Thanksgiving at Della Lamb Community Services

Today was a big day at Della Lamb in Kansas City. The UMC related Mission gave over 1200 families the groceries to prepare a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks to many donations from our United Methodist Churches and others, each family that qualified received a turkey or hen, a frozen pie, dressing mix, gravy mix, boxed mashed potatoes, canned veggies, cranberry sauce, eggs, margarine, and a cake mix. The Lamb has been doing this "give away" for many years.
When I arrived at the Lamb this morning, the "clients" were lined up all the way around the block. It was amazing to see the many immigrants from dozens of countries that The Lamb serves. Several of the African women simply put the brown paper bags of groceries on their heads, took the hands of one or two preschoolers and walked out.
There were many other volunteers there, including a Sunday School Class from UMC Church of the Resurrection in Kansas. I worked with old friends, Dr. Eph and Jan Ehly. Kevin Cozad from Kearney UMC, and Pat Johnson, our Della Lamb Board President were helping, also.
Judy Akers and her staff are incredible. They had worked for days sacking the non-perishables and today before the "clients" came, we added the refrigerated stuff. Tomorrow, Della staff will begin to prepare for Operation Christmas. Food for a meal and gifts for all family members will be prepared to be given to needy families.
Many of the "clients" were non-English speakers, but everyone I encountered smiled and said, "Thank you". It was a wonderful and exhausting day, but I was the one who was truly blessed and I am truly thankful for the experience.
Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

Planning for 2009

The Missouri Conference United Methodist Women held our Fall Planning Meeting and District Officer Training on the 7th and 8th of November. Our host church was Fairview UMC in Columbia, and as usual with the meetings we have held there, the pastor Nick Campbell, really treated us royally. It was good to come in after driving from all parts of the state to hot coffee and a warm meeting room.
Our theme this year was DOZENS OF D.O.T.S and we carried out the theme in creative ways. Our 12 Districts (x) 12 Officers gave us plenty of opportunities to DOT our t's and CROSS our eyes. We had a great time.
The Conference Mission Team will start off the year with our Legislative Event, in early March. Missouri's Legislative Event is the oldest UMW Event of it's kind in the U.S. Now, that's not to say that we are the oldest UMWs in the U.S. However, the Rev. Ron Graham did call me an old lady once! I should have challenged him to a Smack Down. He's older than dirt!
Then in May, we will host our Spiritual Growth Retreats. June is Missouri Annual Conference and we we again hold our Annual Walk for Mission Giving. Head's up...we'll all be in RED.
July is our Cooperative School of Christian Mission. That event is sponsored by the General Church and UMW. We always have marines there........a few really good men! But, of course we would always welcome more, as we learn and celebrate the Mission work of the United Methodist Church. CSOCM is held at our own Central Methodist College in Fayette.
In September, we will travel to Poplar Bluff for our Annual Meeting. October will be District Meetings and then it will be time to plan for 2009.
Check out our Web Pages on the moumethodist.org web site, for the exact dates of our events.
United Methodist Women is SOOOOO alive and well in the state of Missouri.