1 Sunday - 3 churches

This past Sunday Mountain T.O.P. was invited by Shelbyville First United Methodist Church to come be a part of their Missions Fair. I was also invited to speak about Mountain T.O.P. during the morning worship service. After some technical difficulties, the power point presentation was underway. Shelbyville FUMC has lots of friends of Mountain T.O.P. including John Carney and Andy & Edna Lee Borders. Andy Borders cooked a fabulous meal for the Missions Fair which consisted of pork loin, green beans, sweet potato casserole, fruit salad and the most amazing Earthquake Cake for dessert. I definitely should've taken a picture of the plate of food. The people of Shelbyville FUMC love and support Mountain T.O.P. in many ways and we thank you!!!

On Sunday, Ed was asked to speak at Germantown UMC. He was given the opportunity to speak at two different times to a good group of folks. Germantown UMC has been a longtime friend of the ministry. Thank you Germantown UMC for inviting Mountain T.O.P. into your space. Good conversation, good questions, good friends!

This past weekend, I had the privilege of visiting Christ UMC in Plano, Texas. Glen Thorton, a member of the church working on expanding the mission opportunities for the congregation, called in a few weeks ago about AIM. I just so happened to be visiting Fort Worth, so I asked if I could come speak to those interested in hearing more about Mountain T.O.P.

Glen set me up with a projector and meeting space and advertised throughout the sunday school classes. We had a great group of interested people, including the missions coordinator, Linda, youth director, Amanda, and several other church staff members. (Oh, and Linda brought us some dunkin’ donuts and coffee ... mmm!)

It turns out that one of the preachers, Rev. Stacey Piyakhun, attended Mountain T.O.P. as a youth!!! Mark got to hear Stacey preach and we both got to meet her after the service. She fondly remembers building an out house :) and told me that her grandparents noticed something different in her the week she got back from Mountain T.O.P.

I have always felt that part of my personal calling at Mountain T.O.P. is to hone in on the objective to actively encourage the Christian growth of the participants and staff who come to Mountain T.O.P. Stacey’s story reminded me of the HUGE part Mountain T.O.P. plays in the spiritual formation of youth and adults. Her words inspire me to persevere and serve with all my being as we continue seeking God’s spiritual vision for this summer.

All in a Day's Work

This spring we've had to call on friends of the ministry to help us finish up some projects. This past Saturday was one such "call". In order to get the Friends porch tied into the existing Friends Cabin and to tin the roof we needed a large group of willing folks. With hammers and drills in hand, we took to the roof.



Thanks to Correy Jewell, Eric Saviano, Justin Campbell, Emily Chadwick, Steve Howell, Dave Howell, Melanie & Freddy Moore, DeWayne & Julie Duncan, Ronnie Scissom, Bo Myers, Bob Willems, Jay Koelbl , Kim VanGundy and Ed Simmons!

A little preview of the summer

Last weekend, the 2011 directors* met at Cumberland Pines for their annual retreat. For support staffers, Directors Weekend is the unofficial start of staff training, the place where we begin assembling the team that will provide the leadership for the summer. It's an exciting time. It's a fulfilling time. It's always an energetic time.

[*One of us was there in spirit. I'm not going to tell you who. Her name starts with a "B" and rhymes with schmetzy.]

For me, the weekend provides a taste of what the summer holds and leaves me craving more. The 6 weeks between this retreat and the summer are long, tedious, and overwhelming for us in the support staff office*. So being able to turn my full attention to one of the major reasons why this ministry exists (to train Christian leaders) is refreshing.

[*We end up wearing half a dozen hats throughout the end of the spring. We still have groups in camp that are requiring our attention. Camp improvement projects are needing to be finished. Final plans for training summer staff are going on. And churches are needing support. If ever you want to come help us, now is the time!]

But the most refreshing part of the weekend is walking away with the feeling that God has placed in our midst the best possible team of people to pull off the work he has laid out for us to do. I find myself humbled to be present with these people who give not just time or talents, but who will give their whole beings to make sure MTOP happens*.

[*And when I say "MTOP happens", I mean that in the sense that we are all here for the same reason Jesus was: for the sake of the world, for those people who need to know his presence.]

I am in awe how God works through the ordinary and practical things to work everything out for the good for those of us he has called. And so, I cannot wait for the summer to arrive...

Did you know?

Written in the Morton Memorial Memo by Pastor Von Unruh ...

"I recently clicked on the following internet link and discovered that Grundy County is basically the unhealthiest county in Tennessee. Actually, it’s ranked 94 out of 95 counties (http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/tennessee). I wasn’t surprised by what I read, but I believe it is important that we be aware of the situation that exists in the county in which many of us live. In case you’re curious, Marion County is ranked 83. Franklin County is ranked 11. Most of us at Morton Memorial do not suffer from the health factors listed in the study, which means that (apart from us) the county is even more unhealthy.

What factors detail the lack of good health in Grundy County? One out of every five persons in the county is illiterate. Two out of every five children lives in poverty. Barely one out of every four persons in the county ever attended (never mind graduated from) a college. Almost half of all children live in a single parent household. Thirty percent of adults are obese. Family income is so low that two out of every three children receive free lunches at school. Liquor stores are basically three times more common in Grundy County than elsewhere in Tennessee. And so it goes. I don’t even want to think what the statistical figures would be if Mountain T.O.P. had not been present in the county for the last thirty-five years."

We're from Chair-A-Bus-Co!

SBO Week 5 has kicked off!  We have 5 youth and 5 adults from Churubusco, IN (home of the legendary Oscar the turtle!).  They are awesome!  They arrived to beautiful weather last night.  We played in the field, got oriented on camp and their projects, ate dinner and shared a devotional on being the salt of the earth!  They also brought items for our Extending the Partnership campaign!  And Jay and I got extra t-shirts from the group!

Doin' Work!

Thanks to Keith McCutcheon, his daughter, Katie (a 16 year old owning a big ole nail gun!), Matt Harrison, Alex Sloan, Reed Bradford, Stephen Wright, and his friend, Ricky for all their hard work on the Friend's Porch roof today!

SBO Week #4!

We had such an incredible week with some of the youth and adults from Heritage UMC in Clearwater, FL!  They are a fun, energetic group dedicated to loving God and His people!  This was everyone's first trip to the mountain!  They were so appreciative of the staff and worked real hard in-camp and at Doris Bivens' home.  This morning at breakfast, they unveiled a sign they made us!  We sure hope these guys come back!