One of our members and his family are now serving in Medellin Colombia as missionaries. Below is their mission update.

Buddy Williams

News from the Williams family, OMS missionaries to Colombia. View this email in your browser

Williams Family Update Happy Thanksgiving! I will thank you, Lord, in front of all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. Psalms 57:9 Today does not feel like Thanksgiving. In fact, Medellín, Colombia is business as usual since this is not a holiday here. Our children are in school, Heather is in Costa Rica for a training event and now finds herself hunkered down riding out hurricane Otto. Truthfully, we all miss home and the traditional celebration of gratitude displayed in joyous over-eating! Nevertheless, Thanksgiving is not only a holiday, but an attitude and a lifestyle of gratitude. Although we don’t say it enough, we are truly grateful for all our family and friends. We are grateful for our many blessings and that we have the incredible fortune of serving Christ as missionaries. Thank you for praying, for believing with us and for giving the resources that enable us to serve here. May God richly bless you and your family on this special day! First Mission Conference in 73 Years!

A historically relevant event took place in Girardota, Colombia on the 20th and 21st of October: the first mission conference in the history of the Interamerican Church of Colombia (IGLEICO). IGLEICO  began through OMS ministries in 1943 and currently is a denomination with about 600 churches in Colombia. The purpose of this event was to challenge and involve the district leaders of IGLEICO to begin thinking and engaging globally in the mission of God. In attendance were district leaders, the leaders of the internal denominational ministries (women, men, youth and children’s ministries), 7 of the 8 members that make-up the mission department, President Jonás Pinto and one North American missionary - me.            The focus of the convention was the role of the local church in the mission of God and how God’s desire is for the local church to thrive in its own context and impact the world through global mission engagement. President Jonás spoke about churches planting churches and the absolute necessity to reproduce viable and thriving congregations in new locations. Mission Department head, Wilberto Ruíz, shared the vision for global mission through IGLEICO and presented concrete objectives and possible methods that will enable us to reach the objectives. I (Chris) taught on the mission principles from the book of Acts and on the local and global impact of the church (using the church of Antioch as a model).            Rarely do the district leaders travel from their prospective areas of Colombia to meet for spiritual encouragement and to be challenged. Normally they gather only once or perhaps twice per year for business and administrative meetings. They were proud to gather for the express purpose of discussing missions, but at the same time, confused about what new programs or requirements may come forth in the conference. However, at the close of our two days together, it was evident that they were profoundly touched by what they had heard. One leader shared, “It is so easy to get caught up in our own little areas and in the needs of our churches that we forget the church exists for those who are not in the church. We are missing our purpose in the world; the purpose for which Jesus has commissioned us. Mission is not a program of the church it is the reason we exist.” Our goal as a mission department is to help local churches become involved with the ministry needs in their own context, to plant new churches where there currently are none in Colombia and to engage globally in missions. The district leaders are the doorway in each district to the local churches we want to equip. Thankfully, they were very open and extended the invitation to begin work in all 15 districts of Colombia. It looks like 2017 will be very busy! With love and gratitude, The Williams Family Contact Us Magic Jack   (205) 687-1861 cwilliams@onemissionsociety.org   Follow Us   www.facebook.com/chrisheather.williams.3   One Mission Society www.onemissionsociety.org (317) 888-3333 941 Fry Rd · PO Box A Greenwood, IN 46142  Missionary # 802473

View Bio / Online Giving Become Partners Copyright © 2016 Chris and Heather Williams, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you expressed interest in our ministry. Our mailing address is: Chris and Heather Williams 7256 Self Rd Pinson, AL 35126 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

CFC Serves in the Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew

From Sunday, October, October 16 through Saturday, October 22, 2016 five of our members deployed to Blufton, South Carolina to serve as a chainsaw team with Samaritan's Purse. Those making the trip were (left to right) Boyd Martin, Tim Smith, John Calhoun, Buddy Williams and (not pictured) Henry Averyt.

Buddy Williams recently submitted this report: "On the 5 days of work we assisted 15 families. "Our first job on Monday we cut and removed 2 trees in the front yard of a person that was preparing our dinner that night (helping those who are helping us). While we were there the neighbor next door came over and asked if we could clear her driveway so she could get in and out to her house. After getting her to go by the church and complete a ROE [Right Of Entry work permission form] we were able to go and open up her drive from a huge amount of debris made by the city when they cleared the road 8 days before. "Our 3rd job for the day was removing 2 downed trees from a home owner's drive and yard.

"We finished this job on Tuesday morning. That night the home owner contacted me and wanted to meet us on Wednesday to give us T shirts to show their thanks.

"Wednesday afternoon we went to a very plush gated community where a huge live oak had been blown over. The home owner would not let us put the skid [tractor] in his yard so we cut the tree up and left it for the home owner to handle the removal. This tree was about 5’ in diameter. [That is a Stihl 660 chainsaw with a 36" bar that Buddy is pictured holding! A big, powerful chainsaw that was borrowed from SP and every bit needed to cut through the base of that massive live oak.]

"Our next job was 10 minutes from the church but it took us 1 ½ hours to find. You might say it was located a little off the grid. There were many trees on the ground and 4 hung up in the trees. I got the skid stuck 2 times and we left 2 trees still hung because of our safety. We also had to keep our eye open for the alligator watching us in the lake and the mosquitoes were almost as big as the gator.

"We worked other small jobs and met a lot of nice people. Best of all we ate very good."

And John Calhoun also shared this special connection he made during the week:

"Back in 2005 my church group stayed at Frank Boykin's hunting lodge north of Mobile when we helped after Hurricane Katrina hit. That's Frank's brother, Hamilton, in this photo. He and his wife are the owners of the house where the big live oak tree job was. Strange coincidence!!!!!!!"

Of special note, when filing his report Buddy also shared with me the fact that for the first time since we've been working with Samaritan's Purse - our relationship dates back to 2012 - our CFC team was assigned to work sites in Blufton without an SP supervisory team leader. We consider this is a very special recognition of our skills and capabilities but even more so of our faith-based mission to share the love of Jesus Christ and restore hope in His name with the survivors of severe storms through our service. We sincerely thank SP for its confidence in us.

Don't forget to check in with us from time to time on our blog page located at http://cuttersforchrist.blogspot.com.

In His Service, Bob Bob Thompson Cutters for Christ Disaster Response Ministry Deployment/Team Coordinator _____________________________________________________________

Asbury UMC BBQ Cook-Off

CFC teammate Alan Weeks has alerted us to a benefit being run at Asbury UMC in support of missions.  And specifically, an Asbury UMC ERT team component of our Cutters for Christ disaster response ministry mission is going to be an "entrant" in the BBQ Cook-Off Challenge! As you can see in the "call for entrants" poster below, the event will be held at Asbury UMC - 6690 Cahaba Valley Road in Hoover - on Saturday, April 9, beginning at 11 AM.  You can attend anytime between that hour and 4 PM when the cooking will be officially judged.

The Asbury ERT team is gunning for the big prize, of course!  Proceeds will go to help support the Asbury UMC ERT team's activities and will help to keep their skid steer, Abel, running in tip-top shape. You can help and support them and make them winners whether they're awarded the big prize or not.  Adults (ages 13 and up) will pay $10 for a "grazing ticket," good for as much as you want to eat(!!!); tickets for kids aged 5-12 will go for $7 and you'll be able to feed the under-5-years-old members of your family for free!  (And if you haven't eaten your fill at the Asbury UMC ERT booth, you can always move on to other competitors and try their entries - just be prepared to pay the grazing fee again at each separate booth!) Alan has requested that CFC teammates come out wearing our yellow logo t-shirts and black logo baseball hats to show even more support for the Asbury UMC ERT. So...if you can be there - Alan says they'll be roasting a whole pig! - come enjoy some great BBQ and leisurely fellowship on a sunny and warm (let's hope!) Saturday with your CFC teammates.  And, oh yes...you will NOT need to bring any chainsaws, gasoline, bar oil, water, electrolyte replacement, pickle juice or PPE with you!  Just your wallets and your appetites. See you there!

In His Service, Bob

JCVOAD Requests CFC Assistance

Just 4 days after our in-the-rain-and-cold workday in McCalla two and a half weeks ago representatives of the JCVOAD (Jefferson County Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters, of which we are participating members) gathered at the Jeffco EMA office in downtown Birmingham to assess everyone's response to that tornado and to discuss readiness plans for the next one, whenever that should occur.  We were alerted following that meeting that a Hueytown resident had called the Jeffco EMA with a request for assistance in removing the limbs and trunk of a downed tree in their yard, which probably was the result of the winds from that same storm.  JCVOAD asked us to consider the job and, if it fell within our mission and scope of capabilities, could we assist this resident with the removal of the debris in their yard. Team member Ken Clements traveled to the address to assess the job for us.  He took pictures and considered the problems we might encounter - chain link fencing, a TV satellite dish in the path that Abel would have to travel, the availability of space at the curb to stack the debris, the actual size of the tree itself and its position relative to the house and shed which it fell between, whether or not there was insurance in place that could pay for a commercial removal of the debris, who the actual owner of the property is, etc.  Once all the logistical problems were overcome and we determined that it fit our mission and our capabilities, we agreed to undertake the job.  After all, it was essentially just one tree that had fallen.  It was on the ground and had already been cut loose from its root ball by the neighbor who, having insurance in place, contracted with a tree service to cut up and remove the canopy portion of the tree that fell on his property (and, unfortunately, through his roof, too!). So this morning, Tuesday, March 22, a team of 8 CFC volunteers arrived at the Hueytown job site.  The sky was blue, the sun was shining and the temperatures were perfect for a day of chainsawing!  Quite a different workday from two and one-half weeks ago.

Our Hueytown team consisted of (kneeling and seated in the foreground, left to right) Henry Averyt, Bob Thompson, Alan Weeks, (standing and seated in the background, left to right) Boyd Martin, Tim Smith, Ray Miller, Jim Pressler and Bob Nabors.  Not pictured, but very much needed and a part of the team today, Asbury UMC's skid steer Abel.

Our assignment was at the home of Bruce Findley - that's Bruce to the left.  (Bruce tripped and fell against a portion of the tree while watching us do our work and ended up requiring 4 stitches in his right temple.  He reports that he broke no ribs but he also did suffer some significant abdominal bruising.)  The job looked easy, but we quickly found out that this oak tree was REALLY BIG - 37" in diameter at its base (as shown in the image below) and almost 50 inches across where the tree branched out between two forks (shown below being lifted away and to the debris pile at the street by Abel).

Here are three views of what we found when we arrived at the job site and how it all looked when we departed.

Before: After:

Before: After:

Before: After:

As always is the case with us, the root ball gets to stay there as we do not have the capability of pulling it out when it's so big.  Nor do we have the stump grinding equipment that would be needed to pulverize it into sawdust. We ran through chain after chain as the dense wood dulled them quickly.  Our usually efficient 28" bar Stihl chainsaw went through 3 chains alone!  But fortunately, between the 6 chainsaws the team used throughout the morning, the job was accomplished in time to leave for us to enjoy a team lunch at Bob Sykes Bar B-Q in Bessemer, located just a few blocks away.  Between our 8 volunteers, some 46 hours were committed to this assignment.  (The City of Hueytown required that we cut the tree trunk sections into 3' lengths and the branches into 6' lengths, so that really was why the job took just a bit longer than we normally would take to cut up even this big tree - we needed to make many more shorter trunk lengths than we normally would drop at the curb.) Here are just a few more pictures of the job in progress.  Note how fortunate Mr. Findley was to have the tree fall so "conveniently" between his house and his shed.  Note also how unfortunate his neighbor was (the blue-tarpped roof), however.  The last image is of the debris pile Abel created at the curbside, dropping the lengths over the chain link fence.  NOw it's up to the City to lift all those sections into their debris removal vehicles and take them away!

We're expecting bad weather again in our area toward the end of this week, so if we're needed again, we'll be ready.  As we requested in our last workday report, please continue to pray for our safety as we work to clear storm debris fields and please especially pray for the survivors of the storms who we will be serving. And as always, please read our blog at cuttersforchrist.bolgspot.com whenever you can!

In His Service, Bob