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Welcome To International Mission Connection
"For I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to
harm you, plans to give you Hope and a Future." Jeremiah 29:11
Our Mission
Our Vision
The Beginning
How to Volunteer
Make a Donation
Our Mission
To establish and fund a Christian interdenominational nonprofit organization
that focuses on creating strong connections in developing countries for
the purpose of building churches, youth centers, drug rehabilitation facilities,
children's feeding centers, medical clinics, educational programs and
vocational training and furthers efforts to mentor and train young people
to become leaders in their own cultures.
To plan missions and initiate projects that foster independence among
nationals and help youth to become instruments of change and compassion
in communities that have little or no American relief efforts available
to them.
Our Vision
Imagine young Christian leaders
in developing countries being mentored and encouraged to train and raise
up others.
Imagine teams of professionals ... doctors, teachers, pastors, counselors,
architects, engineers, musicians, artists, and just ordinary folks who
want to be a part of something extraordinary for children and adults in
Latin America, Africa, and wherever the needs lead.
Just imagine sending teams of volunteers ... young people, retirees,
homemakers, people who can take time off from their work for a week or
more ... to sweat and struggle and get blisters building a small church
here, a youth center there, an orphanage, a healthcare facility. or, just
maybe, you can envision a group who will step up to the plate and create
a project of their own that they want to see to completion for a church
that is already established and moving ahead. And then there are the ones
that can spare some time to help with teaching English or can lend a hand
as people with little or no job skills learn to grow a business of their
own.
And think of the possibilities that can be birthed when those of us who
know we are blessed decide to take a risk ... of time, of money, of effort
... to be a part of someone else's blessing in a third world country.
Imagine being able to say "thank
you" for all the times the Lord has been there for us by being there
for someone else. Is there any way to value the smile on a child's face
that has been pulled off of the streets in Honduras, to be given a bowl
of rice and beans and a warm and safe place to sleep? Or the growth of
a young teenager in Mexico who has found a center where he can work toward
a drug-free lifestyle and develop job skills that will spend in an economy
where paychecks are scarce? Is there any way to place a value on watching
a new church rising stone by stone in an arid land, or a healthcare facility
in Africa that will dispense medicines and aid the children? You bet there
is.
Imagine an effort that has no political
agenda ... just a spiritual one ... fed by the open hearts and helping
hands of people from all walks of life. An effort that is not gender specific,
or denomination specific, but is God specific.
Imagine a project that is more
than just one more good thing Americans do in other countries ... but
is an endeavor to join with so many other well-grounded organizations
who are already there ... and get ready to do what we can with the gifts
and talents that we have.
Imagine again teaching, training,
building, praying, growing with our partners in other countries and learning
to let go when the job is done so that they can be mentors for another
project. Hands stretching out across the Caribbean ... the Atlantic ...
young pastors and youth leaders being there for someone else who needs
help in growing a vision or in being able to imagine and have the real
thing show up at their doorstep!
Our Beginning
"First, there was a mission
team". Then there was a dream.
But, long before the team and the dream, the founder of the organization,
Donna Sloan Beverly, began her journey in the jungles of Ecuador as a
student summer missionary back in 1967. Since that time, with a continuing
interest in the Latino community and now an active involvement in Fellowship
Bible Church in Georgia, Donna's heart has expanded and, with every trip
to third world countries, Donna returns knowing that there is so much
more to be done.
In the business world, Donna is a partner in an Atlanta law firm and has
also established a real estate company called The Sloan Group. The broker's
commissions from The Sloan Group are all contributed to missions and ministries.
The beginnings of The International Mission Connection arose from a realization
that American dollars can stretch so far in other countries and even more
people can be reached with funds that might barely pay the utilities for
a year in the USA!
The initial funding for this organization came from Donna and her husband,
Jim Beverly, and from private individuals and churches. Although IMC's
roots are in Georgia, International Mission Connection embraces and solicits
the support and involvement of churches and ministries around the country.
By definition, the organization fosters connection, not exclusion.
The one common denominator, as IMC begins its journey, is that sponsoring
churches, individuals, civic groups, and ministries who choose to give
time and funds be rooted absolutely and without apology in the Christian
faith.
We welcome you, from all walks of life, to the beginning. .
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