A UMNS REPORT
By Kathy L. Gilbert
When he hands a phone card to a young soldier, United Methodist Chaplain John Morris says: "People who love Jesus Christ made this possible for you."
Phone cards donated by members of the United Methodist Church light up "some awfully dark valleys," says Morris, a major in the Army National Guard. "It is a tangible way to show support and to remind the troops that someone is praying for them."
Since Veterans Day 2003, the United Methodist Endorsing Agency has sponsored a campaign to send phone cards to people serving in the U.S. military all over the world. More than 3 million minutes have been placed in the hands of young men and women so they can call their loved ones without adding to their financial burden.
Churches both large and small, Sunday school classes, Bible study groups and individuals have joined in this campaign to connect military personnel with their families.
A recent donation from Industry (Texas) United Church contained handmade cards from the children in their Sunday school classes. The whole church got behind the project, says the Rev. Patricia Zaiontz-Newcomer. The children's cards are drawings of families on the front with the message "This is my Family," and on the inside, each card says, "Keep in Touch with Yours."
"It is lonely and dangerous, and being able to call home lights up some awfully dark valleys," says Morris, stationed at Ft. Bragg, N.C. He spent last spring and summer in Iraq and will soon be going to Afghanistan.
Morris knows of some soldiers who have $1,000 phone bills. "When you are risking your life, you shouldn't have to come home to face such debts."
United Methodist Chaplain Grover C. Glenn III sees the difference the cards make. "These young soldiers are leaving behind wives they may have just married, or families with small children, and their eyes light up when I tell them to 'call home compliments of the United Methodist Church,'" says Glenn, a colonel in the Army National Guard.
Glenn, stationed at Camp Shelby, Miss., says a young soldier recently asked if he could send the card to his mama. "I gave him a second card and told him to call mama as often as he could get to a phone. I had to turn away because I had tears in my eyes."
In an e-mail to the United Methodist Endorsing Agency, Glenn says about 4,000 soldiers will be arriving from Georgia on Dec. 10. "I know you can't send 4,000 cards, but please, just send as many as you can."
In August, the endorsing agency started sending packages of phone cards with a message from the United Methodist Church. The special cards feature the United Methodist Cross and Flame and include a recorded prayer: "The people of the United Methodist Church are praying for your safety and sense of peace. Our hearts, our minds and our doors are always open to you." Since August, the agency has been averaging about $7,000 a month in donations, with funds coming from 43 states.
"We have gotten so many calls, letters and e-mails from people in the military saying how grateful they are for getting these cards," says Laura Flippen, coordinator of the program with the endorsing agency. "It is such an important message to let them know the church cares when they are so far from home."
Flippen says 100 percent of the money donated to the office goes to buying phone cards. The United Methodist phone cards cost $4.95 for 120 minutes. Because of limited personnel, the agency does not have the ability to sell phone cards to congregations or individuals. The agency oversees military chaplains, and it is through the chaplains that the cards are distributed. More than 90 United Methodist chaplains have been involved in the campaign to distribute the cards.
Susie Kasper, administrative assistant at Handley United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, says her church is taking up an offering Nov. 14 to help with the "phone home" campaign.
"My son spent 12 months in Iraq at the beginning," she says. "As a family, we had never gone more than a week without talking to him or longer than a month without seeing him. I just can't imagine what it would have been like if we had any problems that had to be worked out long distance."
Kasper says her son is home safe, but she knows other sons and daughters are on duty in Iraq and other foreign countries.
"This is such a great thing for the United Methodist Church as a whole to do," she says. "As a parent of a soldier, thank you!"
The United Methodist Endorsing Agency is part of the Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Cards and donations may be sent to UMEA, P.O. Box 340007, Nashville, TN 37203-0007. The agency also can be reached at umea@gbhem.org or (615) 340-7411.
Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service writer in Hashville, Tenn.
Retirees key in on salvaging computers for students By John Gordon
TYLER, Texas (UMNS) - Computers junked by government agencies and schools are being saved from the scrap yard and, thanks to a small church, helping hundreds of students.
A dedicated group of retirees from Cedar Street United Methodist Church in Tyler recycles the computers and gives them to elementary and high school students. Some 500 PCs have been repaired and placed in students' homes since the high-tech ministry began two years ago.
"We had an opportunity to pick up some salvage computers," says the Rev. Karen Morris, pastor of the northeast Texas church. "And we have always been a group of people that didn't like to see anything go to waste."
Little goes to waste at Mustard Seed Ministries. Dusty computer cases are stripped of hard drives, video and audio cards, memory chips, power supplies and even screws. The nonprofit ministry also buys new parts needed for repairs.
"Most of the children in this neighborhood, as well as their parents, have never had an opportunity to use a computer, much less own one," Morris says. The church is in a downtown neighborhood that's seen changes in recent years with an influx of Hispanic families.
"They (church members) don't care who you are or where you come from or anything like that," says 16- year-old Higinio Fernandez, a high school student who lives near the church and received a free computer.
The Rev. Karen Morris says her church began salvaging used computers because "we didn't like to see anything go to waste."
The computer is helping Fernandez toward his dream of becoming a lawyer and judge.
Fernandez also became a volunteer helping repair the computers. He is the youngest member of the group. The church has about 100 members. Most are in their 70s and 80s.
Originally planned as a one-time effort to give a computer to every fifth-grader at a nearby elementary school, the program continues to grow. Now the free-computer offer is being extended to students at a local high school.
"Let's face it: If you're not computer literate in this day and age, you're not going very far," church member Tommy Gober says.
The computer recyclers learned the inner workings of CPUs and motherboards by experience and reading books. Now, they work through software conflicts, BIOS setups, monitor calibration and other technical tasks with ease.
Most of the computers were surplus from state agencies. Some sat in warehouses for months before they were turned over to the church. The biggest challenge for Mustard Seed Ministries is raising enough money to keep up with the demand for the free computers. Each costs about $60 to repair.
The church raises money with bake sales, bazaars and other events. Some of the faster refurbished computers are sold for $100 each, with the money going to build more free machines.
"It's just a great opportunity for churches to reach out in a way that will be a permanent and lasting influence on the kids. I don't see any end to it."
Gordon is a freelance writer in Marshall, Texas.
Car ministry helps down and out get up and running
By Steve Smith
POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. (UMNS) - Frustrated, Brandi Huckaby simply didn't know what to do. Her car needed a $150 power-steering pump, but the single mother of three was barely able to put food on the table. With transportation gone, her life had ground to a halt.
"We've been without a car for about a month and a half now," Huckaby says. "There's no way I could afford to have the car fixed at all."
As she speaks, the blasts of air hammers sound in the background. She stands in an unusual type of car-repair garage - one where all the services are free.
To help the down and out get up and running, members of McEachern Memorial United Methodist Church in Powder Springs, Ga., repair vehicles of low-income and elderly people in their "car care ministry" one Saturday a month. About a dozen volunteers in this hands-on ministry in suburban Atlanta work on several cars at a time. Local social-service agencies help them find needy people in the three-county area.
United Methodist churches throughout the United States perform mission work through car-repair ministries similar to McEachern Memorial's garage. Such programs are an effective way to reach low-income, elderly and "unchurched" people.
At McEachern Memorial, members also accept donations of vehicles for needy people and have given away more than 50 cars in nearly three years.
While Huckaby is there, mechanics huddle underneath car hoods to battle worn-out belts on radiators and water pumps, a cracked bushing, and an assortment of other vehicular ailments. On another Saturday, when a local newspaper reporter stopped by to write a story about the ministry, 25 men were changing oil and brakes and running diagnostics on eight cars in the 60-by-100-foot barn behind the sanctuary.
Huckaby watches as mechanics wrestle with her car's new power-steering pump.
"They're definitely a gift from God," she says.
Church member David McCoy, an airline mechanic who started the ministry in 2002, oversees the repair work on Huckaby's car. The repairs are long overdue. He notes that the belts were "about to come out."
"When you don't have the money to put the food on the table, your car is way down the list of priorities," McCoy says. "What I hope is that they go away from here and know that we love 'em."
To McCoy and the other mechanics, outreach means reaching under the hood - and to Erica Stanisclaus, that is a godsend. Like Huckaby, Stanisclaus nearly fainted when she saw the repair bill for a brake job.
"I went to Meineke and they told me to fix my brakes was over 500 bucks," she says. "And as a single parent, I cannot afford that at all. What they are doing is God-blessed."
After a mechanic at McEachern installs brakes on her car, Stanisclaus hugs him and begins to cry.
"You have a blessed day," she says.
"Glad to help," the mechanic replies.
Other churches or individuals interested in the carcare outreach can contact McEachern Memorial United Methodist Church at (770) 943-3508.
Smith is a freelance writer living in Dallas.
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