Mzuzu, Malawi, Africa
This work is overseen by the elders of Thomaston Road Church of Christ, but many congregations and individuals support the work at Mzuzu Bible College. This is a mission that has been going on for many years and hundreds of people have heard the gospel because of this wonderful work. In 2019, 101 people have been baptized into Christ and 19 people restored. We invite you to read the latest reports from our missionary located in Mzuzu. Marc Veary and his wife Christine are doing an outstanding job in our effort to educate preachers to take the Gospel into the world. This work provides these men with an excellent education, practical experience and a vocation to provide for their family.
The Mzuzu Bible college has earned a reputation for being a most excellent training ground for new ministers of the church of Christ. It provides an education highly sought after by local men desiring to commit their life to teaching the Gospel.
However, as typical for most mission works, the Mzuzu Bible College, is greatly in need of financial support. We would like to expand the college to take on more students but resources will not permit that at this time. For the 2020 class we have interviewed 82 applicants for 25 openings. If would be great to accept more men into this program and be able to teach more men to teach the Gospel of Christ.
The most recent newsletters from our missionary, Marc Veary are posted below. Please take a moment to view them and consider the wonderful works that are taking place there. Please keep this work and our brothers and sisters in Malawi in your prayers.
To support the work in Mzuzu, Malawi with Marc Veary with the Mzuzu Bible College, just send a check marked for this work to:
Mzuzu, Malawi Work Project
Thomaston Road Church of Christ
P.O. Box 26307
Macon, GA 31221-2630
If you would like to discuss this work we invite you to contact one of our Elders, Tom Behel.
MAUI, HAWAII
Stan and Lindy Frank have started a new congregation of the Lord's people in Maui, the Aloha Church of Christ. They are doing this while both are working as substitutes in the school system there. They have 3 children, two of them and a grandchild are living on the island and one is living on the mainland. Stan has been a missionary to Zimbabwe and England. He worked for a while in the United States as director of a private school and then went back into the mission field as a missionary in Hawaii. You may visit their website at alohachurchofchrist.com.
Curacao and Alford Lazar
Curacao: Alford Lazar (the local missionary) and his wife Patricia have been in Curacao since 1992. They were married in Trinidad and immediately began this work that year. They have two children: Evan and Precious. TRCOC has participated in many campaigns to Curacao, with the most recent being in July of 2016. Please continue to pray for Alford, his family and the church in Curacao. You may visit their website at: www.curacaochurchofchrist.org or contact us at Thomaston Road Church of Christ 478-757-9435. For their latest newsletter go to
http://trcocnews.org/pdf/Curacao.pdf.
PANAMA MISSIONS
There are several areas that Thomaston Road is involved with in trying to take the Gospel to Panama. They are:
H20 Project:
Panama Missions, under the oversight of the Childersburg, AL congregation, exists to take the Gospel to the people of Panama. It began over 25 years ago and seeks to provide spiritual, physical & medical needs for the people there. One facet of the work is providing water filters that transform (in a matter of minutes) the dirty, contaminated river water that sickens-and can kill-to clear, pure drinking water. Each of these gravity-powered filters costs $50 and they last for YEARS. Regularly, our members make donations to our "H2O for Panama" effort. On average each month, we are able to provide funds for two to five filters for Panama.
Operation Christmas Joy:
Operation Christmas Joy is directed by Larry Brady and provides homemade dresses and shoe box gifts every Christmas to Latino and Indian children ages 0 to 17 years from the Darien Mountains and to those children hospitalized in Panama City.
Sports Equipment Ministry:
The "Step Up to the Plate for the Panama Missions" program began in 2008. Gates Winters, who was a deacon whose career was being school teacher and coach, was asked by Larry Brady to help organize a baseball and softball program for the benefit of children living in the Darien Province. After leaving Panama, Brother Winters started collecting the requested sports equipment and made several contacts acquiring a relatively small amount of equipment which was shipped to Panama via the University Church of Christ in Montgomery, Alabama. The mission team has a person in charge of the program in Panama now. Gates worked with the program on a continual basis by continuing to collect as much baseball and softball equipment as possible. All and any equipment are still accepted from individuals, organizations or church groups willing to donate to this cause. There are no expenses incurred by those donating the equipment since all expenses are covered by voluntary donations. We just need good used sports equipment that no one is using any longer. The "Step Up to the Plate for the Panama Missions" is another avenue of mission outreach that provides the youth with a wonderful form of recreation.
Short Term Medical Missions:
The entire Darien Mountain region of Panama is served by medical teams all across the nations giving the under privileged Latinos and Indian tribes free surgical care, eye and ear care, and help with general health issues. Simultaneously, information relative to New Testament Christianity is afforded to those who are cared for at the Sanson Medical Clinic. Medical missions serve as introduction to Christian service which propels the acceptance of New Testament Christianity.
SAVING ASIAN SOULS:
Our help is needed NOW! This Christian organization under the direction of the Red Boiling Springs Church of Christ in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee, works to help stop human trafficking. These girls are provided a safe place to live, taught the Bible, are given a vocational training, and are helped to find a place to work. Here are the facts about human trafficking:
· 80 % OF VICTIMS ARE FEMALES
· Every 30 seconds another person becomes a victim of sexual trafficking
· Human trafficking is the second largest growing crime in the world next to drug trafficking
· About 17,000 enter the U.S. each year and are sold into prostitution. They cannot go to authorities due to being illegals in the U.S., or their passports and identification papers have been taken by the criminals
· There are 27 million girls enslaved across the globe
· 50% of victims are younger than 16 years old
Want to know more about human trafficking, the wonderful job that Ron Brown (who worked for many years with orphans teaching about Christ and helping those with medical needs and now is with this organization) and his co-workers are doing under the leadership of the Boiling Springs Church of Christ? Do you want to help save these girls not only from a world of prostitution but also to help save their souls by reaching them with the gospel? This organization works to help these young girls come to know Christ and to understand that there is a better life than being trapped into the dangerous and evil ways of the world.
Go to https://www.save-asian-souls.org/Home to donate to a wonderful cause or you may send a check to Thomaston Road Church of Christ and we will get the donation to the Save Asian Souls organization.
About Us
OUR CARE BUILDING OUTREACH
At Thomaston Road Church of Christ, one of the outreach ministries we have is our Care Building. This ongoing ministry provides food and necessities for those who are in need and less fortunate than many of us. God has blessed each of our lives, and we are happy and privileged to give to others. Jesus once said during His ministry, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). Please continue to pray for this ministry as we strive to bring honor and glory to God's name here in the Macon, Georgia area.
Please contact our church office at 478-757-9435 for times the Care Building will be open.
CHRISTMAS CARE
Every year the Thomaston Road Church holds Christmas Care on the third Sunday of December. This year we served a little over 100 families with a bag of groceries that constitute a Christmas dinner with either ham or turkey. The families were able to get a gift for each child in their immediate family. Most of the families are ones that have made contact with us through the Care Building ministry. It is a wonderful opportunity to share and hear of God's love for us!
This is an event that our members look forward to every year because we are able to share the love of Christ with those in our community through our sharing. We have an opportunity to provide a Christmas dinner for many families who would not otherwise have one. God has provided so much for us and we are glad to be able to give to others in need. Through doing so, we hope that those we serve will see the light of Jesus shining through us as we sing songs, reach out to them with the gospel, and fellowship with each one of them.
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE
The Ronald McDonald House of Central Georgia is a "Home Away from Home" for families of critically ill children located within walking distance of the Children's Hospital at Navacient Health and serves families of all hospitalized children from central and south Georgia. For families with ill or injured children, the house offers a caring, comfortable, and supportive place to stay. Individuals, organizations, and churches in Middle Georgia provide a home-cooked meal every night of the year. Thomaston Road has accepted the opportunity to help with the McMeal Program. We provide a hot, home-cooked meal monthly for 25-35 people with a small group consisting of 4-6 participants who prepare it. Also, our ladies who work at Rose's Cottage (a "cottage" located at the Bible camp on the church's property) make quilts that they present each December to Ronald McDonald house for children who are hospitalized and whose parents are staying at Ronald McDonald House while their child is hospitalized in Macon. The blessings received are far greater than given.