Uplifting Ministries to hold fundraiser

Published 5:10 pm Wednesday, September 1, 2021

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Eight years ago, David Lane said he sold everything of value he owned in Winchester to serve the people of Guatemala, and people in the community will soon have an opportunity to ensure that service continues.

Uplifting Ministries, founded by Lane in 2014, is hosting a dinner banquet fundraiser Friday, Sept. 10, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Cornerstone Christian Church. All funds from the banquet will specifically go toward helping finish the ministry’s mission house located in the southern Guatemalan Department of Santa Rosa.

“For the past two years we’ve been building a house that will hold up to 28 people,” said Lane. “It is so that American churches and local churches here can put together teams, and rather than staying at a hotel they can actually stay on the ministry’s property.”

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Lane said that the goal is to raise $12,000 at the banquet and that any amount raised over that will go toward the ministry’s next project, building a church on its five-acre property.

The ministry is involved in finding sponsors for orphaned or impoverished children from single-parent families to help them purchase school supplies and other necessities, and so far the program has been a success.

“I started with three kids,” Lane said. “Now today we have 40 children sponsored, and five of those 40 are now in the university (University of San Carlos) in college. All five are the first of their families to ever go to college.”

Part of the ministry’s youth outreach is building youth groups.

“It gives kids not only a place to have a Bible study, but a place they can be that is safe and off the streets. We also feed them,” Lane said.

The ministry also has a once-a-week feeding program for homeless men who are struggling with alcohol addiction and English language classes for children and adults.

The featured speaker will be Travis Freeman, a former football player for Corbin High School, who went blind at the age of 12. His life story was the basis for the 2013 film “23 Blast”.

The outdoor event will also feature live music by Jordan Miller, a silent auction, and a meal provided by Thrivent Financial of Lexington.

Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at the door on the day of the event. Those interested in reserving a table for a party of up to eight can pre-order one online at www.upliftingministries.com/make-donations.