MISSION WEEK  |  MARVIN MENDERS  |  RUSSIA  |  MISSION OUTREACH
ST PAUL CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION  |  OUR MISSIONARIES   

"Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words."
--St. Francis of Assisi

Marvin is a mission-oriented church! The mission leadership team is one of visionary outreach locally, nationally and internationally. From the piney woods of East Texas to the steppes of Siberia, Marvin mission hearts and hands work together to make the world a better place.

Melissa Brigman, director of missions, says, "I have always treasured the words of St. Francis of Assisi, 'Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words!'  Our missions ministry puts love in action. It is my prayer that our mission program and our volunteers share the good news through acts of compassion, grace, hope and love."

Russia team

Click here for daily updates about our team currently working in Siberia.

Weekend mission trip

Come and spend a weekend serving Christ and serving others! The Marvin Menders will sponsor a weekend work trip from Jan. 15–19. Volunteers will travel to the Gulf Coast to work with UMCOR providing Hurricane Ike assistance. Lodging will be at a
local hotel. The cost of the trip is $225 per person (based on two in a room). There are a limited number of spaces available. Contact Melissa Brigman in the missions office to sign up!

Marvin Day at Bethesda

You are invited to participate in Marvin Day at Bethesda Health Clinic on Saturday, Feb. 21. We need doctors, dentists, nurses and other volunteers to help with running the medical clinic that day. If you are interested, contact Melissa Brigman in the Missions office.

Amazing Grace

This fall our church “adopted” Amazing Grace Children’s Home in Kenya. We’ve raised money to help with many needs at the orphanage and now we will learn first-hand about life at Amazing Grace! Three Marvin members, Kathy Davidson, Connie Mitchum and Rev. Marty Dunbar, will join a team out of Oklahoma that will travel to Kenya in February. The team will work with the children and learn about this special place for AIDS orphans. Please keep Kathy, Connie and Marty in your prayers as they prepare for this wonderful mission trip!

Spring dates

• Marvin Menders Trip – Jan. 15-18
• Give Kids a Smile Day – Feb. 6
• Trip to Amazing Grace Orphanage – Feb. 12-21
• Bethesda Clinic Day – Saturday, Feb. 21
• Empty Bowls – March 28
• Mission Week – June 19-27
• Marvin hosts UM-ARMY – July 5-11

Mission Week

Click here to see photos of Mission Week 2008!

Click here to read a letter from a Mission Week family.

Mission Week 2009 is June 19-27!

What is Mission Week?

Every year, Marvin members and friends roll up their sleeves and volunteer for Mission Week. People of all ages and all skill levels, from professional carpenters and electricians to those who have never hammered a nail, work together to work miracles in a one-week time frame. Mission Week includes more than 300 volunteers working on projects in East and North Tyler. Projects range from replacing a floor in someone's home to building a complete home from the ground up! 

Mission Week, which began in 1987, is one of the foundations for Marvin's Christian outreach and service. Participants of all ages experience a wide-variety of "hands-on" missions during the week, from construction projects to a neighborhood festival!  Mission Week provides fun and meaningful opportunities for service. There's a place for everyone, whether it's doing yard work, carpentry, taking pictures or cooking and serving meals.

Marvin Menders

Marvin Menders provide minor repair work for the elderly and those in need. They have also helped with special projects, such as the construction of Lake Palestine UMC and Stonehamville UMC, flood repair work in Houston and projects at Lakeview.

Everyone's invited to be part of the group! If you're interested, e-mail Melissa Brigman.

Russia

Marvin United Methodist Church has been a lead church in mission outreach to Russia. Annual mission teams have worked in several children’s orphanages in Siberia. The Russian Children’s Hope Fund was established to provide basic care for the orphans in Tomsk.

Mission outreach

Mission trips

This ministry offers opportunities for Marvin members to reach out to people in the United States and around the world. The purpose of mission work trips is to provide opportunities for fellowship and spiritual growth, while serving others. For more information and dates of mission trips, contact the Missions office.

PATH and Food Bank partnerships

Marvin remains a strong supporter and partner with PATH (People Attempting To Help) and the Regional East Texas Food Bank. Special collections and offerings are sponsored throughout the year for these ministries.

NOAH Ministry

Think of Marvin's NOAH ministry as a boat that keeps people afloat during a domestic, medical, transportation or emotional crisis.  NOAH is a calm in the storm. NOAH stands for networking, organizing, advocacy and healing. The Missions Office works closely with PATH, the Salvation Army, St. Paul Children’s Foundation and other helping agencies in our community to find the best care for those in crisis situations.

Marvin members and others in our community have turned to this ministry in times of need. All inquiries for assistance are treated confidentially.

Special offerings

Marvin Church sponsors an Easter Offering for Missions with proceeds going to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief), the Food Bank, PATH and Rev. Paul Renjithan’s work in the slums of Bombay, India. Our Christmas Offering for Missions is designated for Golden Cross, Methodist Children’s Home, Methodist Mission Home and the St. Paul Children's Foundation. Other special funding comes from Communion rail offerings, in addition to designated gifts, honorariums and memorials given specifically for missions.

Mission collections

Members of Marvin Church show their love and care for others through numerous collections throughout the year, such as UMCOR Disaster Kits, “I Care Kits” to refugee children in the Sudan and “Christmas Kits” to needy children in Haiti. At other times of the year, we collect needed items for PATH (soup, diapers, school supplies, coats),  the Food Bank (peanut butter and jelly, canned food at the Fair), St. Paul Children’s Foundation (children’s clothes, shoes, hotel-size toiletries), the Lion’s Club (eyeglasses), and Conference Missions (hearing aids). We also collect items needed for mission trips throughout the year, as well as for families sponsored through the “Christmas in the Neighborhood” outreach.

Texas Mission of Mercy

Marvin Church is a partner in this community-wide effort to offer health care and spiritual care to thousands of those in need. Our church provides financial support, transportation, volunteer workers and meals for this tremendous mission outreach.

UMCOR

Marvin United Methodist Church is a major supporter of UMCOR, which stands for the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Since 1940, UMCOR’s mission – providing relief in disaster areas, aiding refugees and confronting the challenge of world hunger and poverty – has helped to heal the hurts of humanity is nearly 100 countries.

UMCOR maintains a corps of trained disaster response specialists for quick reinforcement of national efforts and keeps a supply of relief materials in  warehouses for dispatch. It also trains disaster response specialists in their own countries as part of a global ministry by a global church and works in partnership with international agencies.

Our church supports UMCOR through our annual Easter Offering for Missions as well as through the collection of disaster kits for the UMCOR Depot located in Baldwin, Louisiana. In the past, our church has assembled health kits, school kits, layette kits and flood buckets for distribution through the Depot.

Each fall, our church sponsors a four-day mission trip to the UMCOR Depot. Twenty volunteers assist in the processing on disaster kits for worldwide distribution.Contact the Marvin Missions office (903.592.7396) to add your name to the interest list for future trips.

St. Paul Children's Foundation

St. Paul Children’s Foundation is one of the highest-priority local mission efforts for Marvin UMC. This faith-based organization works hand in hand with its East Tyler neighbors to rebuild and renew community and spiritual life.

St. Paul Children's Foundation ministries include:

Dental Clinic
The new SPCF Dental Clinic is open Monday–Friday to provide expanded services for children who would otherwise go without much-needed dental care. The Clinic was a “labor of love” built by Marvin volunteers with community support.

Children's Health Clinic
SPCF and Northeast Texas Public Health District partner to provide quality medical care for low-income children. This modern medical facility staffed with dedicated pediatricians and nurses is open five days a week to meet the healthcare needs of grateful families.

Mobile Medical Van
Trinity Mother Frances Health System and Northeast Texas Public Health District work with SPCF to provide the mobile Health Care Outreach Van that travels to eight East Texas counties providing healthcare to the medically underserved.

Clothes Closet and Food Pantry
Most clients come to help bridge the gap between paychecks or in emergency  situations. The families we serve often repay that kindness by baking goodies for our volunteers or donating their time to help sort clothes, pick up purchases at the food bank and stock the pantry shelves.

Wonderful Wednesday After-School Program
This is where SPCF began when two faithful members of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church felt called to minister to children of the community. Today, more than 100 elementary and middle school children and 40 adult volunteers meet weekly during the school year to hear Bible stories, sing songs, share a snack, go on field  trips and be nurtured by the loving volunteers.

Boy Scout Troop No. 363
Scouting provides enrichment opportunities for boys whose families have limited  resources. The lessons learned in Scouts will impact these young men for the rest of their lives.

Andrews Park
Neighbors requested and pitched in to help construct this “pocket park” designed for young children. It is a  safe, fun gathering place for neighborhood families. The Summer Lunch Program serves many children during the summer.

Contact the St. Paul Children’s Foundation for more information (903.531.9455). 

Our missionaries

Marvin United Methodist Church partners with full-time missionaries literally around the globe! These individuals are supported through our gifts, prayers and partnerships. Our missionaries help us “stay connected” with the world and provide vital ministries that change lives and share God’s love in so many ways. As a nationally recognized Global Missions Partner church, we pledge to serve our community and world. The following missionaries help us reach out to all of God’s children.

Eunice Fontura
GBGM Missionary, Brazil, South America

Eunice Fontura, Director of the Susanna Wesley Safe House for Girls, is involved in a ministry to young girls, who are victims of violence and sexual abuse. This project is carried out in a marginalized section of the city of Viama in Southern Brazil. It is a city with serious problems ... especially the prostitution and exploitation of children.Eunice carries out the church’s ministry to young girls through the following activities: Worship and Sunday School, Home Visitation Program, Literacy Program, Vocational Training, and the Provision of a Safe House. As a Brazilian woman, reared in the Methodist tradition, Eunice was called by God to work in creating a “place of shalom” for the young girls in her city.

Rev. Paul Renjithan
Rev. A. Saba Renjithan
Bombay, India

“Saba” first came to Tyler more than 25 years ago where he was befriended by the Marvin Church family. That friendship remains cemented today as he and his son spread the Gospel in this primarily Hindu nation as a part of the global Methodist Church. As a young man reared in the Hindu tradition, he wandered into a Christian worship service. This curiosity led to his dramatic conversion to Christianity. Immediately he experienced rejection from his own family. Saba says, “When I came to know Jesus Christ, I could not  deny Him even for my parents and siblings.” Rev. Saba has now retired and has passed the “ministry mantle” to his son, Rev. Paul Renjithan, who has taken over the slum ministry and is being ably assisted by Rev. Saba. This slum ministry provides physical, social, emotional and spiritual help to many who live in the poorest areas of Bombay.

Rev. Elena Chudinova
Tomsk, Russia

Elena is the founding pastor of the Tomsk United Methodist Church, located smack in the middle of Siberia, 2,000 miles east of Moscow’s Russia United Methodist Theological Seminary, where she received her pastoral degree. Before answering the call to ministry, she was a children’s teacher in Ekaterinburg. In Tomsk, Elena works with the Texas  Conference PIM (Partners in Mission) teams as they respond to God’s call to minister to the children in the orphanages. Elena, like her PIM friends, has a heart for serving God  through ministry with children. In 2002, Elena was asked to take on another task in addition to her duties as the pastor in Tomsk. She is the District Superintendent of the  Siberia-Far East District, the largest Methodist district in the world! Elena and her husband have a daughter named Lera.

The Rev. Ludmila Garbuzova
Moscow, Russia

Ludmila was a professional musician in Moscow prior to the fall of Communism. As religious freedoms opened up in Russia, Ludmila felt a call to the ministry. She is a  graduate of the Russia United Methodist Theological Seminary in Moscow. She is the co-editor of the Russian Methodist Hymnal and a member of the Global Praise International Music Committee. Ludmila serves as the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Moscow. Marvin members and East Texans will remember her warmth and friendship from her travels to our church on several occasions with the Gloria Singers from Moscow. Ludmila has one daughter, Julia, and one granddaughter, Lisa.

Debbie Lascelles
Youth With A Mission

Debbie serves as director of Mercy Works at Youth With A Mission. She has traveled to countries ravished by war, demolished by earthquakes and impoverished by famine. She organizes worldwide relief efforts to help those in need. It is through Christ’s love that she ministers to everyone she meets. Debbie is a member of Marvin UMC and is married to Chris, who also serves as a missionary. They have two children.

Katherine Ewing
Youth With A Mission

Katherine works with YWAM to help train and send hundreds of volunteers into mission fields each year. She has developed projects and events that mobilize volunteer missionaries into national and international relief and mission work. She has been instrumental in establishing permanent centers in Mongolia, Haiti, Azerbaijan, and in the inner-cities of Dallas, Chicago and New Orleans. Katherine is a member of Marvin UMC and puts God’s love into action every day!

Bill and Jerri Sauvuto
GBGM Missionaries, Jurisdictional Mission Interpreters

Bill and Jerri Sauvuto are missionaries commissioned by the General Board of Global Ministries. They have just completed an assignment in Kenya, Africa, where they served at Maua Methodist Hospital. Bill and Jerri worked with all of the volunteer PIM (Partner in Mission) teams that worked in Maua, as well as serving patients and staff at the hospital. Jerri was a nursing instructor and Bill set-up a computer system at the hospital. They also initiated ministries to AIDS orphans, who lived on  the streets of their village. Bill and Jerri have returned to the United States and are stationed in Dallas where they are serving as mission interpreters for our jurisdiction. Their new calling is to promote missions and challenge churches to get more involved in serving others.

Robert Adair
Asian Access, Kyushu, Japan

For three summers, Marvin member Robert Adair participated in mission trips to Japan focusing on relational evangelism. Robert accepted the call to return to Japan in the fall of 2004 to become a full-time missionary. His focus is developing church leaders and multiplying indigenous congregations in Asia. He is partnered with a Japanese pastor who will be starting a new church on the island of Kyushu. Robert will teach English classes, lead Bible studies, meet new people in the community and work with the pastor in a variety of ways.