From the Heart
To borrow Paul's sentiments addressing Roman Christians: " I thank my God for all of you,...I remember you in my prayers at all times, and ...I long to come to see you" (from Romans 1).
You really don't need us to tell you that as a nation we are all experiencing difficult times, especially in this region of the Appalachian Mountains. Earlene and I do not want to unduly burden anyone; however, we are in need of both financial and prayer support at this time. As God has blessed and our ministry has grown, we have found our resources dwindling, both physical and monetary. We are greatly encouraged to welcome the Havens family who arrived on Monday the 16th., and will soon help meet ministry needs. However, as they transition into the ministry here, our needs are immediate and constant. We plan to come to Dention in October to meet with you and some future supporters to let you know how God has blessed and where He is leading the ministry. Meanwhile, we thought that if we told you of our needs, God may lay it on your heart to help us in an immediate way.
God has used us to develop "Mountain Vision Ministries" to ministry to the physical and spiritual needs of a multi- county region in upper East Tennessee. Currently open three days each week, food, clothing, beds, furniture, appliances, and other emergency items are supplied to the needy; item are delivered when individuals do not have their own transportation. Denton Bible has supported this effort, as well as local Tennessee churches (Calvary Chapel, Grace Fellowship Kingsport and Cedar Grove United Methodist Church). Our storehouse facilities are donated by Herb Thompson at Thompson Finishing, yet this remains a difficult ministry to do on the scale we are doing it when we are in a sense doing it " out of hip pocket." We are able to keep Mt. Vision open with handful of volunteers, but it is truly a 7 day job for us. we remain grateful for the groups from DBC who've come to help us (from Senior Life members to young people in DBC choirs), doing a multitude of tasks: organizing, building, painting, planting ...these saints have been a great source of encouragement to us!
Plans continue, to feed the needy, by developing a commercial kitchen at Grace Fellowship Kingsport. Thru this effort, it is our desire to provide hot meals to area soup kitchens, area children programs, and maybe meals on wheels and/or programs of this type. Helping this ministry become fully functioning, as well as assuring that spiritual needs are addressed will be our next challenge. We continue to maintain our other ministry obligations, serving as spiritual care giver at the VA hospital, teaching at the Greene County Jail, Teaching at U-Turn for Christ mens ranch and Earlene teaches at the women ranch.
The current state of the economy has only exacerbated the needs already existing in this region of Tennessee (the unemployment rate in Greene County is 161/2 % ) With so many job losses, we are seeing people who normally donate to ministries, somtimes asking for help themselves. These physical needs of lead to spiritual and emotional needs, which gives us an opportunity to serve and to offer hope through Jesus Christ. Our hope is secure in Christ, but it is also easy to be discouraged when you look all around you at the surmounting needs of people on a daily basis. This brings me back to the purpose of this letter.
From the bottom of our hearts, Earlene and I want to thank you, our friends, for all of the ways you have supported us through prayers, donations, and visits to help us physically. Please continue to pray for us that we will accomplish much in God's name and for His glory, praising and honoring Him in every way. This ministry is a faith-walk for Earlene and me. We are trusting God to meet our needs (Phil.4:19). We are reminded in Malachi 3:10: "test me in this,"says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."God tells us to "bring the whole tithe into the storehouse" and give Him the opportunity to act. When we trust in God's ability to provide for our needs, He always far exceeds our expectations!
It is our hope and prayer that we might receive some immediate help ($3 ,000-$5,000) to keep the ministry afloat until the Havens are settled in and we are able to come back to Denton and develope a more solid support base. Thank you for considering our needs prayerfully. In closing, we are encouraged by 2 Cor.4:17-18: "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what we see, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.
Posted August 23, 2009 by Charlie and Earlene.
Latest Happenings
Coe and Donna Kroese and Gordon and Peggy Nickell are back in Denton after spending a week here painting, repairing, building, praying and otherwise strengthening God's ministry in the mountains. It was very comforting to have them here and it did not take long for us to become dependant on their willingness to do the work, any work.
Nothing was too great or too small for them to dive right into. First they gave the Love Chapel at Grace Fellowship Kingsport a fresh coat of paint, replaced shingles that the wind had blown off during the winter, repaired the door so it would close and lock, treated the wood for carpenter ants and put some flowers out that really added the final touch. The Love Chapel is now ready for another season of giving from the body of GFK to the needy in the area.
After completing work on the Love Chapel, a large sliding door was built to separate a room where a large air compressor is in operation from the main room of the storehouse. Now with the door closed, one can hold a nearly normal conversation or hear when talking on the telephone, both of which were not possible without the door. Many cloths were unpacked, sorted, sized, folded and put on shelves while, at the same time, goods from the storehouse were being transferred into the hands of those in need. On a scale of 1 to 10, their time here was a 15 and we were sad to see them leave.
Food Bank News
Our partnership plan with Grace Fellowship Kingsport and Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee to feed the needy continues to gain momentum. I think the best way to describe the plan is to simply.copy the Mission Statement and Purpose as defined during our last meeting by Scott Kenny,of Second Harvest.
Mission Statement:
To feed the hungry by securing donations of food from local manufactures, grocers, and individuals and redistributing the food to approximately 200 food pantries,soup kitchens, children's programs and other non-profit charities that feed the hungry in our region.
Purpose:
With a commercial kitchen we will expand the food items we currently aren't able to process Such items could include but not be limited to fresh produce, meat and dairy items that can be processed into soups, sauces, side dishes or complete meals. Soup Kitchens, on site feeding agencies like the salvation army and our new children's summer feeding program will all benefit from this kitchen.
Many area Soup kitchens are operated by local churches and for the lack of resources to purchase food only serve one or two meals each week. The commercial kitchen provided by GFK will convert the food provided by Second Harvest to provide wholesome meals to children and adults who are not getting enough to eat. Scott Bray, who is a member of the body at GFK and who Has been working at Mountain Vision three days a week is about to complete the due diligence to determine the cost of making the kitchen ready to use, Health Deptartment regulations and license, Fire Dept. Equipment upgrades and repair,etc. The costs seem to be minimal. We all believe that the Lord is blessing this effort and pray for His constant direction.
Bill and Judi Havens and their family, Andrew, Katlynn, Rebecca and Michael left this morning after spending the week in East Tennessee to explore the possibility of moving here to serve with Mountain Vision Ministries. Earlene and I pray that we gave them an accurate view of what the Lord is doing in the Appalachians. They left in a driving rain after Bill delivered a very gentle, yet urgent, Gosple Presentation at Signature Healthcare Nursing Home With much to ponder and pray about please keep Bill, Judy, Earlene and I in your prayers. Pray that we follow the plan of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and not one that we might conger in our own mind
Posted May 8, 2009 by Charlie and Earlene.
Greenville Sun - March 30, 2009
BY NELSON MORAIS - STAFF WRITER
A new Christian benevolence ministry, or charitable organization, has been formed with the goal of meeting the basic physical and spiritual needs of people in the area. Mt. Vision Ministries, located in a large storehouse at 155 Black Road just off of the Blue Springs Parkway, will officially open its doors Tuesday, April 7.
The nondenominational ministry has unofficially been operating during the last two years. During that time, Mt. Vision Ministries has supplied beds, other furniture, clothing, appliances and a limited amount of emergency food supplies to those in need, primarily in Greene and Sullivan counties, according to ministry organizer Charlie Cornett.
EMERGENCY ITEMS
"We basically have household items that a person would need in an emergency," said Cornett. He runs Mt. Vision Ministries with his wife, Earlene. Recipients must be referred by a church "or document their needs in other ways," Cornett said. "We pray that the Lord will send us those He wants us to help," Cornett said.
On Friday morning, Ed Reynolds, a carpenter and volunteer at the Tabernacle Soup Kitchen, loaded an older model pickup truck with living room furniture, food, toys, children's clothing and baby clothes. The items were for a young, single, pregnant mother with a small child who Reynolds had referred to Mt. Vision Ministries.
AIDS SINGLE MOTHER
Cornett said another woman on Friday stopped by to get food and clothes set aside for her. He said he expected to deliver the following to her on Tuesday after she moves into an apartment: a sofa, love seat, dresser, cabinet, dining table and chairs, food, clothes, mattress and box springs.
The woman is a single mother living with two teenage sons, he said. "She lost her job, was evicted from her apartment and lost her furniture she had been renting," Cornett recalled. He added, "Today, the Lord gave her a job, furniture (supplied by Mt. Vision Ministries) and a new place to live -- all on the same day. "I don't believe in coincidences," Cornett marveled. He added, "According to me, that was God's work."
Mt. Vision Ministries stores and then distributes items donated to it as needs arise. Somewhat unusual for a benevolence ministry, otherwise known as a charity, is that it delivers items to the home of the person in need if no other transportation is available. "We're beginning by establishing a benevolence ministry to meet physical needs" in order to "gain the trust necessary for us to minister to their spiritual needs," Cornett said.
STOREHOUSE
"We gave away donated items stored in our garage until we acquired the storehouse a year ago," which was also donated to the ministry, Cornett said. The ministry is supported by individuals and churches, including Calvary Chapel Greeneville, Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, Grace Fellowship Kingsport and Denton Bible Church in Denton, Texas. The ministry will initially be open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and other times by appointment. Cornett said he hopes to expand its hours as volunteers step forward.
The Cornetts grew up in Erwin and Banner Elk, N.C. From 1975 to 1994, they lived in Montana. They then moved to Denton, living there from 1994 until their move to Limestone in 2007. He returned to this area two years ago as a missionary for Denton Bible Church.
Charlie and Earlene are domestic missionaries with Serve International. Cornett said the couple purchased a home in Limestone because it is centrally located between Greeneville, Johnson City and Kingsport. Mt. Vision Ministries is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation of Summit Leadership Foundation in Johnson City, he said.
MISSIONARIES TRAINED
Cornett said he received a lot of training before being sent to this area. Opening a benevolence ministry in this area has been a dream of Cornett's for nine or 10 years, he said. "Making this move was not a recent decision," Cornett said. "We have been planning a ministry in the Appalachian area for more than nine years." He added, "However, I realized that the gifts God had given me were not properly developed. To accomplish a task this big, I needed training."
Before moving here, Cornett served in a lot of different capacities at Denton Bible Church. He was educated in the Bible Training Center for Pastors program at Denton Bible Church, essentially getting seminary training without a degree being conferred on him. His wife, Earlene, completed the Bible Training Center for Leaders at Denton Bible Church.
On Friday, a reporter saw food, as well as clothes, neatly folded and divided by type on shelves stacked over 15 feet high along one wall of the 1,650-square foot structure. The storehouse, with a ceiling 25 feet high, had several pieces of furniture and more clothes waiting to be sorted and stacked. Mt. Vision Ministries is supported entirely by donations, including the items it distributes to the needy. It currently receives no state or federal grants, Cornett said.
FAITH-BASED MINISTRY
"It's a faith-based ministry with no denominational affiliation," Cornett said. Mt. Vision Ministries assists residents of Greene, Hawkins, Sullivan and Washington counties, Cornett said. "We hope to develop this ministry and other ways to reach the entire Appalachian Mountain Range in God's name and for His glory," Cornett said.
Cornett said that on Tuesday, April 7, the day it officially opens, the ministry will give away a wide variety of clothing to qualified people who have a need. The event will take place on the grounds of the ministry from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Posted April 1, 2009 by Charlie and Earlene.
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