All about One Mission: Galveston

Hey all! I don't think many of you know or comprehend the magnitude of what One Mission: Galveston involves...we don't even comprehend it all! :) I wanted to share a letter with you written by Pete DeWorken, the founder and "main man" of OM:G. This will let you in on what OM:G has been up to and what we hope to continue to do with your help and God's providing hand!

Our OM:G friends,
We are just days away from the end of our summer volunteer rush--what an AMAZING summer! We've settled into our new home at Island Community Church, seen over 3200 volunteers so far this year (that's freakin' awesome), and we've watched God move through this community in mind-blowing ways.

We are seeing lives changed right in front of our eyes. Rick, one of our most recent homeowners, has discovered a renewal in his faith after years of turning his back on his church family. He is finding healing in his hope and faith through the efforts of volunteers helping to restore his home. He actually went back to church last week for the first time in years!
We have also seen an amazing timeliness of our efforts impacting homeowners lives too! We have had teams show up to houses where homeowners had just recently lost their jobs, or had a heart attack, or had been in the hospital. Allowing the Spirit to direct the movement of our ministry has placed our volunteers in amazing situations of opportunity to serve some desperate people with dire needs.
We have had new opportunities presented to us to serve in a wide variety of ways. One Mission: Galveston volunteers were written up in the local paper for their involvement in a school-sponsored, federally-funded summer school program. It was a leadership development program that allowed our faith-based, mission-minded organization closely work with and lead these at-risk kids in a month-long program. Many of these kids heard about Christ daily, and were loved on and prayed over by Spirit-led OM:G volunteers. WOW!
We have also been feeding, serving and loving local children in their low-income apartment complexes and neighborhoods. We have recently seen some of these kids not only come out of their shell, but also come to know and accept God's grace through Christ! By reaching out to these kids, we have also had opportunities to connect to their struggling families, and are working to get them connected to local churches like Sunrise Baptist Church. With God's grace and love, we will see entire families come to love the living, moving and working Jesus Christ.
As for the staple of our ministry, disaster relief-related construction projects, we are receiving more calls than ever for help now.
Homeowners are learning they do not qualify for federal funding and are calling us asking if we can help them instead. They are turning from trusting in the government and its money-machine, to the grace and generosity of the body of faith working though One Mission: Galveston. Additionally, we are receiving emails and calls from FEMA asking if our volunteers will pick up where the Feds left off - helping people move into their new homes, tearing down dilapidated houses to avoid fines, etc. Even City of Galveston employees are contacting us almost daily with another new homeowner that they cannot find funding for, or that they have found after slipping through the cracks. The "system" is failing, and Galveston is hurting.
Rather than seeing a reduction in people seeking help from One Mission: Galveston, the need here is becoming more and more apparent. The people of Galveston are receiving a harsh dose of reality...help is not on the way from the Feds...money is not flowing freely...and they may be on their own to find a way back into their homes.
While One Mission: Galveston was actively working on over 18 homes in mid-July, the local paper was reporting that the city's federally funded program just finished its FIRST home affected by Ike. There are hundreds of homeowners that will eventually get their homes finished by government programs, but because of your contributions of time, work and money to this ministry, One Mission: Galveston is helping people TODAY.
OK, so that's the pitch. Here's what we need:


One Mission: Galveston is heading into the "slow time" of the year. Without youth groups and student ministries flooding into our new facility to serve the people of Galveston, our ministry will most likely wind down to a crawl. If you know us at all, and have ever heard or understand our call to serve the people of the island community, you know that is unacceptable to us. We have said every week this summer, "we have not come here to run a summer camp". We are missionaries, and we bring volunteers here to join us in serving God as he has called us to do so. Our goal and hope is to bring volunteers here to serve along side our staff as missionaries, if even for a short time. Our prayer is that God breaks your heart for his purpose in your life, so you too will seek to follow his will in your life more fully when you go home.
We refuse to sit back and accept that the fall and winter will be slow and fruitless, and that we will just have to resign ourselves to run student ministry camps during school breaks. We believe that this ministry should thrive year-round, serving those in need consistently regardless of the time of the year. Even more importantly, we believe that missions trips are not exclusively for students and their brave student leaders. Serving on the mission field is a commandment for all Christ -followers.
We want to take this "down-time" and make it a ridiculous demonstration of the obedience of God's people and his call on them to serve the people he loves so much here. We want to bring adult teams, student teams, church staff teams, retirees, deacon teams, missions teams, men's groups, women's groups...you name it...we want it! We want you to come to Galveston again before the end of the year! Heck, before the end of fall...and again before the end of winter
We believe in this opportunity for you to serve as a missionary so much that we have hired on an entire, full-time staff of mission-minded Christ followers to keep One Mission: Galveston rolling as far down this path as God will take it. We have all committed our lives, our families, our livelihoods and our careers to serve God here with, for and through your efforts. Don't let this be for naught.
We need you back in Galveston right away! Come down for a couple days, a weekend, a week of vacation, or just whenever you have time. If you are waiting for the right time...you found it...its NOW. Bring as many as you can, you cannot out -do God's grandeur. He's got big plans down here just waiting for you.
Please log onto OneMissionGalveston.org to register a new group to come to Galveston. You can also email us at info@onemissiongalveston.org to let us know what dates during which you would like to secure your trip.
We are here. We are ready and waiting for you to come help and serve with us!



If you think you have a good excuse to put off coming back to Galveston, call me. If you think you have a reason to not come here to help those in need, call me. If you think you are the one who God has called to just serve inside the church walls, call me. I have all the time in the world to tell you the stories of lives that have been changed here. And I don't mean just our beloved Galvestonians...I mean our OM:G vols...I mean you. Let's talk! Let's discover what God has in store for you here.



COME ON!


Lovin' you guys!
Pete DeWorken
One Mission: Galveston