Church of the Saviour - Community

Global Missions

Missionaries

Church of the Saviour currently supports the following United Methodist missionaries:

Thomas & Christine Denman in Kentucky
Esther Gitobu in Cambodia
David & Lorene Persons in Democratic Republic of the Congo

New Orleans

On July 12, the third work team sent by Church of the Saviour left for New Orleans to help address the many construction issues facing the residents. Ray Holt and Jim Johnston, from previous teams, were joined by La Valle Dorsey and Steven Billington. La Valle, a retired fire chief, had some interesting tools which firemen use when they enter a burning building and which speeded the demolition process. La Valle also volunteered his van and provided a lot of leadership. Steven, who is a graduate student, did a lot of the heavy lifting and had some new experiences to apply to his Urban Studies program.

Our days were spent across the river stripping out a 1960's house which was not flooded but had some hurricane damage, so all the plasterboard from the walls and ceilings had to be removed. In front of every other house in this neighborhood stood a FEMA trailer. (You can see how slowly things are coming along when you realize the storm hit 11 months ago.) It was 95 degrees and 90 percent humidity outside.

Carrollton UMC was a beehive of activity. The first thing we did was inspect the shower room we started building last December. It was very exciting. This week there were some 70 students and adults sleeping in the large room (now divided in half for sleeping) where we had camped out, and the shower room had a sign directing the girls to the left and the boys to the right. There are only seven showers, but without them, housing large groups of volunteer workers would be impossible. They also had a new commercial washer and dryer, a new large refrigerator and freezer, and they hired lots of kitchen help (which adds to the local economy) for the larger groups. They have also converted a storage room into a tool room with buckets of hammers, etc., and other specialized tools.

On Sunday, we attended services at Williams Church, a small, African-American congregation near Carrollton. We bunked in the Williams Church that night, some in the sanctuary and some in the parsonage.

Further work trips to New Orleans are being planned. Please contact the Global Missions Council to donate your time or money to support this project.

Jim Johnston

Africa trips

United Methodist Volunteers In Mission (UMVIM) invites Church of the Saviour members and friends to consider a mission trip to Mutare, Zimbabwe in July 2007. The group would leave on July 3 or 4 and return on July 19. Their primary focus will be to build a school for adult learning opportunities. The team could also use at least one volunteer to teach basic automobile mechanic skills.

North Coast District Haiti Mission

A mission of the North Coast District, East Ohio Conference, United Methodist Church, this project seeks to improve the lives of the people of Dondon, Haiti through active application of the Gospel message and coordinated investment in development of Dondon’s collective human capital. Every child who first attends the Methodist School at Dondon will have the opportunity to know Jesus Christ, successfully complete high school, achieve literacy in English, and gain entrance to a Haitian university. The NCD Haiti Mission is led by a volunteer team of committed people from member UMC congregations located in the North Coast District of the East Ohio Conference, United Methodist Church. Learn more about our local church working to improve the lives of people in Dondon, Haiti. Visit http://www.gbgm-umc.org/ncdhaiti/index.htm

Bill Benish

Kairos Ministry

Kairos is a ministry seeking to make disciples inside of prisons. It is an act of love on the part of the volunteers who go inside the prison walls to witness to the Lord. One aspect of this love is giving home-baked cookies to the inmates and correctional officers.