Holy City

Attention Life Groups!
I understand that some of the Life Groups are anxiously looking for a mission opportunity. You don’t have to look far, there is a desperate need here in the Holy City to ensure the continuance of one of St.Michael’s long-standing missions. This is the Meals on Wheels program serving the needy homebound. We currently have 2 person teams devoting an hour and half every other week except for the Thursday slot which is vacant. This could be divided among  the Life Group so that any one team would have the responsibility only once a month or less (12 times a year or less). Why look for new opportunities when St.Michaels is having difficulty fulfilling an existing one. We also need willing substitutes who can fill in on occasion. Please discuss this mission opportunity at your next Life Group gathering and give me a call.  

In the love of Christ,
Georgia Barnett, 853-6213   

Crisis Ministries
Crisis ministries needs your help serving on July 8th, Sept 9th and Nov 11th. If you would like to volunteer to cook and serve as a Lifegroup, family or individual please contact libby@stmichaelschurch.net.

A Thank You from Richard Edmund

To All St. Michaelites,

I would like to thank everyone who has helped me out. It was a long hard road to get to where I am today. If it wasn’t for God and your believing in me, I would be a stone cold drunk. I would also like to apologize to all the St. Michaelites for missing 4 Sundays after Confirmation. The first Sunday(5/30) I was out of town, the second Sunday(6/6) I was here but my apartment had a false alarm Friday, Saturday and Sunday, all at 2:00 AM, the third Sunday (6/13), I just over slept and the fourth Sunday (6/20) I was out sick. Please forgive me for missing out here at St. Michael’s. There is one person I would really like to Thank; you know who you are as I do not. The plant you gave me looked like it was dieing by the time I got her home to water her. To make a long story short, I had to take her out of the pot and put her in one of my cooking pots and will now have to buy her a nice bigger pot to grow in. To sum it up thank you all so much for all your prayers and generosity given to me.

Thanks and Blessings to you all

~ Richard Edmond

Lowcountry Lives
Reprinted with permission from the Charleston Mercury
The Reverend Janie D. Wilson
Passionate Prayer Warrior

Born: Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina
Favorite Book: The Holy Bible
Hobbies: Singing, teaching, “quiet time”
Best Lowcountry Memory: Blackberries in the summer and sliding down the gun mounds on Sullivan’s Island
Guiding Principle: “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy.” — Deuteronomy 15:11

The Reverend Janie Dingle Wilson and her husband, the Reverend Dr. Dallas (Brother Dallas) Wilson, have devoted their lives to ministering to the lost on Charleston’s Eastside, an area mired in poverty, demoralization, high crime, drugs and prostitution. Statistics are harsh. About three quarters of households have no regular male presence. Most include multiple generations living in poverty conditions under one roof; working mothers are often absent and leave children unattended. Many girls risk becoming pregnant by age 16. Through concentrated prayer, the Wilsons have begun an outreach in an area where once there was no hope at all.
Janie comes by her passion for the poor quite naturally. Her father, the late Isaac L. Dingle, was a pastor of AME churches in both Georgetown and Charleston. The pastor and his wife, Dolly Ann Dingle, were “strong in the Lord” and instilled Christian values in their seven children. The Dingle family lived on Sullivan’s Island until Hugo devastated the Lowcountry. Sullivan’s Island has many fond memories for Janie. She liked to climb up the tall gun mounds on Middle Street and slide down the steep slopes, sometimes using flattened cardboard boxes to increase the thrill of speeding down the incline. Picking blackberries for delicious homemade blackberry cobbler was another childhood treat.
Janie graduated from Wando High School in the very first graduating class and continued her education at Durham College, majoring in hospital administration. This degree enabled her to get a position at the Medical University of South Carolina, where she worked for 20 years.
Although she had a successful career, Janie felt something was missing in her life, for God had given her a hunger for understanding what Christian life was all about. She began to search for greater meaning than just sitting in a pew every Sunday.

Even though she had received the “Holy Spirit” as a young adult, she continued to search into her 30s. One day a co-worker invited her to Agape Inner City Christian Assembly. Janie found the missionary efforts on Charleston’s impoverished East Side exciting and the teachings of Pastor Wilson “awesome.” She began to attend church services and got involved in some of their activities.

In time she and Dallas Wilson courted and were married. They have been a team ever since. Janie takes the scriptures seriously and considers herself a “helpmeet” who works beside her husband to achieve their vision. Doing it God’s way, as defined in Holy Scriptures, has given Janie that sense of fulfillment that she had been searching for all her life.
The Wilsons are totally committed to their missionary work. They live just two blocks away from St. John’s Chapel, where they have ministered since 2006. This outreach center was built by the Female Domestic Missionary Society, a group established in 1817 by Sarah Dehon, widow of Bishop Theodore Dehon, the second Episcopal Bishop of South Carolina. Their mission was carrying the Gospel to the poor. The results were the establishment of St. Stephen’s in 1822 and St. John’s Chapel in 1839 — the first two Free Churches in Charleston. Chapel membership peaked in the early 1930s, but in the ensuing years, the more affluent neighboring residents moved to the suburbs. St. John’s was deconsecrated in 1949 and became a county-run safe haven that was closed in 1986; it remained empty until the new outreach started several years ago.

Thanks to the commitment of Brother Dallas and Janie, there is now a glimmer of hope in this struggling Eastside community. In 2006 Frenchie Richards and Mother Singleton joined the Wilsons and began meeting weekly in the derelict chapel to pray for God’s guidance on the future of St. John’s. The result was an outreach vision based on the bedrock of Biblical principles. They took their vision to Bishop Salmon, who also had vision for the Eastside, especially its children. He agreed to help and involved St. Michael’s downtown, St. Andrew’s in Mount Pleasant, the Church of the Holy Cross on Sullivan’s Island, and the Church of the Cross in Bluffton. Through the generosity of the Episcopal diocese, sufficient funds were raised to all but pay for the entire renovation project.

Brother Dallas is St. John’s vicar, and Janie leads the evangelical arm, the African American Family Center for Biblical Dialogue, a faith-based, nonprofit organization. The name was chosen to appeal to the primary beneficiaries of the missionary work done through St. John’s Chapel. Janie emphasized that the name was not chosen to be exclusively for African Americans and would be modified if the community demographics changed. The word “family” was included to reflect that families were the first model for living that God put on the earth.

Realizing that it is time to stop treating the symptoms of poverty, the core team began addressing the underlying problems in the community: spiritual deficiency, lack of self-worth, ignorance, anger and poor life skills. The center wants to provide a safe haven where children can develop moral values, learn how to achieve in schools, improve nutrition and obtain the social tools that give them an opportunity to fully participate in society.

Their first initiative, What are Little Girls Made Of, started in 2009. Using a grant from the United Thank Offering, a bright pink bus was purchased to transport youngsters from their homes to the center for a five-day program that ran throughout summer. The program centered on girls through nine years of age and tried to provide a sense of self-worth by showing them that it is possible to escape the poverty cycle through hard work, faith and determination. The outreach involved parents, for the Wilsons knew that they had to be involved if the program were to succeed.

This summer the center will present a 40-day program for little girls in the first through third grades; they are looking for sponsors to help underwrite the tuition fees of $1,350 per child. Their vision is to share the “Good News” of the Bible, which — believers will tell you — has the power to heal the spirit, soul and body. Plans are in progress for a boys’ ministry called Sticks ’n’ Stones, scheduled to start in the fall.
When asked what people can do to help, Janie replied simply that they can pray for healing the hurts of the people living on the Eastside, especially the anger, unforgiveness and other things that separate hurting people from the love of God and self. They can also contribute their time and resources.

Church is more than a building; it is the people of God. Far too many think that missionary work is going to the far corners of the earth and neglect needs in their own backyards. Helping those in the inner city will improve the entire community by avoiding the health, hunger, academic and social problems associated with poverty. Janie sums it up eloquently, “If you look and listen closely, you will hear the tears, anguish, frustration and disappointment of a group of people who, without the intervention of others, will continue to perish under the extreme pressures of their living conditions.”

On a personal note, Janie is presently pursuing her master’s degree in biblical counseling with an emphasis in women’s ministry at Trinity Seminary in Newburgh, Indiana. Her ultimate dream is to receive a doctorate degree.
~ Peg Eastman

St. Michael’s Visits Bishop Gadsden
On Friday, May 14, a wonderful group from St. Michael’s Church, including one of our life groups with all their children sponsored the “Happy Hour” at the Bishop Gadsden Retirement Community.  How wonderful it was to see our generations coming together!  Liz Young, Connie Hare and Jessie Grimsley, lit up with joy at the sight of some of our youthful St. Michaelites.  Many thanks to Cora Mueller for organizing these important visits!  There is no greater joy than to see our generations coming together, with our children providing the joy and laughter, and our elders providing wisdom and mentorship!

Meals on Wheels
URGENT APPEAL!! Do you have a friend you enjoy doing things with? How about spending an hour and a half together twice a month delivering meals to the needy homebound. St. Michael’s has been a participant of the “Meals on Wheels” ministry for many years. At least 5 teams of two people are needed, but we have had only 4 teams for the past few months. As a result one of the teams has had to take on double duty in order for St. Michael’s to meet its long-standing commitment. A team for every other Thursday is needed. Please call the Team Coordinator, Georgia Barnett at 853-6213 and join a very fulfilling ministry.

What Are Little Girls Made Of?
Are you or do you know a girl who is 10 years old or older and would like to minister on the Eastside? Do you have a free Tuesday during June 21st - July 30th? Could you volunteer between 9am-3pm? The African American Family Center for Biblical Dialogue (St. John’s Chapel) Pink Bus
Summer Camp Needs You! If you would like to sign up or have any questions contact Libby Culmer at libby@stmichaelschurch.net or 843-461-6038. In regards to donations, they should be made payable to: African American Family Center for Biblical Dialogue OR AAFCBD (this is much easier of course) For: “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”
It should be mailed to the following address: AAFCBD (or spelled out as above) P.O. Box 21832 Charleston, SC 29413



 

 

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