missions

Eleven volunteers from Olive Branch and Faith Community UMC travelled south to Gulfport, MS the
week of Feb. 9 - Feb. 16 to continue repairs on homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina 2 1/2 years
ago. The Mississippi Conference of the UMC currently has 4 sites along the Gulf Coast dedicated to
housing and orchestrating the continuing stream of volunteers that come to the area to aid in the
rebuilding effort. Our group stayed at Gateway UMC north of Gulfport. Our assignment was to finish
painting and trim work on a house in Wiggins, a nice little drive about 25 miles north of our home
base at Gateway. All eleven of the team worked on one house Monday-Wednesday until we were
tripping over each other finding more work to do. On Thursday, the Olive Branch Five moved on to
house #2, just in the beginning phase of repair. Our daily road trip to Wiggins allowed us see lots of
the MS landscape and put more miles on the 3 vehicles we travelled in.

Teams from PA and OK were also in camp with us during the week. We dined together for breakfast
and dinner; each volunteer packed a lunch to take to the work site each day. We shared morning
devotions with the other teams; at night each state group met together to share insights and
devotions of the day.

Thank you to all our church family for supporting our mission trip with funding and prayers. We had a
wonderful week and look forward to serving again as the hands and feet of Jesus.

for additional information contact Judy Schaefer, team coordinator

June 19, 2008

Good evening, volunteers!

We had a large crowd this evening - a little over 160 folks enjoyed turkey hot shots, green beans, corn courtesty of the Schaefers, watermelon,
and milk and cookies. Thanks to all who were able to come and serve our Lord tonight.

Thanks also to Virginia Schwamberger, Shirley Ames, Shirley Plymire, and Donna Akers for their delicious brownies and cookies.

Our beginning balance was $445.71. The cost of the meal was $105.40, bringing our kitty balance to $340.31.

We have two opportunities to serve in July: Thursday July 17th and Thursday July 31st. Please block these dates out on your calendars if you'd
like to help.

God bless and many thanks for your servants' hearts and hands!

Karen Doney
(937) 760-0616

Karen Doney http://www.gbgm-umc.org/olivebranchumc/