Teen Mission Notes (April & May, 2009)

It’s been a busy, but productive spring.
While it’s not summer yet officially, the end of May and the Memorial Day weekend signals that summer is right around the corner.
Here’s some of what’s been going on with Teen Mission over the past few months:

Finances/Development Projects: So far, we’ve had a nice response to our spring Twice Annual mailing with nearly $7,000 raised. This has given some much-needed relief during the spring.
We raised the suggested Twice Annual contribution from $35 to $50. It was phrased, however, in a very low key way.
Our Fundraising/Development team has decided to pursue a concert and meal here in Lexington at Gardenside Christian Church for our fall banquet. The tentative date of Thursday, October 15th has been set.

2009 Mission Journeys: Things are moving into high gear with the 2009 Mission Journeys. In fact, we’ve already sent four teams out this year with many more to follow. Due to the current economic climate, many would-be Mission Journey volunteers have been hesitant in committing to going on a short-term mission trip this year. Despite that, it looks like we’ll have a very respectable number of participants (525) and trips (32).

VBS/Camp Mission Project: Our VBS/Camp mission program is underway and we several Vacation Bible Schools (6) and weeks of church camp (11) using us as their mission this summer.
We have a new theme and a DVD featuring 5 (one each day) of the locations/countries TM, USA, ministers in. These places will be:

Day 01 - Appalachia (Eastern KY/West VA)
Day 02 - Gulf South/Hurricane Relief (Louisiana/Mississippi/Texas)
Day 03 - Native American Indian Reservations (Arizona/South Dakota/Washington)
Day 04 – Central America (Mexico & Honduras)
Day 05 - Africa (Tanzania)

Sam Bowles & Cameron Andry (Marengo, IN) helped us with production of the DVD. Ken H designed the passport books and stamps that the children receive for attending.

Summer Interns: We have two really fine young people working with us this summer through the Joshua Teegarden Internship program. They are: Andrew Eells (Rossville, IL) and Clare McGill (Lexington, KY). A third intern, Sarah Cross (Nicholasville, KY), will not able to join us this summer.

TEEN MISSION, USA, BOARD MEETING (06.01.09)
The Teen Mission, USA, quarterly board meeting will be on Monday, June 1st, 11:30 am @ Gardenside Christian Church (940 Holly Springs Dr; Lexington KY 40504).

In Him,
Greg Herriford (Teen Mission, USA)

Texas Project Photos

Texas Project

In the fall of 2008, parts of southeastern Texas were hit hard by Hurricanes Gustav & Ike.
In the towns of West Orange, Orangefield and Bridge City, Texas (near the Louisiana/Texas border), there were just over 5,000 houses flooded as result of Hurricane Ike.
Much like those families effected from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, many were left homeless without knowing exactly what to do. The majority of these homes are repairable, but, so far, it has been a slow and difficult process of recovery.
Last month (April 20-22), I went down to southeast Texas and looked at a mission site where we’ll be helping folks recover from Hurricane Ike. It went very well.
Two guys from Kentucky flew down with me and two others from Indiana drove down.
While there, we were able to look around at the project site and meet with Garry Jones, Director of Real Life Ministries of Louisiana.
This summer, Teen Mission is partnering with RLM in helping with their first-ever “Project Home” project.
Through this project, our Mission Journey teams will be building a brand new home for widow and her daughter in Orange, TX, who lost their home to Hurricane Ike.
Two work groups have already laid the foundation and sub-floor. The first summer group will begin with framing.
In all, we’ll have four teams working on the project in Texas this summer. They are:

Driftwood Christian Church (Vallonia, IN)
Quincy (KY) Church of Christ
Broadway Christian Church (Lexington, KY)
Arundel (MD) Christian Church

Most of our teams will be staying at the First Christian Church in Orangefield, TX (Jim Hardwick, minister).
They have a nice facility with a kitchen and restrooms/showers.
Our backup facility will be a mobile home (unit #5) in Orange, TX, along with the West Orange Christian Church (Bobby Granger, minister).
If you’d like to help with this project or simply want more information, please contact us right away.

In Him,
Greg Herriford (Teen Mission, USA)