You’ll be very busy helping with the crew leaders and the tech crew as well as assisting with dance, scenery design, acting, and snack set-up and clean up. We’re looking for leaders! Theater, dance, or music experience is a plus, but it is not mandatory. If you are looking for a fun opportunity to serve, this is the place to be! Apply now.

Whit Harvey
7th Grade Guys Leader

Check out more pictures of the fun over in the Pictures section.

We had a great year, and we look forward to starting again in August!

Check out more pictures in the TMB gallery.

Collin Young, Addison Combs, Patrick Dickerson, Amanda Shepherd, Blake Yoder

Mt. Bethel had the chance to recognize 5 outstanding members of the graduating senior class with scholarships at Sunday’s Baccalaureate Service. Please take a moment to read about just a few of the accomplishments of these children of God, and congratulate them on their accomplishments.

Ladies Scholarship, presented to Addison Combs by Kelly Brumbeloe:

Addison Combs and her family are longtime members of Mt.Bethel. They have been very active in the church for many years. Addison has been involved as a volunteer in multiple ministry areas of the church. She is graduating from Walton High School with 4.1 and will be attending Auburn University majoring in Special Needs Education and Psychology. This young lady’s list of honors and awards are extensive, inside out outside of Mt.Bethel. Reading her application, I was truly impressed but the thing that caught my attention the most was her heart and willingness to be open to the Lord’s calling on her life. One of her teachers expressed how she truly stood out in the classroom as “someone who does the right thing for the right reason”. It was my honor to give the Mt. Bethel Ladies scholarship to Addison Combs.

Mens Scholarships, presented to Collin Young and Blake Yoder by Ben Hornsby:

It is a pleasure to be able to award two scholarships this morning to two outstanding young Christian men. The awards are recognition of their time, gifts, and service to Mt. Bethel and to furthering God’s Kingdom here on earth.

The first scholarship named for the Reverend Robert and Ellen Infinger and in the amount of $2,500 is being awarded to a young man that has worked with confirmation classes and vacation Bible school. He has been a Camp Hope Counselor. He also has served as a Sunday school teen volunteer. During his time in high school, he has made three foreign mission trips. He will be attending Berry College in the Fall. It is truly an honor to present this award to Mr. Collin Young.

The next award, the M. Bethel Men’s scholarship in the amount of $2,000 is going to a young man who has also been a counselor at Camp Hope and Vacation Bible school. He has been a volunteer at The Garden, a shelter for women and children, and has served with M25 homeless ministry. He loves praise music. He will be attending Furman University in the Fall. I am proud to present this award in the name of the men of Mt. Bethel to Mr. Blake Yoder.

Music Ministry Scholarships presented to Patrick Dickerson and Amanda Shepherd by Debbie Pierce:

We are proud to announce that the recipient of this year’s Deborah V. Pierce Scholarship is Amanda Shepherd. Amanda has been a member of Mt. Bethel’s children’s and youth choirs for 15 years. She also served in chime and handbell choirs for 4 years. During her high school years, she has held leadership positions in choir, participated in choir tours and spring break mission trips, and served as a counselor at Camp Hope. In her application essay, Amanda reflected on how not only joining, but also staying, in church choir for 15 years has changed her life. She believes that her choir experience has taught her to slow down and listen for God’s word and way for her life. Those who recommended Amanda for this scholarship describe her as a spiritual leader whose enthusiasm and passion are contagious and through whom Christ’s light always shines.

We are proud to announce that the recipient of this year’s Carol Jean Leach Scholarship is Patrick Dickerson. Patrick has been a member of the High School Handbell Choir and Church Orchestra for 2 years. He also has served in the High School Choir, participated in the Adult Handbell Choir in our annual Patriotic Concert, and been involved in other church mission activities including Habitat for Humanity. In his application essay, Patrick shared that he has grown immensely, both musically and spiritually, through his participation in the Handbell Ministry. He believes that being a member of this Ministry has given him another way, in addition to singing and being a percussionist, to praise and worship God through music. Those who recommended Patrick for this Scholarship describe him as a faithful and gifted leader and musician who is responsible, dedicated, supportive, and respectful of others.

You can view more pictures from the 11am Baccalaureate Service in our image gallery.

It warmed my heart to see young men that were so kind and devoted to the Lord. We are so very fortunate to have these seniors in and about all the high schools in East Cobb. But perhaps the best part for me was on our way back to church from East Cobb Park- I got to hear the guys talk about how they are starting a Bible study at Wheeler to help their peers grow deeper in faith. There were shout-outs from the back of the truck with offers of help to create this event. I thought to myself, “I am a witness to God’s work right here. Now don’t cry, or choke up like you always do. Keep driving and listening.”

This group was diverse in so many ways, all with different hopes and dreams for college, but they all shared the same love for Jesus. Everywhere there was an opportunity to look, listen and see God’s Love pouring down on us all: the utter joy that was shouted by my son when he saw the mountain of shoes at the climbing wall, the kid staying at our house who said, “I felt so loved at this church, can I come back?”, the college leaders who were so amazing, our daughter telling us she spent some time with the homeless downtown and was beaming telling me she had met folks who had been helped by the Mt. Bethel homeless ministry.

I could rattle on and on but will now stop, remember the joy, take it with me where ever I go and count down the days to dnow2012.

God Bless,
Karen C. Miller

Our focus of the weekend was that we would learn to become the hands and feet of Christ. We had the opportunity to serve on Saturday afternoon. Here’s what we did:

• 6th graders stayed on campus to help move and organize the donations from our homeless ministry. They also made prom kits for the foster care foundation along with making valentines cards to give to our mission sites.
• 7th graders went all over! They threw a Valentines party for the Angel Closet ministry, they went to many of the assisted care facilities around the area to assist with everything from playing bingo and singing to making and hand-delivering valentines cards carnations, and they did music therapy with them.
• 8th Graders went to help out St. Phillip UMC. They went to throw the neighborhoods around them a Valentines Carnival, and they also passed our Valentines out to the surrounding area.
• 9th Graders went to Safe House Ministries and to two different parks in downtown Atlanta to love on the homeless.
• 10th graders went under the bridges of Atlanta to personally go make contact with homeless. They passed out firewood, toiletry kits and provided lunches.
• 11th Graders went down to Emory and worked with an inner-city program that tries to get at-risk kids the education and support they need in order to not become a statistic. They played sports with them.
• 12th Graders had a very interesting challenge. We told them to just go out and love on people here in East Cobb- they had to figure out what that looked like. Our students blew us away! They helped carry bags for people at Wal-Mart and put notes on cars in parking lots. They also went and pooled their own money together, bought hotdogs, went and grilled them at East Cobb park, and handed them out for free.

All in all, our Saturday afternoon was slam-packed with lots of students and college leaders (600+ to give you a picture) going around our community and loving their neighbor as themselves. We also partnered with three organizations over the weekend to raise the awareness of the needs of peoples’ feet around the globe:

We partnered with Orphan Relief and Rescue. They are an organization out of Liberia, Africa that meets the needs of orphans. We wanted to raise money to buy shoes for orphans there. At $125 for a barrel of about 50 shoes, we set our goal to reach 15 barrels donated. We had 6 barrels donated!

SIFAT is another organization we partnered with. They are a leadership training organization that works with many countries. We had some Bolivians make us tire sandals for $25 (and still have some if you would like). We also are going there this summer for our rising 7-9 grade mission trip. We would love for you to join us.

Soles for Souls is the third organization we worked with this year. They are an organization that delivers used shoes all over the world. We had this crazy vision of a pile of 3,000 pairs of shoes. We asked students to donate shoes and we counted Sunday afternoon and we have 1,850 pairs of shoes going to people that need shoes!

God was so good to us this weekend.

For Saturday Night we had a dance party where students’ family groups all dressed up and came as a dance crew. To put a spin on the evening, we asked them to invite their friends to join them in dressing up and then attend the session with them. We had over 100 guests that night.

After the dance party, we had our session. With all now 700+ people, it was an electric atmosphere. By the time Jared came up, the crowd was still in ‘party mode’. Jared spoke to the students exactly where they were and through the message really made the room contemplative. The students began to see who God really was and what the Cross really stood for. Jared put emphasis on following God daily and not just believing once. The most impactful part of the weekend was when he started to get the students to raise their hands if they wanted to come to know God personally and for the students that were Christians that they would follow Jesus. We had an amazing response from the students. God moved in incredible ways.

Sunday morning came so fast. We gathered for our last session of the weekend along with parents and congregation. We had around 1,200 people fill up the CAC and finish up the weekend!

Thanks again to:

• Jared Herd and the Casey Darnell band for their roles in leading students this weekend.
• Cindy Hudon for all of her hard work organizing our volunteers.
• Our amazing Host homes and host home helpers, we couldn’t do it without you.
• College Leaders! Need I say more?
• All of our volunteers that helped behind the scenes, cleaning and driving.
• Our Media department
• Our maintenance crew
• Our nurse, Meredith Morton
• Our amazing staff team

But most of all, thanks to God for what He did this weekend. All glory, honor, and praise go to Him.

Justin Smith

Kris Michaelides

One word: awesome.

To best describe the Mt. Bethel Student Ministries rafting trip that took place during “Couple Days of Chaos”, one would need to understand awesome: awe-inspiring, breathtaking, overwhelming, astonishing, magnificent. How about stunning, striking, majestic, grand, mind-blowing, wonderful, wondrous?

On Monday, September 20th, 4 busses packed with 48 students (High School & Middle School) departed around 8am on a journey to the Nantahala River. We stopped for a quick lunch, then got on the river. The water was so cold! It felt as though my legs were frozen stiff!

We rafted a few Class III rapids, and even rafted over a “Bump!” Everyone had a great time, and most got splashed. Some lucky students even got pulled off the rafts, into the arctic-temperature rushing waters.

After we all thawed out, delicious gourmet hot dogs and s’mores were on the menu. We sat around the campfire and worshipped, heard a message, and prayed. It was a great opportunity for us to refocus our priorities and respond to Jesus’ call for our lives.

The next morning we had honey buns and cinnamon spins and jumped in the busses to ‘destination: unknown’. The surprise location was a waterfall rock slide near Camp Winfield. Most of us had never been there and it was incredible! And, yes, that water was cold, too! We played there for about an hour, then headed back to Marietta- a quick stop for lunch, and we were back to Mt. Bethel.

All in all, I’d say it was a great trip!

Cary Farrington

Tickets are $10 and available only at the door.

• 400 students and parents attended our Fall Kickoff
• 130 is the average attendance at day/one on Sunday mornings
• 300 students at our past TMB
• 80 adults signed up to be lifegroup leaders (and still need more!)
• 250 students signed up for Life Groups
• 400 students signed up for Life Group if the students from last year sign up
• 40 HS students currently serving in mission ops Sunday mornings
• 250 students were here last Sunday taking part in our outreach events: MS enjoyed a slip-and-slide and HS had a dodge ball tournament

God is blessing our Wednesday night HS worship service: Two students came to know Christ in the first week! Amen! We are having a consistent 100 students.

In our staff bible study and prayer time, God has been speaking so much through the book of Matthew.

We are so excited that God has found favor on this ministry. Above all, these are just numbers. However, please rejoice with us over what the Lord is doing through these programs! As a staff, we are extremely intentional in leading students into a relationship with Jesus.

-Justin Smith

God has brought much interest and success to this incredible opportunity. On June 1, 2010 our first International Interns began our program. Two young adults, Max Francis and Greg Greene, served for a month in Kenya. Greg was able to shadow one of our friends, David Okongo in his medical clinic, while Max lived at Beat the Drum an HIV/AIDS orphanage. Currently, Reece Chapman is serving at several locations in orphanages and clinics. Sarah Beth Holt is serving at Tumaini children’s home for 4 months.

God is doing amazing things through our relationships and the hearts of these college and young adults. There is currently interest from several others to go and live in Kenya and to serve as God calls them. Please continue to support these opportunities with your prayers. If you would like more information please contact, Gaylyn Kelly.

‘‘Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory…” Ephesians 3:20

For months I have been preparing for a team to travel to Kenya. Our young adult ministry is blessed to have the support of our church, Mt Bethel UMC, and young adults with burning desires to live a life of love. The combination of both allows us to follow God’s call to KENYA, East Africa.

Months, prior to our June 3 departure date, the LORD continually placed the word ‘PRACTICAL’ before the planning group. To meet practical needs was the direction of this experience. Practical needs of – Water, Shelter, Food, were to be met and then to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with anyone God would place in our path.

Before we left Atlanta our team leaders in Kenya, along with our leaders here in the states, begged God to lead us to meet needs with the compassionate love that we have because of Jesus being our LORD. He gave us ample opportunities and our itinerary pages were full of logistics, details, and places to serve.

What God had in store for us was exactly what Ephesians 3 says: “…exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.”

Our plans were to depart Atlanta with 20 teammates, extra supplies, tickets and passports in hand.

God decided to overwhelm us with provisions- 20 extra bags of supplies came in from our church family and friends- one for each of the 7 orphanages brimming with first aid, clothes, books, socks, toothbrushes, and underpants- PRACTICAL, yes, but “immeasurably more”.

Our plans were to build structures that were needed at the homes- a cow shed, a kitchen and a chicken coop. We were also led by the need to purchase a dairy cow, yes 1 cow, for an orphanage that needed one with the $912 that was collected by the young adult team.

We got to Kenya and found out that the cow that was set aside for our purchase and delivery was a bargain at $400 USD, so we were able to purchase 2 cows and give another one to Strong Tower orphanage. As only God would, ‘our’ cow for Rhema home was 3 months pregnant! “Immeasurably more…” When our prayer partners heard about God’s provision, a Sunday school class at Mt. Bethel raised an additional $400 to purchase yet another cow for Beat the Drum children’s home. 3 cows purchased and delivered to 3 different homes in Kenya. “Immeasurably more…”

Our PRACTICAL plans while serving for 2 full weeks were to teach sewing, construct a cow shed (for the newly delievered cow at Rhema), build a new kitchen for Rehema, and a chicken coop for John’s family in Joska. We planned on doing VBS type lessons with singing songs, teach bible stories, play with children. We also wanted to serve by helping with chores, laundry, cooking, and cleaning and To love and LIVE with as many as possible. We chose to stay at as many orphanages as possible to save time traveling to guest houses and hotels and to save money. PRACTICAL!

Our construction plans were “immeasurably more” than our hopes and dreams when we found out that a Kenyan carpenter would be with us at all 3 sites where we would be building. All 3 of the construction projects were begun and at almost full operation at days end each time! The kitchen construction at Rehema girls home was “Immeasurably more” a need when the pastor told us that just 2 weeks prior to our committing to come and build the new kitchen, he was given a notice that the orphanage would have to be closed down if a new kitchen was not constructed.

We thought we would stay at the orphanages as a PRACTICAL answer, God allowed it to be “immeasurably more” because we didn’t just stay at the homes- we LIVED at the homes. We sewed together, painted, threshed corn and beans, peeled potatoes, tilled gardens, scrubbed floors, made beds, bathed children, did laundry, fetched water, made chipati, washed dishes, got in each other’s way, ran to the market together, got stuck in the rain, walked to school, forgot to say ‘I love you’, hugged really long, shared beds, towels, socks, books, fed the cat, read bedtime stories, brushed teeth, combed hair, got sick, got sad and mad together, took meds, kissed boo boo’s, sang, danced, watched world cup games, lingered over meals, walked to church, praised JESUS and relished life together. “Immeasurably more…”

Stunning how God will take our willingness and form it into “immeasurably more” than a humble offering to love in practical ways and do oh so much more. Praying that Scripture comes alive for you.

Stunned by HIS immeasurable more,

Gaylyn Kelly

2010 Walton High School graduate raps her message of thanks to Mt. Bethel church leaders, friends, and God!

The registration form for the Scholarship will be available on this site beginning in January 2011.

I remember the craft my friend Christian made. He didn’t really have any words written on the paper mache craft, but he did have a huge “J” for Jesus right in the center of his piece of art. That right there just made my day and I definitely saw God in Christian and all of the kids at VBS. This was my first mission trip and it was the first time that seeing people in poverty actually affected me. Growing up around Atlanta, I have seen many homeless people, but I selfishly paid no attention to them. This trip changed me because I finally realized first hand that our world is full of people who are hungry and thirsty and that are longing for something to comfort them.

Through this experience, I can no longer sit here and just watch people suffer. I desire to help people and I know that God is the only way that I can do that. I pray that He will use me even more in the future to do great things in His name. Let’s go to the least and the lost and give them hope because Salvation is here!

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” -Matthew 28:19

-Clay Phillips

Rachel Rose, Katie Freeland and Taylor Pair will serve with our Middle School students
Janna Chapman and Drew Peters will assist with our High School students
Morgan Poole will be serving in Children’s Ministry
Michael Gillespie and Megan Petenbrink will be helping our in our Music Ministry
Rae Ann Boswell and Chase Miller will be the College/Young Adult Ministry interns

In addition to our Summer 2010 Intern Team here at Mt Bethel, we will be sending out our first International Intern Team! Yes, God has opened doors and hearts to equip and now send the following Young Adults and all alumni or our Summer Intern Program, to serve in the foreign mission field of Kenya, West Africa, in various locations and for varying lengths of time.

Greg Greene will be serving in Kisumu as a medical intern.
Max Francis will be serving at an HIV/AIDS orphanage called Beat the Drum in Joska.
Sarah Beth Holt will serve at Tumaini orphanage in Kinagop.
Reece Chapman will serve at several orphanages and will assist as a medical intern in Naivasha and Kisumu.

Join us as we celebrate what God is doing in and through us here at Mt Bethel with the equipping and the sending of these His disciples. Thank you for your continued support and prayers for these young adults. If you have any questions of how you can be involved contact Gaylyn Kelly.

By giving these fish names and personalities, the folks at Pepridge Farms have done us a disservice. They have made everyone one of us killers; murderers of innocent fish. That’s right. Now that these fish have names, how can I enjoy their delicious cheddariness? I can’t. I feel as though I am robbing a family of its father. I feel like Steve could have had a future had he not ended up in my stomach.

To be honest, I have begun to question my entire values system. For years, I have been eating fish that had hopes, dreams and vibrant lives. If I am capable of doing that, what else am I capable of?

I think I need to grab a bag of Gummy Bears of rethink my whole life.

-Daniel

Seniors about to go to college. 8th graders about to move up to high school. Summer is coming. I see so many changes are not only coming up for me as I get ready to move to Kenya but for alot of people around me. So many of us feel stuck in the middle during this transition time. I think the most exciting & nerve racking thing about change is that it is UNKNOWN. Although we don’t know the wonders & trials we have coming up with our various changes, I pray we all will remember God is there with us. He is good, He loves us, and He is KNOWN to be faithful as we spread our wings, look change in the face, take a deep breath, and step out on faith.

-Sarah Beth

-Cary

Have you ever been so selfish that you let your baby cry

While you finished a video game?

I Haven’t Either. That’s pretty bad.

Have you ever stretched the truth telling stories to your friends

So they’d be a little bit more amazed?

I Haven’t Either. I’d never do that.

There are some people out there

Who aren’t completely sincere.

What they show in the daylight is not exactly what’s on the inside.

It’s a form of protection

From being rejected

You and I can be so glad we are not like that.

Have you ever made a promise 1,000 times

Just to break it over and over?

I Haven’t Either. Only people with problems do that kind of thing.

Have you been so full of doubt that you just can’t pray to God

‘Cause you wonder if He even exists?

I Haven’t Either. I…

There are some people out there

who aren’t completely sincere.

What they show in the daylight is not exactly what’s on the inside.

It’s a form of protection

From being rejected

You and I can be so glad we are not like that.

Middle School- Camp Infusion, Sixers Retreat, Guys LockIn, Girls, LockIn & Mission trip to Tampa. FL!

High School- Beach Retreat, Road Rules, Camp Hope and a CampOut!

Find out more details on these trips and more at our student website: mtbethelstudents.org

SB’s passion and desire to see students have a real and authentic relationship with Jesus Christ is amazing and even contagious! She has been an invaluable asset to our team and she will be greatly missed. Sarah Beth’s last day will be Sunday, May 16. I hope you will make an effort to show her your appreciation and support for her new journey.

With Sarah Beth’s departure coming, I am pleased to announce the addition of our newest staff member, Lauren Eden. Lauren comes to us from Fayette County, GA. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia and has served Peachtree City UMC for the past 5 years as the Director of Middle School Ministries. She has been married for just over a year to her husband, David.

Lauren will join our team on Monday, May 2^nd. If you’d like to drop her a line and welcome her to Mt Bethel, feel free to do so. Her email is: laustoll@yahoo.com I’m sure she’d love to hear from you.

God has truly blessed us with an unbelievable team. We wish Sarah Beth all the best and welcome Lauren to the family!

-Cary

Tuesday night Apostle Class High School

Tuesday night Disciple Class Middle School

Wednesday night Apostle Class High School

Wednesday night Disciple Class middle School

Wednesday night 8th Grade Faith and Sexuality Class

Wednesday night 8th grade Parent Meeting for faith and sexuality class

Thursday night Apostle Class High School

Thursday night Disciple Class Middle School

Thursday night HS band practice for MS Day/one

Friday Night Holy Ground for HS

Sunday Morning MS Day/one

Sunday Morning HS Sunday School

Sunday Morning HS Mission ops

Sunday Morning Rising 6th grade parents meeting

Sunday Night HS Day/one

Sunday Night MS life groups

Sunday Night MS Camo night

It was amazing! make sure to check the calendar to get plugged in.

Justin