Interview, photos, and report by Ibrahim Dabo
It may take a while for Japan to fully recover from the 9.0-magnitude earthquake that caused mass devastation and resulted in more than 8,000 people missing. But while the nation’s recovery process continues, United Methodists are reaching out in many different ways.
Asbury United Methodist Church in Salisbury, Maryland, through its quilting ministry, made 33 comfort quilts to be sent to Japan.
The church’s quilting ministry, Asbury Quilts 4 You, works on projects on an ongoing basis.
“To be able to use our talent to do something tangible means a lot,” Patty Clendenen, co-ordinator of Asbury’s quilting ministry, told Ib Talk Online while holding on to one of the beautiful quilts they made for Japan.
Clendenen said an online quilting company called eQuilter.com through their website put out a plea for people to make quilts for Japan.
“It is done in conjunction or in partnership with Mission of Love, which is a humanitarian group in Youngstown, Ohio,” Clendenen said.
The project is called “1001 Quilts for Japan.”
Mission of Love has had quilts sent from all around the world to Japan for this effort, she said.
“I saw it online and I thought that it will be a good project for us. I presented it to the quilters at Asbury, and they really one hundred percent embraced it,” Clendenen said.
The group spent three weeks making the quilts, which will be sent to Japan through Mission of Love.
Parishioners at the church on Sunday, May 1, 2011, had a chance to see firsthand the quilts and sign them following the worship service.
“The Japan project just resonated so much with us, because really what else can you do? Considering the devastation and to know that we could help with that and there was a mechanism in place already means a lot to us,” Clendenen said.
Aside from responding to the Japan disaster in their own special way, Asbury also gives quilts to homeowners.
“In our county whenever a new homeowner takes possession of their Habitat for Humanity home, our church gives them a quilt,” Clendenen said, adding that the Asbury has given each family member a quilt in the past several homes.
The quilts are presented to the homeowners as a dedication.
The Appalachia Service Project is also part of Asbury’s ministry. As part of this project, adults and kids from the church visit designated work areas in Appalachia in June.
“What we do is send quilts for our teams to be able to give their families. We have sent 20 quilts in the past – 10 adults and 10 children.
“And that is our commitment: Habitat and ASP (Asbury Service Project). Then we try to take on other projects as we need to,” Clendenen said.
Asbury Service Project provides opportunities for Christian missions through a ministry of home repair and rehabilitation and new home construction locally and in Central Appalachia.
Habitat for Humanity is an international ecumenical Christian ministry. Its program offers working poor an opportunity to own their own homes. Families buy the materials through a no-interest mortgage, and the community provides labor to help the families build the homes.
Watch below the “1001 Comfort Quilts for Japan” video posted on YouTube.
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