Laity in Ministry

Vibrant, Growing Congregations … Our vision in action

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

          Sunday was Confirmation at St. Peter’s.  For the first time I remember, none of our confirmands were being baptized.   There was an infant baptism earlier in the service and Dan Miller, our senior pastor, used it as a wonderful way to remind our sixth graders that they have been part of the church long before their confirmation and decision to join the church.

          At the later service, our children put on the musical “O, Jonah.”  It is, of course, the story of Jonah and his journey to Nineveh.  Years ago when my daughter was small, she participated in the same musical.  Sitting and watching Sunday, I could almost sing along.  We listened to the cassette tape over and over again until we both had all of the songs memorized.

          What wonderful memories these two worship services held for me!  And what better reminder for me as to why our vision of “Vibrant growing congregations changing lives and reshaping futures for Jesus Christ” is so important!  Can you imagine anything more important than children understanding that they are loved; not only by their parents but by church members, and most importantly, by God?  As we welcome a baby, child or adult into the family of God through baptism, we agree to surround that person with steadfast love, so that they may be confirmed and strengthened in the way that leads to life eternal.       

          Watching that baby be baptized, then the children sing, and finally, seeing our sixth graders join the church was like time lapse photography of a caterpillar eating the leaves, spinning its cocoon and then seeing the butterfly emerge!  It all happens so fast.   But with God watching over every aspect of our lives, each step along the way is a gift, a celebration.

          Next week, I will be at Annual Conference in the Woodlands.  So, although you will all be in my thoughts and prayers, I won’t be posting a blog entry.  I’ll share Annual Conference highlights here soon!

          Laity luncheon tickets are still available on the website and will be until Thursday morning.  You can go straight to www.txcumc.org/layluncheon09 if you prefer!

Showers of blessings!

Leah Taylor

The Aftermath of Moving

Monday, May 11th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

             It is amazing how much life can change in one short week.  Sitting in the front seat of my daughter’s car, singing along to her CD’s, I realized that in her first year of college, she has changed from being a teenager into being a beautiful, self-assured young woman.

          In the car ahead of us, I could barely see my husband’s head through the stuff stacked in the back seat.  Periodically the dog’s head popped up and she would turn and look back at us.

For those of you who remember your last move, you can imagine the scene at our new house.  No single room is completely set up.  Open boxes spill their contents onto the floor of every room.  Closed boxes are stacked in the corners.  The beds are made – thank goodness since we fall into them exhausted each night.  After innumerable failures, we finally located our everyday dishes so we can actually eat in the breakfast room.  Of course there is no food in the fridge.  And all this on Mother’s Day!

God is so good – surrounded by this mess I realize that I am completely surrounded by the blessings of my life.  And I am so grateful.

In the chaos of the last week, many of you have called with questions about the Lay Luncheon.  We will gather on Tuesday, May 26, in the Loft Worship Gym.  There will be several vans providing transportation from the main campus, but if the weather is nice, consider stretching your legs by walking across the parking lot.

          Go to http://www.txcumc.org/layluncheon09 to make reservations and buy your tickets.  Tickets are $15.00 per person.  Bring a friend – clergy are welcome, too.

          As the college students from your church come home for the summer, be sure to give them a hug.  Stop to hear their stories, their hopes and dreams. They represent the future of our churches.  They care deeply and you each have so much to share.

Showers of blessings,

Leah

Moving, Moving and Moving Words

Monday, May 4th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Today, Monday, May 4, 2009, is Moving Day 4 at my house.  We’ve spent all weekend moving small pieces of furniture and boxes that we packed ourselves.  This morning the packers come to pack the fragile items.  Tomorrow the movers come to take our furniture.

Friday we head off to Fort Worth to move our daughter, Mary Beth, home from her freshman year at TCU.  We will be bringing her and all of her stuff home to our new house.

Mona Avalos is a young lay woman from our Conference who was part of the Net Delivery Team that went to Cote d’Ivoire last November.  Her essay, “Into the Hands of a Child”, won second place in an essay contest earlier this year.  It is a moving description of her experience.  So while I am busy with boxes, I hope you will take a few moments to read and reflect on her words.

Showers of blessings – not in boxes!

Leah Taylor

Into the Hands of a Child

The van became silent as my eight companions and I arrived closer to our work site in Adiaké, Ivory Coast,  that warm day in November last year. As we drove up to what looked to be an abandoned town hall, we gasped as we saw the colorful sea of fabric from the 300 women and their children, from the age of 9 months to 5 years, crowded on the front steps. They had formed a sort of snake line on the porch and showed signs of exhaustion, but at the same time were anxious to see what was happening at the front of the line. As we exited the van some of the children ran up to us smiling ear to ear and put out their hand as if to give a high five.

Our team of volunteers consisted of two interpreters, who were students from the local University in Abidjan, and the rest of us were from different parts of Texas. Eddie, our team leader and I stayed at the first site while the others went on to the other locations.    From the tones of the loud voices, we could sense frustration among the mothers and the volunteers. The mothers had been in line since early that morning and had traveled miles in order for their children to receive the medical services we were providing. Though the volunteers had no water or food and everyone was hot and tired, one could feel the excitement in the air. The local volunteers had set up an assembly line to dispense the medicine.  This line was composed of a table, a couple of old chairs, and two benches. As we approached the line the local volunteers motioned to us as if to ask if we wanted to sit. We respectfully declined, as we were too anxious to begin working. We began to un-wrap the large, white, heavy bundles that held about 40 long-lasting mosquito nets; the package that held the net was cut open exposing the nets so as not to be sold on the black market. The assembly line started with mothers who had an average of three children. The children were given a Vitamin A tablet to chew, de-worming medicine, and then a volunteer would have the child either sit in their lap or hold them close while another volunteer would prepare a syringe which contained a measles vaccine. Once the child felt the sting, and started to cry, it caused quite a commotion from his siblings waiting their turn. Some children were very brave and did not shed one tear; they just gazed at us curiously. Others were so scared and surprised from the shot, that when we went to mark their pinky nail with a marker, used to show the child had received their treatment, they would start to cry more and pull away. We soon learned that handing the child the mosquito net would usually stop the tears, even if they were too small to hold it in their little arms. Afterwards, the mothers with their children, each child with their own net usually placed on their little heads, would then sit and learn about the proper use and care of the net. As the day wore on and the children became comfortable with our presence, they would sit with us and help cut open packages that held the nets. We would take pictures of them and show them the picture on our digital cameras. They always shrieked with delight, after seeing their image in the photo. 

That first day at our site alone, we handed out about 400 nets. Throughout the south of the Ivory Coast there were an estimated 3,000 sites that were also giving vaccinations and distributing mosquito nets. Each day my team members and I would travel about two hours to Adiaké where we were greeted with open arms by the local doctor and the volunteers from the village. Each day we were given the opportunity to hand a mosquito net into the hands of a little one, each day we were given the chance to save a life.

Between 350 and 500 million people are infected each year with malaria, mostly the victims are in Africa. More than 1 million of those infected die from the disease and 75 percent of those deaths are children under the age of five. In 2006 the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church formed a partnership with the United Methodist Church of Côte d’Ivore and the United Nations Foundation. They decided to combat malaria in Africa by raising funds to purchase life-saving bed nets through the Nothing But Nets campaign. As a result more than $21 million dollars was raised and 785,000 mosquito nets were hand delivered to the neediest Ivory Coast residents. Together with the local volunteers and other organizations we were also able to provide over 3 million children with measles vaccines, de-worming medication, and a Vitamin A supplement. This was part of a national measles vaccination campaign, led by the Côte d’Ivoire ministry of health, the Measles Initiative, UNICEF, the World Health Organization and other partners.

I was blessed to be chosen along with 35 other volunteers to travel to Côte d’Ivoire and be a part of this journey. The 5-day campaign was launched in Alépé last November and each day we returned from our designated sites physically and emotionally exhausted. However, our spirits were lifted each evening with the sounds of music from the local church choir who sang to us while we ate the dinner that was prepared by the women of the church. While communicating with the interpreters and the local volunteers was sometimes challenging since I do not speak their language of French, language was not always necessary. Anyone could see in our faces and by our actions the common compassion and tremendous love we had for the children whose lives we hopefully changed.