Stewartstown UMC works with LifePath to make waves of kindness in the community

Oct 5, 2022 | Blog

Stewartstown United Methodist Church members have a long history of supporting the mission of LifePath Christian Ministries.

Little hands carefully colored messages of kindness onto soup can labels at this summer’s Stewartstown United Methodist Church (SUMC) Vacation Bible School. The theme was “Make Waves,” and the children were learning how they could make a difference in their own backyards.

The labels were a craft provided by LifePath Christian Ministries staff, who shared with each age group about the hunger and homelessness in their community. Each message of kindness would be wrapped around a canned good, to be handed out through the Stewartstown Food Pantry to those who might otherwise go to bed hungry.

“You could see that they were envisioning in their mind that what they did would brighten somebody’s day,” says Bible School Director Jean Sansonetti.

A wave of the arts

This wasn’t the first time SUMC has partnered with LifePath to offer messages and acts of kindness. Each summer for the past 42 years, the church has hosted a summer theater program. Teens dedicate their entire summer to memorizing lines and dances, then stage a musical for the community in August.

A decade ago, Music Pastor David McDowell decided the church should share a performance with those who otherwise might not have an opportunity to attend. For one show each summer, church members arrive at LifePath’s Women and Children’s Shelter and chauffer guests to the performance.

The ticket fee is waived. The women and children enjoy a couple of hours listening to the songs, watching the dances, and getting lost in the story. While David doesn’t want to draw undue attention to his LifePath guests, he encourages the teen performers to engage with the women and children and ask how they enjoyed the show.

Moments of normalcy

As the LifePath guests go through each day, without a place to call home, the arts and the small enjoyments of life often are beyond their reach.

David’s hope is that a night at the theater offers a few precious moments of normalcy during a hard season of life.

The youth involved at SUMC live in a world where there are people with needs different than theirs, says Jean. The young people are making a difference for guests at LifePath and in their community through simple acts of kindness.

Our Stories

A family's mission

A FAMILY’S MISSION IN MY WORDS

As York’s rescue mission for 62 years, LifePath’s impact in helping change lives couldn’t happen without prayers and partnerships like yours—and families like Carolyn, Michele, and Bailey’s, who share a heart for this ministry in their own words . . .

Frank Deines

From Life on the Streets to LifePath

“What I’m trying to do right now is get myself back on my feet again!”—Frank Frank felt he had it all, but saw everything slip away. Isolated and homeless, he ended up living in his car on the streets of York . . . until God brought him safely to LifePath. York has...

Karen Rollins-Fitch

THE MISSION IN MY WORDS

Community leader and LifePath partner in ministry, Karen Rollins-Fitch, Director, Corporate Social Responsibility, Highmark Wholecare LifePath’s ministry as York’s rescue mission since 1962 couldn’t happen without prayers and partnership like yours—and Karen...

A Mothers Thanks

A MOTHER’S THANKS

After a move, a job transfer, and a small business venture that ended like so many others during these hard times, across the country and right here in York County, Hadassah says to her shock, “I ended up homeless.”