Missions & Outreach

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. John 15:12

The Epworth Missions & Outreach Team serves the Church by developing and facilitating effective ministries, within our Church membership, that bear witness to the giving nature of Christ both locally and internationally. If you have a passion for a mission project or a particular area of outreach that is not be listed here, contact the church office.  The Team is here to serve as a resource and a support system for the various ministry areas of the church and the congregation and are always open to new ideas. 


Epworth is devoted to serving the community, both regionally and internationally. Come join with us in our missions and outreach endeavors! We welcome all ages! You're never too young or too old to be involved in missions!


In our "Every One a Missionary" campaign, we've come up with a number of ways you can serve. From the smallest to the largest, every ministry in this list is important. Take time to check it out and see where you feel called to serve.

LOCAL MISSIONS

INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS

Ganta United Methodist Hospital in Ganta, Liberia & Dr. Albert Willicor

In 1926, what started as a Methodist supported health post has grown to a full-fledged acute care referral hospital providing many healthcare services to area residents. The center provides primary healthcare and includes a dental clinic, eye clinic, diabetes clinic, maternity clinic. Ganta Hospital continues to have ongoing needs for building repairs and financial support for ongoing efforts to provide affordable healthcare to a public too poor to afford healthcare costs. 


Goals & Objectives of the Hospital:

1. To renovate and expand existing hospital buildings. 

2. To improve on basic sanitation and hygiene in the hospital environment. 

3. To increase preventive health services for up to 150 communities. 

4. To provide salary and administrative expenses for staff to include (administrator, comptroller, one doctor). 

 

Dr. Albert G. Willicor, missionary with the Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church through GBGM Global Health, is the Chief Medical Officer at Ganta United Methodist Hospital in Ganta, Liberia. Dr. Willicor is native to Liberia where he received his elementary, junior high and high school education. He was valedictorian of his senior class and was awarded two scholarships to the University of Liberia where he studied engineering and pre-med. In 1983 he received his Medical Doctor degree from the A.M. Dogliotti College of Medicine in Monrovia, Liberia. John F. Kennedy Memorial Center in Monrovia was the site of Dr. Willicor’s internship before his Resident training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Liberian-Japanese Friendship Maternity Hospital. While there he was Head Resident of the Surgical Contraceptive Program. 

 

Epworth supports both the Ganta United Methodist Hospital in Ganta (GBGM Advance #15080N), and missionary Dr. Albert Willicor (GBGM Advance #15151Z).


Shade & Fresh Water - Brazil

Shade and Fresh Water (GBGM Advance #11580A) helps at-risk children and teens develop character through a national after-school network. When the project began in 2000, there were many children living on the streets. Teenagers were prone to get involved in drugs, crime, and prostitution. In many cities, vigilante groups that sought to clean up the street, murdered street children. The Brazilian Methodist church consolidated local projects, creating a network to unify the church´s effort and to strengthen local church programs by providing common materials and regular training.


Thousands of children and teenagers are being reached daily under a common vision and framework that develops character and values, provides Christian education material and educational resources for children and teenagers at risk between 6 and 14 years of age. They also teach health, hygiene and nutritional basics, and provide organized after-school activities to enrich the lives of children and teenagers throughout Brazil.


United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) 

Whenever disaster strikes, UMCOR is quick to respond. They are usually second to arrive on the scene behind the Red Cross. Long after the Red Cross and other organizations leave the scene, UMCOR volunteers stay behind, working alongside individuals and families to meet their housing, medical, and other needs.  


Epworth has donated flood buckets, school kits, and health kits during times of disaster, and has also spent time on a summer Mission Trip to UMCOR headquarters in Louisana to make repairs, stock their warehouse, and sew school kits to assist in UMCOR’s missions. UMCOR channels 100% of monies donated directly to relief, keeping no monies behind for administrative costs.  A once-yearly offering supports and sustains the mission work of UMCOR.


Samaritan's Purse / Operation Christmas Child

Each November, Epworth collects and delivers over 150 shoeboxes filled with toys, crafts, and hygiene items to Operation Christmas Child to be delivered to children around the world, spreading the love of Christ to children and families through the Samaritan’s Purse program. To participate, stuff a shoebox with crayons & a coloring book or pad, school supplies, a stuffed toys or small toys, toothpaste & toothbrush, soap & washcloths, brushes, a t-shirt and/or other small items, and bring your shoebox(es) to the church in October or November for delivery to a local shipment site. All boxes are then sent to a distribution center where they are sorted and have a message of God's love included in the proper language for the destination country, and are distributed to children around the world.  Several members of the church have received correspondence back from families who received their shoeboxes!


There is an option to pre-pay on-line for shipping your shoeboxes and register to have your shoeboxes "tracked" so you'd know to which countries your shoeboxes were delivered. Be aware that many packages do not get delivered at "Christmas time" and, instead, continue to be delivered even through August (as many of us are beginning to start assembling items and packing boxes for the Fall!).


Samaritan's Purse must rely on the availability and schedules of guides or messengers or other means of delivery to gain access to children living in remote or isolated areas. While your boxes may be in the "later delivery" groups, you can still expect to be notified once your shoeboxes find their way to their eventual destination! Thanks, always, for your continued support of this wonderful ministry to spread the love of Jesus Christ throughout the entire globe!

Building Ramps Is Our Speciality!