Following Jesus

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THE MISSIONS PATHWAY: PAG E TWO TALES 6 Following Jesus

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FRAZER UNITED METHODIST CHURCH • frazerumc.org • 6000 Atlanta Highway, Montgo

infant to three. program is free, and childcare is available for ages from traditional, to big band, to contemporary. The soloists and ensembles in musical styles ranging and song. Features over 200 voice choir, full orchestra, Christmas cards bring, brought to life through stage Experience the warmth, hope, laughter, and love that Experience the warmth, hope, laughter,and andlove lovethat that Experience the warmth, hope, laughter, Christmas bring, brought throughstage stage Christmas cardscards bring, brought to tolifelifethrough and song.

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Features overover 200200 voice choir, full soloists ensembles musicalstyles stylesranging ranging soloists and and ensembles in inmusical from traditional, to big band, to contemporary. The

from traditional, to big band, to contemporary. The

program is free, and childcare is available for ages

program is free, and childcare is available for ages infant to three.

infant to three.

FRAZER UNITED METHODIST CHURCH • frazerumc.org • 6000 Atlanta Highway, Montgomery 2 | Following Jesus

RAZER UNITED METHODIST CHURCH • frazerumc.org • 6000 Atlanta Highway, Montgomery

FOLLOWING JESUS Vol. 1 no. 1 FAll 2012 Published by Frazer Memorial united Methodist Church 6000 atlanta hwy.

Montgomery, aL 36117 Printed in uSa by Publications Press

editor & layout Ken roach

editorial Coordinator amy Presley

writers

Mac McLellan amy Presley Ken roach candace rutherford alexia Scott Photographers Mac Mcclellan Lori Mercer billy Pope Lee Werling Martha Poole Simmons Lee Werling Suzanne Williams andrea Vandermey COVER IMAGE:

land in haiti for the new deaf community.

Photo by Billy Pope.

©2012 Frazer Memorial united Methodist church. Limited permission is granted to reproduce articles in their entirety for the purpose of spreading the gospel of Jesus christ without commercial gain.

appLY to be a voLUnteeR wRiteR oR photogRapheR. ContaCt amY pResLeY, amYp@ fRaZeRUmC.oRg 334.495.6436

The Power of Stories I’M THRILLED THAT YOU HAVE IN YOUR HANDS the first issue of Following Jesus magazine. Ever since coming on staff as Communications Director at Frazer, I’ve wanted to launch a magazine. The communication Team at Frazer is responsible for a wide variety of media: WFRZ television, the Frazer Family News, frazerumc.org, and now our presence on Facebook and Twitter. However, I believe the magazine format gives us an opportunity to do one thing particularly well: tell the stories of what God is doing in and through the lives of the Frazer family.

This summer’s hit movie Brave had a line that hit home for me: “legends are lessons.” It spoke of the power that is in the stories we tell. As a young man, I used to wonder why the Bible had so many stories, instead of a systematic explanation of what Christians were supposed to believe and do. Later I have come to understand that God’s purpose in giving us the scriptures is not simply to fill our heads with ideas, but to transform our lives. Stories have that power: they work on our hearts as well as our heads.

I think about the first story I heard about our Senior Pastor, Dr. Tim Thompson. Perhaps you’ve heard it: early in Tim’s career in ministry, he served as an associate at Frazer. One Sunday, then Senior Minister John Ed Mathison noticed that someone was needed to direct traffic in the parking lot, and he asked Tim to do it. Tim hesitated, because he did not want to mess up his brand new clerical robe. John Ed proceeded to take off his own robe, went outside and directed traffic himself. The message was clear: no one was too important to take off their robe, get their hands a little dirty, and serve others.

That story not only shaped the direction of Pastor Tim’s ministry; it shows the essence of the “Frazer DNA.” Every member is a minister.

Every member has been gifted and called by God serve. That’s what following Jesus is all about.

In the pages of this magazine, you’ll find more stories—stories of people from all ages and all walks of life, all seeking to follow Jesus.

It’s my prayer that these stories will inspire you, move you, and challenge you to follow Jesus—and allow Him to shape your own story.

KEN ROACH, COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR FRAZER UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

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Followership 2013 is your opportunity to plan how you will follow Jesus in worship, growth, service, mission and giving in the year ahead.

Pick up a guide book and personal response card in the Frazer Atrium, or visit www.frazerumc.org/followership for detailed instructions and information on the over 200 opportunities for service and mission available at Frazer.

“Take up your cross daily and follow me.” –Jesus

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Walking the Missions Path: Two Stories of Students on Mission 7 Mary Rief in

the Dominican Republic 12 Kasey Tucker

in Uganda

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How Baby Jesus Got Kicked Out of the Nursery

Transform Haiti Deaf Ministry: “This Is Our Calling”

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36

Giving: Staying Busy with God’s Business

If I Had a Hammer: Construction Ministries

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The Family that Serves Together

Transform Montgomery: Angel of Garden Square

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STUDENTS

WALKING THE

Missions Path Two graduates of the Frazer Student Ministry defy the odds to follow Jesus onto the mission field.

BY Ken Roach | Perhaps you’ve heard the startling of this past summer—not partying, not relaxing with statistics: in today’s culture, more than half of the friends, not working a summer job to earn spending young people actively raised in the Christian church money—but serving among the poor on the foreign will drop out by the time they leave college. Some will mission field, one in the Dominican Republic and one return when they get a little older, perhaps marry and in Uganda. To understand what makes them different— have children; yet for far too many, following Jesus– what makes them defy the statistics—I sat down with especially in the context of a local faith family–has them to learn more about the faith journey that has become an outdated relic of childhood. We are in shaped them. These are their stories. danger of losing a generation.

Yet there are signs of hope. Consider two remarkable young women: Mary Rief and Kasey Tucker. After spending their growing up years here at Frazer, their commitment to following Jesus has not waned as they went off to college, even though both chose large, ary enters a conference room at the church secular universities. On the contrary: their dedication along with her mother, Susan, and younger to walk with Jesus and serve others in His name has sister, Anna Grace. All three are calm, quiet, and only grown, as both young women spent a large part soft-spoken women, but they share radiant smiles.

Mary Rief: Sticky Mission Shoes

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opposite: Frazer Students are being challenged to follow Jesus on the pathway of missions, with lasting impact.

Photo contributed.

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above: Mary Rief spends one-on-one time with a child at Mission Emmanuel where she spent the summer on staff.

Photo contributed.

Mary has just returned from spending several weeks in the Dominican Republic, or “DR,” the Caribbean nation that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Although not as desperate as Haiti, the DR has considerable amounts of poverty, and Mary has been working at a mission that provides education, medical clinics, gospel teaching, and other services to orphans and poor families. I am eager to hear about her trip and how it impacted her, but first I turn to Susan. I want to find out from a mom’s perspective how Mary got to where she is at.

Susan and Mike Rief were married at Frazer in 1989. Susan joined the church shortly before then, but Mike, who was raised Catholic, did not join until after Mary was born. But the couple found a way to get involved in a Sunday School class where they began to form friendships with other young couples, many of whose children would one day be traveling on mission trips along with Mary. Church was a family

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affair for them: they volunteered in the Children’s Ministry and later the Student Ministry and Youth Worship Arts, working as volunteer chaperones on choir tours and DNOW weekends so that they would know the parents of their children’s friends and the ministry leaders who were working with them.

Perhaps it’s not a surprise that Susan would engage with Student Ministry; she credits a young woman not much older than Mary is now for making a tremendous impact on her own decision to follow Jesus as a young person. Growing up, she spent almost every Sunday at her grandparents’ house on the lake in Tallassee, where she attended a Congregational Church. She remembers the pastor’s daughter, Kathy White Corbman, investing her time in the small youth group, modeling serving at a local nursing home, and leading summer trips to Camp Chandler. She also made a lifelong friend there, Mary Ann Fail, who also now attends Frazer,

and they have held each other accountable over the years.

Mary’s experience has been similar. From her earliest days in the Frazer nursery, she met and grew up together with her best friends here. Along with her parents and youth ministry leaders, she credits godly friends both at Frazer and at her high school (LAMP) with helping her to maintain a strong walk with Christ. In particular, the relationships she formed in small groups have had an enduring influence on above: Kaitlyn Hiebert ( far left) and Mary Rief (far right) her. Mary remembers seventh grade as the time with Dominican girls in 2008, one of Mary’s first trips to her faith became more real to her—the same time the DR with Frazer. Photo by Frazer Student Ministry. she committed to a LifeGroup with about 10 girls and two leaders. Although they have now gone on to different colleges, their LifeGroup still meets and stays in touch. country. “All I had heard was, there’s leprosy, it’s Intertwined with that solid community of godly a third world country,” admits Susan; “I told her friendships has been an ever-growing involvement ‘no.’ She asked me to just come to the meeting, so in missions. The summer before she entered high I said, ‘I’ll come to the meeting but the answer’s school, she traveled with Frazer to Kentucky. She still no.’ But at the meeting, God gave me peace remembers painting a fence the length of 16 football that this was OK. Brian [Word, Frazer’s Student fields. “We were all black with this tar that didn’t Minister] had been before, he knew what he was come off.” One pair of shoes was so tarnished, they talking about, and I trusted him.” It didn’t hurt that became known as her “mission trip shoes.” The the mothers of two of Mary’s closest friends were process was daunting, but their sense of unity grew going on the trip, too, so Susan knew Mary would as they worked, and by the time they were done be looked after! they had built stronger relationships and a powerFor the next four years Mary returned to the ful sense of accomplishment as well as finishing DR annually. The experiences began to layer on the project. top of each other. “When I first went,” she explains, “we paved a driveway. Coming back, we drove up “You fall in love it. Then we helped build the first floor of a clinic. with the place.”

Coming back, I could see doctors, dentists, and rehabilitation specialists working right there by the The next summer Mary travelled to the DR for wall I helped put up.” the first time. At first, Mike and Susan were opBefore going to the DR, Mary thought she posed to their young daughter traveling out of the would want to see the world. She loved different

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cultures and people, and thought she would visit Impacting the whole family Africa, India, and Europe, but after going to the DR, she is “content” there. “You fall in love with Because of Mary’s involvement, almost the the place,” she says; “long-term relationships have whole Rief family has now been to the DR. Subecome more meaningful now than a list of places san went, then Mike, and then her brother Carter.

I have been.”

Younger sister Anna Grace says she can’t wait to Mary says going on those mission trips has go, too. made her personal walk with Jesus more real.

Susan remembers how God spoke to her that “When you hear the same worship songs being sung it was time for her to join her daughter. “I prayed in Spanish, you think about people worshipping each year, because I didn’t want to go if I wasn’t at the same time as me all around the world, and called. When YWA did a Christmas program entitled you realize how truly universal God is” she says. It ‘For All Nations’ and showed pictures of the DR. has also allowed her to learn from experience that I’d seen them before, but this time there was an when God calls, he provides. “The first year I went, internal voice, saying ‘yes, it’s time to go.’ We were I lost my passport the day before leaving. We were busy. There were lots of things to spend money on tearing up the house searching for it. Then mom sat Mary’s senior year. But God provided.” down to pray and immediately knew where it was.

The poverty in the DR was eye-opening to Susan.

Every year after, there’s been something like that, “It’s disturbing, the conditions they live in, but they that would pop up and threaten to keep me from are so loving, and so excited when mission teams going, but God always came through. It gives me come. One family invited us into their home, six or confidence that he’s going to keep coming through seven of us trying to fit in a single small room made in the future.” of just tin and wood, with holes in it. It was so Mary says missions has also strengthened her humbling, the way they would turn over a bucket faith to realize “money is a small thing to God.” One to make a seat, and put an old dish towel on it for example she shares came just this summer. “Coming a cushion, just because they wanted you to be their home from college and spending most of the break honored guest.” The request they made of Susan in the DR, I couldn’t get a summer job. But I found left an impression on her. “It had rained a lot, and out through a friend at church that someone needed the roof leaked, and the father’s family Bible had a pet sitter during the window I had available. It gotten wet. I was so pleased to be able to buy one ended up providing exactly what was needed to for him before we left, along with some Ziploc bags cover expenses. God provided that.” to keep it dry.”

Left: Mary with her brother Carter and father Mike on their 2011 mission trip. Right: Mary with her mother, Susan (second from left) and other Frazer students and parents on her 2010 trip. Photos by Frazer Student Ministry.

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above: Mary has built lasting relationships with the

people of the DR.

Photo contributed.

Susan says being on the trip with her daughter had an emotional impact. “It still brings tears to my eyes to think about it because you can feel God’s hand and presence. It is so neat to see Mary’s servant heart. He can use her here and there.”

Having her father travel with her made a different sort of impression on Mary. “Mike is a hard worker,” explains Susan. “He enjoyed the labor. But he discovered something in common with some of the paid workers who were there.” This included the translators, some of whom were not believers.

During slow points in the work, Mike would talk to a 15-year-old boy and girl who were Catholic, but did not attend church. He was able to share his own experience of growing up in the Catholic church, his search for God and how he came to understand what it meant to have a personal relationship with Him and not just go to church. Mary is glad she didn’t miss out on the experience of getting to hear her father share his own faith in a personal way she might never have heard otherwise.

Coming full circle This year (2012) Mary went back, this time for an extended stay on summer staff. Their role was to support mission teams that come in, answering

questions, arranging for water and lunch, working behind the scenes.

Over the course of her stay they helped to finish a house for a widow that her brother Carter had begun construction on with a Frazer student team earlier in the year. Mary was able to help train a new generation of volunteers, spending time interacting with mission team kids, helping them understand why they were there, sharing Bible study time with them, and growing through their staff Bible study. The student has become a teacher.

Mary continues to focus on missions back home.

Her church in Auburn has an international ministry, and she is able to have dinner with foreign exchange students each week. She makes it a point when she meets new people on campus to ask them right away, “where do you go to church?” She knows this probably turns some people off, but the way she sees it, her quiet boldness is strengthening others to stand up for their faith in college, and at the same time protecting her from people who probably wouldn’t be the best influence on her.

Perhaps the best measure of how living on mission has sunk into the Rief family is the mindset of Mary’s younger sister, Anna Grace. She had sat quietly throughout the interview, so I asked her: “Anna Grace, what does it mean to you to follow Jesus?” Her response was, “Share his love with others and learn more about him so you can follow in his footsteps.”

As they left, I couldn’t help thinking about those sticky, tar-black shoes Mary remembered from her first mission trip. Those were shoes that had followed in the steps of Jesus. Like that tar, the hunger to follow Jesus had stuck to Mary, and to the rest of the Rief family, for years to come.

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Kasey Tucker: A heart to know and share God’s Word

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here Mary is gentle and thoughtful, Kasey Tucker is energetic and enthusiastic. She brings an excitement with her as she bounces into my office and can hardly sit still as she launches into her own story of following Jesus.

Every time the doors were open Kasey has been at Frazer “from birth.” She has two older sisters, and one of them had problems at birth. She credits her mother’s Mission Circle with “praying her into the world.” Growing up, she was at church “every time the doors were open.” Following Jesus became a conscious decision for her at age 8, when she told her mother she wanted to become a Christian. “I didn’t fully understand that then, but I was learning and growing,” Kasey explains.

When she hit high school, “my parents didn’t really give me a choice” about being involved in the student ministry, “but I enjoyed it,” Kasey says.

Brian Word came on staff and began to make missions a critical emphasis. She went to the DR for the first time her ninth grade year. “I loved going and serving people. I loved every second of it,” Kasey exclaims. She went back to the DR twice, helping with construction projects but also building relationships with the people. Like the Reifs, she speaks highly of how loving the people of the DR are, especially the children.

Her senior year, Kasey traveled with a small team led by Brian to Kenya. Unlike the DR trips that focus on expanding an existing mission, the trip to Africa was primarily evangelistic. Brian challenged them to step out and do things that were uncomfortable for them. “We went into a hospital where I saw the most disgusting things,” Kasey

recalls; “multiple people sharing one bed, needles on the floor...” But it is not disgust on Kasey’s face, it is love as she continues: “we laid hands on people and prayed. It was so cool.”

A word-centered community Like Mary, Kasey’s faith didn’t take a break when she went off to school at Auburn; it grew.

I’m still curious how a typical American young person turns into such a passionate missionary-minded follower of Jesus, so I push Kasey on this point.

“When I was in high school,” she admits, “my relationship [with Jesus] was not as strong. I knew it was what I was supposed to do, but I hadn’t made it my own. I didn’t feel bad or convicted when I made mistakes.”

It was following in the footsteps of others that eventually led her to become a fully devoted follower of Christ. She has two older twin sisters who were both seniors at Auburn when she first started college. They made sure Kasey found a connection to a local church. “I have friends who didn’t care enough to wake up on Sunday morning and go find a church,” she says. “They still say they are Christians, but they’re not living like they should. It’s hard in a college atmosphere without a core group of friends with the same beliefs. When you’re held accountable, it’s so much easier to grow in your faith and stay in the Word.”

Speaking of God’s Word, Kasey gets excited when starts talking about her college minister’s teaching. “He uses the Bible for everything. He tells it like it is. He’s encouraged me to do things I wouldn’t have even thought about before, like memorizing the entire book of Romans. He and his wife have us over at their house often, and it’s clear that their love for the Word is genuine, because it overflows in their lives. I’ve learned so much from them and from the years that others poured into me that now it’s easy to teach others.”

opposite: Kasey Tucker holds a child in Gulu, Uganda, where she spent the summer on staff as a missionary. Photo contributed.

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“I can see Christ in you” While in college, Kasey’s connection to missions has continued: the summer after her freshman year she traveled to the Ukraine, where she stepped up to help lead Bible studies for children. But she is most excited about her trip this past summer, a return to Africa.

When she first approached her parents about spending over a month in Gulu, Uganda, a village four hours outside the capital city, her father’s initial answer was, “no, you’re not going.” But Kasey enlisted Brian Word and others to pray. After looking at more information, her dad came back to her and said, “I don’t know why I’m saying yes, but you can go.”

Their missionary hosts in Uganda had only been in this particular village for a month. Some of the children had never seen a white person before. Drawing on years of experience at Frazer, though, the team began to put on VBS-style programs for the children, making crafts out of whatever was at hand, balls and dolls made out of leaves and tree branches.

Part of their approach was to avoid giving out “American stuff,” so they could focus their message on following Jesus and not on creating a dependency on foreign dollars. Soon, relationships began to emerge and the children became more trusting.

Kasey developed a friendship with a 10-year-old girl named Winifred.

With no agenda other than to love on people Left: Kasey with

Winifred, a Ugandan girl with whom she was able to forge a strong bond.

Right: Winifred’s family.

Photos contributed.

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and show Christ, Kasey began spending days with Winifred: walking her to school in the morning and meeting her to walk home in the afternoon; digging in their garden, washing clothes in the river, learning how to cook. Kasey laughs as she tells me she even “smeared cow poop on the walls of huts.”

Winifred’s father took notice: “I’m so happy Americans came,” he said. “Usually people come and see us as rolling in the dirt, eating disgusting food, but you did not come telling us how to do things. I can see Christ in you.”

Although many Ugandans are nominally Catholic, Kasey found their relationships with God to be distant. Those she met did not believe they could pray at home, outside of the walls of the church building, for example. Kasey showed Winifred how to look up references and read the Bible for herself.

She would give her long lists of verses to read, and then talk them over with her the next day.

While Winifred was at school, Kasey would help her father understand the verses so he could pass them on to his own family. They began holding family devotions now that they understood they could pray at home. By the time Kasey left, Winifred said she “felt like she was losing a sister.”

Uganda was not all fun and games. While there, Kasey became so sick she had to be taken to a local hospital, where she had an allergic reaction to some medicine, and developed a staph infection that caused her arm to swell up. Yet her thoughts were not, “I can’t believe I’m in an African hospital.” Instead, she tells me all she could think about

was how frustrated she was to be missing precious moments building relationships with the African families. It has clearly sunk in with her that being on mission with Jesus is not about going and doing a project: it’s a daily way of living that overflows into building relationships that allow others to see Jesus in you.

break in Uganda–and yes, her father is on board with this decision.

“God doesn’t need me to complete His plan,” Kasey says, “but I get to be used.” She closes by giving me her favorite Bible verses, 2 Corinthians 12:9—”But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my The Perfect Plan weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” In followers of Jesus like Mary Rief and Kasey This fall Kasey is back at Auburn, studying Oc- Tucker, I can see that power—and it gives me hope cupational Therapy, a skill she hopes to make useful for the next generation. on the mission field, particularly with special needs orphan children who often have no one who knows You can learn more about upcoming adult and how to handle them. God has already provided the student mission trip opportunities at frazerumc. money she needs to return and spend her Christmas org/missions.

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CHILDREN

How Baby Jesus Got

Kicked Out of the Nursery ( And then found his way back in.

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beLow: Andrew Roach, third from left, at a Cherub Choir performance Also pictured from left: Lizzy Wright, Matthias Murdaugh, Aaron Simmons, Georgia Cauthen. opposite page: Andrew at 3 months, playing the role of baby Jesus, with parents Ken and Emily as Mary and Joseph and Abbie as an angel. PhotoS by Lori Mercer

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Ken Roach | This is the story of how baby Jesus got kicked out of the nursery...and how he made it back it. It’s the story of my son, Andrew. But it’s really the story of you, the Frazer members; how your giving, and serving, and loving have created an environment where my Andrew—and hundreds of children like him—have experienced the love of Jesus Christ in ways that will shape their lives for years and years to come. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The year Andrew was born my wife Emily and I had been members of Frazer for eight years. It was also the year that John Ed Mathison retired after 36 years as Senior Pastor. As he had for many years, John Ed preached a sermon that Christmas with a “living nativity.” At three months of age Andrew was chosen to play the baby Jesus, which made Emily and I, Mary and Joseph. We were sure all anyone noticed was Jesus spitting up all over Mary in the middle of the service, but others told us that his gentle spirit really did convey the presence of Jesus to them. So Andrew literally started off his life following in the steps of Christ. He wouldn’t have had that opportunity if it weren’t for the Frazer family giving and serving to make worship services like that possible.

As Andrew grew, Emily and I continued a practice we started when our older daughter was born of volunteering once a month in the Nursery Ministry. We saw firsthand the genuine love and devotion of the paid nursery workers who wouldn’t have been there for our children if it weren’t for the giving of Frazer members, as well as the devotion of Frazer volunteers, changing diapers, wiping noses, and distributing the love of Jesus in the form of Cheerios and apple juice. I think about Mrs. Thomas, who had the disconcerting habit of referring to herself in the third person. She taught Emily and I a lot about parenting as we watched her set high expectations for children even before they were toddlers. “Thomas wants to see you try to pull up today.” “Thomas

isn’t going to let you throw your food on the floor.”

Frazer was creating an atmosphere of success for Andrew from day one.

A Thousand Pieces That’s not always easy to do. I’m aware that so many children come into Frazer without the solid foundation of a father and mother together, putting Christ at the center of their home. When our older daughter moved from the Nursery to the Children’s Area, Emily and I made a decision to move from once a month volunteers to serving weekly as children’s Sunday School teachers. One week I asked the kids in my class to write out how they felt the last time there was a conflict in their home. I expected to hear something like “I was angry when my brother stole my toys.” Instead from one child I got this sheet. I saved it because it broke my heart, and I pull it back out when I feel like I’m in danger of forgetting why we serve. It says “when my mom and dad left me it broke my heart into a thousand pieces.” I wish I could shout to every person in Frazer that when you put a dollar into the offering plate, it’s not just a dollar to turn on the lights and the air conditioners or pay the staff and the building loan. What you’re really doing is creating a safe, loving place where a little boy whose heart has been broken into a thousand pieces can begin

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top left: A ride in the “Bye-Bye Buggy” is a big part of the Frazer Nursery experience. bottom left: Frazer’s three playgrounds (not to mention the Activity Center) communicate a message: children are welcome here. right: The sacrament of baptism marks children as members of God’s family. Drew had the privilege of being baptized at the same time as his uncle, Paul Beaird. photos contributed

letting God put him back together again. That’s worth every penny you can give, every minute you can serve. That’s what it’s all about.

Anyway, Andrew was being surrounded by the love of God at Frazer, but he wasn’t always responding in kind. When he hit the terrible twos, he started biting. He bit his sister. He bit his friends. He bit the other kids in the nursery. After a few times, it got bad enough that the folks in charge had to come to Emily and I and ask us to keep him out until he grew out of that stage. It was the right thing to do. It’s what I would have wanted if someone else’s kid had been biting mine. But it was a little embarrassing, especially since by that time I had come on staff at Frazer.

Here he was, the baby Jesus, getting kicked out of the nursery!

And honestly, I was having a hard time being

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patient with Andrew during those days. All of my other children had been a bit less aggressive. A lot less aggressive, actually. But through our Sunday School small group, through the Men’s Ministry, and through the friendships we were forming here in the church, I was being challenged, equipped and encouraged to be the spiritual leader in my home for Drew. Those ministries would not have been there, either, if it weren’t for the giving and serving of the Frazer family.

A Picture of Jesus Eventually Drew settled down enough to go back to class, and he moved upstairs to Cherub Church, led by perhaps the two most amazing volunteers in all of Frazer, Randall and Lydia Culp. Every week when I take Drew to class we pass this picture in the stairwell of Jesus wel-

Vacation Bible School draws hundreds of children to Frazer each summer from the church and the community to learn God’s Word in a fun environment. photo by Lori Mercer.

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top left: First day of preschool with friend Tyler Brewer.

Frazer’s Preschool and Kindergarten is recognized as one of the best in the city. middle: When the Roach family headed to Disney World, Frazer came with them—the Brewer and Brawner families, close friends made as a result of a young married couples Sunday School class at the church. bottom: Sonshine Soccer is a Frazer outreach that teaches sportsmanship and shares the gospel with children and their families.

Pictured are Drew, sister Abbie and friend Davis Brewer.

Photos contributed.

coming little children. It’s painted at eye level to a child. There are so many ways the buildings that Frazer members have paid to build communicate to our children that they are welcome: the playgrounds, the slides in the Atrium, the brightly painted hallways. But I think that picture captures it best of all. Every week when we climb those steps, with Andrew’s little legs taking one step at a time, it’s a silent sermon preaching “Jesus loves you. Jesus love you.” But what’s even more amazing is that when we get to the top of the stairs, Mr. Randall and Mrs. Lydia live that sermon. They are the hands and feet of Jesus, welcoming the little children. If you doubt that a Frazer volunteer can make a difference, hide and watch when a Frazer child sees Mr. Randall at the mall or the grocery store or across the parking lot. They will literally run and chase them down for a hug, and they will always get one in return. Simply put, Drew should never, ever have a reason to doubt that Jesus loves him and church is the embodiment of that love, because he’s heard it and seen it too many times in too many ways. And I don’t want you to miss this: it’s true not only because of the tireless hours of volunteering by Mr. Randall and Mrs. Lydia and their team, it’s also true because the dollars you give provide the paid staff, and the beautiful space, where all of this can happen.

And it’s not just on Sundays. Drew now attends preschool at the Frazer Kindergarten, learning his ABC’s in a Christ-centered environment. There’s Wednesday night choir, too, and childcare when we need it for weekday Bible studies or special services.

Outside the walls of Frazer, Drew has already had a chance to be part of serving in mission alongside

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us through events like the Great Day of Service.

My baby Jesus will turn 5 this year, and he’ll move on from Cherub Church to Children’s Church.

I know, because I’ve been there as a volunteer, that he’ll continue to receive the teaching of the Bible and the love of Jesus there throughout grade school, and later on as a teenager in the Frazer Student Ministry. By the time he heads off to college, he’ll have 18 years of the love and truth of Jesus through the ministry of Frazer, all because of the dollars you give, and the hours you serve.

Which is why it means so much to me that this Easter, his last Easter with Mr. Randall, Andrew was

chosen to play Jesus again. He didn’t spit up on anyone. He didn’t bite anyone. He just stood there with a smile, declaring to the world from that little stage that Jesus is alive.

Indeed, Jesus is alive and well at Frazer.

Ken Roach serves as Communication Director at Frazer. Prior to coming on staff he worked in advertising. He and his wife Emily have been members of the church for twelve years.

Below: Drew and sister Abbie reflect on the scripture embedded at the entrance to Frazer. photo contributed

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GIVING

STAYING BUSY WITH

God’s Business One Frazer member discovers “you can’t out-give God.”

BY canDace RUtheRFoRD | When you walk into Larry Hughes’ office in Montgomery, you see evidence of a busy and successful man. Numerous awards, credentials, diplomas, and certificates grace his walls. But behind the paper laden desk is an unassuming Christian man who is quick to give the credit of his success to God. It hadn’t always been this way, according to Larry. “Although I was raised a Christian, I didn’t always live and act like one,” he said. “Sure, I dropped a few dollars in the collection plate when I occasionally went to church but that was it.”

Then several events unfolded which lead to his newfound commitment and reconnection with God.

After he got his undergraduate degree from Troy University he started working in various positions in the medical field. During this time a mentor saw his business acumen and encouraged him to get a Masters in Public Administration. Larry took that advice and obtained an MPA from Auburn University, with a concentration in health care.

That’s when he decided to branch out. “Everyone thought I was crazy to leave a secure position,” he said, after he opted to start his own company which provided billing and business management services to ‘facility based physicians’. “I was scared to death. I prayed for God’s hand on my business every day.”

opposite: Larry Hughes pauses for a moment in the Frazer Courtyard. Photo by Mac McLeLLan.

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above: Larry with wife and granddaughter. Photo contributed.

That same year, while he was completing his commitment card for church, he inadvertently miscalculated what he intended to give—by more than double. What he thought was a monthly commitment for tithing was actually written for bi-monthly. “I decided to take it as a challenge,” he said. And indeed events unfolded in such a way that Larry could see the Lord’s hand in everything that happened. The first year was a struggle but he came through and fulfilled his tithing commitment.

He said, “I discovered that I could not out-give God,” and that God keeps his promises about tithing in the book of Malachi: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

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The experience also reminded Larry of a little known biblical character named Jabez, popularized by the Bruce Wilkinson book, The Prayer of Jabez. The only reference to this man is in I Chronicles 4:9-10. “Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, ‘Because I bore him in pain.’

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ‘Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain.’ So God granted him what he requested.” The verse spoke to Larry that it was fate that he filled the card out incorrectly, and he had to think bigger.

He continued to build up his company into a large regional operation until it was noticed by a national company. This company ultimately purchased his business. Larry found himself blessed

financially and could have opted to stop there.

“However, there was more to God’s story for me.

Too young to retire, I wondered what the Lord had for me to do next.” Larry felt he could do more to share God’s word and prayed about it. One weekend while he was out of town on a trip he coincidentally ran into one of his former physician clients and talked to him. The doctor said “Larry, we need your help!” so before he knew it, he was contemplating starting a new venture.

“It came to me to honor the Lord’s blessings by naming my new company Ichthus Consulting or ICON. With a name like that, I had many opportunities to share His story when someone asked “What does Ichthus mean?”

According to various sources, the Ichthus or “Fish” symbol was used by early Christians to identify fellow Christians especially during times of persecution. Ιχθψσ is a Greek acronym which translates into English as “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.” Fish are also referenced many other times in the Bible. Several of Jesus’ 12 Apostles were fishermen. And of course there is the biblical story in Matthew 13:47-50 when Jesus multiplies loaves and fish to feed a large gathering. Larry could share these stories and more.

ICON continued to grow to provide billing services, practice management and consulting services, concentrating to providers of anesthesia and pain management. ICON eventually merged into a larger company and was renamed MMP (Medical Management Professionals) ICON, whose parent company is traded on the stock market.

But again, Larry gives God all of the credit for his success. Some of his clients have been using his services for more than 20 years. His cache of clients includes those of all religions and beliefs but they all respect the man and what he stands for.

“I am so fortunate to have fulfillment in my life—a wonderful job, family and church,” Larry said.

Larry is also very active in his community, and continues to give via service and volunteer work.

He is very involved in Fellowship for Christian Athletes and serves on his alma mater Troy University’s Foundation Board. He was also awarded TU’s Annual Distinguished Leadership Award in 2007, which recognizes past graduates for public service.

He currently serves on the Alabama Commission on Higher Education representing the Third Congressional District. Former Governor Bob Riley appointed him to this position where he will serve until 2016.

In addition to all of this, Larry is an active member at Frazer, where he serves on the Board of Stewards and as immediate past Chairman of the Finance Committee, and as an Outside Greeter for Sunday services. He has also written devotionals for Frazer’s In His Steps campaigns. He continues to tithe faithfully.

But Larry doesn’t like talking about himself— he likes talking about Jesus Christ. “The blessings continue to mount. It is true: you cannot out give the Lord! What will I name my next company? I’m still too young to retire!”

Candace Rutherford is a volunteer writer for Frazer’s Communication Ministry.

Help spread the word!

Why not drop off your copy of Following Jesus magazine in the lobby at your office or school when you are done reading it, or pass it along to a friend, and share the story of Jesus with others!

To request additional copies contact Ken Roach, ken@frazerumc.org.

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SERVING

THE FAMILY THAT

Serves Together The Dunman family learns that serving others, within the church and the community, is the “heart of life.”

BY aleXia Scott | The year was 1981 and Russ and Janice Dunman recently had moved into the Carol Villa neighborhood in Montgomery. Russ was mowing the lawn one day when a neighbor crossed the street to say hello.

Russ remembers, “I was hot, tired, and kind of in an aggravated mood. I don’t know what else I said, but I do remember offering him a cold adult beverage. He said, ‘No, thank you, but let me introduce myself. My name is John Ed Mathison, and I will see you in church on Sunday.’”

John Ed did see them in church the following Sunday, and they’ve been there most every Sunday since. For 33 years, the Dunman family has served our church as faithfully as they have served our community, and that’s saying something.

As Executive Vice President at Regions Financial, President of the second largest Kiwanis Club

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in the world, and Executive Director of the River Region United Way, one might wonder how Russ found time for all he does at Frazer.

But the Dunmans have discovered a secret: serving others is the heart of life. As Paul wrote in Philippians 2:4-5, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.“ Janice, who has served as Assistant Director of Nursery Ministries, Office Manager for the Frazer Kindergarten, and President of Mission Circles, says, “I just have a compassion for people in need. I see a need for them to be served. You can never give too much of yourself, especially if you’re a Christian.”

She adds, “I don’t think there’s any better reward in life than giving back to others.”

The Dunmans are both Southerners, born and

Above: Russ, Stephen, and Janice Dunman.

Photo by

Mac McClellan.

Right: The Dunman family lights the Advent Candle

during Sanctuary worship during the 2011 Christmas season. Photo by Lee Werling bred. Janice was raised in Montgomery, and Russ moved here from Tennessee when he was 12 years old.

In January 1974, they were married at Landmark Baptist Church (now the site of the John Ed Mathison Activity Center). Little did they know then what that building and the church next door would mean to them later.

They had two children–Ashley, a chef who is married and lives in Montgomery, and Stephen, their special needs son who will, as Russ says, “live with us forever.”

In their young married life, Russ and Janice split their time between their parents’ churches, Normandale United Methodist Church and Forest Park Baptist Church. After they joined the Frazer family, the pair quickly volunteered to serve in multiple areas of the church’s life. Russ has chaired the In His Steps

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campaign twice (the predecessor to the Followership campaign). Janice, who had worked as a nurse and as a registered therapist before becoming a stay-athome mom, knew which ministry she wanted to dive into. As Russ says, Janice “had a passion for the babies,” so she went to work in the nursery. There she met Bobbie Cooper, and she and husband Dan became fast friends of the Dunmans.

The couple joined a small group right away, choosing the Koinonia Sunday School class. Although Janice was usually busy taking care of babies in the nursery and couldn’t attend on Sunday mornings, “they included me in everything,” she says. Koinonia was very much involved in the church’s food ministry, hosting regular events for the Frazer youth, and when they asked for volunteers to help Food Services Director Rolena Prescott, Russ said “yes.”

He brought an enthusiastic worker along with him in son Stephen. Bobbie and Dan, who also help out in the kitchen, say that “Stephen is right there in the midst of that–anything you ask him to do he does. He washes dishes, he brings you stuff if you need it–he is there to serve. He really is.”

Stephen has an inherited intellectual disability called Fragile X Syndrome, but, even with the chal-

lenges he faces, he models faithfulness and willingness to everyone he meets. Every Sunday, he attends Sunday School and goes to church, where he sits in the balcony with Bobbie and Dan. “Stephen,” says Bobbie, “is our dear, dear buddy.”

Regarding his willingness to serve, “Stephen will make every step I make,” Dan adds. He says that, if Russ and Stephen are helping in the kitchen, “we can do just about anything. They know what needs to be done and will see to it that it gets done . . . if you want to get something done and get it done right, put Mr. Dunman in charge.”

Janice and Russ learned about giving of oneself by example. Russ’s mother was a teacher, and he says that she “had a servant heart.” He adds that his dad wanted you to think he was made of steel, but he had a soft heart for others, too. And Janice’s dad was always busy helping to start new missions at his church.

Meanwhile, Russ’s generosity with his time and labor built a career at Regions, where he worked for 35 years. He started as a runner and retired in 2007 as Executive Vice President. “I always tell people I was on the management training program for 35 years, because I was learning something

Below: Russ and Stephen volunteering in the kitchen at the 2010 Youth Missions BBQ. Photo by Lee Werling

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Above: Stephen at the 2011 MARC Christmas party at Frazer. Photo by Suzanne Williams.

different every day.”

Regions has had a long tradition of supporting communities through the River Region United Way, and when that organization needed help, Russ said “yes” to that, too. After being a a United Way volunteer for 30-plus years, he stepped in as Executive Director, saying that “Fundraising in the River Region has always been a pleasantly surprising challenge and the River Region always responds.”

Because of Stephen, the Dunmans also have a strong involvement in MARC, the Montgomery Association for Retarded Citizens. Russ assisted when Rolena and her staff made Christmas dinner for the group. Delos and Jan Bailey, whose son David works at MARC with Stephen, have known the Dunmans for many years. Delos says, “Their tireless support for MARC and for United Way have been an inspiration to all of us for many years.”

Russ also serves as President of the Kiwanis Club of Montgomery, a large organization that has given more than $6 million to local charities in the last 57 years.

Since Janice retired from her role as Assistant Director of Nursery Ministries in July, she’s able to join the Koinonia class on Sunday mornings. She’s spending precious time with Russ and Stephen on the weekends, as well. She continues serving as Office Manager for the Kindergarten, so she’s not

saying goodbye to anyone at the church anytime soon. And that’s a good thing for all concerned.

“Russ and Janice have served faithfully in so many areas of our church and throughout our community,” says Delos.

At frazerumc.org, the church’s mission statement says that to serve means “meeting practical needs as Jesus would,” and in the Dunmans, we see what that kind of service truly looks like.

Mostly, it involves saying “yes,” when it would be so easy to say “no.” But Russ adds that leading is really about following.

Russ says, “It’s difficult to lead if you don’t follow. Follow Jesus Christ in everything you do; you cannot lead without that.” And take care of the little things, he adds. Help wherever you can, even in the small ways. It makes everything else you do in life that much more meaningful.

Janice says that serving requires that we step outside our comfort zone. “In order to serve, you have to go outside the box.” She adds, “We love Frazer. This is home. When it comes down to the heart and the DNA, it’s at Frazer.”

For the Dunman’s, the family that serves together, stays together—and finds joy together.

Alexia Scott is a volunteer writer for Frazer’s Communication Ministry.

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MISSIONS

“This is our calling.”

A mission trip to Haiti becomes a turning point in life.

BY Ken Roach | If you come to Frazer’s Family Night Supper any given Wednesday, you might notice a young couple in full soccer gear. You might think they were deaf, since you would always see them, their 11-year-old son Gabriel, and 1-year-old Josie, communicating in sign language at a table with several deaf Frazer members. You might even remember seeing them in a video promoting mission trips to Haiti, and so you might think, “what a difference that family is making in Frazer’s Deaf Ministry.” But that is not what Frank and Jan Stevens would say; they would say, “what a difference Frazer’s Deaf Ministry has made in us.”

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Jan’s Story Frank and Jan had both been attending Frazer for six years when they met three years ago outside of the church. Frank, a civilian computer programmer at Gunter Air Force Base, and Jan, a School Administrator at Montgomery Ballet, joined Frazer in 2010 and married later that year.

But their journey of following Jesus began long before that.

Jan was raised in a Methodist church, where she was active in her youth group. The person who stands out most to her for influencing her faith is Roberta Richmond, a school teacher with

fRanK and Jan stevens with theiR son, gabRieL, in fRont of the tempoRaRY hoUsing foR the deaf CommUnitY oUtside poRt-aU-pRinCe, haiti.

Photo contributed.

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a calling to start a Christian camp for girls. Roberta spent her whole summer running the camp Jan ended up attending. “She opened my eyes to the life of Christ through her love for girls,” Jan recalls.

“Her attitude, her lifestyle, her love, how she read the Bible—how she did everything with Christ as the center.” Jan gave her life to Christ and was baptized there at Camp Dovewood in Live Oak, Fla., around her 7th or 8th grade.

During her first marriage, however, Jan confesses she was not much of a churchgoer. “Gabriel and I came some after he was born, but it was difficult.

I was not active. I had a longing, but it was hard.

As an adult, I took a ‘sabbatical’ from God.” God used an unfortunate situation to change her trajectory. Gabriel’s father passed away, and immediately thereafter Jan says she simply knew: “I’m going back to church.”

Frank’s Story Meanwhile, Frank also experienced ups and downs in his faith walk. He was a “PK,” a preacher’s kid, and he credits his father with being a very

positive influence. Frank stayed in church for a long time, but after getting married and then divorced, “I blamed God,” he says, “so I stayed away from church.” After some time, he realized something was missing, and felt a need to go back, but he was tentative, afraid to become fully engaged. Frazer’s Activities Ministry was a safe place to ease back in. “I warmed up through playing men’s church sports, getting used to being around church guys by playing volleyball and basketball. It was good to get contact, and to wean me back” to walking with Jesus, he explains.

Getting Connected Like many members of Frazer, the Stevens experienced connection in three stages: connecting to worship, connecting to a small group, and connecting to service. After Frank Snowden persisted in inviting them several times, the Stevens took the second of those steps by joining his “Main Course” Sunday School class. When they joined the church, the whole class came down with them in a memorable gesture of support.

timeline oF pRoJect “tRanSFoRm DeaF haiti” IT ALL STARTED WITH A VISION: in

January 2010, Frazer Senior Minister Tim Thompson challenges the church to take on two “God sized projects”—one in Montgomery and one internationally.

fall 2010 The missions committee sends an exploratory team to Haiti, where they are moved by the plight of deaf Haitians living in tents after a devastating earthquake earlier that year that leveled most of the capitol city and left thousands homeless in what was already the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere.

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spring 2011

october 2011

Christmas 2011

2012

The Red Cross moves the 168 Deaf families from tents to temporary shelters. Frazer sends Kyle Reschke to be our missionary on the ground. In partnership with 410Bridge, we begin working to provide education and build leadership while the search is underway to buy land for a sustainable community.

God provides land for the new community—at no cost— through Mission of Hope. Funds for land can now go directly to building houses. Frazer sends multiple short term teams. Frazer members who are certified interpreters and launch ASL classes for the congregation here.

Deaf families begin moving to Leveque.

Pastor Tim challenges Frazer to raise money for a church in Leveque.

With just two week’s notice, the entire amount needed, almost $150,000, is raised in one night at Christmas Eve candlelight services.

Pictured: construction progress on the church as of October 2012.

Solar powered lights and clean water systems are fully functional in Leveque.

Progress continues on construction of church. Frazer members Richard Stallworth, Robin Pass, and many others continue to build a ministry to the Deaf here in Montgomery.

top: Richard Stallworth leads an ASL class. Richard,

who is deaf, has become a friend and teacher to the Stevens’.

Middle: Frank (standing back right) helps to lead Sign Language Bingo at a Conversational ASL class.

Bottom: The white board the Stevens kept in their kitchen to help them review ASL vocabulary.

Photos contributed.

The third step was not far behind. When Frazer’s project with the Deaf Community in Haiti was announced, Frank and Jan’s interest was immediately piqued. Jan had learned the sign alphabet as a child, and had always felt an unexplainable heart desire to learn more sign language, while Frank’s father had worked closely with the Haitian community in Florida, so the project seemed to bring together both of their interests and passions. However, Jan was pregnant at that time with Josie, so they signed up for an ASL (American Sign Language) class at Frazer with Interpreter Robin Pass, with a plan to go to Haiti in a year after Josie was a little older.

God’s plan was different. One Sunday when Josie was 5 months old, Jan was home preparing Gabriel for soccer camp, and Frank went to church without her. Patrick Quinn preached on missions, and God spoke to Frank. He walked out to the Atrium and signed up for the first mission trip available—a mere two months away. They would have to scramble even to get their passports ready, but somehow they pulled it off.

“This is our calling” What happened next was a major turning point for Frank and Jan. “When we first went to Haiti,” Jan explains, “we thought it was about learning some sign language, and going on a trip. We came back knowing: this is our calling. This is what God wants us to do with our lives.” Although she says it quietly, Jan’s eyes convey the enormous impact of what that means to her. The Stevens do not take their calling lightly.

As soon as they returned, they dove into working on their ASL, attending the monthly “Silent Coffee” at Starbucks and Deaf Socials at Frazer. People who are deaf have started showing up in the Steven’s life, becoming both friends and teachers, like

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Above: Frank signs with Mackenson Saint Louis, a key leader in the Haitian Deaf Community. Photo contributed.

Penny, an older deaf woman in their neighborhood who invites them over for breakfast, brings them treats, and comes to Gabriel’s soccer games, and Richard Stallworth, a deaf member at Frazer whom God has raised up into a leadership role in the fledgling ministry. “Richard has been our teacher,” Jan says. “He brings list of words to Wednesday night supper, we go over them together, and then take them home to practice. For a while we had a big dry-erase board in our kitchen we filled up with words that we would go over together during family dinner.” The Stallworths’ share life with the Stevens now, coming over for dinner and taking part in children’s birthday parties.

Frank and Jan are now stepping up into leadership roles themselves. They went back for a second trip to Haiti over the summer, this time as the team leaders. This fall, they are teaching a class together in conversational ASL with Richard. Jan has even begun to interpret the music portion of morning worship on many Sundays.

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Great Moments Already in their time being involved with Deaf Ministry, the Stevens can recall some great moments. One was getting to see the interaction between Richard Stallworth and the Haitian Deaf community. “Seeing Richard’s face just light up around the Haitians was amazing,” says Jan, “and their reaction—you could tell they were so amazed that an American deaf person would care enough to come to Haiti to see them.”

Another great feeling Frank recalls was the challenge of being trip leaders second time. “There was a greater sense of responsibility, but also a better ability to communicate and build relationships. It was exciting to show [the Haitians], we’re investing in you, we love you, we care enough to learn so we can talk to you. You could see a different spark in them, a happiness that wasn’t there when we first met them.”

Frank and Jan agree the best moment was a

yearly revival event they got to participate in at the church in Haiti. In a nation where deaf people are often treated as less than human, the Holy Spirit has turned things around so that they are now the center of attention. Frank recalls, “Kyle [Reschke] was jumping up and down, signing, people all around began signing and dancing, like a Christian rock concert, and the hearing kids and adults were coming to be with the deaf because they’re now the “cool kids”, the attraction drawing a crowd. You could feel the Spirit there.”

The Difference The Stevens response to God’s calling on their lives has resulted in a deeper devotion to following Jesus. Jan describes the difference: “Before, it was all about learning ASL. Now, following Jesus is mostly about digging deeper in God’s word, because since we have a calling, we need to know what He wants. I need to understand the Bible better than I do now so I can be sure I am in God’s will.”

Frank tears up as he tells me, “I don’t think I ever prayed harder or read my Bible more than I did there in Haiti. You get back, the normal things of life try to distract you, but remembering how it was there refocuses you. I never felt closer to Him than when doing that.”

The difference in Frank and Jan’s devotion to Christ has impacted their son as well, who travelled with them to Haiti. “Gabriel recently told us when he grows up, he wants to be a soccer player and a missionary,” Jan reports. “As parents, that’s huge. Before, he would get upset if we even tried to make him pray in front of others. He prayed in front of everyone down there [in Haiti], and even led groups. When we came back the second time, they remembered Gabe before us; we’re even ‘Gabriel’s parents’ in Haiti!”

Like Roberta Richmond, the camp leader who modelled following Jesus to Jan, Frazer missionary Kyle Reschke is having an impact on Gabriel. “Kyle has invited Gabriel to come down for a summer when he’s ready” says Jan. “He’s a great influence.”

The Challenge The Stevens are seeking discernment from the Lord for their next step in following Jesus. Frank says they feel a burden to go to Haiti for a longer term, perhaps for several years, as soon as Josie gets a bit older. But he admits that is challenging: “What does that look like, to leave a home, a secure government job, how does that affect kids? We’re doing lots of praying and seeking to understand God’s word, make sure this is his will, not ours.”

There’s not doubt, however, that following Jesus has completely transformed the Stevens lives. Says Jan, “Before was like treading water, trying to stay afloat, making it through your life, just trying to live to the next day. Now, it’s God-filled: daily thankful for blessings, daily full of the Spirit, living for God; knowing that everything you’ve gone through was for a reason. I wouldn’t be here now without the journey I’ve had.”

Frank puts it this way: “Before, I was not really alive. I was lost, no idea what the future held, no idea there was a future. Then my eyes were opened. Following Jesus, you experience life in a whole new way.”

You can stay up-to-date on the Frazer Deaf Ministry by joining their Facebook group.

For updates on the project in Haiti visit kyleinhaiti.com.

Below: The Stevens and Stallworth families exemplify

one of the key goals of Frazer’s Deaf Ministry: bringing hearing and deaf people together in Christ.

Photo contributed.

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SERVING

IF I HAD A

Hammer Ministries connect people with skills to those in need

BY mac mclellan | As the body of Christ, we continuing what I loved to do. I wasn’t used to usare called to take action to meet the every day ing my hands with a hammer and small tools, but needs of others out of love and compassion. Two the team members willingly shared their expertise ministries at Frazer that demonstrate this call to with me.” serve, both outside the church walls and within its “There is a group of us who just love doing own family, are the Roll Up Your Sleeves Ministry things for people who need help,” Walter continued. and the Widows Ministry. By practically meeting the “One of my favorite projects is building and installing needs of the elderly, the disabled and the widows in wheel chair ramps for people who have no way to our congregation, the volunteers in these ministries easily get in or out of their house. Trailers are even are living out their commitment to Follow Jesus. worse because they are three feet off the ground and in case of fire it would be impossible for someRoll Up Your Sleeves one in a wheel chair to get out.” Over the past few years Walter, who is now the Roll Up Your Sleeves Frazer’s Roll Up Your Sleeves Ministry was Team Coordinator, has averaged 15 – 20 wheel chair created to assist the elderly and disabled in our ramps per year. community with minor home repair projects. One “The next project on our list is to repair the sidmember who has been a vital part in the success ing on a 79-year old lady’s house. She said it was of this ministry is Walter Nanney. torn up by termites, but the weather and rain had Not long after retiring in 1994 from a long career a lot to do with it also.” in heavy construction, Walter decided he could put Roll Up Your Sleeves is also preparing to help his skills and experience to use in the church and Charlie Kendall and his team with their work in the joined the Roll Up Your Sleeves Ministry. “My career Garden Square Community. “Charlie has asked us was in construction, but it was in heavy construc- to repair the fascia boards on the two houses they tion, not working on houses,” Walter said. “I was are currently working on,” Walter said. “We’ll be used to working on locks, dams, power houses, and up there sometime in the next two or three weeks. other industrial facilities, but I was interested in We’re doing all we can with volunteer labor because top: Roll Up your Sleeves volunteers Bob Luginbuhl, Walter Nanney, Alex Ansley and Larry Loosier at work in 2010.

Photo by Martha PooLe SiMMonS. bottom Left: Frazer members volunteered at the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in Montgomery in 2009. Photo by Lee WerLing. bottom Right: A fence repair project completed for a Frazer widow.

Photo contributed.

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it would cost too much if we had to use commercial contractors. It is the people who are volunteering with me who do most of the work and bring most of the knowledge to Roll Up Your Sleeves.”

Although Walter is hesitant to talk much about himself, two of his teammates, Alex Ansley and Ike May, aren’t quite as reserved.

“I’ve been a part of Roll Up Your Sleeves for more than 10 years and Walter was there before I was,” Alex said. “Walter is one of the finest men I have ever met. He is very humble, not pushy, not opinionated, but he gets the job done. I don’t know of anybody that doesn’t like both he and Donna, his wife. They are as fine a couple you would ever want to meet. He has a lot of knowledge, but he applies it, not talks about it. I have never worked with anyone any finer than he is. He is a good strong Christian as well. He is dedicated to this ministry and I am proud to have him as our Team Coordinator.”

Ike May, a Frazer member for 35 years, agrees that Walter is an integral part of what keeps the

ministry going.

“Walter is the backbone of the Roll Up Your Sleeves Ministry,” Ike said. “Once a project is approved, Walter determines the materials needed to complete the project, as well as the team members required to accomplish it. He does a great job of putting all the resources together to get the mission accomplished.”

“Several years ago we had a commitment from a young man and Walter called him to help on the first job that came up,” Ike continued. “He told the man what we would be doing and he said ‘Oh, I thought Roll Up Your Sleeves was giving blood,’ and Walter said, without missing a beat, ‘Well, we do that a lot of times ourselves.’”

The ministry recently built a ramp for a man who had lost on leg and had been fitted with an artificial foot. He was waiting to be fitted for a second artificial foot, Ike explained.

“He sat in the door and watched us build the ramp and when we got through we asked him if

Below: Walter Nanny serves with the Roll Up Your Sleeves Ministry. photo by Mac McLellan.

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he wanted to try it and he said, ‘You can’t imagine how much I want to get out and sit in the sunshine.

I haven’t been outside in three months!’ When a person is wheelchair bound and they are 30 inches off the ground you just can’t pick them up and move them.”

At 85 years old, Walter is still going strong and serving the Lord. He and his wife Donna have been part of the Frazer family for 43 years. They are members of the Roy Cox Sunday School Class.

For more information on the Roll Up your Sleeves Ministry please contact Charlie Kendall, Frazer’s Community Impact Minister, at 334-495-6316 or charlie.kendall@frazerumc.org

Widow’s Ministry The book of I Timothy gives detailed instructions that family members are responsible to care for widows to whom they are related, but the church is

to be the safety network to ensure that every widow is cared for. As it says, “Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.”

During the summer of 2011 Susan Fisher, Frazer’s Director of Discipleship and Women’s Ministry Director, approached Charles Hall, the Lay Leader of Frazer’s Men’s Ministry, and asked if he thought a ministry to serve widows within the congregation would be something the Men’s Ministry could support. Charles asked the men at their next monthly meeting how many of them would be willing to volunteer to help these women with yard work, home repair projects and similar needs. Several men, including Jim Vinson, raised their hands. Then Charles turned to Jim and said, “Jim, I think you would be the perfect guy head up this ministry.

Please pray about it and let me know if you would be willing to do it.” Jim’s decision to give it a whirl didn’t take long.

If you attend the 9:30 worship service in the main sanctuary you have seen Jim Vinson, although

Below: Jim Vinson heads up the Widows Ministry at Frazer. photo by Mac McLellan.

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you might not know him by name. A Frazer member since 1998, Jim has trained and coordinated the ushers in the 9:30 worship service for more than six years, and you will always see him ensuring the elements are in place and those who cannot come forward are served during Holy Communion.

“I think we’re doing a really great job [with the Widow’s Ministry],” Jim said. “The guys are taking care of these widows whenever they call. Actually, one member of each two man team is responsible for checking in on the widow they support at least once a month in case they need anything. If something needs to be done he contacts his partner and things get rolling. It could be something as simple as changing a light bulb or installing a clothes rod in a closet.”

This type of ministry didn’t originate with Frazer; it is in a number of different churches. Susan Fisher found out about it through some of her contacts. She immediately thought it would be a great ministry for Frazer because Frazer has more than 300 widows in our congregation. Some of them have family nearby or close friends who can help them, but there are widows who are truly alone with no support for their needs.

“We initially had between 15 and 20 guys that stepped up,” Jim said. “That was around May of 2011. It was around July that things really kicked off when we found out that Barbara Bazzell, a widow for two years, had a group of 10 widows that met once a month and had formed a support group.”

Jim, along with Charles Hall and Susan and Tom Hollingshead, approached the group and asked if they would be willing to work with the new ministry. Two men were assigned to each widow and asked to work as a team.

“In the beginning we found the widows reluctant to call for assistance even though we had a team assigned to them,” Jim explained. “Tom Hollingshead and I are the only men in the Widow’s Ministry who are not assigned to a widow. We’re the on call guys, and, by the way, I don’t know Walter Nanney personally, but I have his name and telephone number in case I need him!”

Currently, 4-5 widows are requesting help from the ministry but Jim said they do not have enough

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volunteers to support them. There are many other widows in the congregation who have not yet been contacted but Jim said he would like to have a list of volunteers who are ready to serve when the need arises. “I need at least 10 more volunteers right now to form the two man teams to support those widows who are waiting for help. We want to deliver when help is requested.”

Approximately two hours per month per team member is all that is requested. Everyone who volunteers is required to complete a form for a background check, and once that is completed, the assignments are made.

“I personally think this is a very worthwhile endeavor for the men of this Frazer to undertake, and I am thankful for the opportunity to be a part of such a worthy ministry,” Jim said. “If any man thinks this is not a worthy ministry, he needs to keep in mind that he is the only thing standing in the way of his wife becoming a widow.”

“Since I first started as the Lay Leader of the Frazer Men’s Ministry, I have found basically two types of men at Frazer,” said Charles Hall. “There are those that say ‘Lord, what just happened?’ and there are those that say ‘Let’s go make something happen for the Lord!’ My faithful Brother, Jim Vinson, not only belongs to that second group but he epitomizes it! He works tirelessly to partner the widows of our church with men who are willing to be the hands and feet of Christ. Jim is the driving force of Frazer UMC in our efforts to fulfill the directive of Christ as found in James 1:27 (NIV) ‘Look after the orphans and widows in their distress.’”

Of course, female volunteers are also welcomed to join the efforts. If you are interested in being a part of this ministry please contact Lay Coordinator Jim Vinson at 334-277-8374 or 652-9377 cell. His e-mail is jimfvin1944@bellsouth.net.

If you are a widow and interested in leading a small group of other widows, or getting involved with one of these groups, please contact Susan Fisher at 334-495-6391 or susan@frazerumc.org.

Mac McClellan is a volunteer writer and photographer for Frazer.

Angel

OF GARDEN SQUARE Following Jesus to Transform a Community BY amY pReSleY | Sometimes God’s plans lead us to the most unexpected places. It’s up to us whether we decided to stay comfortable where we are, or follow Him on a wonderful journey into the unknown, to a life completely transformed in Him. It was fall 2011, and the Frazer congregation was in the midst of its “Year of Transformation.” Amazing developments were already underway with the Transform Haiti project Frazer was involved with in Leveque, Haiti and the initial plans for the other “God-sized project,” the transformation of the Garden Square neighborhood in North Montgomery, had just been approved. But Frazer’s staff and volunteers were hitting some walls with the details and wondering where God was leading them.

A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places “You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.”— Isaiah 58: 12 (The Message)

above: Peggy Spaeth, Coordinator of Frazer’s Transform Montgomery project in the Garden Square neighborhood.

Photo by Mac MccLeLLan

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Above:Garden Square is located in the Chisholm area of North Montgomery and consists of around a hundred homes, many of which are currently unoccupied. Photo by Matt Gamble.

Around that same time, Peggy Spaeth decided to join Frazer. She had attended worship services for months, and felt God nudging her to make a commitment and become more involved. Little did she know at the time that God had major plans for her, plans she had actually prayed for and given to Him many months before.

“This entire journey started with a prayer,” Peggy explained. After retiring as Information Technology Manager for the City of Montgomery, Peggy got into real estate but the timing was terrible, as the housing market plummeted. She kept encountering people who were suffering through difficult financial situations, and, despite her own struggles in a busted economy, she desperately wanted to help them but didn’t know how.

“I kept coming across people, seemingly good people, who have messed up credit due to divorce, hospital bills, etc., looking for a place to rent to own.

It’s a cycle they get in that is so hard to get out of,” she said. “No credit, high interest loans… I found that I couldn’t help them. I got so frustrated with banks, mortgage companies and investors. It was all about numbers, not individuals.”

Peggy went so far as to research government funds and grants to find a way to help but ran into

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too much red tape.

“So I prayed,” she said. “I had done everything in my power to help. I basically told God that I didn’t know how to help these people. I was willing but I didn’t have the resources. I gave it over to God and moved on.”

Fast-forward to fall 2011:Peggy had just completed the Step classes for new members and was filling out her Commitment Card. And suddenly, there was her answer: Transform Montgomery.

“I thought, ‘God, this can’t be that easy!’” she said, laughing.

Up to that point, Frazer was running into a brick wall with the project. Although the Garden Square neighborhood had many affordable, unoccupied houses and the city had deemed the area a good zone for redevelopment, red tape hindered any progress. Homeowners were impossible to track down, properties were trapped in foreclosure, and the banks were difficult to work with, too. The money had been budgeted for the project and the ministry plan was developed, yet it seemed there were too many obstacles to overcome. Church Administrator Rusty Taylor remembers being in constant prayer over the project, even wondering whether the church had misinterpreted God’s direction.

Top: Volunteers do yard work on a home purchased for

Transform Montgomery. Photo by Andrea Vandermey. middle and Bottom: Church administrator Rusty

Taylor and Community Impact Pastor Charlie Kendall have been hand-on in the Garden Square project. Photos

by Matt Gamble.

Peggy was able to offer her experience working with the city and knowledge of real estate to help cut through the red tape and help the project move forward. With her help, the church was able to make headway with the city, the county, the tax appraisers’ office, the bankruptcy courts and several homeowners.

“I always felt like real estate was just a stepping stone to something else,” she commented.

According to Rusty and Community Impact Pastor Charlie Kendall, it was not only Peggy’s expert knowledge, but also her spirit that contributed to her success.

“Peggy knew how to overcome the obstacles that were preventing Transform Montgomery from going forward,” Charlie said. “She always works under the radar and does not seek attention for herself. She has a heart for the marginalized people who have so many of their own obstacles to home ownership.”

Rusty added, “She has a reputation in the city for being friendly and easy to work with; someone with a servant spirit, not just in it for herself. That helped open doors that had been shut.”

For example, during the closing process for the first house, Frazer made an offer on the house along with the Transform Montgomery “Intent of Use” and it was accepted by the seller , without the normal 15 day waiting period and all restrictions were waived.

It was evident from the beginning that God’s hands were all over this project.

To date, Frazer has purchased three homes and has working contracts on five others in the neighborhood, with four of them located on Erwin Street.

The church is also in the process of purchasing a building that will be the future home of a community center.

Volunteers have been gathering on Thursday

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Above and opposite: Garden Square has been blighted by the effects of crime, drug trafficking, and generational poverty; however, the impact of the Transform Montgomery ministry for Christ has grown quietly as neighbors are beginning to view the presence of Frazer volunteers as a positive influence. Photo by Matt Gamble.

mornings to work on the renovation projects, includ- transformation will begin to take place: in the lives ing members of the Roll Up Your Sleeves Ministry, of the people that live in the community and those Rebuilders for Christ and other Sunday School classes who will eventually take part in the mentoring proand small groups. All types of volunteers are needed, gram that is currently being developed. from unskilled laborers to skilled construction work“Transform Montgomery does not want people ers and professional contractors. God has provided to get only a transformed house but also a transthe right people and the right equipment exactly formed life,” Charlie said. when it was needed for any given task or project God’s plan for Garden Square is not just about required each week. As these volunteers are on the renovating homes and cleaning up the neighborground, putting the hands and feet of Christ into ac- hood. The real purpose of this project is to restore tion, the rest of the neighborhood is starting to take lives and build relationships. The details for how notice, Charlie said. He told of how one woman ap- God will use Frazer to accomplish this are not proached him while he was cutting grass and shared completely fleshed out but Peggy is hard at work. with him that other homeowners in the neighbor- After researching life transformation and mentorhood have started taking greater care of their own ing programs in other communities, she said they property since Frazer started getting involved. have decided to model a program called Circles “The more we are out there in the neighborhood, of Transformation. Through this life transformation building relationships with people face to face, the program, Frazer hopes to accomplish three main more opportunities we will have to share the love goals: Change the mindset of the community so that of God in word and in action,” Charlie said. it wants to end poverty; change goals, policies, and And that is where Frazer is hoping the real approaches to end poverty; and empower people

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in poverty to help solve community problems while transitioning out of poverty themselves (from the book “Bridges out of Poverty by Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D., Philip E. DeVol, and Terie Dreussi Smith).

“The plan is to match highly motivated people living in poverty with allies who provide emotional support and assist with life issues in order to build community prosperity,” she explained.

Candidates for the program would be required to complete an intensive mentoring program and define their goals. They would then be matched with mentors or “allies” to help them achieve those goals by sharing their knowledge and experience in those particular areas. Allies could help with anything from setting up a business plan, teaching how to buy a car, creating a budget, writing a resume, tutoring or practical life skills such as how to take care of your home and build a strong family. Most importantly, the mentors would serve as encouragers and motivators, to really inspire the individual to rise above their circumstances and accomplish their goals. Once an individual completes the program, they will then be able to enter into a lease purchase agreement to one of the houses, and from there will be able to finance the house with a low payment and no interest, Peggy explained. “The main purpose is to give them a helping hand, not a hand out,” she said.

Though this facet of Transform Montgomery is still in development, one thing is

certain: it will take a high level of commitment, from both participants and allies, to see God’s vision become a reality.

“As with any successful endeavor, this process requires commitment of time, emotion, prayer and material resources. Members of Frazer Church and the Montgomery community must make this commitment in order for God to bless this effort, “ Rusty said. “Peggy is coordinating efforts to train allies, as well as people in poverty, so they may be matched in the Circles ministry. Please consider asking God how He may use you in this work.”

The Transform Montgomery team is already witnessing life transformation in progress, however.

One Saturday afternoon in September, a group of about 20 volunteers was hard at work on the first purchased house, taking down wall board, removing ceiling, windows and flooring and hauling debris to the street. A woman approached Charlie and asked if the houses would be rented out after the renovations were complete. He explained to her that the plan was to sell the homes to people who met the qualifications and completed the transformation program. That’s when he learned that the very house they had been working on that day had been the woman’s home for 18 years until she had to move out

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because the owner fell into bankruptcy. The woman’s deceased husband had actually built the addition that the team had been tearing down from the house.

Charlie helped her get in touch with Peggy for more information about Circles of Transformation.

Another woman from the neighborhood is well on her way to potentially becoming the first Transform Montgomery “graduate.” She and her children moved out several years ago, after her husband passed away. Their home had been ransacked, and all of the electrical wiring, air conditioning and heating units had been stripped from the house. She could not afford the cost to repair the damage, even though she hopes to one day return to her home.

Through Transform Montgomery, that opportunity is closer to becoming a reality. She has been meeting with Peggy, and they hope to eventually train her so that she can become a Circles of Transformation facilitator herself, and help others pull themselves out of the cycle of poverty, too. “Reciprocity is what the training is all about,” Peggy said.

“I truly believe God sent Peggy to us for the purpose of moving Transform Montgomery in the direction He wants it to go,” Rusty said. “He is using her skills as a realtor to pursue and acquire houses in Garden Square that are mired in multiple layers of foreclosure, liens and confused titles. He has ignited a passion within her to help people who need homes, but, for many reasons, are not able to purchase them. She is providing leadership to a program designed to meet people where they are; understand their circumstances and needs, then assist them in crafting a plan to develop a stable lifestyle and achieve home ownership.”

Peggy believes that God is also using this process to transform her own life, as well. “When you actually see God working and you know He is working, that changes your life,” she said.

How Can I Get Involved?

G

od is moving in powerful ways through the Transform Montgomery project, and there is a place for you to get involved, too. Volunteers of all skill levels are needed to help with the weekly renovation and clean up of the purchased homes in Garden Square. All skill levels are needed, from unskilled “grunt laborers” to professional construction workers and contractors.

Currently, volunteers meet Thursday mornings from 8 a.m. to noon but small groups and Sunday School classes interested in setting up additional work days are welcome to contact Charlie Kendall at 495-6313 (office) or 549-2175 (cell) for more information.

The Circles to Transformation mentoring program is still in development but Frazer is asking individuals to pray and seek God’s wisdom in their roles as potential allies and mentors. More information about this critical aspect of the Transformation process will be available soon.

Above all else, Transform Montgomery needs your prayer! Spend some time asking God to continue to bless Frazer’s efforts as they seek His guidance and plan for bringing life-changing transformation to individuals and families in our community.

Do you have a story idea for Following Jesus magazine?

We’re looking for stories of everyday people whose lives have been transformed by Jesus.

Send your suggestions to Ken Roach, ken@frazerumc.org, or drop a note in the Church Office.

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How to Become a

Follower of Jesus 1. Repent | To repent means to turn around, to change your thinking and your direction and go the other way.1 The Bible teaches that every person has a Sin Nature—a deeply ingrained inner tendency to go our own way instead of following God’s way.2 When we follow our sin nature, we violate our conscience and break God’s commands by not loving Him and not loving our neighbor as ourself.3 The results are broken relationships, lack of peace, loss of purpose, anger, worry, fear, frustration, and hopelessness. The ultimate consequence of sin is death.4 you can pray a prayer of repentance like this:

“God, I admit that I am a sinner and I deserve to die. I have

broken your commands. I have not loved you as I ought to, and not loved my neighbor as myself. I repent of my sins. I turn from going my own way to go your way and obey you as Lord.”

2. Believe | The “gospel” (good news) of Jesus Christ is that we do not have to earn a relationship with God and pay for our sins by doing good deeds or religious rituals.5 Instead, God Himself took the initiative to come to us, being born as a man, suffering on the cross and dying in our place on the cross. He won the victory over sin and death by rising from the grave.6 God promises a new spiritual birth to those who believe in Jesus, trusting Him by faith.7 This new birth makes the believer a child of God, and begins a process of inner transformation8 that fills us with His joy, peace, and love, and the hope of eternal life.9 you can pray a prayer of belief like this: “God, I thank you that Your Son Jesus died and rose again the third

day. I trust in him alone to save me from my sins and give me your abundant, new, spirit-filled life to transform me now, and to give me the hope of resurrection and eternal life.”

3. Commit | The decision to follow Jesus begins with repentance and belief, but it is lived out by a daily commitment to live according to the pattern of life and teaching Jesus showed us.10 Some of the ways you can follow Jesus daily include: •

become a member of a local church.

The church is the Body of Christ,11 the living expression of

Jesus on earth. Joining a church means more than signing up for a human institution. It means you are committed to building authentic relationships with other believers for worship, growth, fellowship, and service together.

•

read and prayerfully reflect on the bible.

God has revealed himself to us through the scriptures.12

The Holy Spirit uses the words of the Bible to give us understanding of who Jesus is and how we can live like Him as we study it on our own and in community with other believers.13 •

serve others in humility. We

enter into the experience of Jesus’ death and resurrection by “dying” to

ourselves and our selfish desires so we can discover the joy of giving and living for others.14

1 Mark 1:15 2 Rom. 3:23 3 Mark 12:29-31 4 Rom. 6:23 5 Tit. 3:4-7 6 I Cor. 15:3-6 7 John 1:12-13 8 2 Cor. 5:17 9 John 3:16 10 Luke 9:23 11 Eph. 5:29-30 12 Heb. 4:12 13 John 14:25-26 14 Mark 10:43-45

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I NVES TING I N E TE RN I T Y

LEAVE A LASTING LEGACY

through

YOUR WILL. You can know the joy of helping others become followers of Jesus Christ by making a designation in your will. Call us today at (334) 495-6305 or e-mail legacy@frazerumc.org to request a copy of our free brochure, “A Legacy of Giving.”

THE FRAZER MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Charitable Trust Fund Keeping the Cross always lifted high.

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