New toot.....

The Kokomo Urban Outreach is reaching out into14 communities. There is no competition in mission and ministry. It only takes one hot dog according to the story told by Susan at the North Central leadership training event at Christ UMC, Westfield last Saturday. They reach out in four streams of outreach. My favorite is "action." "Action is the fourth stream of neighborhood engagement and comes after relationships are made with neighbors. In the action phase, neighbors are called to neighborhood councils to make plans to make their street the best street, in the best block, of the best neighborhood in the city."

Susan Bond, Associate Director of Kokomo Urban Outreach, and I shared stories of local community mission and ministries to mission chairpersons from several churches in Central Indiana on Saturday. She tells the story of serving hot dogs to the neighbor kids. One young boy kept eating and eating. They asked what he had for breakfast..."nothing"...what did you have for dinner yesterday?...."nothing"... it turned out that he had not eaten since lunch at school the previous Friday. The Kokomo Urban Outreach is in 14 neighborhoods today.

Old Bethel UMC, Central District UMC, is back at Nottingham Apartments with their Bible Fun Hour. They take their ministry "on the road" to share Jesus Christ with the children and families in the club house of Nottingham Apartments. If you don't know, this apartment complex has had 5 arson fires since April 2010. In September, Jessica and son American, died in an arson fire at Nottingham Apartments. Jessica and her son attended Old Bethel. She had been a part of the Bible Fun Hour in previous years as a youngster. This loss has engaged the congregation again into Risk Taking Mission and Service. Metro Ministries, Inc. is working through a matching grant process with Old Bethel UMC. Join in support the local missions of Central Indiana.

Sincerely,
Lisa Morris
Executive Director
Metro Ministries, Inc.