Scholarship available

The team for the Mexico A.W.A.R.E. mission trip on January 20-28 is shaping up and nearly complete, but you still have a chance to register before the early November deadline. A partial scholarship may still be available, especially for members who has not been before. If interested, contact Joaquin Garcia, John Kennedy, or Steve Bryant.

Belmont UMC’s Outreach Team is excited to invite you to participate in the upcoming Give Ye Them To Eat (GYTTE) A.W.A.R.E. mission trip to Tlancualpican, Mexico, to hear what God may want to say to you and ALL of us. A.W.A.R.E. stands for "Alternative Work/study And Reality Experience." The A.W.A.R.E. program's purpose is to combat hunger, poverty, disease, and develop sustainable living in the rural areas. The experience provides a cross-cultural experience through work and study with the participants, immersing them in the reality of life in rural Mexico related to the issues of hunger, poverty, health, development, and global awareness. It focuses on the needs of villagers and farming families as well as the Church’s response to those needs.

This mission trip will take place January 20-28, 2023. Belmont UMC has sponsored five different A.W.A.R.E. teams over the years. For more information, go to belmontumc.org/AWARE or contact John Kennedy or Barbara and Joaquin Garcia..

Download the AWARE information flyer.
Read 2019 mission trip group reflections.

God tends not to recognize our stereotyped explanations of the way we think that God should act. In the past…

God chose a mere shepherd in the form of Amos to be God’s spokesperson
the pagan King Cyrus to execute his justice
a maiden to give birth to Jesus
fishermen to establish the church.

Yet, from someone young in the faith we can hear wisdom
from secular prophets we hear legitimate criticism of the church
from the poor we hear God’s cry for justice and
from those who have suffered much we can frequently hear words of graciousness and forgiveness.

It is therefore important that these voices be heard,
including God’s unlikely spokespersons, if we
wish to hear all that God may want to say to us.
The difficulty is usually not a lack of voices,
but a discernment to hear what we most urgently need to hear.

(Excerpts from Reflection 6 of Charles Ringma’s book
DARE TO JOURNEY WITH HENRI NOUWEN)