Beyond The Walls

Julie Scott, a 16-year resident of Suwanee, was honored by Mayor Dave Williams and the council. Scott and her husband Chuck, along with other family members, have for years made trips to Haiti supporting the poverty-ravaged country and a school of 1,600 students started by Chuck’s parents in 1982.

Scott, according to Williams, has worked for years educating her community and raising funds for Haitians near Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. The school, which also provides a lunch to students who otherwise may not have a meal, was heavily damaged during the earthquake.

Scott was quick to give credit to North Gwinnett cluster students, teachers, residents and business owners for their heroic fundraising and donation efforts.

“This community has sent almost $3,000 to the school” and hundreds of book bags, toys and other items for the students, according to Scott.

Williams presented Scott with a plaque and a proclamation denoting Aug. 25, 2010, “Julie Scott Day” in Suwanee.

Soles4Souls Update: Thanks for your support!! SUMC collected well over 1000 shoes. In addition Soles4Souls has a container ship with 250,000 pairs off the coast of Haiti waiting to be delivered. Thanks to Spencer Frendt for allowing SUMC to be a partner on this Eagle Scout project and thanks to the people of SUMC for stepping out of their shoes and helping!!

Local Charity Benefits from Coupon Clipping!

Nancy May clips coupons! It’s a life-long passion of hers that has swept up her friends, neighbors, and church members in her enthusiasm for clipping and redeeming coupons so that she can get free or nearly free items to donate to charities.

Recently, Family Promise was a recipient of one of these donations. Nancy’s car was loaded to the brim with over 650 items including toothpaste, toothbrushes, bath soap, travel size toiletries, razors, shampoo, deodorant, stuffed animals, and more for the families in Family Promise. The value of the donation was estimated at close to $4,000.

“Through the generosity of my neighbors and friends providing coupons and other suitable items this was possible,” said Nancy. “Having coupons enables me to purchase things much less expensively, thus allowing me to purchase more items than I could if I was paying full retail. I believe it is God working through me and I hope I'm making a difference. It's just my little ministry and I'm already working on the next load!”

Picture: Nancy May (on right), from Sugarloaf United Methodist Church, gives Family Promise volunteer Elinor Giles the first of over 650 items that she accumulated for charity through coupon clipping

Bill and Kathie White traveled to Istanbul, Turkey last month, November 2-10, for a conference held by The Mission Society. This meeting brought Mission Society missionaries together from Europe, Asia and Africa for a time of learning, worship and fellowship. Bill serves The Mission Society as a member of their Global Resource Team, offering his legal and accounting expertise to missionaries in the field.

“I think those guys are believers.” That was the buzz throughout the conference room. A new group had checked into our hotel the night before. We saw them at dinner but quickly concluded that they were Turks and most likely Muslim. Turkey is 90% Muslim.

However the sounds coming from their conference room sounded so familiar even though we could not understand a word they were singing. Phil Threlkill, our spiritual leader for the weekend, and Mike Mozley, a missionary from Africa, decided they would seek out their leader to see who they were. An older man with white hair appeared in the hall so they introduced themselves hoping that this person could understand some English. He not only understood but was from London with a thick English accent. The group was indeed believers. They were Iranian pastors in the underground Christian church.

We were invited to attend their praise and worship service that evening in the hotel. Our group entered the service in the middle of the praise singing. It was glorious. We all began singing in Persian even though no one knew the language. We were not singing with our intellect but with our hearts. We were caught up in the emotions of the moment and lifted our hearts and souls to God.

At the end of the singing one of the young pastors gave his testimony. We were all blown away by the dedication and courage of these new believers. After his testimony we were called up front and knelt for prayer. At that moment the Iranian pastors all came up around us and placed hands on each person present. I have never felt so humbled as I did at that moment.

This was a divine appointment set up by GOD for both our groups. GOD was already at work preparing for this moment so he could use our groups to further his mission to the Muslims. For the last three years we have observed how GOD is already at work in the world. He invites us to join him and share in the adventure. GOD did not ask us to change our whole life, just adjust it to follow him. In return he has given us abundant life and joy.

Jeff Wilkerson, Egineering Ministry International

Jeff Wilkerson, SUMC member who partnered with Engineering Ministry International (eMi) to work on a water supply project at the Timothy Centre in Uganda. The Timothy Project provides a Christian foundation and education to young woman in Uganda.

Read More Here

I am happy to report our 2009 Gyn Brigade had a wonderful trip to Chinandega, Nicaragua September 13-20th. In all, we had 23 members on our team, up from 18 last year! It seems the more people go on these trips, the more they stimulate interest by others at the hospital. What a wonderful thing! All in all, we were able to perform 52 surgeries on 34 patients, up from 31 patients last year.

We owe our Friendship and Fellowship Sunday School class so much as the class donated a very substantial sum of money used to buy additional surgical instruments. Without these instruments, 4-5 women would not have been able to have their surgeries! I took a thank you card down with me to have them just sign their names so that I could show our class what an impact they had on this trip. Instead, the patients wrote long thank-you notes requiring many additional letter sized pages to be put into the card! The recurring theme of all the notes was that they all thanked God first and foremost. Even though the people of this country do not regularly attend church as we know it, they do have a deep connection with God. They and their families were all so gracious and thankful.

The really wonderful thing about these trips is that I probably would not be making these trips were it not for Sugarloaf. I know that God put me at Sugarloaf to prepare me for what I know is something I must continue doing. Going on those early trips with the other Sugarloaf members bonded me with them and with Sugarloaf's great emphasis on serving. Looking back, I can see how God kept bringing me one step closer to organizing these surgical missions. We were all thankful for the prayerful support of Sugarloaf and an unbelievably number of other individuals who knew about our trip who indicated they prayed for us as well. One former drug representative sent a picture of Jesus with the surgeons as well as wallet sized prints as well to give to the patients. Many found these pictures very comforting and they often held them in their hand the whole surgery, as most surgeries were done with spinals and they were mostly awake. This is one of the blessing of these missions; they are not about the 23 members who go, but about the other lives that are touched and get involved in ways they can, even though they cannot go themselves. This is the work of the love of Jesus in their hearts!
May God continue to bless Sugarloaf and allow us to put service in the hearts of all who go there!

Lance

Gina Lord, Nurturing God's Way
One of our own here at Sugarloaf UMC, Gina Lord, has listened to God’s call. She has been busy teaching and fundraising to provide materials, like participants manuals, for a course in Parenting to inmates in the reentry program. These inmates will be rejoining some type of family unit in the next year. The course in offered through an organization know as Family Nurturing Center of Georgia www.fncga.org. The organization have developed a course called “Nurturing God’s Way” www.nurturinggodsway.com using prayer and Scripture. If you would like to learn more or make a donation contact Gina at glord@fncga.org

One of our own here at Sugarloaf UMC, Sonny Bettis, had listened to God’s call. He has been volunteering as a member of a group who has been nick named the “Dirty Dozen” by Gwinnett Senior Services www.gwinnettseniorservices.com . This group has been involved in many projects though out Gwinnett County helping those in need. Click here to read about one of his projects. Sonny also volunteers with Gwinnett Habitat for Humanity www.habitatgwinnett.org
These are just 2 of the many organizations Sonny represents Sugarloaf UMC on a regular bases. If you would like to get involved, contact Sonny at Sonny_bettis@yahoo.com. You can help financially by making a charitable donation, The check can be made out to Friends of Gwinnett County Senior Services and mailed to PO Box 390025, Snellville, GA 30039. The 501(c)(3) non-profit organization will acknowledge any donation with a letter of contribution.

Four years ago, Vicki LaRoche knew she was being called to something larger than herself. But she could have never predicted what God had in store for her, her husband Stu and their family. Because two of her young adult children are mildly intellectually disabled (Lindsey and Tyler), the issues associated with "trying to fit in" and "having a social life" stared the family in the face constantly. It is a problem many families with special needs children struggle with.

Representing Sugarloaf, Vicki and fellow church member LaNita Redner began a once a month "night out" program for those with special needs called NIGHTLIGHTS in April, 2006. NIGHTLIGHTS provided a connection to the church and also a place to be loved and valued, not to mention a night of continuous fun. It became a wonderful setting for church volunteers to be involved with making a difference in the lives of these children, these young adults' and their families' lives.

Early in the life of NIGHTLIGHTS, Vicki and her husband were amazed at the social connectedness of the young adults attending. There were so many smiles and so much laughter! Although a bit overwhelmed at the scope of another project, they decided to do more to satisfy this social need. At this point, the divine call was stronger than ever--considering her husband Stu and son Austin were directly involved with the excitement and work of founding The Next Stop Foundation, Inc. This nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization was established in September, 2006, and a
year later, the doors were opened to 10 members. Today there are 50 members.

The Next Stop seeks to provide high functioning young adults who have special needs a place to feel like they belong. There are opportunities to socialize with one another, enjoy recreation and continue learning skills that
promote independence. Their vision is to one day be more like a community center, complete with their own building. Today, The Next Stop operates more like a club. Visit www.thenextstop.org for more details.

Currently, The Next Stop meets Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from 1:00 until 5:00 at the Suwanee Sports
Academy. Because there now is a waiting list, they hope to open on Tuesday afternoon also as soon as new volunteers are in place to support another day of program activities.

Please pray for The Next Stop as the LaRoche's seek the will of God to continue to grow and develop a program they know they have been called to provide. Although there is an abundance of work associated with such a
cause, having a life of meaning and purpose is the peace God has brought to their lives through this special call.

Marcia Essen, founder of Walking Forward Educational Ministries . This ministry represents children in Kismu, Kenya and Chinandega, Nicaragua who desire to continue their education but need financial assistance. These children have goals and aspirations which are worthy and attainable with your support. For more information, please contact Marcia Essen at walkingforwardminsitries@gmail.com. or

Click here for more information

I just got back from a mission trip to Haiti. I have gone many times and each time, it is a wonderful experience but there are always tough parts. Usually, the hardest parts for me are in the going and coming.

When I go, I get up VERY early and spend much of the day traveling to get to a place where most people would never want to go. As I wait for the plane to depart in Atlanta, I always wonder, “Why did I agree to do this?” I don't always know exactly where I might wind up, but I can be fairly sure it will not be nearly as nice as the place I am leaving. Chances are, I will be going to a place where the electricity, if it exists at all, only works occasionally. The toilets, if they exist, do not flush except with a bucket of water. Hot showers are almost non-existent. A gallon of warm water for a “bath” is a luxury. Keeping clean drinking water is vital, and a few Pepto-Bismol tablets are a key ingredient in my emergency first aid kit. “Making do” becomes an essential part of life. Yet still I go. Because how ever hard it is going to Haiti, coming home is often the hardest part.

Coming home can be a real challenge. Spending hours in airports, standing in line to get out of and into countries, customs forms, waiting for luggage . . . It's all part of the experience. I do look forward to the blessings I have at home. The warm shower. Brushing my teeth using tap water. The little handle on the back of the toilet that actually works. But somehow when I get back all those things seem a little less important. “What's for dinner?” seems a silly question after being in a country where just as often the question might be “Is there any dinner?” Thus I think it is in coming home that I struggle most.

I go to Haiti with heavy luggage packed with what we Americans call necessities and a burden in my heart to share the love of Christ. I come home with dirty clothes and a lighter load, but only because I have left a bunch of stuff behind in Haiti. Friends who have become family, smiles, laughter, once-in-a-lifetime experiences, star-lit nights and warm sunny days. All these things I leave behind, along with empty packs of hand wipes, Power Bar wrappers, dozens of empty water bottles and a big old dirty green suitcase.

I have left an old suitcase behind for years now. I leave it packed full of stuff I might need next time I go. Even now, I have a list of all its contents. In that old suitcase you will find hundreds of balloons, string, golf pencils, cards, game instructions, chair webbing, crowns, gold medals, markers, chalk, a big roll of paper, 200 3oz Dixie cups and 5 gallons of artificial snow. They are all things I might need next time.

As the plane lifts off the ground in Haiti and turns toward America's shores, I almost always pray “Lord, let me come back soon.” In the morning when I wake after a comfortable night's sleep on my big fluffy mattress, my back and body feel renewed, but my heart aches. It hurts because there is a big piece missing. A chunk of my heart is gone, left behind, stuffed in a big old dirty green suitcase sitting in a closet . . . in Haiti.