Thank You ... on behalf of the "Least"

I want to use my space this month to say "Thank You" to the Adnah UMC congregation for your generosity and willingness to share your material resources with those in need.  We have "closed the books" financially, on 2005 and I believe that several items should be brought to your attention.

Last year began with the world reeling from the destruction wrought by the South Asia tsunami. The images which came into our homes via cable news and other media were indeed heartbreaking. Over a period of only two weeks, the Adnah congregation gave over $800 to UMCOR for tsunami relief.

Natural disaster struck our homeland in August when Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf coast. The city of New Orleans and surrounding environs are only now beginning to recover; the death toll was in the thousands; the number of persons rendered homeless is in the hundreds of thousands. The special offering taken at Adnah for Hurricane Katrina relief exceeded $2,000.

Our United Methodist Youth Fellowship (UMYF) held an October 29-30 "lock-in" during which the kids fasted in a fundraiser for world hunger. This was an event in which many youth groups around the nation participated. The "ACT FAST" appeal for hunger netted in excess of $700 from the Adnah UMYF.

In 2004, we filled 35 "Operation Christmas Child" shoe boxes. Our goal for 2005 was 40 boxes. In November, the Adnah congregation filled and delivered 54 boxes to the Samaritan's Purse organization for "Operation Christmas Child."

Once again, the congregation responded to the Christmas needs of Epworth Children's Home in Columbia. In addition to our previous response to the Mother's Day and Work Day offerings, Adnah folks provided Christmas gifts for 25 Epworth residents, and Ms. Adkins' Sunday School class purchased "stocking stuffers." Our holiday response didn't stop there:  Adnah provided gifts for 20 children served by DSS and (thanks to an anonymous donor) purchased brand new bicycles for 20 additional children.

In addition, the Adnah UMC congregation once again donated a generous amount of school supplies for York Place; received special offerings for Hope Inc. and PATH Ministries; donated food four times during the year to the Hope Inc. Food Pantry; contributed loose change ("Pennies From Heaven") through the year to Pilgrim's Inn; and designated our Community Thanksgiving offering to the Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen in Rock Hill.

If I have inadvertently omitted a project, please forgive me (as I am writing this from memory). But the point I am trying to make is inescapable: You are a generous people who have responded admirably to the social demands of the gospel to "do unto the least of these, my brethren," in Jesus' words. Not only that, all of the above was done while Adnah UMC was paying in full 100% of our connectional obligations to the United Methodist Church; retiring our Family Life Center indebtedness on the schedule we agreed to with our lender (along with $40,000 loan pre-payment); and ending the calendar year with all local bills and obligations paid.

So I say to you, as your pastor, a fervent "Thank You" for your sensitivity, responsiveness, generosity of spirit, and commitment to God's Church. May the Lord continue to guide us and bless us as we work, minister, and give together in 2006!