You are a World Changer ...

The 2013 theme of Indiana Conference Annual gathering in Indianapolis was "Be a World Changer".   Following the Mission Council meeting this evening, we at 1st Church are right on track to be a "world changer".

1. Our presence in the Hilltop area changes little lives one at a time.   The Breakfast Club, the summer programs, camperships, and the leadership provided all open doors and change lives of the children being served.   Participation in the camping program which is part of the Indiana Conference Outdoor Ministries is life changing for children.  
2. Royal Family Kids Camp is in process right now.   We (FUMC) provide significant key leadership in a preparing and executing this week away giving every child a time to be "special".   Pam Burrus and Judy Hain will be able to share stories from their experiences when they come home exhausted from that week of fun.
3. A team of volunteers have just returned from a week of serving in Guatemala.   They interacted with the children in the village of Tocache while creating a hand washing station for their little 3 room school.  The team members can't help but think of these children daily.    
4. Another team of volunteers are being recruited to go to Sierra Leone in November again this year.  If you want to be part of a team that works with the people in the Kissy area of Freetown and be part of taking a small clinic and helping it fit into the new Kissy Hospital Campus, this might be just the place for you to connect.  
5.  Our Rays of Hope monthly meals go on without notice anymore.  Meals are served and community is being developed among those who come.   Yes, food is important but maybe more importantly, it is the "family" that sits around a table and is spiritually fed.
6. Our two Individual Volunteers continue to "take hold" of Costa Rica.  Rebecca Rusnak provides support and structure for mission teams coming to serve the families in need there.  Margie Miller  shares her enthusiasm and provides assistance to the students at the Latin American Bible University even from her computer and Skye setup while she's in the US.
7. Our Resale Shop and all of the workers who make this the greatest find in town.  It is a win-win there.  Items are recycled, reused, and renewed with all of the proceeds going to mission outreach.  Our Shop is a blessing to the customers and all the volunteers. 
8. Our involvement in the homeless ministry in the community rests on the shoulders of tireless volunteers Tom Neff and Janice Keim and the people they have gathered around them.   How blessed we are to have their quiet leadership.  
9. Operation Classroom is now lead by Bob and Sandy Coolman.   Participating in the Adopt a Student program is a significant way to change the world for a child in Sierra Leone or Liberia. 
10. There are many more ways in which we "Change the World", but probably the biggest change comes to those who have a stake in any of the above.   Those who volunteer and those who lead have a life changing experiences that have become habit forming.  The world they change  has been their own.   

We would welcome information about how you are a world changer.   Everyone has the capacity to make a big difference.  Jesus gave us one example after another about how to be in the world and not be formed by the world but rather be transformed by being in the world world around even if it gives us a bit of discomfort.   Read Romans 12: 1-2 in the Message.