Uplifting Ministries planning banquet
After six years of doing mission work and starting his own ministry in Guatemala, David Lane is back home and gearing up for Uplifiting Ministries’ second annual banquet.
Lane, a Winchester native, started Uplifting Ministries in 2013 after going on a one-week mission trip with Calvary Christian Church.
Since then, the organization provides religious, educational and charitable services to children in the Santa Rosa region of Guatemala.
The banquet, scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday, April 7, at Campbell Junior High School will raise funds for the program.
The project at hand, Lane said, is raising funds to build a house to host volunteer teams.
Last year’s banquet raised $11,000 of the $26,000 needed to purchase the materials, he said. When completed, the building will able to house teams as large as 32 people, he said.
Another charity, Hope of Life International, will build the structure for no cost, he said.
Hope of Life’s founder, Carlos Vargas, will be one of two featured speakers at this year’s banquet. Vargas was named the third most influential person in Guatemala after 30 years of ministry to improve things in his country, according to Hope of Life’s website. Hope of Life is the largest non-profit organization in Guatemala, Lane said.
“It changed the entire country,” he said.
The other speaker is professional European football player Robbie Paratore, who Lane met by chance while hiking up a volcano.
“I told him about my mission,” Lane said. “Right in that moment, he asked if he could come volunteer with me. He volunteered two weeks … (and ) put together a local soccer game and really got a connection with the ministry.”
The banquet will include door prizes, a silent auction, live bluegrass music and a catered Italian meal. Tickets are $30 each and can be reserved at upliftingministries.com or by calling 859-494-8445.