Asbury UMC Blesses Nashville Mercy Residents

March 21, 2016

Asbury UMC Team

You don’t have to be around Mercy Multiplied very long to understand that the very heartbeat of the organization lies in its ministry supporters. One bright example of this is Asbury United Methodist Church in Madison, Alabama. Asbury UMC has been a supporter of Mercy for several years and most recently sent a team to visit the Nashville Mercy home and show love to the residents through food, fellowship and worship.

A few months after Asbury began a partnership with Mercy, one of the Asbury women, Tammy Miller, fell in love with Mercy in the middle of her struggle with abdominal cancer. The Lord had told Tammy to “do something” for the girls at Mercy, and she did! She planned and executed a silent auction in April of 2013 and prayed for $10,000. The Lord told her to “go bigger,” and the money Asbury ended up sending to Mercy after the auction reached over $80,000! Tammy passed away four months later, but the Asbury church body had promised her they would never let her passion for Mercy stop. Since then, Asbury sends groups to Mercy every couple of months for a night of serving and worship.

Asbury UMC leading worship in Nashville Mercy home

“I love when Asbury comes,” said Jessica, a current Mercy resident. “It is awesome to see those from the outside want to come and serve us with food and worship. God’s love comes through their actions.”

Lori Frusterio, Asbury’s Contemporary Worship Administrative Coordinator, was one of the 15 Asbury volunteers to serve the Nashville Mercy residents this month.

“A couple of years ago, the leadership at Asbury challenged each ministry area to really instill a sense of mission within our volunteer teams,” said Frusterio. “We had already established a relationship with Mercy in Nashville, and so one idea that we had was to gather a few of our volunteers and head up to have an evening of dinner and worship with the girls. It has truly turned into an event for us that we absolutely cannot get enough of!”

It seems the Mercy residents feel the same way. Many, including residents Jennah and Lea, expressed how powerful the praise and worship time was for them on this particular night.

Mercy residents and Asbury team in a powerful time of praise

“Music and worship has always been a way I talk to God,” said Jennah. “I have recently been overwhelmed with feelings and haven’t really been able to focus on talking to God through music. Tonight my soul was just happy. I felt my heart open and everything that has been distracting me leap off of me. It was amazing to feel God touch and calm me for the first time in a while.”

“Words can’t describe how crazy awesome tonight was! I don’t think I’ve ever felt so much joy in my life,” shared Lea. “I felt so free and thought about last year at this time, when I struggled to live each day, and now I’m so hopeful and full of joy somehow. There’s no humanly way possible, but Jesus is just that good. He’s saved me!”

Frusterio and team were also deeply moved. “The freedom that comes from this worship is one that often can’t be experienced on a Sunday morning,” she said. “Walking through this night has transformed the way that we worship as a team back on our church campus.”

“We began this journey hoping to bring a blessing to the girls, and it’s amazing to think of the blessing that they are to us,” Frusterio continued. “It has truly become one of our favorite things to do and we are always looking forward to the next time that we might be together.”

Mercy is thankful for the generous support of churches like Asbury UMC. For more information on how you or your organization can partner with Mercy, click here.