Tuesday, December 23, 2008

2008 Appalachian Christmas Project

Our 4th Annual Appalachian Christmas Project (December 12-14) was a great success.
We had a great response this year. It’s hard to believe how much this project has grown. This year, it involved nearly 80 volunteers from 7 different churches. Those churches were: Antioch Chr Ch (Willisburg, KY), Nelson Chr Ch (Bardstown, KY), Mt Olivet Chr Ch (Williamstown, KY), Big Hill Avenue Chr Ch (Richmond, KY), El Bethel Chr Ch (Owenton, KY), Gardenside Chr Ch (Lexington, KY) and Ruckerville Ch of Chr (Winchester, KY).

Our focus was on the eastern Kentucky communities of Lee County (Beattyville, KY) and Owsley County (Booneville, KY). Volunteers helped with work projects at a local mission in Beattyville (Cumberland Mountain Outreach) as well as helping make some minor repairs for area homes. In addition, we gave nearly 400 presents to area children and food baskets to several families in need.

Christmas parties were held at two different Lee County locations on Saturday, December 13th. One took place in the mountain community of Spencer Ridge and the other in town at Beattyville Christian Church.
In addition to doing a VBS there this summer, this was our second year in a row for doing a party at Spencer Ridge. We meet in a vacant Church of Christ on the top of a mountain.
One of the ladies in the community wrote a card to the team that read: "Our little church is almost a forgotten place. But Thanks to you all it has life two times a year. From all the children let me say thank you."
This is was our first time for doing a party at Beattyville Christian Church, but things went very well. Our team was able to tell Bible stories, play games, do crafts and give presents to several area children. We say THANKS to Jeff Porter (minister) and the folks at Beattyville Christian for allowing us to us the church building for the party.

Several inches of ice and snow caused us to delay the Owsley County portion of the ACP until Thursday, December 18th. On that day, a group delivered Christmas presents to over 75 boys and girls at the Owsley County Elementary School in Booneville, KY.

We hope and pray we made this year’s Christmas a little merrier for many people in Lee and Owsley County.
I say THANKS once again to the many people who gave of their time during a very busy Christmas season to be a blessing to others.
May God bless and have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

In Him,
Greg Herriford (Teen Mission, USA)

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Teen Mission Notes (November, 2008)

I hope and pray you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and things are going well for you as we head toward Christmas.

November was a good month for Teen Mission, USA. Here's some noteworthy items:

Regional Banquets
We held two more banquets during the month. As you may know, the fall is a time where we focus a little more on fundraising and development as money is in short supply at TM every fall.
Banquets were held at the Gateway Church of Christ (St Albans, WV) on November 1st and at the New Life Church of Christ (Flemingsburg, KY) on November 6th.
At the Flemingsburg banquet, we honored Bill, Pam and Joshua Teegarden with the Mission Journey “Distinguished Servant” award for their service to Teen Mission, USA, & Mission Journeys since 1990.
During that time, the entire Teegarden family has been involved with many short-term mission teams all around the world.
On July 27, 2004, Bill and Pam’s only son, Joshua, was killed on a Mission Journey in Mt Vernon, KY. Joshua was to graduate from Johnson Bible College in 2005 with a degree in missions and ministry.
Nearly 80 people were in attendance to honor this special family for their faithful service.
In fact, we've had record attendances at all the banquets. They have been a wonderful time of celebration, food and fellowship. THANKS again to all those who have helped make them a big success.

National Missionary Convention
TM, USA, had a booth and was represented at the 2008 National Mission Convention held November 20-23 in Tulsa, OK.
The NMC is always a great way to meet people and reunite with folks who we've worked with over the years.
It was especially encouraging to hear from missionaries we're working with in several countries and hear how our teams are making a big difference in the lives of many people around the globe.

Appalachian Christmas Project
Our 4th Annual Appalachian Christmas Project is coming in less than two weeks (December 12-14, 2008). We've had a great response this year. It’s hard to believe how much this project has grown. This year, it will involve nearly 75 volunteers from 7 different churches. We'll be giving presents to nearly 300 children and food baskets to several families in need.

2009 Mission Journeys
We're starting to hear back from several people interested in taking part in the 2009 Mission Journeys. We have trips planned for 2009 that may be of interest to you and there's still room for you on several of them.
Let us know what kind of location you had in mind and we can work with your dates, matching you up with one of our partner communities. Visit the Mission Journeys web site at www.missionjourneys.org to see our 2009 trip list. That will give you an idea of some our communities/locations we’re working in.

TM Board Meeting (12.08.08)
The Teen Mission, USA, quarterly board meeting will be on Monday, December 8, 11:30 am @ Gardenside Christian Church (940 Holly Springs Dr; Lexington KY 40504).

THANKS again and may God continue to bless!

In Him,
Greg Herriford
Associate Director/Teen Mission, USA
Email = gregh@teenmission.org
Web http://www.teenmission.org/