Overview of Missions and Missionaries

We support a specific mission project every month.  Some of these are projects our church has undertaken (Shoebox Ministry), others are ministries we partner with (Randolph Area Christian Assistance Program), and still others are ministries whose good work we have recognized and we want to help (Children’s Bereavement Center).  For more info. about Mission of the Month, click on that title under Ministries and Missions.  Many other outreach ministries are also covered under Ministries and Missions.

Various small groups in the church undertake their own ministry projects such as collecting school supplies for RACAP or sponsoring a family during the holidays or throughout the year.  Our Youth do a week long summer mission project each year either in San Antonio or another city in Texas.  They often work through an organization in that city and assist with fixing homes or working with children.

For many years, we have also supported now-retired Southwest Texas Conference missionaries Bill and Diana Upchurch who worked first in Zaire and more recently in Guyana.  Through our pledges and offerings, a portion of which goes to the Southwest Texas Conference, we also support a number of missions and ministries globally.  We have had some individual young adults work as short term missionaries with our sister church and its ministries in Volgolda, Russia.  We would like to have someone prepare and lead a group on a project to Guyana in the near future.

UCUMC provides ongoing support for the ministry of one of its members, Kim Buck, through prayer and the financial donations of many members and groups in the church.  Kim has been a member of UCUMC from 10 years of age, and now serves as a missionary with Campus Crusade for Christ.

Kim became involved with the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ as a student at Texas Tech University.  During her senior year of college, at a prayer time for short term missionaries in Russia, Kim began to sense the Lord speaking to her heart about going to Russia as a missionary.    She vowed to the Lord that she would go where He wanted her to go and do what He wanted her to do to help people come to know Jesus and grow in their faith.  It gradually became clearer that God was calling Kim to go to Russia.  She spent 2 years in Moscow, Russia as a short term missionary.  As Kim says, “I saw the Lord do amazing things in Russia, and He used my time serving Him there to call me onto full time staff with Campus Crusade for Christ.”  It was difficult for Kim to leave Russia, as she felt a strong sense of calling that God wanted her there for the long-term.  Russia is a hard country and is very much still unreached with the Gospel message, and she didn’t want to leave that place where there was so much need.  But, she was praying and waiting on the Lord’s timing to return.

Kim has spent the last few years serving in Austin, Texas training and mobilizing new short term missionaries to reach people for the Gospel all over the world.  She has also continued ministering to college students at the University of Texas at Austin.

In August of 2008, Kim will return to Russia!  She is thankful that God has called her back to this nation to serve and minister to those who have no idea who Jesus Christ is, and the sacrifice that He has made for them.

“Campus Crusade is committed to the things that I have become most committed to in my own personal ministry: evangelism, helping others to grow in their faith, and the fulfillment of the Great Commission.  Joining staff with Campus Crusade for Christ was simply my next step in that commitment I made to God a few years ago...I'll go anywhere, and do anything you call me to do, Lord.  Here am I....send me!!”

Campus Crusade for Christ International is an interdenominational ministry committed to helping take the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations. They cooperate with millions of Christians from churches of many denominations and hundreds of other Christian organizations around the world to help Christians grow in their faith and share the Gospel message with others. Campus Crusade has ministry projects with virtually every segment of society.  In addition to the campus ministry and these many other areas of ministry, they undertake humanitarian aid projects across the globe.

If you would like to talk personally with Kim about her ministry, please email her at kim.buck@uscm.org.  All Campus Crusade staff members raise their own financial support for living and ministry expenses by developing a team of committed ministry partners.  Kim is but one example of a ministry worker who has grown up in this church.  Not everyone is called to this type of ministry, but we are all called to serve and minister in some way.

 

Catch the Spirit...Spread the Joy!