Last week at After-School was all about food! On Monday, we had all the kids make their own butter using a mason jar, a marble, and the ingredients. On Tuesday, we made homemade chocolate chip cookies while Ms. Gaye did chapel with the kids. On Wednesday, we celebrated the end of RAs, GAs and Mission Friends by having an ice cream and cookie party outside. On Thursday, Generation Kids came and did a fun lesson and played some games with us outside. On Friday, the kids made their own homemade ice cream. Overall, it was a fantastic week at After-School!
Mission Moment 5.20.26
Rick Sample
Field Personnel in San Francisco Bay Area, California
I didn’t grow up knowing that I wanted to be a missionary. In fact, as a sophomore at Samford University, I decided to try summer missions for one summer only. Afterward, I ended up being a summer missionary for five years. That first summer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was challenging to me. I had to go door-to-door witnessing! For this introvert, it was torturous to knock on 1200+ doors that summer. All summer long, I thought that it would be my only missionary service in my lifetime.
What I really liked was a sports club I started with some teenage boys in the neighborhood, playing baseball or basketball three afternoons each week. After each game, I led a brief devotional and prayer in the park. On the last night of the summer, I invited all the boys out for ice cream. After the ice cream, I presented each youth with a small New Testament hoping they would read the Bible after the summer. What happened next crushed me.
These teenagers whom I had spent the summer ministering to and praying for mocked me for being a Christian, and, before running off never to see me again, they ripped some pages out of the Bibles and threw them in the gutter. I started to cry and as I bent down to pick up the torn sheaves of Scripture, something struck deep within my soul. It was in that moment that I knew God was calling me to be a missionary for life. What was momentarily an unexpectedly tragic moment was a threshold I stepped over that became a lifelong BLESSING.
The next summer, I was part of a Samford mission team. Four of us spent the summer in LeFrak City, an inner-city enclave in Queens, New York City. And today, in my third decade serving with CBF Global Missions, I can say that my lifelong BLESSING is renewed every day. At the end of my summer in Queens, I penned a poem based on the 23rd Psalm.
A Summer Missionary’s 23rd Psalm
By Rick Sample, summer missionary 1983, Queens, New York City
The Lord is my Supervisor, I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down on my plywood and foam; He leadeth me through the playground and down 57th Avenue.
He restoreth my soul with laughter; He leadeth me in the paths of Vacation Bible School for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I ride through the subways at night, and transfer at Times Square, I will fear no muggers: for Thou art with me; the smiles of the children they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of 10 pairs of eyes peering in at the terrace door; Thou anointest my walls with graffiti; my cup runneth over with people to love.
Surely thoughts of Artif, Caleb, Charles, Joseph, Freddy and Robert will follow me all the days of my life: and I will be a richer person because of New York City.
Church Office Closed Memorial Day
In observance of Memorial Day, the church office will be closed on Monday, May 25 and will reopen on Tuesday, May 26.
Giving the Jesus Way
United Christian Ministries is in need of laundry detergent.
To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive.
Thank you!
First Explorers Update 5.13.26
Midweek Meals
TONIGHT, May 13 at 5:30 p.m.
Our midweek meals will conclude with tonight’s meal
at 5:30 p.m. in the MFC, and we will reconvene our meals together
in September. We look forward to seeing you there!
Giving the Jesus Way
United Christian Ministries is in need of canned ravioli, canned spaghetti sauce
and pot-sized spaghetti noodles.
To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive.
Thank you!
Mission Moment 5.13.26
Jeff Lee
Field Personnel in Skopje, North Macedonia
A Blessing from a Farmer
A blessing for new life. The springtime brings with it new life and growth. For us to participate in that new life requires us to fully understand what is occurring. We live in a world of constant changes, and we must find our place in the everchanging landscape we face daily. We must facilitate new life.
Blessed is the seed. As we plant a seed for potential new life, we focus on what is set before us. We have an opportunity to facilitate new life. We are the caretakers of what is new and fresh. We live in a broken world but there is hope with new life.
Blessed are the hands. New life requires cultivation. When a seed is planted it requires hands to place that seed into the healthy soil. The soil needs nutrients and moisture to encourage the new life to spring forth from the ground. It requires hands to cultivate and to prune the new life—and that are sometimes calloused and worn from years of tending to multiple gardens of life.
Blessed is the land. The land is the home for new life. We are homemakers on this journey of life. We are required to work and change the land to improve the chances for new life to flourish in sometimes harsh conditions.
Blessed is the rain. Water is a source of life. We cannot live without water. Often, we pass through a period of drought and famine. The rain brings that new life in time of struggle and pain.
Blessed is the harvest. The harvest is part of the cycle of life. We benefit from the harvest, which brings new life for us. We are part of the cycle of new life and death. It is a constant part of who we are. A blessing from a farmer is understanding the cycle and providing for those in need around them.
Blessed is the table. May your table be full and shared with those around you. A blessing from a farmer is to fill your table. May it overflow to create and maintain life in your house and community. A blessing from a farmer is understanding the greatest commandment, to love God and to love our neighbor.
The blessing from the farmer is the understanding that life is an ever-changing journey.
Peace be the journey.
Midweek Meals
TONIGHT, May 6 at 5:30 p.m.
Our midweek meals will continue tonight at 5:30 p.m.
in the MFC. We look forward to seeing you there!
Giving the Jesus Way
United Christian Ministries is in need of canned ravioli, canned spaghetti sauce
and pot-sized spaghetti noodles.
To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive.
Thank you!