Greetings in Christ Jesus! I hope and pray you are enjoying a wonderful Christmas season.
As we end the year, we look back and see many highlights and blessings. Among them are the following:
(1) The celebration of two special anniversaries for the ministry: the 40th Anniversary of Teen Mission, USA, and the 25th Anniversary of Mission Journeys. To honor these two milestones, nearly 140 volunteers from 18 different churches in 4 different states gathered in late October and helped us pack nearly 54,000 meals to be shipped to Haiti.
(2) Two full-time ministry initiatives were launched - one in Belize/Dan & Toni Underwood and one in Haiti/Yvrose Johnson. Our work in Eastern KY continued with spring events, summer mission trips and the Appalachian Christmas Project (see story below).
(3) Mission Journeys enjoyed another great year with over 400 volunteers going on 25 different trips to several countries around the world. These teams helped with home repairs in Appalachia and the Gulf South, flood recovery in Eastern KY, VBS on the Yakama Indian Reservation in Washington state, earthquake damage in Haiti, ministry and construction projects in Honduras, Central America and outreach to Muslims in Tanzania, Africa.
(4) In May, heavy rains pounded much of Kentucky, causing some heavy flooding. The Farmers Christian Church, outside of Morehead, KY, received major damage to their basement and minor damage to their fellowship hall/activities building. They had no flood insurance. Along with help from IDES (International Disaster Emergency Service) in Kempton, IN, Teen Mission helped them make the needed repairs to the church building.
(5) The 2010 National Missionary Convention was held in Lexington, KY (November 18-21), with TM, USA, serving as the Local Arrangements Coordinator. The NMC reports that over 8,000 people attended the convention and over 100 decisions were made for full-time Christian service.
While tackling a very ambitious schedule this year, we've done so with less than a full staff for most of the year. Not only are we very weary, but we're ending the year very tight financially.
We're excited to announce that our web site (www.teenmission.org) has some brand-new features including online giving. If you would like to help with an end-of-the-year gift, we would be very grateful (see more info below).
Please continue to keep us in your prayers. THANKS again and have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
In Him,
Greg Herriford (Executive Director/Teen Mission, USA)
Teen Mission, USA, Inc
