{"id":20558,"date":"2019-04-03T00:00:55","date_gmt":"2019-04-03T04:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=20558"},"modified":"2019-05-13T18:37:51","modified_gmt":"2019-05-13T22:37:51","slug":"praise-band-concert-to-benefit-lapalmilla-3-24-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=20558","title":{"rendered":"Praise Band Concert Connects with La Palmilla (3\/24\/19)"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the evening of Saturday 3\/24\/19 we hosted a Praise Band Concert to benefit our friends in the La Palmilla Mexico Methodist Church. This was actually the Fifth Annual (?) Concert! Over these 5 years we’ve heard a lot of great music and have experienced God’s presence in many ways. And over the years, we have helped a vibrant church in Mexico to expand their ministries by expanding their building. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Making the Connection<\/span><\/h3>\n
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La Palmilla Educational Building (circled) is next to the Sanctuary, but not connected<\/p><\/div>\n

The fifth Annual Concert didn’t let us down. The music, fellowship, and worship were inspiring, and the free will offering garnered over $1000 which will greatly assist our friends in La Palmilla.<\/p>\n

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Connecting Buildings…<\/span><\/h4>\n

The folks in La Palmilla will use the money we raised to build a connection between their Sanctuary and Educational Building. The buildings are next to each other, but if you’re in the Sanctuary, you can’t get to the Educational Building’s restrooms. This new connection will link the buildings and will improve access to restroom facilities from the Sanctuary.\u00a0 It’s a very practical need, but it will allow this church to minister to more people. We Methodists all have the same goal: to make disciples of Jesus Christ!<\/p>\n

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Connecting People…<\/span><\/h4>\n

The concert didn’t specifically benefit our child sponsorship efforts, but one of the connections we have with the people of La Palmilla comes through our Sponsorship Program.<\/p>\n

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One of our sponsored children with his aunt<\/p><\/div>\n

In what started as a way to help cover some of the educational costs for the children of La Palmilla, this program has expanded to helping the children and youth of the La Palmilla church’s mission (satellite) churches. This church is not bounded by their village! They are growing and planting other churches in the area, and through sponsorship, we are reaching out to these families too.<\/p>\n

Approximately 450 children and youth are now part of our sponsorship roster (and many of them are waiting for sponsors).<\/p>\n

Over the past seven years, we have seen the Middle School and High School enrollments rise and now we have an unprecedented number of youth in or going into some type of college, university or trade school. College is very cheap there (compared to here), but High School isn’t free. Without aid or sponsorship, most students can’t afford to go to High School in order to make it to college.<\/p>\n

By sponsoring High School and Middle School students, we have bridged that gap; students are able to complete grade school and then earn college degrees.<\/p>\n

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Connecting Through Commitment<\/span><\/h4>\n

PUMC has been involved with our friends in La Palmilla for many years. In addition to these Praise Band Concerts, we’ve raised money in different ways and we’ve traveled to La Palmilla in person on several occasions. These mission trips have helped this church in Mexico to expand their ministry by replacing their “bursting to the seams” sanctuary with a “state of the art” facility.<\/p>\n

Here are some “before and after” photos of this construction project…<\/p>\n

The sanctuary’s balcony has grown from a cleaning and painting project into an inspiring space for worship…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t