MISSION AND OUTREACH
Mission Trips
Sam Jones has been active in developing a mission outreach program over the last four years using Acts 1:8 as our directive.
We have worked in our own community by building a transitional home for single mothers and adding a wheelchair ramp to another existing home. We have worked with Habitat for Humanity, and we have helped with the repairs of Atlanta area homes affected by flood. We partner with a bi-lingual UMC Congregation in teaching English to the adult Spanish community. We support the Global Soap Project in Atlanta, which is an international project to make reclaimed soap available to those who cannot afford soap.
Team members have traveled to Mississippi, South Carolina and West Virginia to help provide better housing for those less fortunate. On these trips we have shared the love of Christ by building a wheel chair accessible bathroom and installed windows and siding on a storm-damaged home so the homeowner could renew insurance. We have installed drywall and restored the 1st floor of a home flooded by Katrina.
We have also worked internationally in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras. In one area, we wired a school in a remote area where children work in coffee plantations. This school allows these children to attend night school, changing the poverty cycle in this area. We helped build a feeding center so that children get a hot meal. We worked with locals to teach them skills sets such as wiring, sewing, silk screening and jewelry making. At the same time, they taught us to lay tile. Through our work we have introduced children to Christ through Bible School and witnessed to many others baptizing over 20 adults in a mountain stream.
In 2011, Sam Jones will participate in two trips to Trujillo, Honduras, where one of our church members, Margie Holmes, is acting director of a child protection home there. The first trip is scheduled for March 19-27, 2011. The second trip will be July 16-24, 2011. These trips will continue our focus on fellowship with local congregations, maintenance and construction work at the child protection home, and incorporating continued skills for the local youth and adults wherever possible.
We are also teaming up with other UMC churches in Bartow County to do domestic mission work. Later this year we are planning to return to South Carolina and work on rural relief projects.
If you are interested in becoming involved in missions, please contact Jim Hull at 678.313.5157 or jhullmissions@yahoo.com.
Missionary Support
For those of you I have not met, my name is Margie Holmes and I have been a member of Sam Jones UMC for 5 years. I became involved in mission work through the Sam Jones' mission trips. I am excited to share with you I have found a calling to serve as a full-time missionary. In January 2011 I began serving as the missionary-director of Jardin de Angelitos, or Garden of Little Angels, in Trujillo, Honduras. The small children's home was founded in 2004 by Serena Lopez and her family. Serena has served as the director for the last 6 years but, after 15 years of mission service, she needs to return to the States. I have been living at the home since October of 2010 to work alongside Serena in preparation for taking on the directorial duties. In this extended ministry of Sam Jones, I am proud to represent our church as we develop a long-term relationship with the people of Trujillo. I also work with Garden of Hope International, a non-profit organization established to financially support the children's home. To read more about my work in Honduras, please visit my blog simplefaithfulopen.wordpress.com. I hope you will enjoy the adventures as much as I do and join me through prayers and support.
Helping Hands
A group from the Men's Ministry of Sam Jones do odd jobs for shut-ins and other people in need.
Salvation Army Kettle Drive
Members of the Sam Jones church family participate in ringing the bell at several locations for the annual Salvation Army Red Kettle Drive during the Christmas season.
Action Ministries/Transitional Housing
Cartersville is an official site of the North Georgia Conference for Transitional Housing offered through Action Ministries. Members from Sam Jones and other area Methodist churches built a permanent home on a donated piece of property. Currently a single mother and her four children occupy the house and are in the program to work toward becoming self-sufficient. Members and groups from the church provide assistance for the children's birthdays, Christmas, and other occasions.
Basket Ministry
Every month we choose a local, national, or international ministry and provide them with requested items that are donated by members of the congregation.
Apportionments
United Methodists belong to a "connectional" church which means we pool our resources for ministry and mission. Each congregation sends "apportionments" to the larger church which are used for a variety of ministries. For more information click "apportionments".
Special Offerings
The North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church has designated specific Sundays to support special ministries. Members have an opportunity to financially support a wide range of missions.
UMCOR
The United Methodist Committee on Relief has been established to be a first responder to local, regional, national, and world-wide disasters. Every dollar that is contributed to UMCOR goes to providing relief. For more information, click UMCOR
General Budget
Through the general budget, Sam Jones supports a number of local agencies and programs including the Bartow Resource Center, the local chapter of the Red Cross, Flowering Branch (the children's emergency shelter), Good Neighbor Homeless Shelter, the Women's Emergency Shelter, Action Ministries Transitional House, and Bartow Christmas.
Business by the Book
This monthly forum applies God's Word to the business world and explores how to apply one's faith in the workplace. Business by the Book meets from noon to 1:00 on the second Tuesday of each month from August thru May in the Family Life Center. A wonderful lunch costs only $6. The entire community is invited.
