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International Mission Partnerships

Weddington Church is currently in ministry in four countries outside of the United States: Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Kenya, and Romania. Support for international missions varies from pastoral care, building churches, caring for and educating orphans, and so much more. Weddington Church continues to be the hands and feet of Jesus around the world through the giving of our time, talents, and offerings. 

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 

Acts 1:8

Bulgaria

Bulgaria is the poorest country in the European Union and has been rebuilding the church community after Communism fell in 1989. Weddington Church helped build and continues to financially support a church in the town of Botevgrad through your tithes and offerings. For more information please contact Tonya Tapp.

Costa Rica

Weddington Church partners with churches in Costa Rica to help establish facilities for worship and housing. Most recently, we worked with a congregation to build an education building at Dios Es Amor Iglesia (God Is Love Church) in Santa Cruz. Mission teams travel to Costa Rica typically during the month of January. A golf fundraiser is held each fall to raise funds for Costa Rican building projects. Please contact Brian Pontius or Greg Smith for more information.

Kenya

Weddington Church helped start and continues to support the Home of the Good Shepherd (HOTGS), a rescue mission for vulnerable children in Nyahururu. The ministry takes children off the streets and into the home where they are safe and their physical and spiritual needs can be met. HOTGS social workers then focus on reuniting the children with their tribe by finding and empowering the right foster family, as well as assisting financially in their education. The goal is to create a new generation of Christian leaders that can break the cycle of poverty for their family, congregation, and tribe.   

We also partner with God’s Grace for all Nations (GGFAN), a ministry that starts churches, trains pastors, enables congregations, and takes food and the Gospel to the 22 unreached tribes in Kenya. Several years ago, we donated a truck to their ministry which transports relief food to the unreached tribes and was used to rescue fellow Christians during the tribal clashes of 2008. The truck continues to serve, recently providing famine relief to thousands of Kenyans impacted by the COVID-19 shutdown.

Weddington Church mission teams typically visit Kenya three times a year to witness the way God is working through GGFAN. Teams meet with the staff, visit the Pastors School, teach Bible School at GGFAN churches, play with the kids, and work with teachers at Little Lambs Academy. Mission team members experience a new culture, build relationships, create lifelong memories, and change lives. If traveling to Kenya is not for you, there are multiple ways to support the mission and connect with the HOTGS kids from the US.  

You can find pictures and notes at the Friends of the Good Shepherd Facebook Page.  Please contact Bradd Blocker or Paula Burnett for more information on how to get involved.   

Romania

Light from Light Church in Sibiu, Romania is one of three United Methodist churches in Romania. In late 2014, Pastor Cristian Istrate and his wife, Ligia, started meeting with a small Bible study. As the attendance grew, soon Cristian and Ligia were asked by the group to start meeting Sundays, as a church, and in November 2014 were officially established as a United Methodist Church under the presence of Superintendent Rareș Calugar. The Istrates’ work is not only focused inside, but also outside the church. They currently have projects:

  • Working with teenagers with counseling and evangelism.
  • Hosting regular UMW meetings where non-Christian women are invited to hear about God.
  • Ministering to the Romanian and Ukrainian orphans.
  • Sharing faith through music and events.

For photos, videos and updates visit www.facebook.com/lightfromlightumc. For more information please contact Tonya Tapp.

More Information

Please contact Ken Curell, our International Missions Chairperson, or Tonya Tapp at the church office to learn more about our international missions.