WARM stands for Weatherization An Repair Ministry. The WARM Project purpose is to reach out with Christ’s love to those in need by making much needed repairs on their homes-repairs they either cannot afford or are not able to make themselves. With the WARM Project, the labor & materials for those repairs are gifts, a paying forward of God’s unconditional love.
The idea for WARM originally came from a group of teenagers at Lyttleton UMC in Camden, SC. These youth returned from the UMC summer mission, Salkehatchie Summer Service, and did not want to wait until the following summer to be involved in missions again. So, these teenagers, along with their leaders, Richard and Sara Hagins, ventured out in faith to do the first-ever WARM Project. This was in 1989 after Hurricane Hugo. Nineteen years later WARM is still going strong in Camden & has expanded to Florence, Prosperity & the entire Greenwood district.
Some questions. “How will we ever do all the work in two days? Where will all the money come from? Will we have enough volunteers? Nay-sayers will come & share their spill. But I know we have the determination to be God’s hands, feet, backs, and hearts.
Here’s how one church began. The congregation was challenged by Jesus’ teaching to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Using an idea from Michael Slaughter, pastor at Ginghamsburg UMC in Ohio, it was suggested that the folks at Wightman might think about having a “slim Christmas.” Instead of spending a pile of money on Christmas gifts which friends & relatives don’t need, the challenge was for church members limit their spending. Further, for every dollar spent on gifts for themselves or friends and family, each person was challenged to bring a dollar for a “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself” offering at the Christmas Eve Service. After all, Christmas is Jesus’ birthday, not ours. It’s hard to imagine Jesus wanting anything more that for His church to love the people He loved.
In advance of the Christmas Eve offering $16,000 had been collected for WARM. On Christmas Eve everyone was blown away as the ushers brought the offering count forward. That night $22,000 was collected for a total of $38,000. All of this was done without affecting the general budget giving. As God’s people are faithful, miraculous things happen.
Our hope is that this coming January, in coordination with Johnston and Harmony UMCs we will be able to reach out into our community to share a wonderful gift so someone else will catch a glimpse of God’s great love. The church (that’s you and me) exist as a mission station where we live our faith in the world in which we live. Contrary to American Express, the purpose of membership –at least in the Church– is not its privileges. Membership has its responsibilities. We have a great opportunity to extend ourselves in a WARM Project to share God’s love in a wonderful way. Our EUMC UMM is making plans now. Please be in prayer about your participation. More information will be coming.
