Appalachian Service Project (ASP)
VIM in El Salvador
Habitat for Humanity
Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN)
Reaching Out In the Community
At Berwyn UMC
Seasonal Projects
Missions: A place for everyone..... we are in missions all the time.
We are excited about missions at Berwyn Methodist Church! An overview is presented below, and more specific programs are located to the right. There are many levels on which you can be involved, from planning a trip to an area in need, participating in any of the missions and outreach at BUMC, or lending a hand around the community. There are also other active seasonal mission projects that you can be a part of.
Specific Mission Opportunities
"In this way, each of us is a blessing to the other" ~ Romans 1:12.
In January the Administrative Board voted to establish Iglesia Evangelica
Metodista Roca Eterna (Eternal Rock Evangelical Methodist Church) in Ahuachapan,
El Salvador as our sister church in a formal
covenant
relationship.
The relationship began when we dispatched a
construction and medical team to Ahuachapan
to El Salvador as Volunteers In Mission. We support it with gifts,
both financial and spiritual. We are supporting each other by prayers, letters,
photos of events, and regular Email communication.
The mission team that went to El Salvador learned that many of the young people
did not attend school because their families could not afford the fees. Many of
the congregation have decided to personally support a student in El Salvador by
providing the money for tuition, uniforms and other fees necessary to go to school
in El Salvador.
Reaching Out To Others
We continue to support the work of
Interfaith Hospitality Network. The Network provides housing and meals
in local churches for the homeless families while the adults learn new job skills.
While we do not provide housing, we do provide meals and hosts for those meals, and
we contribute to the organization to help with expenses.
We support the Chumpitaz family in Peru . Many years ago they provided housing
for one of our members working in mission there. In return we have provided help for
their medical expenses, living costs and a trip to visit their daughter, Eliza,
and her son Freddy, who now live in Berwyn and are a members of our
community and the church family.
During Lent our church "Feeds the Four Thousand." We collect
bags of groceries that contain specified items designed to feed a family of four
for three days. The bags of food are delivered to the United Methodist Neighborhood
Services on North Broad Street . The Berwyn United Methodist Church Nursery School
joins us in this effort. We generally deliver over 90 bags each year.
Youth and Children
The youth and children of our church are involved with missions. The children help
collect pennies for the mission penny jar
on Sunday mornings. These pennies have raised money to help:
- Eunice Chola, a young girl in Lusaka, Zambia through Children International
- The Methodist church's Hope for the Children Fund which aided children in Africa and the United States
- The Chester County Bridge of Hope (a woman and child shelter in West Chester and Lancaster County)
- Other projects which have an emphasis on children.
Operation Christmas Child;
Easter baskets are prepared for our shut-ins; and money is raised for the
Heifer Project which provides animals to farm families in the third world.
The children also make paper airplanes and fly them to raise money for Dr. Zimmerman
in a project called "Wings for Dr. Zimmerman."
The older youth raise money to support the Appalachian Service Project. On this mission trip they help rebuild homes for people who would not be able to afford the repairs.
Other Projects Supported by BUMC
- Funds for Sue Buriss and Travis Rimert on their mission trips
- Babyfold at Old Mutare Hospital in Zimbabwe
- Cookson Hills Mission : A cherokee reservation in Oklahoma . We have provided monetary support over the years, as well as now collecting Campbells Soup Lables for them.
- Funds sent to a Homeless shelter for teens in Nicaragua and The Frankfort Ministries and UMCOR disaster Fund.
- Flood Buckets for UMCOR
- A mission trip to Guatemala
- Guardian Angels, an ongoing project to keep connected to our College Students.
- Homemade Christmas cookies to support the Chumpitaz family in Peru
- The Christmas Tree, loaded with gifts for the Methodist Childrens Home
- Easter Baskets for the Retirement Communities and our shut ins.
- Fair Trade Coffee
