As we have entered into the Lenten season the mission team has started the Lenten Food Drive for the community served by the Henderson Settlement in Frakes, KY. This is one of two food drives the team does throughout the year. You may not realize it, but you are part of the mission team! Whether you contribute financially, contribute time to a project, stop to buy a pork burger, or perhaps most importantly pray for the team’s mission, your support for the mission team is how we are able to serve. We simply can’t thank you enough for your support.
For those not familiar with the mission team, we are a group of volunteers who strive to show Christ through two main missions: supporting the local community in which we live as well as the community served by the Henderson Settlement in Kentucky. Acts 1:8 tells us to “Go” which is why we feel it is important to serve outside of strictly our hometown.
The mission team started over ten years ago and over the history of the team, and today, 90% plus of the team members have been members of the Methodist Church in Gillespie, IL. The team has recently gone through some structural changes to make it more welcoming to individuals who may not be of the same denomination, or possibly have no affiliation with a specific denomination. On the local front, the team’s focus has been improving the access and safety of homeowners’ ability to get in and out of their homes. Typically, this is done through constructing a wheelchair ramp that is ADA compliant. We recently completed a ramp for an individual who had not been able to leave their home for more than two years due to the need for being in a wheelchair yet there was no ramp to allow them to get in or out of the home. The freedom to do something many of us may take for granted, to be able to go outside and sit under a shade tree, was something this individual couldn’t do without you supporting the mission team. We have over fifteen stories similar to this one that are made possible because of you!
The food drives serve a very specific need of the community at Henderson Settlement. Your financial support allows these families to receive a bag of flour, a bag of sugar, and a bottle of cooking oil. These three items, that we have access to within a few minutes of home, are items this community has no access to. Due to the cost and bulk of these items they aren’t available at local food pantries that serve Henderson Settlement. In fact, we have been told that without the donation of these staples that you provide, these families would go without. Can you imagine not having flour or sugar? While the mission team has gone through some changes in name, to 2:18 Missions rather than the UMC Mission Work Team, we are still the same team serving the same God and purpose. We are still rooted in faith while being open to anyone who wants to serve with us. You have supported the team and the mission for many years, and we remain extremely grateful. With your continued support we look forward to, and are excited about, continuing to serve. Our prayer is that those we serve don’t see us. The ramps we build will eventually be removed, the flour & oil we give to a family will be used, however these items are provided through the love that we have all received through our Savior. That is what we hope is seen.