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 10,000 – 20,000 meals, is taking place on Saturday, May 22, roughly from 8 AM – 12 PM in the Wesley Center. This is the fourth 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! COVID safety protocols will be in place to ensure everyone’s safety (visit asburylv.org/coronavirus to learn more).
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Follow this link to register now (leads to an external website).
There is no cost to be involved, 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.
| Clothing from Barrels of Love was distributed to children at the Kennedy Early Learning Daycare in Liberia |
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A project to provide clean drinking water for a town in Bong County, Liberia has gotten underway thanks to your donations and the leadership of Asbury in Mission |
Asbury’s Barrels of Love ministry was started with a book drive by Connie Miller and her daughter Devin 20 years ago! At that time, the end of the civil war in Liberia was in sight and Dr. Chris Hena (who was stationed in Kazakhstan at that time) requested children’s books to replace those destroyed during the war. Several thousand books were collected in that first Barrels of Love shipment.
In March we’ll be conducting a 20th anniversary children’s book drive for Bête Gbanee School in Paynesville and the Dominic Hena School in Kakata. Please gather new or gently used children’s books (no textbooks please). Look to your children for titles they particularly enjoy(ed). Deliver them to the upper parking lot at Asbury on Sunday, March 14 and March 21 between 9 AM and 10:30 AM.
Thank you for sharing the gift of reading with these Liberian children and helping Asbury celebrate 20 years of the Barrels of Love ministry.
A food drive for the animals at Gress Mountain Ranch will begin on Sunday, January 31, and end at 1 PM on Sunday, February 14. Donations can be left outside Asbury’s upper level doors anytime throughout those weeks.
For over 20 years, the Gress Mountain Ranch in Orefield has been caring for abused, neglected, and abandoned animals. This is their “forever” home – animals are not bred or sold. Currently about 90 animals, including dogs, cats, pigs, horses, donkeys, ponies, alpacas, llamas, ducks, parrots and peacocks, are in need of food.
These items can be purchased at Tractor Supply or feed stores
Perishable items will be collected on Sunday, February 7, from 11:30 AM – 1 PM and Sunday, February 14, from 11:30 AM – 1 PM in Asbury’s upper parking lot.
Thank you for caring for God’s creation and man’s friends!
Asbury in Mission‘s Barrels of Love were today’s featured story in the United Methodist News! Read the article, “Wheelchairs provide freedom for 50 Liberians,” at https://www.umnews.org/en/news/wheelchairs-provide-freedom-for-50-liberians.
JANUARY 14, 2021 UPDATE:
All teachers and staff have been signed up for! Thanks for your support!
ORIGINAL MESSAGE
Thanks in part to your tremendous response to the notes of encouragement for educators and staff at our partner school, Luis E. Ramos Elementary School, Asbury in Mission (AIM) is asking for Asbury members to help show our support for educators and staff at Parkway Manor Elementary.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Parkland elementary schools have been offering in-person and online classes with frequent shutdowns when a student tests positive. Teachers are really stressed attempting to teach this year—particularly those involved with younger ages and those teaching students with learning disabilities.
Sign up to write a personal, hand-written note of encouragement to one or two teachers or staff members!
Sign up now by adding your name to this Google Sheet. Please write a note to that person ASAP (due date is January 15)!
Put the teacher/staff member’s name on outside of the envelope, leave the envelope unsealed and place it in the container outside Asbury’s top entrance before January 15. • AIM will add a $5 gift card to Wawa and seal the envelope for delivery to Parkway Manor.
Not sure what to say? While you’re encouraged to make it your own, if you have writer’s block, here are a few phrases/ideas to help you get started:
• I want you to know that you are seen and you are valued. You may not be listed as essential workers. But you are essential.
• As a former teacher, I know all the work that goes into teaching under typical circumstances. Teaching during this coronavirus pandemic is so far from typical. It’s literally nothing school systems have ever done before.
• This isn’t what you signed up for, and yet you’re doing it anyway. You’re putting together distance learning plans. You’re adapting your teaching in the blink of an eye.
• I know you miss your students, the classroom community, and the culture you cultivated. I know how much your students mean to you—how they become “your kids” year after year—and how much you love seeing them light up when they learn something new.
• Even though it may not feel like it sometimes, you’re teaching. Right now your kids are learning social-emotional skills that no curriculum could account for.
• You’re the first teachers to tackle a challenge like the one we’re facing now. Years from now, 2020 will be remembered as the year we all learned how to live life at a distance from each other and continue to function as a society.
• Pause a moment and realize that what you’re doing matters. It matters not just for the students you have in your classes today, but also for the future. You’re part of large-scale systemic change and are making history.
• For now, it’s OK to cry together, too. (Or on your own.) If you’d all known that goodbye would be the last for the year, maybe you would have hugged a little longer or high-fived more often. It’s OK to grieve those hugs and high-fives.
• Teachers, parents can’t replace you. You are essential. Take care of yourself. Be well. Try your best. And thank you for being there.
• The #1 factor in the success of our children is having quality teachers who care about them! Thank you for being there!
• From the sidelines, know that our community is cheering you on as you make the very best of a challenging situation in the classroom this year. Thank you for all that you give to our children, families, and community! You’ve got this!
• During this time of much uncertainty, your passion for teaching and your creativity to make learning dynamic and fun for our children is nothing short of amazing! Keep doing what you love, and spread your light to everyone you work with! You are an inspiration to me!
• Thank you so very much for serving our community as a teacher! With much uncertainty ahead, know that you are deeply admired and appreciated for your work with our children. Thank you for all that you do! We believe in you.
• “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” – Proverbs 22:6
• “Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.” Deuteronomy 32:2
• “Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.”-Proverbs 4:13
• Sign your note with your name “and your friends at Asbury Church”
Bright Hope Pregnancy Support Center, an AIM mission partner, is raising money for their Stork Medical Mobile Unit by asking for donations that will be matched in a $30,000 Matching Grant until Dec 31, 2020. Visit their website for more information and to make a donation now: https://brighthopecenters.networkforgood.com/projects/114401-30-000-matching-grant.
| Christmas 2020 |
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December 13, 2020 Update:
All 44 Ramos family members have been “adopted”! Thank you for caring for these families!
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Original Announcement
We’ve been blessed again with the opportunity to care for students in our partner school, Ramos Elementary, by purchasing Christmas gifts for them and their families
Over 90% of Ramos families live below the poverty level; and teachers and counselors at Ramos have identified a few families in especially great need. The challenges of 2020 have made it difficult for school counselors to gather information with teachers and students meeting virtually rather than being physically at school, so while there are currently only 5 five families available, more will be added each day.
Sign up by using the Google Sheet found at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fBr6-0dBxHePM3Wf2H9FV2Knk64UMBWwDg88C7f2r2k/edit?usp=sharing Enter your name (or your group name as a placeholder) in the yellow field next to the person(s) you will be buying for. Do not wrap gifts, but put them in a bag and staple a tag with FAMILY NUMBER, GENDER, AGE (e.g. Family One, Boy, Age 6). Once you’re registered, you’ll be contact with information on where gifts can be delivered.
Thanks for making these Ramos families’ Christmas a bit brighter!
Asbury’s Stamp Ministry is continuing to collect and in need of used stamps to help raise money for missions.
Please leave at least 1/4 to 1/3 inch border around the stamp(s). Do not remove the stamp from the envelope. All US and foreign stamps are needed, but machine generated stamps are not useable. Computer-generated stamps are usable.
These stamps are sold to stamp dealers, and the monies received from these sales are used to purchase Sunday School materials in several languages for South American churches.
Please do not use staples or paper clips to hold stamps together; simply place them in an envelope or sandwich bag and send them to Asbury (attn: Stamp Ministry).
To learn more about the stamp ministry, visit asburylv.org/stamps.
The following is an update from Diana Coke, Asbury in Mission (AIM)’s liaison with Thembelihle School in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Thembelihle provides quality education to young children from disadvantaged backgrounds in the region. Thanks to your giving to AIM, Asbury is able to provide scholarships for three children at the school. http://www.thembelihleschool.co.za/
Greetings to you all at this Thanksgiving Time in America.
I have been attending the Prizegiving ceremonies for Grades 1, 2 and 3 this week – all held on different days. It was wonderful to see how well the children, and teachers, have coped with this very difficult year. It was also great to be back to see the bright and cheerful eyes behind their masks.
I began working in February with 4 little Grade 2 children who were struggling. We had such fun together, but they were obviously finding it hard to keep up with the others. It was very sad to have to stop because of lockdown. So it was heartwarming to see that their certificates all showed they had improved immensely this year. One was for ‘Best Speller’, and another for ‘Most improved at Maths’.
Every presentation opened with prayer by a teacher. One day the children all said the Lord’s Prayer. Each child in the Junior Primary Phase received a colourful certificate. Some were for ‘Master of Maths/English’; ‘Best at Art’; ‘Best Reader’; ‘Achievement in All Subjects’; ‘Most Improved in ….’ etc; but many were for values such as ‘Kindest Heart’; ‘Cares for Others’; ‘Most Thoughtful’ etc. They were also each given a gift bag made up by our Ladies Evening Fellowship Group at Howick Methodist Church, from donations received from our congregation. We were overwhelmed at how much was given, considering the tough year this has been for so many.
I asked Limise’s [one of the children Asbury sponsors] teacher how he was coping, and her face lit up. She said he’s doing so well, and she’s so proud of him. But he’s a very shy little boy. It was sad to see that his jersey had holes in it and his trousers were not going to last much longer. The same applied to many of his classmates.
One recent change at the school is that instead of children coming for half a day, then being expected to continue working in their workbooks at home, they now attend school for the whole day. They still only spend half the time with their teachers, who say that being able to work with small classes has given them a chance to work individually with each child. The rest of the time they work on their workbooks in other spaces, particularly the lovely new hall, with the oversight of assistants. It was found that many of the children couldn’t cope with working alone at home, where there was often no one with the educational skills to help them. Also, some of the transport drivers weren’t taking them home directly, but driving round picking up other children, so they very often only got home at their usual time. This new system seems to be working very well.
Yet again, very many thanks for the difference you have made in these special children this year. It’s obviously been an incredibly tough year for everyone, and we pray that 2021 will see Covid being controlled and life returned to some kind of normal for the whole world.
My best wishes to all at Asbury Methodist Church.
Regards,
Diana
Asbury in Mission (AIM) is asking for Asbury members to help show our support for educators at our partner school, Luis A. Ramos Elementary School in Allentown. All education at Ramos is now virtual due to COVID-19. Teachers are really stressed attempting to teach online, particularly those involved with younger ages, ESL students, and those with learning disabilities.
Sign up to write a personal, hand-written note of encouragement to one or two teachers or staff members! AIM will include a $5 Wawa gift card as well.
Sign up now by adding your name to this Google Sheet. Please write a note to that person before November 20th (we’d like to deliver the notes before Thanksgiving)
Put the teacher/staff member’s name on outside of the envelope, leave the envelope unsealed and place it in the container outside Asbury’s top entrance
AIM will add the address and gift card, and stamp and seal the envelope for mailing.
Not sure what to say? While you’re encouraged to make it your own, if you have writer’s block, here are a few phrases/ideas to help you get started:
• I want you to know that you are seen and you are valued. You may not be listed as essential workers. But you are essential.
• As a former teacher, I know all the work that goes into teaching under typical circumstances. Teaching during this coronavirus pandemic is so far from typical. It’s literally nothing school systems have ever done before.
• This isn’t what you signed up for, and yet you’re doing it anyway. You’re putting together distance learning plans. You’re adapting your teaching in the blink of an eye.
• I know you miss your students, the classroom community, and the culture you cultivated. I know how much your students mean to you—how they become “your kids” year after year—and how much you love seeing them light up when they learn something new.
• Even though it may not feel like it sometimes, you’re teaching. Right now your kids are learning social-emotional skills that no curriculum could account for.
• You’re the first teachers to tackle a challenge like the one we’re facing now. Years from now, 2020 will be remembered as the year we all learned how to live life at a distance from each other and continue to function as a society.
• Pause a moment and realize that what you’re doing matters. It matters not just for the students you have in your classes today, but also for the future. You’re part of large-scale systemic change and are making history.
• For now, it’s OK to cry together, too. (Or on your own.) If you’d all known that goodbye would be the last for the year, maybe you would have hugged a little longer or high-fived more often. It’s OK to grieve those hugs and high-fives.
• Teachers, parents can’t replace you. You are essential. Take care of yourself. Be well. Try your best. And thank you for being there.
• The #1 factor in the success of our children is having quality teachers who care about them! Thank you for being there!
• From the sidelines, know that our community is cheering you on as you make the very best of a challenging situation in the classroom this year. Thank you for all that you give to our children, families, and community! You’ve got this!
• During this time of much uncertainty, your passion for teaching and your creativity to make learning dynamic and fun for our children is nothing short of amazing! Keep doing what you love, and spread your light to everyone you work with! You are an inspiration to me!
• Thank you so very much for serving our community as a teacher! With much uncertainty ahead, know that you are deeply admired and appreciated for your work with our children. Thank you for all that you do! We believe in you.
• “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” – Proverbs 22:6
• “Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.” Deuteronomy 32:2
• “Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.”-Proverbs 4:13
• Sign your note with your name “and your friends at Asbury Church”
Additional information on Asbury and Ramos:
Luis A Ramos Elementary School at 15th and Allen is a long-time Asbury mission partner.
The student population at Ramos ranges from 700-900 depending on the year; and over 90% of Ramos families live below the poverty level.
Over the years Asbury members have been actively involved in the support of Ramos teachers, staff, students and their families.
• Obtaining Books for the Library (Christmas Eve Offering)
• Concert to raise money for musical instruments
• Donation of used musical instruments
• Annual work day to mulch playground and beautify grounds
• Key supporters of the construction of a new playground at Ramos
• A dozen or so Asbury members volunteering in classrooms (prior to the pandemic)
• Backpack drives in the fall
• School supply drives
• Coat, hat and mitten drives
• Adopting Ramos families at Christmas
• Packing holiday gift bags before Christmas
• Gathering cleaning supplies to help teachers keep their classrooms safe
A note from Barry and Debi Olphin, who coordinated the collection for the Allentown Ecumenical Food Bank held on Saturday, October 10:
A huge thank you for all who brought a bountiful collection of food to Asbury on Saturday October 10th. I’m sure we collected 400-500 pounds for the Allentown Ecumenical Food Bank. We are so thankful to you.
– Barry and Debi
A photo of food loaded in the van to be transported
The collection is taking place on Saturday, October 10th between 10 AM and 12 PM in Asbury’s Upper Parking Lot.
Needed items are as follows:
Social distancing will be practiced. Volunteers can retrieve your donation from your car trunk or you can deposit in a collection bin.
The CROP Walk is virtual this year, but we don’t want to forget about our hungry neighbors. Thank you in advance for your constant love and support for them!
If you would also like to make a CROP Hunger Walk donation to our team, Asbury Spirit. Go to: crophungerwalk.org/allentownpa/DebiOlphin
You are invited to join Allentown’s Virtual CROP Hunger Walk!
Raise funds online and walk on your own anytime between now and October 11th.
Visit crophungerwalk.org/allentownpa to register and start raising funds with our team ASBURY SPIRIT or to make a donation to Asbury Spirit team member.
Questions? Let us know! (Contact: Debi Olphin)
Let’s Fight Hunger Together!
Asbury’s Stamp Ministry is continuing to collect used stamps to help raise money for missions and ask that you continue to save stamps to bring to the Asbury once the building is reopened. To learn more about the stamp ministry, visit asburylv.org/stamps.
Asbury will be assisting the Sixth Street Shelter by collecting needed supplies for the Shelter. Donations are being collected from
4:00 – 6:00 PM on Friday, 5/29 and from 10 am – noon on Saturday, 5/30 in the church’s upper parking lot. For the safety of all,
social distancing with be practiced during this time.
Items currently most in need of are:
Paper towels
Laundry detergents (no perfume or dyes if possible)
Mops (prefer Libman Wonder twist mops, they last us a lot longer)
Brooms
Hand soap
Baby wipes (sensitive skin if possible)
all-purpose cleaners
dish washing liquid
Windex glass cleaners
Stove top cleaner for electric range
Oven cleaners
Diapers (sizes 2,4, 5 & 6)
A full list of needed items can be found at the Sixth Street Shelter website or you can shop their wish list at Amazon.
Items listed may be out of stock. Substitutions are welcome and are gladly accepting donations shipped directly to the shelter location.
Any questions, please contact Debbie Holt at 610-392-4802 or Jenn Springer at 610-395-7812.
Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, AIM has decided to cancel the Yard Sale that was scheduled for June. Instead, AIM encourages everyone to save their goods and support the UMW Bazaar in November.
