Missions Sunday

Hey everybody!

Be sure this week to visit the missions tables in the back of the sanctuary, and also on the way into the CCA cafeteria to hear Tyler Savage speak about his experiences in the mission field during both Sunday School hours. Information will be provided about all of your opportunities to be involved through prayer, giving or direct service.

Also be sure to sign the sheets at the front of the sanctuary if you have participated in a mission trip. These names will be added to the mural that will be put up so that we can have a visual record of our progress toward the goal of every member going on a trip in 5 years.

And don't miss this opportunity to wear your jeans and sneakers to church! We are wearing our grey missions shirts this Sunday. They will be available in the foyer in front of the sanctuary if you don't have one.

Brief Overview and Updates from Charles and Becky Jackson

Brief Biography of Charles and Becky Jackson

Charles and Becky Jackson are affiliated with the Mission Society and Generous Hands Ministries, Inc. They are working as members of the “Global Resource Team” that provides spiritual development, discipleship, teaching, church planting and economic development in those areas that request assistance. They are currently working in Brazil and India.

Their primary focus in Niteroi, Brazil (city adjacent to Rio de Janeiro) is the supervision of a monthly food basket program to the poorest of the poor (30 families) in the Nova Mexico “favela” (slum), support and guidance for a mission church which was planted in 2002, and coordination of the construction of a worship center for the Santa Barbara Methodist Church. They also host short term mission teams who visit the residents in the slum and conduct programs (youth and adult) for the mission church and the Santa Barbara Methodist Church.

Their ministry outreach in India is located in the Hyderabad area (south central India) and “Tirchy” (southern India). In the last three years they have started 10 micro loan programs with over 100 Hindu and Muslim women. The loan program has been a key to evangelism amongst these women and their families. The loan repayments are used to develop more micro loans and to subsidize the salaries of the local evangelists. Teaching and training these evangelists is a vital part of the work as well. The Jacksons are also involved with a girl’s home in Hyderabad which houses 25 girls. They are actively raising funds to help them construct a facility which can accommodate 100 girls and will include a Christian school. When they are not on the foreign field they travel throughout the U.S. sharing about this marvelous work to which the Lord has called them and raising funds for the ministry.

Prior to their present assignment, they spent 7 years in Latin America ministering in Paraguay and Brazil. Before their entry into full-time mission work, the Jacksons served churches in Virginia for 14 years. Charles is an ordained elder in the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. The home base for the ministry is Lewisville, Texas (suburb of Dallas). They have 4 children; Matt, Sam, Aaron and Elisabeth, who served on the field with them from 1996 to 2002. They especially enjoy being grandparents to Wesley and Audrey, Matt and Carolyn’s children and to Paxton, Sam and Joni’s son. Sam and Joni are expecting a “new” arrival in February 2008.

Newsletter from Sara Kaiser

Scarbrough Newsletter

Update from Adrienne Mickler

"¡Buenas! I apologize for the delay, but here is another update on some of the ministry taking place here in Colombia.

The Other Way closed for the holidays until February, leaving me with too much time to wish that I was with my family for Christmas. However, through an extensive series of coincidences that I can only attribute to God, I had the opportunity to be a translator for a mission team that spent a month in the Amazon. My responsibilities included interpreting for meetings, sermons, skits, leading children songs in Spanish, and essentially any interpreting needed between an English speaker and a Spanish speaker. To be completely honest, my motive for going was to experience adventure in a region of the world that I have always wanted to visit. After my first week in the heart of the jungle, I realized that my purpose for going was not solely to translate or to be hiking in the Amazon. God had a more important agenda. He had some hard lessons that He wanted me to learn. God was not going to let me leave the jungle before I agreed to die to my own desires.

I began learning what it meant to love; to really love with the love of God. This should not be written off as an easy task because in order to truly love we are required to put ourselves second to everyone else. Our instincts must be deliberately changed so that we begin to naturally think of others before ourselves. When we learn to love with this kind of love we can begin to do all things with heart. Our hearts should fuel our actions. God can work through every minute of our time if we are living and breathing with His heart. He can use one hug, one word, one glance to begin impacting someone's life forever.

This team that I worked with in the Amazon is now spending some time working with the different street children programs here in Bogotá until the Other Way and the Light and Life school re-open for the year. When working directly with the kids, they use Bible stories and perform them as interactive skits, they teach them songs, play games and essentially give them more personal individualized attention. My job is to continue to translate for them until they leave in mid-February. I will return to work with my 5-6 year old kids at the Other Way on the 5th. I am excited and ready for what God has in store for this year.

I cannot thank you all enough for your prayers and support. I know I have said it a thousand times but THANK YOU! ¡GRACIAS! With love,

Adrienne

p.s. I am super excited about seeing some of you guys in March. Whoo!"