Friday,
October 16, 2015: Business and Brainstorming
Saturday,
October 17, 2015: Unite and Collaborate Together!
1401
Jones Dairy Road
Jasper,
Al 35501
FREE
Okay, folks,
here it is. We are one week away from the time of year where all of
the AHMEN teams, volunteers, project leaders, donors, sponsors, and
prayer warriors are invited to get together to talk about the
previous year of volunteersship and plan for the next.
Oh, what is
that? You say you have been to one of these before? No biggie, you
say? You think keeping up with posts on Facebook is good enough …
Well, not this time!
What makes
this year different?? Well, here is your “Top 10 Reasons to Attend
the 2015 AHMEN Annual Meeting.”
10: Chili
Cookoff
Bring a
crockpot of your favorite chili recipe and enter this year's chili
cookoff. If you don't cook, you can be a judge. There's nothing
like a little friendly competition. Larry “Bucket” Guthrie
always beats everyone at shoe box collection … Maybe this is a
contest the rest of us will have a chance at winning!
9: Dr. Tom
Camp has a plan!
When I asked
Camp what his goal for this year's conference was, he responded, “I want to ask people a question. I want to ask 'Where do you want
AHMEN to go, and what will you commit to doing to get it there?'”
Camp being the pot-stirrer he is has a really neat plan to encourage
us all to this end … But you have to attend to be in the know.
8:
Saturday Morning Breakout Sessions
This year's
format is a little different. While it is important for us all to
hear what each of our peers are doing on their teams, the point of
getting together is talking with one another. That's why this year
we will spend Saturday morning in discussion groups. I encourage
each team member to join a different topic from the following
choices: Evangelism, Sponsorships, Medical Brigades, Community
Involvement, and Clean Water Initiatives. The goal, however, is not
to just talk about each topic. The goal of the group talk is to
discuss how each member can grow AHMEN and make the organization
stronger through each topic.
7: Special
Group Discussion for “Young People”
“Young
People” is a relative term. When I used to visit my
great-grandmother in the nursing home, anyone under 85 was a “young
person.” Similarly, the majority of AHMEN's current volunteers and
leadership is over the age of 40, 50, & 60. We desperately need
new blood in the organization. So send your Under 30 crowd to engage
in a group discussion on the topics that are (and will be) important
to the next generation of AHMEN members. This will be a question and
answer session for new volunteers also.
6: Dynamic
Speakers
Paulette West
of UMVIM, SEJ Dan
Isbell of Cruzadas
de Evangelio
Dr. Rev
Richard Stryker of River of Living Water UMC
Water Program
of Asbury UMC of
Madison, Al
Bill Camp of
CHIMES
5: It's
FREE!!
4: Unity
In order for an
organization to succeed in its mission, we must unite. We must see
ourselves as being different planets revolving around the same sun.
The reason AHMEN exists is not just to provide tax-exemption. AHMEN
functions as a network to help any and all individuals and teams who
are called to work in Honduras be able to do their jobs better.
Beyond your individual role as a team volunteer, what can you commit
to doing to help AHMEN sustain itself and grow?
3:
Collaboration
By working
together, by sharing ideas with one another, we better learn how to
follow our calls. If we do not take each other's experience and
knowledge into account, we waste time and money. If we choose not to
collaborate, we do not solve water problems, persistent medical
issues, meet basic educational needs, or negotiate supply chain deficiencies. Libraries don't get stocked,
and websites sit idly with out-of-date information. It is when we
collaborate that we are able to improve the daily living standards of
more Honduran families and shine as Jesus would have us.
2:
Togetherness
Individuality
and individualism are traits mythologized in the United States.
Well, if you've ever worked in Honduras, you must know that it is
extremely difficult to walk around with the “I'm going to solve
this problem all by myself” mentality. If it weren't, the 60K+
volunteers flooding Honduran airports each year would make a lot more
progress. Instead, there are over 1 million Hondurans without clean
drinking water. As a result, families gets sick. Kids don't attend school. The definition of crisis sinks into the culture. Can Hondurans solve this problem alone? No. Can you?
No! Join your fellow Honduras enthusiasts next weekend to talk about
how we can all work together to more efficiently confront major health and education issues in Honduras.
1: The
Many Parts of AHMEN's Body Will be Present
Just being in
Honduras with a team energizes me. Simply being around my fellow
AHMENers fills me with life. I invite you to fill your cup. We have
serious work to do in Honduras to help more people live more just
lives, and you will be motivated to do so simply by being surrounded
by this crew's positive energy. If you haven't sent in your RSVP,
please do so as soon as possible. Contact me here today! All are invited.
Together, we
are the difference.
