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Info@HydeParkUMC.org
   

Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary News

Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary (BMTS), our mission partner, is the largest United Methodist seminary in Europe, and serves students from eight countries who study in three languages: Estonian, Russian and English. Their newsletter is titled Prayerchain, it begins with a message from Külli Tõniste, Rector. Here’s an excerpt:

FOCUS

Dear friend,

Is God ringing a bell in you? How do you discern a call to study at seminary?

I still remember the feeling of both excitement and anxiety when I first rang the doorbell at Apteegi street 3 where the Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary used to be located. I was young and nervous. I had done a few things in my Pentecostal church and I loved to read the Bible, but I was not a theologian and I did not have a clear plan for the future. I did not even know what the word “Methodist” meant in the name of that new seminary. I only knew that my pastor had said about the Methodist founder John Wesley: “He is our grandfather too”. So I guess they were alright. I had many unanswered questions about the content and origin of my faith and these questions motivated me to ring the bell.

Read their newsletter

Thank You from Missionaries Pat and Melenda Edmiston

Pat and Melenda Edmiston are missionaries with Wycliffe – Partners in Bible Translation, a nondenominational mission organization dedicated to translating the Scriptures and teaching people to read and write in their own language.

The story of the 5 loaves and 2 fish doesn’t have to be a miracle only witnessed in the Scriptures. Every day, we have the opportunity to participate in God’s provision for the world. We give what we have, and he is faithful to bless and multiply it in his hands.

When you partner with us, you are:

Equipping believers with God’s Word
Transforming lives for eternity
Growing the kingdom of God + multiplying churches

1.5 billion people still don’t have the full Bible in their first language. Imagine what’s possible with Scripture that’s accurate and speaks to their hearts.

Melenda and I want to thank you for your faithful gifts over the past few months. They have been a true blessing in these uncertain times. You can be sure that we continue to be faithful to our calling in seeing God’s Word translated into new languages and transforming lives. This is what Dahn, a fellow believer in Southeast Asia, had to say:

“I live in a rural area where there is no church. A pastor visits regularly, but because of Covid-19 we have not seen him much. 

“During this time, people in my village have abandoned their former way of life and participate in evil practices, such as drinking to get drunk, burning charms, and worshipping ancestors. But God’s Word helps me walk in the path of righteousness. As I study the Bible, day by day my faith is strengthened and my heart is softened. Like it says in Proverbs 2:20, I pray to walk in the way of goodness.”

Pray more people in remote areas of Southeast Asia will hear His Word in their heart language and walk away from their evil practices and turn to the paths of righteousness.

In His Love,

Pat & Mel

News from Shining The Light Ministries

Shining the Light Ministries, our mission partner in Nicaragua, provides agriculture training and support to low income families in the area around Leon. Their focus is in three areas: Gardens, Poultry and Sewing.

Here is an excerpt from their latest newsletter:

2021 is the year when Asociacion Brillando la Luz de Cristo en Nicaragua and Shining the Light Ministries are expecting to be able to see God´s hands in everything that we are doing in Leon to serve him. We are coming off of a very hard year (2020) because of Covid 19. Last year was a very difficult year for the whole world and we believe that God´s word is being fulfilled in everything we can see around us. We are also grateful to be the hands and feet of Jesus here on earth, he is our provider, praise God!

Read the complete newsletter

Kids Camp and Missions Fund

As the school year winds down, families are looking forward to fun, impactful activities for their children. You can help by donating to send a kid to summer camp, Vacation Bible School or on a mission trip! A special offering is being collected to help make a difference in the life of a child. The fund provides scholarships to children and youth with financial needs from our congregation and our missions partners. Donate: hydeparkumc.org/KidsCampGift

Praise for Abe Brown Ministries

Abe Brown Ministries’ works to break cycles of incarceration by helping renew the minds of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated citizens, motivating them to change their behaviors and achieve purposeful lives as a compassionate demonstration of the Love of Jesus Christ.

Karlin’s Success Story

Karlin grew up one of seven children to a single mom in North Carolina. After leaving high school, he worked several different jobs to support himself financially. Karlin especially grew to love his career in the trucking industry. Karlin described himself as caring and easily trusting of everyone he came across. While working as a supervisor, he blindly trusted one of the workers which unfortunately led to his incarceration. Following his release from prison, Karlin decided to join the Ready4Work-Hillsborough program for employment assistance. Through this program’s Career Development Classes and Employment Workshops, Karlin received the necessary resources he needed to get his life back on track. He obtained all of the skills that were necessary for him to become both a successful truck driver and a proactive member of society. Karlin states that Ready4Work-Hillsborough taught him better decision-making skills which ultimately increased his self-worth. With the help of his Career Coach, Karlin was able to secure a truck driving job at Action Specialty Packaging. Karlin’s goals are to obtain his GED and to maintain thoughts and actions of self-worthiness. He also hopes to stay in contact with Abe Brown Ministries’ Read4Work-Hillsborough, because they helped him stay grounded and on the right track.

Read more

Support the Children’s Home

We share in the support of the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home, typically in months that contain a fifth Sunday.

The Florida United Methodist Children’s Home (FUMCH) is a refuge and haven for abused, neglected and troubled children. It has been serving residents of the state of Florida for more than 100 years. Children are provided a home-like setting at the main campus or the Youth Ranch. In addition to caring for children under the age of 18, the Home has an Independent Living program serving young adults 18– 26–years old and their families.

In the video below, Michelle speaks about her experiences at the Children’s Home. She came there as a result of an emergency placement, and was blessed with great house parents who worked hard to make them a family. She also worked with a counselor to help her work through challenges in her life. Because of the care and support she received, her life has changed in ways should couldn’t have seen years ago.

Next Fifth Sunday: May 30, 2021

To support their ministry, please make an online contribution. For more information, contact Pat Kelly.

Donor Blesses Dunbar Families

Recently, parents and students at Dunbar Elementary returned to the school to return their laptops before summer break. When they arrived, they received an unexpected gift of generosity from a stranger. The video tells the rest of the story.

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Dunbar Elementary Offers Video Thanks

With public schools closed throughout Hillsborough County, the staff, teachers and students shared a video to celebrate the love and support they received from Hyde Park’s volunteers. There were countless messages of gratitude, virtual hugs, plus videos and letters from the students as they expressed their heartfelt thanks. As Dawn Stites, Dunbar’s principal said, “Volunteers are the Heart of Dunbar.” Watch the video.

Bike Ministry

Hyde Park’s Bike Ministry continues to roll along and is very much in need of more volunteers. While there is always room for new mechanics, we also have non-mechanical need such as:

 

  • metal recycling once a month
  • intake assistance for an hour on Sunday mornings to tag bikes with people’s names and the repairs required
  • storeroom organization once a month
  • donation intake and processing
  • storage for bikes near the church
  • transporting donation bikes to and from storage
We currently have a small crew of three mechanics working up to 5 hours on 20 bikes on any given Sunday morning and would appreciate some additional assistance. While we try to offer services on a weekly basis, this all depends on the manpower available to facilitate them.

Mission Trip 2019 — Final Thoughts

When you commit to a mission trip, you have to know that things may not go quite as initially planned.  But choosing to go on a mission trip is not usually just a whim.  It is usually because you feel a call to help others.  So in truth, maybe it just didn’t go quite as YOU planned.

God showed us over and over this week that our presence was needed here.  We started with no real idea how we would fill the week, and ended feeling like we had really gotten something done.  Perhaps we might have been happier if we had worked 8 hour days or if we saw completed projects, but we were told before we came that we should not expect that. Just as others before us had begun the projects, others after us will finish them. But we were a necessary piece of the completed whole and proud to have done our part.

If we arrived here with a printed schedule for the week, today’s view of that same schedule would be difficult to read with all of the changes, red lines and redirections along the way.  But with an understanding of who we are and why we are here, we were unfazed.  The “why we came” was never dictated by the what we do – but by who we do it for.  There may have been considerably more down time than any of us expected – and than many of us would have preferred.  But without that down time, there would have been far less time to truly appreciate the magnificence of the beauty around us that was put there by the one who directed us here.  And maybe that, too, was part of the plan.

There were so many more than just the 14 of us involved this week.  With no showers here in the church, there were families in the community who every night opened their homes to us to shower – some even offering appetizers and sharing their lives with us.  One couple in the church graciously paid for us all to enjoy dinner at a restaurant.  Steve, JP and Steve from UMCOR and the people from Habitat all worked patiently with our skill levels and tirelessly to give us what we wanted, a full week of work.  One church member, Chris, coordinated all that we needed for our living arrangements and she, and a small army of her friends, prepared a delicious dinner for us and spent that mealtime getting to know us just a bit.

We came here as a group held together by our love of God and desire to serve Him. As we got to know each other, we could tell when a team member needed some help – and someone jumped right in. We learned of our strengths and weaknesses – some cook, some write, some are great with a hammer – and accepted and valued each equally.  We recognized who may need a little extra care and when someone just needed to be left alone. We learned who liked raucous laughter as evening entertainment, and who preferred a quiet card game. We shared laughter, tears, sweat and prayers and we leave here as friends. 

So perhaps this trip went just exactly how it was planned.  So many times this week people have expressed their gratitude; from the homeowners, to the Habitat workers, to the people from the church.  But truly it is we who are grateful for the opportunity to answer God’s call to serve – we know that we are blessed to have been able to do so – and for this chance to fulfill our church’s mission to Make God’s Love Real.