I M P O R T A N T

D A T E S

REGISTRATION―begins

on Sunday, May 23

MISSION WEEK 101 ORI-

ENTATION―9:45 a.m.

Sunday, June 6, in the Con-

nection Class

KICK-OFF DINNER―6

p.m. Friday, June 18, at

Pollard UMC

WORK DAYS―Saturday,

June 19; Monday–Friday,

June 21-25

FAMILY SERVICE

DAY―Tuesday, June 22

NEIGHBORHOOD FESTI-

VAL―6 p.m. Thursday,

June 24, at St. Paul’s

CLOSING CELEBRA-

TION―6 p.m. Saturday,

June 26, at Marvin

O U R M I S S I O N

Since 1988, one of the

foundations for Marvin's

Christian outreach and

service has been Mission

Week! Participants of all

ages experience a wide

variety of hands-on mis-

sions during the week,

from construction projects

to a neighborhood festival.

Mission Week provides fun

All the preparations have

been made and in just a

few days our Marvin team

will depart for Togo, Af-

rica, on a May 20–28

Mercy Ships Vision trip.

Dr. John Robbins, Dr.

Doug Baker, Melissa Brig-

man and Donna Bowers

will be onboard the Africa

Mercy and onshore in Togo

learning about needs and

how Marvin can support

Mercy Ships’ vision minis-

try in Togo. The team will

share their mission experi-

ences with us during the

trip and afterwards.

Two prayer boards will be

available for you to write

prayers and words of en-

couragement for our team.

On Sundays, May 2 and (Continued on page 2)

Mission Week is June 19–27

Africa

HEARTS AND HANDS V O L U M E 2 I S S U E 5 M A Y 2 0 1 0

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Texas Mission

of Mercy

2

Kids

and Horses

3

Russian

Souls

3

Empty

Bowls

3

Diaper

Drive

4

Haiti benefit

concert

4

F I N D O U T

M O R E

For more in-

formation

about any-

thing you see

in this news-

letter, visit the

Missions pages

on Marvin’s

web site

(www.mumc

family.org/

ministry/

missions).

A N E W S L E T T E R

A B O U T M I S S I O N S

A T M A R V I N

U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T

C H U R C H

and meaningful opportuni-

ties for service. Our 2010

partners are Pollard, St.

Paul’s and Whitehouse.

H O W Y O U

C A N S E R V E

You can … deliver water

and ice or do major con-

struction or do minor con-

struction or roof or paint

or do yard work or do

electrical work or do

plumbing or take digital

photos or run errands or

work at the festival or

serve meals or work with

children or be a youth

helper or pray or give

money! We need you!

P A G E 2

75 percent of

blindness is

preventable or

treatable

through surgical

and non-surgical

eye care.”

Cory Rogers and

Paula Wallace

Africa (continued)

Thanks for the smiles, TMOM On March 26-27, Tyler

played host to the 20th

Texas Mission of Mercy

(TMOM).

This medical mission

brought East Texans

much-needed oral health

care.

TMOM was able to serve

472 patients with a value

of care in excess of

$368,000!

Thanks to all of the

Marvin volunteers who

made this mission pro-

ject such a great success.

A special thanks to our

inspiration and our

leader, Dr. David Nich-

ols!

look for our tote board

on the first floor and

let’s take it over the top.

Your generous donations

can have a life-changing

impact for someone in

need of hope and healing

in Africa. Did you know

that 60 percent of the

people will die within a

year of going blind? Yet

75 percent of blindness is

preventable or treatable

through surgical and non

-surgical eye care.

Please send a check

made out to Marvin

UMC and write “Mercy

Ships” on the check’s

memo line. Your help is

so essential. Following

are some of the Togo

vision needs:

For $1 to $5, you can

provide eyeglasses

$25 will provide an

eye exam for some-

one in danger of los-

ing his/her sight

$250 will fund a cata-

ract surgery.

$500 will fund much

needed a printer for

intra-ocular lens cal-

culations

Two portable KOWA

silt lamps are needed

at up to $5,000 each

Tabletop eye exam

equipment (auto re-

fractometer) at

$10,000

…and the blind shall see.

Matthew 11:5

May 9, these prayer

boards will be located at

our Mercy Ships table on

the first floor near the

Welcome Center. At

other times, the boards

will be at the Welcome

Center for you to write

your thoughts on.

The team will be dedi-

cated in the 8:45 a.m.

traditional service in the

sanctuary on Sunday,

May 16. The two prayer

boards will be presented.

Let’s give our team an

enthusiastic bon voyage.

Some have asked for a

visual means to show the

progress that Marvin is

making toward our 2010

goal of raising $50,000

for Mercy Ships. Please

H E A R T S A N D H A N D S

Kids and horses

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 2 I S S U E 5

If you love kids and horses

and seek a most rewarding

adventure, come be a volun-

teer at KIDS & HORSES,

INC, a program for building

communication and trusting

relationships through the

tools of natural horseman-

ship. This wonderful new

ministry, started by Marvin

member Kate Vigneron, is

located just 20 minutes away

from Marvin at the Green

Mansions Farm in New Har-

mony. For information, con-

tact Kate Vigneron

(katesgreenmansion@yahoo.

com or 903.533.9524).

and the East Texas Wood-

turners. More than 200 hand

-crafted bowls were donated

to raise funds for the hunger

relief ministries of the East

The Marvin Missions Team

would like to thank all of you

for your support of Empty

Bowls! Major bowls spon-

sors included Piddlin’ Pottery

Texas Food Bank, PATH and

St. Paul Children’s Founda-

tion. This is the seventh year

for this fun and educational

missions fundraiser.

vide a new pair of shoes for

an orphan in Tomsk, Siberia.

Make your check payable to

Marvin UMC and indicate

“Russia Shoes.”

Our July mission team will

buy shoes for the children

when they are in Russia.

Would you like to fund a

pair of shoes for a Russian

orphan?

For a $15 gift you can pro-

Shoes for Russian souls

Empty Bowls filled to overflowing

Left, thanks to the UMW

Night Circle who helped

organize and relocate the

missions supply room!

Right, Wesley Founda-

tion’s Sunny Farley and

Gayle Robinson at the

Beauty for Ashes Art

Show that raised money

for the burned churches

in our area.

DI REC TOR

OF MISSIONS:

MELISSA BRIG MAN

MBRIGMAN @

MARVINUMC .COM

903.592.7396

Bits and pieces Diaper drive

During the month of May we will collect diapers, wipes, formula and baby food for

PATH. Please bring your donations to the baby bed located in the atrium. Thank

you, mission hearts!

Communion offering

Our May communion offering will be for Mercy Ships. Following the example of

Jesus, Mercy Ships seeks to become the face of love in action, bringing hope and

healing to the world’s forgotten poor through the use of the word’s largest non-

governmental hospital ship, the Africa Mercy. Please give generously!

Benefit concert

Canticles of Hope and Light is 4 p.m. May 16 in the sanctuary. The concert will

feature the Chancel Choir and Texas Vocal Arts Ensemble. The offering will benefit

Haiti earthquake relief. Admission is free and child care is available.

On-going missions collections in the Welcome Center

HOTEL SIZE TOILETRIES (soap, shampoo) for the St. Paul Children’s Foundation

EYEGLASSES for the Lions Club to use in mission work

HEARING AIDS for use in medical ministries in Haiti

We’re on the Web!

www.mumcfamily.

com/ministry/

missions

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