MINISTRY PARTNERS

STRATEGIC PARTNERS IN MISSIONS

Bethlehem First UMC has partnered with over 20 different missionaries and mission organizations in fulfilling our mission “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” Through our partnerships, we serve as the hands and feet of Christ.

LOCAL MINISTRY PARTNERS

Barrow County Cooperative Benevolence Ministries (BCCBM) is a Christian volunteer organization that helps those in need in Barrow County. Monthly food distributions, a daily food pantry, Thrift Store & clothes closet and Church of the Month are some of the assistance they help with. Their monthly food distribution is the third Thursday of every month. BFUMC is church of the month each March and we are responsible for volunteers for the daily food pantry in June of each year.

Bethlehem Elementary School is a local school where we mentor students, serve teachers and staff on teacher work days, and collect donations for needs as they arise.

Barrow Ministry Village partners with churches and community leaders in Barrow County to raise awareness, pray, and provide supplemental support for foster children and families in the Barrow community. Barrow Ministry Village bridges the gap in services providing hope and healing to a community of struggling individuals and families. Their focus is professional Christian Counseling and Foster Family Support. They offer a food pantry & clothing closet for their clients.

LifeSouth Community Blood Center‘s mission is to provide a safe blood supply that meets or exceeds the needs in each community they serve, and to provide a variety of services in support of ongoing and emerging blood and transfusion-related activities. We partner with them to host quarterly blood drives in their Bloodmobile on our church campus.

Northeast Georgia Homeless Veterans Shelter: The Northeast Georgia Homeless Veterans Shelter is an organization that offers transitional housing and a comprehensive array of support services to homeless Veterans and their families. Supportive services include vocational and career development, life skills training, counseling services, and help with obtaining veteran’s benefits. These services allow our Veterans to transition back into the community as healthy productive citizens.

Peace Place, Inc.: is a domestic violence program that serves survivors of family violence in Banks, Barrow & Jackson counties. They offer emergency shelter, transitional & scattered site housing, outreach & legal advocacy, safety planning, educational presentations, & children’s services.

Come Alive Ministries is a pregnancy care center offering help and hope to women facing an unplanned pregnancy in the Barrow County area. They endeavor to equip women to take care of their children and make wise choices that save and improve the lives of many children every year.

Back to School Bash: During July, school backpacks and school supplies are collected and donated to help families in need have the opportunity to receive school supplies for their children before the start of the school year. Families are able receive the backpacks by attending the annual Back to School Bash in July sponsored by Barrow County Family Connection.

Hope Connects Foster Care Family Network hosts a foster care meeting once a month for all the Foster & Adoptive families in Barrow County/ These meetings help the foster families get their CEU hours for the year, connect with other foster families and offers a couple of hours of respite for the foster parents. We hosts, provides the meal, and cares for the children when Hope Connects comes to Bethlehem First UMC.

The Tree House, Inc is a non-profit organization, whose mission is to strengthen communities by reducing the occurrence and impact of child abuse through counseling, educating, supporting and nurturing children and families in Barrow, Banks, and Jackson counties. Bethlehem First UMC supports The Tree House by collecting needed items for the children and counselors.

REGIONAL MINISTRY PARTNERS

Early Response Team (ERT) fill a specific need in the early days after a disaster to clean out flood-damaged homes, remove debris, place tarps on homes, and otherwise help to prevent further damage, while providing a caring Christian presence. ERTs are not a first-response group of emergency workers, nor are they recovery, rebuild, or repair teams. Under very specific guidelines, ERTs assist survivors, without causing further harm or being a burden to the affected community. ERTs require an invitation to travel to another district, conference, or jurisdiction. Please let someone on staff know if you are interested in training to become ERT certified.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is dedicated to alleviating human suffering around the globe. UMCOR’s work includes programs and projects in disaster response, health, sustainable agriculture, food security, relief supplies, and more.

Gwinnett College Wesley is a United Methodist campus student organization that BFUMC supports. Campus ministries are able to make an impact on student’s lives, as well as the future health of the church.

INTERNATIONAL MINISTRY PARTNERS

The Kenya Project and its Kenyan Operating partner, Utunzi, provides opportunities for the children of Kenya to know and experience the love of God through the support of Christians. Their mission is to be in ministry to children of Kenya by providing resources and facilities for their health, education, and spiritual development through student sponsorships programs for private and public education, health and welfare grants to provide for the wellbeing of students and orphans, opportunities for Christian mission work in Kenya, and providing homes for orphans in Kenya.

Operation Christmas Child is a program run by Samaritan’s Purse that uses gift-filled shoeboxes to share God’s love in a tangible way with needy children around the world. Every gift-filled shoebox is a powerful tool for evangelism and discipleship.

Village of Hope is a partner of the Village of Hope Liberia’s project to build a United Methodist Church in the village of Gbata in the district of Kokoya in Liberia. To donate to Village of Hope please email [email protected]

“The Village of Hope” is a very small village located in the Kokoyah District of Liberia.  Although it is only about 70 miles from Monrovia, the nation’s capital, it is about a 5 hour trip due to poor transportation.  85% of Liberia is Christian. From 1989 to 2003 Liberia experienced a fourteen year civil war, resulting in huge losses in terms of human lives, resources, capital investments, and infrastructural developments.  Before the war there were 2,300 schools in Liberia.  80% were destroyed. The Liberian Education Ministry built an elementary school in Gbata in 2014. The village of Gbata had only six classrooms for education and no church. The village children (plus six surrounding villages) were only educated through the sixth grade.  After 6th grade, since there were no more classrooms, the students were expected to go to work and their education stopped. Since there was no permanent church building, the villagers worship outdoors.  The rainy season in Liberia is several months long, making this worship difficult. 

Where are we now:

Education: 

Additional classrooms have been completed and the Liberian government has supplied some of the teachers. The government however does not provide supplies for the students or teachers (paper, books, pencils, etc.)  There are also many teachers who volunteer and get no pay at all.

Church:

The church has been completed to allow a sanctuary and storage areas. This provides space for church services and other activities centered on the church.

How did we get here: 

Over the past 10 years, Hebron Christian Academy, Bethlehem United Methodist Church and several generous donors have raised money to build the school and the church. Money was also raised to ship supplies for the teachers and their classrooms.  This will allow educating the village children thru the twelfth grade so they may have the possibility of pursuing a higher education.  Alma Flahn flies to Liberia each year to distribute the materials that are shipped.