2020 Mission To Onalaska TX

In April 2020 tornados dropped out of the sky on Onalaska TX and surrounding areas in Polk County, TX.  Many homes were damaged and families were left needing help to rebuild/restore their homes.  The Center of Hope in Polk County (COH), an interfaith ministry, graciously took on the responsibility of helping families needing support to repair their home.  Lakewood coordinated with COH and sent a team to assist in the repair of two homes that sustained damage.

The first home was damaged by the tornado’s high winds and a large tree which fell on a portion of the house and the front deck.  Our team repaired/replaced siding on the house and repaired the front deck.  The second home needed a little help with securing the metal roofing in the front and back.

We were blessed by our time with these two families.  We worked together, ate together, shared stories together, and prayed together.  They were very appreciative of our help and we Pray that our time there Glorified His Name!!!

Our team was graciously hosted by a member of the Onalaska UMC, this home became our ‘central command post’.  Some of our team stayed there for all of our nights away, we ate all of our evening meals there, and had all of our evening devotions there.  The lady of the house is an excellent cook and prepared dinner for us a couple of nights; she also joined us in our devotion time most every night.  It was a Blessing to be able to fellowship with this loving sister in Christ.

We thank the Center of Hope in Polk County for coordinating with the two families needing a little help and enabling us to work there.  We could not have done this without the Prayers and financial support of our Lakewood family.  And we Give Thanks To Our GOD for guiding us, giving us strength when we were weary, keeping us safe and healthy, and giving us the privilege of being a small part of what He is doing to help those in need.

GLORY TO GOD !

Click here to see pictures from this mission.

Nov 2019 Sager Brown Mission

A team from Lakewood UMC served in the UMCOR Sager Brown facility in Baldwin, LA. in early November.  Our team of 10 volunteers, plus two from Brenham First UMC, worked with other volunteers, including people from Iowa, Arkansas, and Tennessee, 80 volunteers in all. We also served with an amazing permanent staff at Sager Brown, and three long-term volunteers.

During the week, we worked on health kits, verifying the materials donated from other churches and adding toothpaste. We repacked everything, boxed it, and put onto pallets.  We completed 8,064 health kits! The pallets are shrink-wrapped and ready to ship to places in need. We took back to LUMC some “rejects” of soap, towels, toothbrushes, and other items for use in our LUMC local ministries. What is shipped from Sager Brown is very specific, but everything is put to good use. Two ladies on our team sewed school bags in the sewing room. Outdoors, we repainted the curbs and lines in the parking at the depot, and fertilized the winter community garden. We also built a mop rack for drying mops.

Off-campus, we visited, cleaned, and played Bingo at St. Jules Senior Citizen apartments, toured Chez Hope, sorted clothes at Matthew 25, and played games with clients at Center of Hope. A volunteer construction crew built and repaired steps and a ramp.

Our team worked together, worshipped together, prayed together, and played together (toured the governor’s mansion, Oaklawn Manor, and visited the Chitimacha Museum of the local tribe). Our week was truly one of service and joy.  We thank our Lakewood family for enabling us to participate in this mission, and our God who called and watched over us.

To see pictures from this mission, click here.

2019 Kenya Mission

A Lakewood team returned to Kenya and all were BLESSED by this life changing experience.  The team spent a week in Maua Kenya supporting the Maua Methodist Hospital (MMH). At MMH we helped with various needed projects (extending security wall around perimeter of campus, help with a backlog in Records Dept., distributed our donations to the appropriate departments, etc.).  Also at MMH we supported their Community Outreach programs by 1) financing and helping with construction of an Aids Orphan Home, 2) financing and helping with a Remote Clinic where our team and MMH nurses went to a rural village and put on clinic and provided ‘deworming’ pills to the local primary school, and 3) visited 3 rural schools for vulnerable and orphaned children that were established by MMH where we donated needed school supplies and writing paper.  Upon leaving MMH we traveled to western Kenya and visited the Velosia Kingdom Builders Center (VKBC) orphanage established by a Methodist Church in Houston.  At VKBC we 1) played & sang & danced with the children living there, 2) the children walked us to a local church for worship on Sunday morning, 3) conducted a short VBS for approximately 140 local children, and 4) helped with various projects around the compound.  On our last night at VKBC we handed out gifts to the children and all participated in Holy Communion led by the Lakewood pastor on our team.

We were BLESSED in so many ways by this mission.  So many Kenyans graciously welcomed us and took care of us.  We loved the Kenyan Worship services we attended.  We met people in Kenya that struggle each day to care and provide for their families; their Faith carries them through their challenges with JOY.  The fellowship within our team was also special as we worked, played, prayed, shared, and cried together.  There were several team participants that had not been on this mission before and if you would like to read a short personal reflection from two of these 1st time team members, click here.

We thank our families for supporting us in many ways in this mission.  We thank our Lakewood family for prayers and financial support.  We give THANKS to Our God for calling us all to be His servants and watching over us.

Click here to see pictures & videos from this mission.

BWANA YESU ASIFIWE !   PRAISE THE LORD JESUS !

2019 Florida Mission

A team of 7 from Lakewood went to Florida to support the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church with their Florida Restores Program which is helping families restore their homes that were damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Michael.

We were graciously offered housing by the Wesley United Methodist Church in Marco Island, Florida.  Wesley UMC welcomed us with open arms in every way.  We so enjoyed our fellowship with many of the loving sisters and brothers at Wesley, they were all a great BLESSING to us.

Our team worked on 3 homes that were in Copeland and Naples Florida.  We worked on Ms. Pam’s house first where we painted her family room, fixed a few holes in the floor, installed subflooring to ready a room for final laminate flooring, and installed some sheetrock on the ceiling.  We spent 2 ½ days with Ms. Pam and besides working together we shared stories, prayed, hugged, laughed, and cried together.  After leaving Ms. Pam’s house, we went to a nearby house owned by Robin and Scott and covered it with new tarping to stop leaks from this damaged roof.  Lastly we installed new tarping on Stanley’s house in Naples.  We enjoyed our time with all the home owners, praying for each as we departed.

Our team used the kitchen at Wesley UMC where we ate breakfast there as well as fixed a ‘brown bag’ lunch each day.  We had to opportunity to see Marco Island in the evening as we dined at local restaurants for most dinner meals.  We were able to see some of the beautiful sunsets and other sites in Marco Island.  On our last day making our way back to Fort Myers to catch our flight back to Houston, we were able to spend some time on the beautiful beaches in the area.

The team was BLESSED greatly by our mission.  We thank the Florida Conference personnel for so graciously planning our time in Florida and providing a representative to be with us each day, our families for supporting us to go on this mission, our Lakewood UMC family for their prayers and support, and our GOD who called our name and watched over us for the whole week.

Click here to see pictures from this mission.

GLORY TO GOD!

2018 Mexico Mission

2018 Mexico Mission

A team from Lakewood joined with a team from Windsor Village UMC to go to Rio Bravo Mexico to support the ministry of Manos Juntas of the Methodist Church of Mexico. The teams were blessed by their time in Mexico.

The team helped install a sheetrock ceiling and plaster/stucco walls in a small church that Manos Juntas is finishing. Also several of the team spent a portion of a day at the local Hospital handing out Bibles and praying with the people coming for medical care. Additionally the team sponsored a hot dog ‘fiesta’ for local children at a nearby community park. Lastly the team had spirited devotion time each evening.

As always we know it was Him, our maker, that called us and watched over us, and we give Him Thanks and all the Glory!!

GLORIA a DIOS!!

Click here to see pictures from this mission.

Nov 2018 Sager Brown Mission

During the week of November 4-9, 2018, a team from Lakewood UMC served in the UMCOR Sager Brown facility in Baldwin, LA. Our team of 14 volunteers worked with other volunteers, including people from Iowa, Arkansas, Tennessee and Georgia. We also served with an amazing permanent staff at Sager Brown, and two long-term volunteers.

During the week, we worked on cleaning buckets, verifying the buckets donated from other churches. We opened all the donated cleaning buckets, removed items not on the approved list, rejected buckets with moldy contents, repacked everything, and put onto pallets. We also packed and verified school kits. We completed 936 cleaning buckets, and 4,032 school kits. The pallets are shrink-wrapped and ready to ship to places in need. We took back to LUMC some “rejects” of soap, towels, sponges, school supplies, and other items for use in our LUMC local ministries. What is shipped from Sager Brown is very specific, but everything is put to good use.

We also unloaded a big semi truck full of boxes of donations collected in Iowa.

On campus, we weeded the gardens, and planted winter vegetables in the new community garden.

Off-campus, we visited, cleaned, and played Bingo at St. Jules Senior Citizen apartments, toured Chez Hope, sorted clothes at Matthew 25, and peeled pecans at Center of Hope. A volunteer construction crew repaired an apartment at Chez Hope, and built a donation box.

Our team worked together, worshipped together, prayed together, and played together (Tabasco factory tour). Our week was truly one of service and joy.  We thank our Lakewood family for enabling us to participate in this mission, and our God who called and watched over us.

To see pictures from this mission, click here.

2018 Puerto Rico Disaster Recovery Mission

A team of nine from Lakewood went to Puerto Rico to support the ReHace Program of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico (MCPR). This program is intended to help families and churches rebuild after the significant damage caused all across Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Our team stayed in a ‘camp’ of the MCPR in Patillas (located on the southeast side of the island) and worked on a house in Mauanabo, which was about a 10 minute drive from our camp.

The house that we worked on is owned by Sara. Much of her house was in need of new roof as there were many leaks every time it rained. Over the course of the week the team removed the old metal roofing and substructure and installed new rafters, purlins, and metal roofing. We were also able to do a few other things to the house including painting the exterior, adding new siding on outside and inside where needed, install two new ceiling fans, etc. At the end of the week Sara was so happy and appreciative of the help from MCPR and our team. It was a blessing for all the team to get to know Sara that week, to meet some of her family, and share a few hugs each day. There were few dry eyes on that last day when we left her house.

The MCPR camp in Patillas was only 50 yards from the beach and was a beautiful site. Three Methodist ladies from the local area prepared 3 meals a day for us; they were so sweet and hospitable. MCPR also provided a ‘host’ in Patillas and an interpreter that was with the team every day to help us with whatever we needed. These two ladies also became very special to our team.

We were in Patillas on a Sunday and Worshipped at the local church and then explored a bit of the south side of Puerto Rico. We also joined the local church for Worship on Tuesday night and we were invited to sing in Spanish for the congregation, it was great!

We were also joined by Ted from UMCOR for the week. We cannot thank Ted enough for all his help. Ted arrived in Puerto Rico before us and made sure that we had all the materials needed to work on Sara’s house, and also he had the knowledge and experience needed to lead us through the work all week.

This mission was a Blessing for all our team. As always we thank our families and Lakewood for making this possible for us to participate. We thank the MCPR for hosting us. Most of all we thank Him who called us, enabled us, and watched over us all week.

Gloria a Dios!!!

To see pictures of our mission click here.

Sager Brown Feb. 2018

Another team from Lakewood went to UMCOR’s Sager Brown facility in Baldwin La.  The whole team was greatly blessed by our time there.  We worked in the Depot, helped with facility maintenance, and participated in local outreach that was organized by Sager Brown staff.

This was the first Sager Brown experience for one team member and their thoughts on the week are shown below.

I signed up to serve, to represent my faith and Lakewood, and to get to know people from our church.  I planned to work in the community, and I did, volunteering at a domestic violence shelter in Franklin and a thrift store which is part of the International Mathew 25 organization.  I also worked in The Depot at Sager-Brown ensuring birthing kits that would go where needed were accurate and ready to ship.

My experiences exceeded my expectations.  I not only got to know some of my church family on a deeper level, I met many people, from many churches, they all had a story, and they all had faith that could bring me to tears.  I met people in the local communities that served those in need, every single day of their lives.  Good people, brave people, people of faith. 

Would I go again? In a hot minute, sign me up.  Should you go?  Only if you want to experience the depth of grace we receive from serving with and forming relationships, not only with people we’ll see again, but people we’ll never see again.  Thanks to Scott and the other members of our team; their friendship, openness and living service was amazing, and our evening devotionals were a true blessing.

We give thanks to our families and Lakewood that enabled us to make this mission.  We give thanks to Him who called us and kept us safe.  Glory to God!

Click here to see pictures from this mission.

Nov. 2017 Sager Brown

During the week of November 5-10, 2017, a team from Lakewood UMC served in the Sager Brown facility in Baldwin, LA. Our team of 19 volunteers worked with other volunteers, including people from Iowa, Arkansas, Washington state and Texas. We also served with an amazing permanent staff at Sager Brown, and three long-term volunteers.

At Sager Brown we worked on cleaning buckets, verifying the buckets donated from other churches. We opened all the donated cleaning buckets, removed items not on the approved list, rejected buckets with moldy contents, repacked everything, and put onto pallets. We also packed and verified hygiene kits. The pallets are shrink-wrapped and ready to ship to places in need. We took back to LUMC some “rejects” of soap, towels, sponges, and other items for use in our LUMC local ministries. What is shipped overseas is very specific, but everything is put to good use. In the sewing room, we made a skirt for the stage in the gym, and sewed and repaired school bags. Also we delivered a donation of heavy fabric from our Prayers and Squares ministry for sewing into school bags by other teams in the future. We unloaded two big semi-trucks full of boxes of donations collected in Iowa, and loaded a trailer with 19,488 birthing kits and 12,096 sewing kits headed out for Angola.

Off-campus, we visited, cleaned, and played Bingo at St. Jules apartments, toured The Bridge Teen Challenge, and peeled pecans at the Center of Hope. A volunteer construction crew built a ramp at a house. Our team worked together, worshipped together, prayed together, and played together (a swamp boat tour). Our week was truly one of service and joy.

Click here to see pictures from this mission.

2017 Mexico Mission

A small team from Lakewood UMC and Windsor Village UMC spent a week supporting the Manos Juntas Ministry (MJM) of the Methodist Church of Mexico. We were in Rio Bravo working on a local church finishing up a few rooms to be used as a parsonage and also a dormitory facility which will be used to help families who have loved ones in local hospital and need a place to stay. MJM personnel were wonderful at taking care of us and working with us all week. Working with the ‘maestros’ each day was a joy. We also met a GBGM Missionary Volunteer from Tennessee that is assigned to MJM for 6 months. She is an amazing lady and was a joy to be with every day. She worked at a MJM school teaching English half the day and worked with us half the day.

Again our small team felt greatly blessed by our week at MJM. We thank all the MJM personnel that took care of us all week, thank our families and Lakewood for making this possible, and our God who called us and watched over us.

Gloria a Dios!

Click here to see pictures from our mission