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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 2nd 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 relationships with our new Rwandan brothers and sisters:
Summer 2008 – First Methodist sent its first mission team to Rwanda to help construct our four homes and get to know some of the people in the surrounding village.
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.
Summer 2009 – Our second mission team to Rwanda got to meet and minister to the kids in our first four homes and spend a few days in ministry at Star school, the site of our second four homes. Now several of our church members have relationships with “our kids” in Rwanda and are helping them complete their education. In Thomasville, our VBS kids raised money to purchase bedding, towels, mosquito netting, and gardening tools for all of our Rwanda kids.
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 this year 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 approximatly 1500 clients at the local food bank and praying for almost 900 people.
Join the revolution Who knows what God will do next?