Matthews United Methodist www.globalimpactmumc.org

www.facebook.com/globalimpactatmumc

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Growing a Christian Community:

A Partnership Story

God has called us to be His disciples….but exactly how

do you do that? How do you change people and

situations, especially in a developing country? Ron and

Linda Braaten had just that very challenge. We asked

Linda Braaten to comment on the following statements:

You went from:

no teams, to many teams & churches supporting Oasis Ministry.

no school, to graduates becoming teachers in that school.

a small church, to your own church.

being the sole church leader, to Belizeans becoming Elders.

building houses for Belizeans, to Belizeans building houses.

no small businesses, to many…

Linda’s response: “God has used the vehicle of Oasis Ministry to

involve churches and individuals from the

States in the work done in Belize. MUMC came

alongside Oasis Ministry approximately 10

years ago, first in a small way, sending

building teams, then fully embracing them and

walking alongside them in a number of areas.

One significant aspect of the ministry has been

the training of Belizeans to continue the work

that has been started. It takes teamwork to get

the job done which is what is happening down

in Belize. As individuals and churches have

worked together, we have seen Belizean

students become Christian Belizean teachers

and Belizeans who had nothing to eat

now provide for their families.”

Linda Braaten explains further, “MUMC came

up with the vision for starting small businesses

with micro loans. As a result, we have seen

families in our village able to provide for

themselves and no longer be dependent on

handouts. Many of the young people are

watching this and are starting to make plans to

make use of this ministry.

Continued on Page 3

“We have seen families in our

village able to provide for

themselves and no longer be

dependent on handouts.”

“Together we can

change lives…”

MUMC AND OASIS MINISTRY COLLECTIVELY

GROWING AND TRANSFORMING A

COMMUNITY INTO CHRISTIAN DISCIPLES.

THE SELFLESS LOVE OF JESUS IS FULLY PRESENT IN DONN AND CYNDIE TRUAX’S MINISTRY, CHANGE OF 1, (C1), IN GLOVERSVILLE, NY.

From youth and young

adults to businessmen to

recovering addicts,

God is changing hearts

and restoring lives in

Gloversville through the

Truaxes and C1.

Gloversville is a seemingly hopeless town on

the surface. Once a booming place, the town

is now plagued by drugs, alcoholism, poverty,

broken relationships, and spiritual darkness.

After realizing the need in Gloversville, the

Truax family, in a leap of faith, moved from

Matthews four years ago to open a mission

organization and Christian community center

in Gloversville which is now Change of 1.

One of the first days our team was there, I met Rob, a C1 family member. We

played piano and drums together and sang the song “Redeemed” by Big Daddy

Weave. This song has really great lyrics, although I think they gained a lot

more meaning for me by playing it with Rob that day. Later on in the week,

Rob shared with me how God was rescuing him from his addiction and

helping repair his relationship with his daughter and the rest of his family. At

the end of the week, Rob told Donn that he wanted to be baptized, an

awesome proclamation of what God had been doing in his life.

There are many stories from our trip that I could tell, like ones of people

turning from addictions and spiritually dead ways of life, teens from bad

family situations finding refuge in God, joyful baptisms, a thriving youth

group, and a close-knit community of believers and churches striving together

as the body of Christ for the glory of God in a community desperate for Him.

~ Jeffrey Hall

Impacting Gloversville

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

- Romans 10:15 s (

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G G

Please join us for meetings the first Monday of each month at 6:30 pm in Rooms 209/211. All are Welcome!

Upcoming Mission

Opportunities

Belize (February 8th - 15th, 2014) * Earl Coggins - encoggins@att.net * Sarah Prewitt - sarah@matthewsumc.org

Jamaica (April 12th - 19th, 2014) * Dan Meyer - dan@charlotteflyer.com

Zarmisha Ministry, Uganda

(Spring 2014) * Jami Comer - jamicomer@hotmail.com

Financial Update

Continued from cover

Many of the teams came down for ministry in the churches and with the

children, but soon Ron saw the need to help many of the families in our

villages with housing. So he came up with a plan for teams to build simple

homes for families with the greatest need. Many of the home recipients have

decided to come and help build for their neighbors when the next team

came. On several occasions there have been homes that have been

constructed by a fully Belizean team!

Two years ago, Ron felt the Lord

leading him to start a church right

here at Oasis between the two villages

of Blackman Eddy and Unitedville.

While Ron is the pastor, all of our

church leaders are Belizean. We have

one young man, who was saved

through our ministry many years ago,

serving as an elder and the youth pastor. Many of the young people who have been

involved in our children’s programs are beginning to step up to take important positions

in the church.

What a great adventure it is to build God’s kingdom together here in Belize. We are truly

seeing the development of a Christian community that stretches from the United States

to Belize.”

This is a success story about how we…MUMC and Oasis Ministry are collectively growing

and transforming a community into Christian disciples. Together we can change lives,

situations and hearts. Though our prayers, our service and our financial support we can

come alongside those in need and make a difference. ~ Linda Icard with Linda Braaten

Visit our website GlobalImpactMUMC.org.

There were many touching moments when we arrived at the orphanages

in La Paz and in Tacachia, especially seeing the Children waiting to greet

us with hugs and kisses. The children and staff of the orphanage were

so welcoming and loving, we knew God was present.

God touched my life in many ways during this trip. He amazed me when

I saw the beauty of his creation in the country itself. He humbled me

when I saw how He had touched the lives of the children there and how

blessed they were to have a loving Christian place to live in. He made me

thankful for the blessings in my life!

One example of when I saw God at work was when Joshua (a missionary

on the trip with us) would tell Bible Stories every day to the children in

their language. They couldn’t wait for this to happen!

I think it is important to go out into other parts of the world and

experience God at work, giving us such a different perspective . I’ve

always been a little fearful of going to a place I’ve never been before to

do mission work—would I be comfortable, could I do the work needed?

Would the people like or relate to me? Every time—moments after I

arrive—I know I’ve done the right thing! ~ Patricia Clark

Bolivia Bound Bolivia Bound

“The children and

staff of the

orphanage were

so welcoming and

loving, we knew

God was present.”.