Category: Blog
Devotion from Laura Blackmore (Sept. 15)
Devotion from Pastor Craig (Sept. 14)
After the summer serving as a host for the Center for Student Mission in Washington DC, I moved down to Williamsburg Virginia to work at a large nondenominational church as the director of high school ministries. The church had a sizable youth ministry and would take sophomores through just graduated seniors to Nicaragua each year for our summer international mission trip. One of the years we took 105 people when you add in staff and small group leaders, let’s just say that was the last time that we went with that many people!
Though not a text bookcase for the When Helping Hurts framework of missions we would always stay at the same place on the site of an orphanage outside of the capital, Managua. Many of the students from the church who came multiple years would develop relationships with the children living at the orphanage. These relationships were lubricated by numerous soccer games and conversations in broken Spanish. I can still picture Juanita who instantly gravitates toward Erin, my then newlywed wife.
Nicaragua is one of the poorest nations in Central America. I had been to Costa Rica in college, but Nicaragua, having gone through a civil war in the 80s, is noticeably still reeling economically and it is abundantly obvious wherever you drive. Corrugated metal was the building material of choice in the areas we went. I heard stories of residents of these Managua slums that when the power would go out would scurry up the pole to the power lines, somehow splice a new wire to the mainline to provide power in their homes with an old syringe serving as the light switch. I confess that I too often forget the daily blessings in my own life.
For the trips, we went with a Christian missions organization called Orphan Network. One of their strategies was to partner with churches located in the poorest areas of town to provide a feeding program for the children of the community. The goal was twofold, first to try to keep the children with their families so that they would not have to end up in an orphanage, and secondly to facilitate these children to go to school rather than having to work for food. We would often partner with these churches to host a VBS.
One of the areas we would go to was called La Chureca, which was the trash dump for Managua. Over 300 families lived on the dump sorting for recyclables to provide food for themselves and their families. Some families had been there for generations. If you want a picture of what it was like and the impact of seeing people on a dump just barely holding onto life by what had been discarded by others, Anthony Bourdain went there in an episode of No Reservations.
Despite the overwhelming poverty, the primary thing that I remember from these trips down to Nicaragua, was the joy of the people there. I have heard similar reports from those of you who have gone to Kenya, or Costa Rica. I remember thinking that there was a richness in the people despite so little, that revealed a kind of poverty in our own wealth. The hope I have now in remembering these people is that God has a special heart and concern for the poor. I also hope that even in this strange season we find ourselves we can find the joy and peace of the Spirit as David and Rachel have preached about these last two weeks. God Bless and catch you next week.
Devotion from Pastor David (Sept. 11)
*We appreciate your grace as we acknowledge technology doesn’t always like to cooperate!
Our Deepest Sympathies
Rev. Wayne Johnson, who served as a FUMCWP pastor from 1981-1983, passed away on Aug. 14, 2020 at the age of 83. He was born to the late Billie James and Hazel Lenora (Albritton) Johnson in Wauchula, Florida on June 23, 1937. He had been a resident of Sebring, FL since 1985 coming from Winter Park, FL was a Methodist minister with the Florida United Methodist Conference. Wayne loved fishing, tennis, aviation, and boating. He is survived by his Wife – Clarice Johnson; Children – Daryl Johnson (Tim O’Conner); Kenny Johnson (Hollie); Karen Scarbrough (Robert); Brother – Dale Johnson (Sarah); Grandchildren – Kelsie; Kaylon; Joy; Jenna; Great-Grandchildren – Layla; Kaia; Bella; Dawson; Haley. Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by his Son – David Wayne Johnson. His family held a private memorial service on Wednesday, Aug. 19. The service can be viewed on the funeral home’s Facebook page.
Devotion from Pastor Rachel (Sept. 10)
Preschool Update and God’s Faithfulness
This week, I saw the face of God. Sometimes I see the face of God in an individual, or in a situation or in an answered prayer, but on this week, I saw the face of God in the parents, teachers, and especially the little students of our MSEE preschool. Many of you know by now that our church’s preschools, TCA and MSEE, are ministries of First United Methodist Church of Winter Park. Many of you have already told me stories about how your children or grandchildren attend these schools, but you probably don’t know how much has gone into reopening them over these last few months.
I am privileged to be the Clergy leader for the Vibrant Family Pillar and I have jumped in the deep end since arriving July 1st with all that is happening in this COVID world when it comes to educating and keeping safe these beautiful children. My husband Ryan and I were thankful that as we started work at our new appointments, that our two children Emmaline and Charlie could be taught and loved on at TCA (Trinity Christian Academy) from our first week here. We have loved dropping them off each day and watching them love on their teachers and show off their artwork and tell us all about the fun they have had in school. While we were apart of the first group of families to return back to TCA, our part-time families returned this week as well and we are thankful that this ministry is available to serve the community. It wasn’t until this week that MSEE reopened, although much planning and prayer have gone into this work. Shortly after I arrived, I began working with an incredible group of individuals to hire an Interim Director (Ashley Finfrock) and reopen MSEE by September 8th. Our Transition Team has worked hard to help support the MSEE Administration, teachers, and parents to begin again. On Tuesday morning, I saw the fruit of our labor.
I had the opportunity on Tuesday morning to watch parents walk their children up to our three drop-off locations to start their new school year, some for the first and some were returning. The parents took pictures, signed Health surveys, gave hugs and kisses, and ultimately watched as their children left their loving care, and entered our church’s loving care. I was humbled to meet the parents and watch this unfold. Now, anyone who is a parent knows that some children handle change well and some do not. But while there were some tears and lots of smiles and tentative waving goodbye, all the parents left with a sense of deep trust and love for this preschool. What a gift that is, Church! What a legacy that we get to live into once again!
I also watched later that morning during the pick-up time how the few children that cried through their first hour of school, had a big smile on their face at the end. There was a sense of accomplishment, both for the child and the parent because of the love that they had received and the care that they were given. And if seeing all of this wasn’t enough, I was reminded once again of the faithfulness of God through the morning rain and a beautiful rainbow that stretched across the sky over the Winter Park Golf Course. On my drive home, I almost started to cry because I was reminded that in all of the hard work and transition and unknowns; God had never left us. God will never leave us. And just as I witnessed this with the crying children at the beginning of the school day to the joy-filled faces at the end, God’s faithfulness seeks to turn our sorrow into joy and our mourning into dancing (Psalm 30:11-12).
Maybe it has been a long time since you had young kids, but oh how they teach us daily about God’s love for us. Maybe it is hard if you are not on campus witnessing the joy of both TCA and MSEE for yourself, but I can tell you, that God is there. And so, if you are like me and you need to be reminded of God’s faithfulness in the midst of this hard reality and you want to see the face of God, I invited to pray with me for the teachers, the staff, and the beautiful children of both of our preschools. I invite you to pray with me for their parents who trust us enough with their most precious thing in the whole wide world. And I invite you to pray for God’s faithfulness to remind you that in all seasons, in all situations, that God is WITH us and will see us through. And after you pray, I invite you to close out your time of meditation with the singing or humming of this most powerful hymn:
“Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!”
AMEN.
Inua Partners in Hope – 2019 Annual Report
Inua Partners in Hope empowers vulnerable youth to thrive in total wellness and self-sufficiency through community-led mentoring, learning, and God’s love. View Inua’s 2019 Annual Report below.
Click the image above to download.
Avodah | Devotion from Dr. Jon (Sept. 9)
Devotion from Tonya Tolson, Diversity Committee Chair (Sept. 8)
Truth, Justice, Mercy, and The Christ Way
For the past three years, we’ve been so happy to have with us again our dear friend, Barbara Thompson, who is the associate director of UCF’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, to facilitate our discussions here FUMCWP. She has been educating, guiding, and challenging us to unearth our hidden biases, face our blindspotting of privilege and power, and analyze those embedded systems of racism, misogyny, and homophobias that keep us from being Christ disciples.
As Ibram Kendi, professor and director of American University’s Anti-racist Research & Policy Center states, “Sometimes to be anti-racists, we have to admit those times when we are being racists.”
Our study around the book, Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson is particularly important now, because of the mass incarceration complex, which is set up to imprison one out of three black babies born. This conversation is also timely because of the recent killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, just to name a few; and particularly crucial during this pandemic where black and brown people, are disproportionately dying.
We must remember, the Jesus we worship, loved the stranger, the immigrant, the poor, children, the widow, and the persecuted. We also must remember that Jesus was arrested and tried as a condemned criminal; and crucified by the authorities of his day.
According to, author, entrepreneur, and venture capital investor Jacqueline Novogratz, there are four dimensions to becoming a whole person:
- Empathy is important, but there are limitations to empathy. It’s not enough just to listen to other people’s stories.
- Proximity, Bryan Stevenson’s vision of ‘getting proximate to suffering’ goes even further than being a savior. It is about the intrinsic value of these associations and relationships.
- Analysis is about understanding those systems promote division.
- Action: For a start, Bryan Stevenson recommends that we:
- Change the narratives that sustain hurt and harm;
- Stay hopeful about what we can do to end injustice; and
- Be willing to do things that are uncomfortable, like acknowledging our biases and complicities.
Bryan Stevenson, as a Christ disciple and crusader, models for us a life of integrity and purpose. It is our hope that through these types of studies and dialogues, together we are journeying towards becoming integrated human beings and disciples of Christ, who put love into action and who are willing to fight for justice, reconciliation and unity.
Devotion from Pastor Craig (Sept. 7)
Show Notes:
- As I mentioned in the devotional here is the link to the latest Inua annual report as a case study of process towards empowerment.
- “Poverty alleviation is a process in which people, both the materially poor and non-poor, move closer to living in right relationship with God, self, others, and the rest of creation.” – When Helping Hurts