Missions
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).
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 Treva Crump, Co-Director
January 2023
Hurricane Ian (which made landfall September 28, 2022) left two feet of standing water in the Stamp Room, which was on ground level. Prior to the storm, volunteers put anything that was down low up onto table tops. Following the storm – when it was possible to be out safely – volunteers starting moving table-top items to drier locations outside of the Stamp Room.
We lost many of our supplies, decorations, and packing materials when the demolition crew was told “four feet down and throw it away!”
Shell Point has been kind enough to provide us with a room – about 1/3 of our original floor space – on the fourth floor of the old Pavilion.
We went from the tunnel to the penthouse!
It took almost six weeks moving our materials and mail that had been stored in the warehouse to this new location.
During the week of November 7, 2022, our volunteers were invited back to work.
We appreciated your calls and notes of concern. Please pray with us that a normal routine will return soon and that our volunteers will find their way to our new location.
As of the end of December 2022, God has enabled the Stamp Ministry to generate $35,000.
God’s hand of protection has been upon the Stamp Ministry!
In Christian Love,
Treva
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Learn more about Asbury’s Stamp Ministry – and how you can help – at asburylv.org/stamps.
Meeting January 27, 2023, 1:30 PM in room 108
Please join the Asbury in Mission (AIM) Committee as it hosts Denise Shelton (Disaster Recovery Director) and others from the Eastern PA Conference’s Disaster Response Team as they share information on what they do. Their work is funded mostly by a $417,000 grant received from UMCOR in December, along with generous donations by individuals and churches. But while additional funds are needed, the more urgent need now is volunteers, with various skills or even unskilled, who can devote time during the week and on weekends, starting this spring and throughout the year. Come see how you can help!
Asbury in Mission (AIM) strives to be “in mission” by partnering with mission partners throughout the world through regular communication to learn of their needs, to pray for them, to work on one-time mission projects, to go on one or two week mission trips, celebrate mission, and provide financial support.
The Conference of Churches is collecting the following items to serve Thanksgiving dinner to families and individuals in need. Please deliver donations directly to them (there are NO collection points at Asbury for this drive). All donations must be delivered by Friday, November 18.
This project is now fully funded! Thank you for your support!
A previously completed Asbury well
Your generosity can help provide clean water for a village in need. Asbury’s Living Water Well ministry is fundraising to build their 24th well in Liberia. This well will be built in honor of Asbury member Alice Huey in celebration of her 90th birthday.
The total cost of the well will be $3,500.
If you’d like to contribute to improve the quality of life for our Liberian friends, and to honor Alice, please write a check payable to Asbury UMC with “Liberian Well” on the memo line and place it in an offering plate or drop it off at Asbury’s office.
About the “Living Water Well Ministry”
Since 2013, Asbury’s “Living Water Well Ministry” (via Asbury in Mission), has worked with local mission connections in Liberia to help construct wells in villages that lack clean water. Spanning 4 counties, the most recent well funded by the ministry was built 2022 at Baptist Seminary Community in Montserrado County. These wells save lives by providing a source of clean water to reduce water borne illnesses prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa.
A video created in celebration of the 21st well
The following is an update from Asbury in Mission (AIM) on the impact Asbury has made in the community so far in 2022, including some upcoming events
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Wow, what an incredible celebration of the 100 years of Asbury Church!
As was apparent from the stories of the 100 years at Asbury and the audacious goals that Pastor Eric outlined for Asbury’s path forward, missions/outreach has been, continues to be, and will be a big part of Asbury for years to come.
These past few months have been an exciting time at Asbury in outreach with much more expected in the next couple of months. The following is a summary of some of the amazing things that have happened this year… and what’s still to come.
Events:
Monetary Support:
Through the 2nd Mile donations to AIM, the congregation has done the following:
This all means that through the generosity of you the Body of Christ at Asbury Church, over $50,000 has gone to support outreach efforts in the last two months (this includes the money raised by the “Asbury Methodist Milers” for Community Bike Works’ Cycle Challenge). This is an amazing witness to the community and the world about the commitment and impact that Asbury has in reaching out.
Much-needed food items are being collected via a drive-thru drop-off for the Allentown Ecumenical Food Bank on behalf of this year’s CROP Hunger Walk.
The collection is taking place on Saturday, October 1, between 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM in Asbury’s Upper Parking Lot.
Most-needed items are as follows:
Reusable grocery shopping bags are also being collected.
Monetary donations will also be accepted. Checks can be made out to AEFB (please note “Asbury Church” in Memo Line).
Thank you for your support!
A MESSAGE FROM ASBURY IN MISSION (AIM)
Thank you all for your support for our collection we undertook in May to collect much-needed supplies for the people of Ukraine. The items we collected were delivered to the Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church in West Easton on Monday. In addition to donations of supplies, Asbury contributed $2,200 and the United Methodist Women added $900 for help with shipping and purchase of additional items in Europe. Father Paul Makar is pictured below with relief supplies from Asbury, Through These Hands and others. Supplies will be loaded in a container and shipped to Eastern Ukraine. Thank you for helping God’s people in extreme need.
Asbury in Mission (AIM) is leading a new collection for Ukraine. This collection is in conjunction with Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church in West Easton. Learn more at asburylv.org/ukraine.
A typical collection drive for Community Bike Works ends up being about 12 bikes. At the bike drive held at Asbury on Saturday (April 23), thanks to your generosity, 80 bikes were collected. Thank you!
About Community Bike Works
Community Bike Works teaches life lessons through bicycles to the young people of the Lehigh Valley who could benefit most. Learn more about Community Bike Works at communitybikeworks.org.
On April 23 Asbury will host a bicycle drive in conjunction with Community Bike Works. Any bike in any condition will be accepted. Learn more about Community Bike Works at communitybikeworks.org.
About Community Bike Works
Community Bike Works teaches life lessons through bicycles to the young people of the Lehigh Valley who could benefit most.
Learn how you can help provide relief for Ukraine via UMCOR at asburylv.org/ukraine.
| All educators/staff are now covered by a note-writer. THANK YOU!
NOTE WRITERS: Please write and deliver your notes before February 25th (we’d like to deliver the notes by March 1st) and remember to leave the envelope unsealed. The collection bin is outside at the upper entrance to Asbury. |
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Need to know more? Here’s what “Notes for Ramos” is all about:
In 2020 Asbury in Mission (AIM) asked for Asbury members to help show our support for educators at our partner school, Luis A. Ramos Elementary School in the Allentown School District. The responses from Ramos teachers and staff were very touching.
“What a thoughtful gesture from people at Asbury!”
“Thank you Asbury Church for all you do for our students and our teachers!!”
“It brought tears to my eyes.”
After two years of the pandemic, teachers’ spirits may be at an all-time low as COVID cases continue to impact students and teachers alike. Absences have disrupted in-class learning and strained virtual instruction. So now that we’ve entered the spring semester of 2022 we again ask you for notes of encouragement for Ramos teachers and staff.
Sign up to write a personal, hand-written note of encouragement for one to three teachers or staff members! AIM will include a $5 Wawa gift card as well.
Please write a note to that person before February 25th (we’d like to deliver the notes by March 1st).
Put the teacher/staff member’s name on outside of the envelope, leave the envelope unsealed and place it in the container outside of Asbury’s upper 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:
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
Here are excerpts from some of the most recent updates from some of our mission partners around the world, along with links to the full letter. Please keep them in prayer as they share the Good News!
“2021 was quite a year for us. Even leaving aside work in a COVID hospital, it brought more than its share of unexpected challenges and dangling issues… Our family, who’d spent the last two decades together, was abruptly in four different locations… [still, 2021 brought] a sense of gratitude. I don’t think we as a family had ever prayed as much or as fervently. So, along with its ups and downs, the journey has left an aftertaste, the sweetness of having shared a path with Immanuel…”
“The recent uproar over the new Omicron variant is taking Ecuador (and the world) by storm this Christmas season. The government is struggling to know how to respond, and we hear daily news of new rules and regulations. At the same time, rainy season has hit early, and we are being deluged with daily rains, triggering major mudslides and road closures. landslide. The main road between us and the city is now closed for perhaps the next 6 months as the engineers try to figure out a way to move a large section of the mountainside to re-construct the fallen roadbed… Amidst this chaos, we were recently encouraged by the phrase ‘Business as usual’ — God’s call to keep going about the business of teaching and discipling. People need to know Him, and amidst the craziness of the world situation, that is still our call!”
The Boake family has been a mission partner for many years as they take in and care for children and young adults in their home.
“I, as, mom to these children am so blessed, I love them dearly and they in turn are so kind, caring and a great blessing to me. We all miss our wonderful dad [Colin Boake passed away in 2020] –he was such an example of strong values, consideration and manners & I proudly say the children are following his example. Our home is bursting at the seams with every corner occupied. In the outside rooms we have Sean, Kayleen & four little boys. Sean’s work place was completely destroyed during the unrest so they have come to stay with me. In the main house we have Joy (now 24, Donny (24), Mathew (22), Siyabonga (18), Asanda (15), Lindo (15), Samuel (11), Thabiso (8)…”
On Christmas Eve, we pledged that 100% of the offering collected would be given to support Afghan Refugees as they resettle in the United States; and we are so excited to announce that the final amount has been totaled, and $19,187 will be donated towards this important cause.
Thank you so much for your support of this initiative!
The total will be split evenly between the United Methodist Commitee on Relief (UMCOR), which supports resettlement nationally; and Bethany Christian Services, which helps support resettlement more locally to our area. Thank you for your generosity!
A food drive for the animals at Gress Mountain Ranch will begin on Sunday, January 2, and run through Sunday, January 16. Donations can be left outside Asbury’s upper level doors anytime throughout those weeks.
For over 21 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.
Items most needed at this time are applesauce, canned fruits and vegetables, zero Gatorade (no calories), duck pelleted food, pine shavings (not cedar) and Timothy hay. Other items requested, or for more information about the ranch, visit their web page at gressmountainranch.
Thank you for your generosity in caring for God’s creatures!
One-hundred percent of the offering collected at Asbury on Christmas Eve will be donated to help Afghan refugees resettle in the United States. Learn more at asburylv.org/christmas-eve-2021-offering/.
Asbury’s Stamp Ministry is continuing to collect and in need of used stamps to help raise money for missions.
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. When removing stamps from envelopes, please leave at least 1/4″ – 1/3″ paper around the stamp so the stamp is not damaged, otherwise stamp dealers will not purchase these stamps. Machine-cancelled stamps are not useable, but computer generated stamps are.
Stamps are collected year-round.
The stamps may be placed in the marked drawer in the collections area across the hall from the church office (on the lower level). Do not use paper clips or anything else that might damage the stamps to keep them together, but they may be placed in plastic bags or envelopes.
As of April, 2021, more than $1,099,000 has been raised for this mission since its inception in 1972 – all from what we usually used to think of as trash.
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.”
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| 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.
