2013 Annual Giving Campaign

Executive Director Report    Dear Friends of Mountain TOP, I love the fall! It is a season of remembrance, reflection and thanksgiving. For the ministry it is a time to look back and see just how powerful God has been in the lives of all connected with Mountain T.O.P. during the year. We still have a very active October with five Fall AIM Weekends and the Fall Festival. But the bottom line is we have already made a difference for God in the lives of those we serve, those who come to serve and those who support this ministry with their prayers, gifts & presence. You see, something I have come to realize is just how much God uses this ministry to multiply every gift we are given. So many places celebrate the work they do, how efficient they are with their resources and how their bottom line grows. Few can say with confidence that financial gifts they give results in a four to five times return on investment because of volunteer labor and in-kind gifts with nothing left on the bottom line. (we are a non-profit after all) Every gift is fully utilized for the glory of God! Because of our fundamental belief in partnership, we are able to leverage gifts received many times over the value of the gifts given. The result of this leverage is that gifts go so much further and are able to make a more significant impact on the lives of those we serve or on the projects we undertake. I have included just a few of the many examples of transformation that takes place when you invest your resources in this ministry: A Family - Renewing Hope This fall, through AIM, we have been working with a woman in Tracy City. She is brand new to Mountain T.O.P. and to our type of ministry. Her house needed some major attention including a large hole in the roof, which resulted in the ceiling collapsing in several of the rooms. We partnered with a local church to provide materials for this project and last weekend was the first time a team had ever been to her house. When the team arrived Friday morning she was very uncertain and a bit leery about what was about to happen. But as the weekend progressed, she warmed up to the team and her trust in them grew. By Saturday afternoon she was talking and praying with the members of the team, amazed that there were folks in the world willing to give of themselves to help her. Through their works and stories, they shared their faith, not only transforming her house but also her faith in humanity. Before After        A Child - Transforming Ministry Each summer Mountain TOP hosts hundreds of children from our service area in our various day camp programs. A new program this summer took a dramatically different approach. We actually invited youth from churches in Grundy County to come to camp as YSM campers. We called the program "Neighbors Helping Neighbors" and the youth participated in a typical camp week at our Baker Mountain Camp. One of the youth came to camp not knowing what to expect at all, being used to receiving Mountain T.O.P. services instead of providing them. As with many of the youth, she came as a shy, hesitant young person without a clear direction but she left a strong, confident witness for Christ. In one short week she was transformed. Our hope is that future experiences will help her grow to the point that she will want to further serve her neighbors by being on summer staff. Neighbors Helping Neighbors Staff and Campers Neighbors Helping Neighbors YRG A Facility - Creating Space Our camps play a key role in the experience of those who come to serve. Besides meeting the basic needs of food and shelter, our camps provide an environment for our campers to come see, worship and talk to God. Many who come to camp say that in our space they are able to hear God more clearly. Some have even claimed they have heard the call to ministry at one of our camps. Funds and labor given by volunteers to the ministry allows us to build and transform spaces that invite campers to interact with God. One such space was the recent renovation of the Three Crosses Worship Center. This space has been transformed into an even more special place in our camp. Three Crosses After Three Crosses Before These are just three examples of the many ways the financial gifts given to Mountain TOP are multiplied into transforming opportunities to share God's grace. We could fill pages and pages with stories and pictures of how your gifts have worked this year to transform lives for Christ but maybe the included infographic will provide a snapshot. So it is from a place of sincere gratitude to Christ who sacrificed himself for me, who chose me for ministry, who called some of the most passionate, faithful servants to this ministry as staff and volunteers, that I come to you with this challenge: your financial help is needed to finish this year and to have this ministry meet all of its God-given goals. Our Annual Giving Campaign is how we hope to meet our goals and show our love and gratitude to Christ while accepting his call to do service. Please consider making a generous gift to our Annual Giving Campaign. Our need is$75,000 before the end of the year to help finish the plan God had for us this year. These funds are part of our plan as a ministry each year because we believe in those who love and trust Mountain T.O.P. and their commitment to support this program. In this way we rely on God and the work he can do in your hearts to make this ministry function. Every gift received is important and every gift is a blessing. Please also pray for this ministry and the Board & staff as we continue to seek God's will for Mountain TOP. On behalf of all of us who serve this ministry year-round, may God bless you and may His grace be with you as you discern how God is calling you to help. Grace & Peace,      Ways To Give We Love Cash!  It is the simplest way to give. You can write a check or even charge your gift to a credit card to build up those airline miles. Please contact Jen at (931) 692-3999 or visit our Razoo site http://www.razoo.com/story/2013-Annual-Giving-Fund  Give a Gift of Stock. The growth in the stock market has made giving appreciated stock even more attractive. A gift of long-term appreciated stock offers two tax savings: you can avoid capital gains tax on the stock and receive a deduction based on the current market value of the stock versus what you paid for it originally. Please contact Buddy Boyce for assistance at (615) 279-9917. Donate your Car or Truck. Vehicles that cannot be used by the ministry can be sold or traded for vehicles that can be used. Ronnie Scissom, our gifted and talented mechanic, can work miracles. Please contact Buddy for assistance. Honor a Friend or Relative.Give a gift in honor or memory of someone you love. We will recognize these gifts with a note to those you want recognized. Click here to view an Infographic on the impact the Volunteers and Contributions had on this Summer's ministries.

The View From Here

Friends II Work Weekend is underway.  The metal roofing is here!  The siding is waiting for a few more volunteers to show up but is ready to go!  Friends II Cabin is getting some love this weekend!  Enjoy these pics!!

Jen & Olivia just caulking away!

the metal roof going up!

even some end caps are in place

A Reflection on Summer Plus Experiences with Guest Blogger John Carney

The week of Aug. 1-7 will be the 20^th anniversary of my first Adults In Ministry experience, which was my first Mountain T.O.P. experience. I was at Camp Overton, in Warren County, in 1993 doing Summer Plus. I had signed up hoping to teach creative writing, and I've taught creative writing at Summer Plus many times since. But I didn't get to do it that first year, at least not in a regular, daily workshop. I assisted Paige Wadford (now Smith) in a volleyball workshop and, on short notice, co-taught a drama workshop with Mark Sellers. 

We struggled with the drama workshop the first two days, until Carolyn Greenwood offered to loan us her video camera. The kids began producing a video newscast reporting on all of the other afternoon workshops. They wrote it themselves – and the teen who'd been most disruptive on Monday and Tuesday was the most active in making sure the script was worded the way a real newscast would be.

The experience I had that week was enough to hook me on Summer Plus, and Mountain T.O.P., for life. 

By the way, I did get to teach a very short session on writing with a different group of kids each day that week. But it was nothing like my intended workshop.

I got to teach a real writing workshop the next year, and I've done so on numerous occasions since.

Creative writing at Summer Plus can be an iffy situation. I try my hardest to make the workshop as little like school as possible, and if the teens are at all interested in writing things usually work out. But sometimes you'll get someone who got their first choice of workshops in the morning but ended up having to take creative writing in the afternoon, and they really don't want to be there because it reminds them of English class. I'm a writer, not an educator; a devoted uncle, not a parent; and I don't have as many tools in my tool kit as some of my fellow volunteers have for engaging the reluctant.

There have been several times that by Tuesday afternoon, I was pulling my hair out, cursing my own lack of ability, and swearing to myself that I'd never sign up for Summer Plus, ever again.

But God has a way of turning things around. I remember one year when I made it through four days thinking I had failed the kids as an instructor, and then, as I was taking my transportation route home on Thursday, one of the girls from my writing workshop gave me a little bead bracelet she'd made in her other workshop and told me how much she enjoyed the writing class.

I tried not to start crying until she was out of the car and headed up the steps to her house.

There were two years in a row when I ended up teaching not only creative writing but also the cooking workshop. In both cases, another volunteer had signed up to teach cooking but had to drop out at the last minute.

One of those two years, my assistant (whose name now escapes me) had two of our students – precious young women – on his van route through Jasper or Whitwell. He couldn't believe the conditions in which they lived, and wasn't sure they were getting enough to eat. He'd already agreed to be in charge of the menu for one day, since I'd had to put everything together at the last minute. He decided, and I agreed, that he would bring enough ingredients to make two casseroles instead of one, and that we'd casually offer the girls the chance to take the extra casserole home with them that night.

His plan seemed to work like a charm – until we found out the next morning that the girls' uncles had come over and eaten every last drop of the casserole. The girls hadn't gotten any of it.

This year, I wasn't able to make plans for Summer Plus until the last minute, and so -- for the first time -- I was a Summer Plus volunteer but not a workshop leader. I'm used to being an assistant when I come to Kaleidoscope, and of course I usually only teach one session of creative writing, meaning that I'm an assistant during the other half of the day. But this was my first time to be an all-day assistant in the Summer Plus program. In some ways, it was a nice change of pace to be able to play that support role without any responsibility for providing content. I missed teaching my creative writing workshop, but I had fun playing in Jan Lloyd-Gohl's printing workshop. I wasn't so much of an assistant as I was an additional student, participating in the activities right alongside the teenagers. (Jan put up with me, and I did at least help clean up afterward.)

Sometimes, there are only one or two male instructors in Summer Plus, and that bothers me. While you mustn't overgeneralize about any specific aspect of mountain culture, I think there are teens I've met, and households I've seen, that demonstrate a need among some of these kids for loving, Christian male role models. I'm in awe of Robert Matthews and the way he works so hard on two different workshops -- photography and juggling. He's a great example to the kids, and they show it in the way they respond to the content he provides. I know he was disappointed that a conflict kept him away from Summer Plus this year.

I think relationships are the key to Summer Plus. As much fun as we have with the content, you have to understand that it's about ministry -- about relationships, and having fun, and trying to make a connection. The kids will remember that you cared even if they forget what you taught.

John I. Carney is city editor of the Shelbyville (Tenn.) Times-Gazette and a certified United Methodist lay speaker (now known as lay servant). He served 12 years on the Mountain T.O.P. board over a 14-year period and was the editor of “Getting Hooked: Stories From Mountain T.O.P.'s Twenty Years of Ministry,” published by the ministry in 1995.

Crowdsource Video Help!

Do you have fun memories of Mountain T.O.P.?  Click  below to view a short video about one way you can share your memories and help the ministry at the same time!  Listen to the message from the Board Chair above for more info.





Click Below for interview questions:

Video Interview Questions

Midsummer

How is it that we are halfway through our summer?  It seems like the deeper we get into our summer, the faster the weeks go by!  

This past Saturday the entirety of the staff celebrated being halfway through the summer.  We came together and celebrated with a meal, worship, and communion.  It was a wonderful way for us to share our experiences thus far and celebrate all that has been accomplished, and there are plenty of things to be celebrated from our summer! 

It all started with training when we came together as one staff for the first time.  The Summer Staff spent the whole week learning about the different aspects of their jobs, encouraged each other through sessions that may have been difficult for some, worked hard to take notes and understand what the summer had in store for them, and began the process of learning how to work with their own staff members.  When it came time for the commissioning of the staff there was an energy in the room, an overall excitement to start jobs and see campers rolling through the gate.  

As the first camp week rolled around we welcomed the first group of YSM campers as well as, the Fish Camp campers.  Staff members and campers alike beamed with joy at the sight of each other.  It was the first opportunity for the first rotation of staffs to put their training into motion in a camp week.  

Then the next week, along with more YSM campers,  we welcomed the first AIM week with Major Home Repair and Kaleidoscope, and our first Neighbors Helping Neighbors camp week. At AIM the Major home repair began and over 20 Kaleidoscope kids participated in the workshops led by AIM participants.   They had craft and knitting workshops, and an Around the World workshop, then they also went to the horse ranch and visited an art studio and learned how to make art projects out of recycled materials.  

 In our NHN week we had 10 campers from Morton Memorial UMC and Tracy City UMC serving at Camp Baker Mountain.  They worked alongside their staff to complete minor home repair projects in the area.  It was incredible to see the community and staff come together throughout the week and serve as one unit.  

The following week we began the YSM Day Camp program.  The children this year got the opportunity to go the Sewanee Airport and see what it is like being a pilot.  During that week and the current week Day Campers have also had the opportunity to go hiking, make crafts, and meet Ruby the snake.  

This past week Summer Plus campers came in and participated in workshops such as cooking and baking, 2D drawing, sports, pinterest crafts, and screen printing.  At the same time, AIM MPTs continued making progress on the major home repair projects out in the community. 

Now we are in our 5th camp week and it is amazing to look back and see all that has been accomplished in and out of camp and all the ways God has been working through everyone involved.  Next we look forward to our last few camp weeks of the summer ready to see how else God is going to work in the lives of the families we work with, our campers, and the staff.   

Truss Day - Part 2

The last of the trusses are set and a lot of other work on the Friends II Cabin got completed.  We have a long way to being finished but this day of worked helped tremendously. 

Truss Day! Part 1

With a great group of volunteers and the use of a crane the trusses on the new Friends II -enjoy these pictures!