Welcome to Lakewood UMC Missions

We hope that this site will give you a better understanding of LUMC’s missions program.  Here you can read short reports and see pictures from recent missions (below), learn about missionaries and mission projects that Lakewood supports (see adjacent page above) , as well as leave your comments for others to share.  Please take a few minutes to look around.  Anyone is welcome to participate in our program by going on missions, providing financial support, prayer for missionaries and teams, and more.

The 2012 planned missions are shown below.  Many are well underway as far as planning.

• Disaster Recovery – One day and/or whole week missions to areas in need in the spring and fall.  Dates are not set as of yet and will be posted in weekly bulletins when determined.
• Kenya – Mission team will go to Maua Methodist Hospital and Kawangware UMC to work on various projects and conduct VBS.  Dates for mission are July 12 – 28.  For more information contact Rick Hughes (hughes2328@sbcglobal.net) or Jim Robertson (JHRRobertson@aol.com).
• Storm Mountain – A team will spend a week at the Methodist camp located in South Dakota in the summer.  Dates for 2012 have not been set.  This is a great family mission opportunity. 
• Costa Rica – A team will again go the Puntarenas area and work on a small church, conduct VBS, fellowship and worship with the local congregation, and take a couple of days for R&R.  Mission dates for 2012 are June 9-17. 
• Bolivia – Mission team will go to work on a church in the Cochabomba or Cotani area.  Dates for 2012 are not set, but it is expected to occur in July.  Contact John Mann (john.mann62@yahoo.com) for more information.
• Haiti – Mission team will go to Haiti March 1-9 to support the Haiti Response Plan managed by the Methodist Church of Haiti.  The team will do some construction work, conduct VBS for local children, and fellowship and worship at local church.
• UMCOR Sager Brown – Mission team will travel to Baldwin La. to spend a week at this UMCOR Depot.  The team will assemble various kits, work in the sewing room, and can also do home repair in the local community.  This is a great opportunity for people to go on a mission that have not tried one before, or that do not want to do heavy construction work.  Lakewood is on a ‘waiting list’ for dates in the fall of 2012.  We have secured 2 weeks for teams in 2013, Feb 24 – Mar 1, 2013 and Nov 3 – 8, 2013.
• Ukraine – A small team will join with other Houston churches and travel to L’viv to work with the GBGM missionaries of Shannon and David Goran.  The team will help with construction and fellowship with local congregation.  Dates not set, likely be in July.
• Border Area – Team will travel to the border area of Texas and help the GBGM missionary of Willie Berman with his ministries.  Activities will include construction, VBS, and more.  Dates are not set, but will likely be in the fall. 

Thank you for your interest in Lakewood’s missions program.   If you have questions or would like more information please leave a reply on this blog and I will contact you.

Jack Aulick - Missions Committee Chair

Team Helps in Recovery From Bastrop Wildfires

A small team from Lakewood went to help in the Emergency Response efforts coordinated by the Methodist Churches in the area of the Bastrop Wildfires that occurred in September 2011.  The local Conference is leading the response effort along with a number of local churches.  Our team joined up with volunteers from local churches from Bastrop and Austin, and also teams from a church in Boerne and Memorial Drive UMC in Houston.

The sights in the area after these devastating fires were very sad.  Many people have lost homes or other personal property and the destruction to the local forestation is great.  We worked on two houses helping the home owners clean away the ash and debris that was left after their homes were destroyed.  The fires consumed or melted most everything in these houses with the exception of a few ’carcases’ of metal appliances and cars.

The Methodist Church, through UMCOR and the local congregations and mission teams, are reaching out in every way they can to help families recover from this calamity.  It is heartwarming to see all the churches, local businesses,  and other NGO’s helping those in need.

Our thanks goes out to the local churches who provided us a place to stay and lunch every day, and Him who sent us and kept us safe.

Click link below for slideshow: https://picasaweb.google.com/114384879384022556115/BastropWildfireRecovery#

2011 Kenya Mission

A Lakewood team of ten had an amazing mission to Kenya in July of 2011.  Eight of us had been to Kenya before and two got to experience the beautiful people of Kenya for the first time.  The mission took the team to Nairobi, Maua and surrounding villages, and the Masai Mara.   

In Maua we worked with the Maua Methodist Hospital (MMH) and the GBGM missionaries of Jerri and Bill Savuto.  The MMH is an amazing place considering all the physical and spiritual care they provide to the local people and communities.  The staff are professional medical personnel that have expertise in many fields and a faith that they rely on and share daily.  Simply being in their presence, hearing of their work, and watching them in action is a wonderful experience.  While in Maua the team built one home for an Aids Orphan as a part of the Community Outreach Program of MMH.  The orphan that received this home was a young man named Josaphat.  It was a joy to contribute to the building of this new home for Josaphat and his grandmother.  Also, we worked on plastering walls in the staff flats that are being built, as well as helped in needed painting around the hospital complex.  One day we were able to go with a group of staff members to visit the MMH sponsored Early Childhood Development program (ECD) and help in conducting a ‘bush clinic’.  We were all blessed to be able to participate in these outreach programs of the hospital.  The ECD is a program for orphaned children that is sponsored by the MMH.  This program enables the children to attend school, and also helps in providing food and shelter.  The bush clinic is an outreach program that brings free medicines/vitamins and free medical counseling and diagnosis to villages around Maua.  Lastly, some of the team was able to go visit local people that are participating in the Hope Companions Program that is a part of a ZOE Ministry that is based there in MMH.  This program provides young people (most are orphaned) in the community both training and a small grant to set up a business from which they support themselves and usually other family members.  This program is 75% successful in helping locals start and sustain a small business and support themselves.   

We also spent time at the Kawangware UMC (KUMC) and school which is located in one of the slums of Nairobi.  This too is an amazing place that is helping the people in this community in many ways.  We attended church on a Sunday morning and wow do they worship with a great deal of energy and vitality, it was wonderful!  We also helped out with some painting that they needed done and conducted a short VBS for two groups of children at the school.  Rev. John of KUMC is a charismatic man and he, and the entire congregation, made us feel very welcome and loved.  Our time there was very special and we expect that some of us will again visit this church in the future.   

Our last couple of days were spent in the Masai Mara located in southwest Kenya, which is the home of many wild animals.  Seeing the beauty of this place and the animals that live there is a great reminder of that this is all His creation.   

The team was blessed by this experience and expresses our thanks to those who were are prayer partners, all of LUMC for your support, and to Him who called us. 

2011 Sager Brown Mission

A team of 10 from Lakewood spent a week in Baldwin LA volunteering at the UMCOR Sager Brown facility.  The Lakewood team was one of four teams on the Sager Brown campus that week, there were also teams from Jasper TX, Tennessee, and Virginia.  By the end of the week, after eating most every meal together and working side by side every day, all 40 of the volunteers were getting to know each other very well.

During the week the team helped assemble and pack UMCOR Health Kits and School Kits, worked in the Sewing Room making cloth bags that are used in School Kits, and helped in local Community outreach doing home repair.

The kit assembly and the sewing work was done in The Depot, which is a very large warehouse.  The sewing is done in a separate room off of The Depot and the kit assembly and packing is done at tables setup inside.  It is estimated that the 4 teams combined assembled and packed some 4100 Health Kits and 3700 School Kits during the week.

The team also did a little sight-seeing in the area one afternoon, and some visited a local shelter for women and children called Chez Hope.

All the team had a wonderful week at Sager Brown.  The kits will one day go out and help others in need somewhere in the world, we all are humbled at this thought.  It was a joy to be a part of the marvelous ministry that is ongoing at Sager Brown.

All the team is very grateful for this amazing opportunity and experience.  It is a blessing to be able to contribute to this ministry, and we all want to go back again next year!

Thanks to Lakewood, Sager Brown, and our Lord God.

Click on link below for slideshow:

https://picasaweb.google.com/114384879384022556115/SlideAlbumSagerBrown2011#slideshow/5663464676427719010

2011 Haiti Mission

A team of 8 from Lakewood had the amazing opportunity to go on mission to Haiti and participate in the Haiti Response Plan, which is organized effort of the Methodist Church of Haiti and UMVIM to help the people and communities of Haiti recover from the devastating earthquake of January 2010.  Our team’s assigned work location was the Methodist Guest House (MGH) in Petionville, which is near Port-au-Prince.

We were assigned work projects at the MGH, such as helping with construction of a road on the campus, doing a little painting, and some building repairs.  As every team that arrives or departs Haiti goes through the MGH, we were able to meet many volunteers from other Methodist Churches from around the U.S.  It was great to see how many volunteers were in and out of Haiti, the overall response of the Methodist Church is incredible.

We were asked to go with a mission team from Montana to help tear down the Latremblay Methodist Church that was severely damaged in the earthquake.  Here at home, if we were to tear down a building like this, we would order out perhaps a couple of front-end loaders and maybe a wreaking ball.  Well, as you can guess, that is not how it is done in Haiti.  Sledge hammers, wheelbarrows, and shovels are the tools that are available, and they work just fine.  The teams, along with several Haitian men, were able to take down all the walls and haul off much of the debris in one day.  Also we met children and families in this community and they were very loving and appreciative.

Also we were blessed to spend two mornings at a local Children’s Home that is supported by the Methodist Church of Haiti.  The children we met ranged in age from 1-2 years up to maybe 12-13 years.  We did crafts, played games, sang songs, and more.  We all had an amazing experience with these children, and we are sure that they too enjoyed our time together.  The children were great, and if you gave them a chance, they would want to just touch you or hang on you, sing/dance for you, or show you how they can shoot a basketball or kick a soccer ball.  We were all very blessed by this experience.

The mission was a wonderful experience in so many ways.  We all want to go back again next year for another mission.  We want to thank all the many people of UMVIM that helped us by providing transportation, planning for and arranging our work assignments, and looking out for the safety of us and all the mission teams.  We also give thanks to Lakewood for their prayers and support.  And, we thank our God for His endless blessings.

Click link below for slideshow:

https://picasaweb.google.com/114384879384022556115/SlideAlbumHaitiFebruary2011#slideshow/5663457599798634034

Lakewood Team Goes Back to San Leon to Help in Ike Recovery Program

A team of 9 went back to San Leon TX on December 6, 2010 to support the ongoing Ike Recovery Program that has been in place since Hurricane Ike came ashore in September 2008.  This team was assigned to work on the trailer home of Ms. Rosa and her family.  Ms. Rosa’s trailer home had been worked on by 3-4 teams in advance of our arrival, so we were asked to finished up a few things during our work week.  The team was very busy all week working on putting down new floor tiles in a walkway area by the dining area, putting a piece of new sheetrock in the kitchen ceiling and floating it in, putting new trim around the dining area, finishing the installation of tub/vanity/toilet/flooring/doors in one bathroom, running new plumbing under the whole house and insulating same, repairing holes and ‘soft spots’ in the floor, and more.  Ms. Rosa is very happy to now have hot water all through her house, as well as the new flooring, etc.  She was so very appreciative of the help.  Ms. Rosa has two young sons that we so enjoyed during our time there.  The team was awesome and willing to take on any task that came their way and had great fellowship and fun in the process.

We would like to thank the Ike Recovery personnel for helping us all week, and also La Marque First United Methodist Church for letting stay in their church.  Also, we thank Lakewood UMC for making this mission possible.

Click on link below to see pictures from our week:

https://picasaweb.google.com/114384879384022556115/SlideAlbumSanLeonDec2010#slideshow/5663458174936255138

Conference Team Goes to Haiti – June 2010

A team of 10 from various churches in the Texas Annual Conference went on a 9-day Mission to Haiti in late June.  The team was led by Gil Hanke who had been to Haiti some 20 times on various Missions since 1988.  Each member of this team will take another Mission team to Haiti in the next 6-9 months. 

UMCOR has partnered with the Methodist Church of Haiti and developed the United Methodist Volunteers In Mission Response plan.  Volunteer mission teams from many parts of the world are being scheduled to come to Haiti and help in the recovery efforts.  While our team was in Haiti we meet a medical team from Ohio and a team of teachers from Canada. 

Our team was assigned to the small village/community of Mellier, which is about 20 miles west of Port-au-Prince.  Mellier had a Methodist Church and adjacent school that was severely damaged in the earthquake back in January.  Prior to our arrival the main church building had been taken down to the slab and a temporary wooden structure was built in its place.  Other buildings associated with the school had also been taken down before we arrived.  There was a building with 4 rooms that was still standing, but it was easy to see the walls were very damaged by the earthquake.  This building is being used only for storage now as it is not safe to hold classes in or for teams to sleep in.  School was in session while we were there with two classes meeting in a large tent, and two classes meeting outside under tarps hanging from a tree. 

We lived on the grounds of the Mellier Church and school for the week.  We slept on cots in tents, and ate meals on site that were prepared by 3 wonderful Haitian ladies.  During our week in Mellier, we worked on taking down two damaged security walls in the front of the church, building temporary walls in the church, and adding a small room to the back of the church.We interacted with many local people who lived in the area, children from the school, people of the Church, and had a number of local men working with us each day.    It was a wonderful experience to meet so many people there in Mellier. 

All of the team was ‘changed’ by this experience in some way.  The faces of many of the people we met will be in our “mind’s eye” for a long time.  We are looking forward to returning to Haiti to be ‘His hands and feet’ in the ongoing recovery efforts.  Our sincere thanks goes out to Him who called us, our home churches, and the people of UMCOR and the Methodist Church of Haiti that made this possible. 

May 2010 Costa Rica Mission

A team of 10 traveled to the beautiful country of Costa Rica in May.  There were 6 on the team that had not ever been there, and 4 had been there before on missions or business.  This year we worked on a different project than the previous two years, we were in the Puntarenas area of Costa Rica right on the Pacific coast.  The church we worked on, Nueva Canaan, is about 20 years old and needs to expand a few of their facilities as the congregation is growing.  The people of Nueva Canaan are wonderful; they made us all feel right at home and loved.  We worked, we played, we worshiped, and we ate with our new brothers and sisters in Christ.  Wow, it was awesome.  It was interesting that all of our team got tired, sore, etc. but the people of Nueva Canaan didn’t miss a beat all week that we could see.  All the team especially loved the children of this congregation.  There were several children around the church all week that we saw most every day, and it was hard to say goodbye at the end of week.  The people who we met are very special to all of us now, and we all hope to see them again in the future.  After our week of work, we took 2 days of R&R to see some of the unique and beautiful sights of Costa Rica.  We went to the town of La Fortuna which is by the Arenal Volcano.  We took in all the gorgeous views of the volcano, went on a ATV tour in the beautiful surrounding country, and did a little shopping.

All ten on the team had a wonderful experience, and are very grateful for the opportunity.  We want to thank our families for supporting us as we went on this mission, the many that were praying for us while we were away, and of course Lakewood UMC.