Our Story

How Advent Revolution Began

In 2007 several of us at First United Methodist in Thomasville, Georgia, began asking ourselves some tough questions:

What does Jesus really think about the way the world celebrates Christmas?
Does the way we celebrate Christmas truly bring honor to Jesus?
If we’re celebrating Jesus’ birthday what would he want for a birthday present? We were fairly certain an iphone, a fruitcake, or a sweater wouldn’t top his list.
If Christmas is all about God leaving his comfort and glory in order to touch the suffering of the world, wouldn’t he want us to do the same thing? And if so, how? Where do we begin?

At the time, First Methodist averaged around 500 in weekly worship attendance. We determined that if each of us were to spend just $50 less on ourselves this year then we could build homes for 12 orphans in Africa. These four Homes of Hope would provide them a safe place to live where they would be cared for and introduced to Jesus. Given that the average consumer spends around $850 at Christmas this seemed like a small sacrifice to drastically change the lives of 12 children. We had never attempted a project like this before but felt led by God to take this step of faith.

We announced the project, called Advent Revolution, to our congregation on December 2^nd and on Christmas Eve we had the privilege of announcing that we had exceeded our goal of funding four Homes of Hope. The biggest surprise was the effect Advent Revolution had on our congregation. That Christmas was one of the most exciting and meaningful Christmases that many of us can remember. We didn’t get so caught up in the non-essentials of the holidays but truly focused on Jesus. We heard numerous stories of how children got creative or made sacrifices in coming up with their $50. Families had meaningful conversations about the real reason for Christmas. Most of all, in the end, we were able to say “Look what God did!” and felt like Jesus was truly honored by our Christmas celebration.

The Revolution Continues

Since Christmas of 2007 the revolution has continued as we’ve built lasting relationships with our new Rwandan brothers and sisters at the Village of Hope, Star School, and the Church of the Blessed Mango Tree. First United Methodist now makes annual mission trips to Rwanda where we serve, love, and cooperate on joint projects. God is good.

Christmas 2008 – After our second year of Advent Revolution we raised enough funds to build four additional homes housing 16 orphans at Star School in Rwanda. Plus we had other churches from Georgia, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania join us in the revolution.

Christmas 2009 – For our third year of Advent Revolution we raised money to build a water well at Star School so the 500 students there will have access to clean drinking water. This year, while giving globally, we also encouraged each of our church members to serve locally, giving them specific opportunities to demonstrate the love of Christ in our own community this Christmas. This included hosting 11 Christmas parties for almost 1000 clients at the local food bank.

Christmas 2010 -- Advent Revolution focused on two projects this year. We built a roof on the Church of the Blessed Mango Tree which has literally risen from the ashes after the 1994 genocide and is now one of our ministry partners serving the poorest of the poor in Rwanda, including many children they have brought in from the streets and introduced to Jesus. The other half of what we collected provided scholarship money to help the children in our Homes of Hope to complete their education.

Christmas 2011 -- This year, Advent Revolution will have both a local and a global component. In addition to providing more scholarship aid so that the children in our Rwandan Homes of Hope can finish their education, we will also be funding the start of a new ministry in Thomasville, GA. The Back Pack Buddies Foundation (which began with our own Back Pack Buddies ministry to provide food to hungry local school children) is being established to help other area churches feed hungry children in our community whose primary source of nutrition is the school cafeteria.

Join the revolution Who knows what God will do next?