Category Archive

Dr. Chris Hena’s father, Dominic is celebrating his 100th birthday on September 18th. In honor of him and all he has done for the people of Liberia, a well is being built in a Liberian community that currently does not have a source of clean drinking water. Please help us reach our goal of $2,500 with your donation. Donations are being received until October 31. Give at asburylv.org/give.

Dr. Chris writes about her father: “It was in 2003 [during the war years], after a young girl was hit by a car while crossing the street on her way to school. My Dad knew the girl’s mother. He decided to bring the community dwellers together so they could put their resources together and build a community school, so their children would not have to go across the main street again. People were happy and embraced his idea. However, when it came time to bring their resources together, they backed off. He decided to go alone. He purchased the land, and started building. Today, there are more than 1000 kids attending. It is now a high school with many employees. What a blessing. I am very proud of him.”

Mr. Hena in 2010 at the Dominic K. Hena School	A previously completed Asbury well

We are praising God that construction has begun on the new Asbury Sewing School in Paynesville, Liberia.  Thanks to all who contributed to funding the building of this new facility which will accommodate 100 students in two sessions per day.  With the sewing skills acquired at the Asbury Sewing School, our Liberian friends will be able to generate income for basic needs for their families.  Your generosity is changing lives in Liberia.  The school staff has asked that we pass their sincere thanks to the Asbury congregation.

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.

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.

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