Live music event for teens to focus fundraising on Sudan Relief Effort

WARWICK — The Vision Community Church’s last Vision-Live raised $500 for the United Methodist Committee on Relief relief effort in South Darfur. Vision Community Church will again be hosting Vision-Live on Friday, March 9. Doors open at 6:50 p.m. The show runs from 7 to 10 p.m. The goal is to raise $550 from this year’s event. For two years Vision-Live has enabled local musical teen talent to showcase their passion for performing to a supportive audience. Held at the Warwick Valley Community Center, Vision-Live draws bands from the local area. There will be five bands performing, including Life Like the Movies, Left to Chance and Afraid of the Dark. Interested bands are encouraged to contact event coordinator Caroline Beischer at 845-986-5883. “Vision-Live is a great venue, with great acoustics, high energy and purpose,” said Don Heatley, Vision’s pastor. “It is poignant for the teens of our community to link their creativity to the causes of peace and justice in the world. As a church, one of Vision’s ongoing missions is to provide those opportunities to everyone in our community.” The cover charge for the well-supervised even is $5, with the music geared to high school and middle school age students. The United Methodist Committee on Relief runs a reception center in El Ferdous for those coming to settlements and camps in South Darfur. The center is suffering from lack of funds and has few shelter materials, blankets or cooking utensils to distribute to newly arriving families. The committee works in both rebel-held and government-held territories in South Darfur, which is why it can sometimes maintain programs when other organizations cannot. One of the biggest challenges continues to be the need for water. The United Methodist Committee on Relief is the not-for-profit global humanitarian aid organization of the United Methodist Church. The committee is working in more than 80 countries worldwide, including the United States. Its mission is to alleviate human suffering-whether caused by war, conflict or natural disaster, with open hearts and minds to all people. The committee responds to natural or civil disasters that are interruptions of such magnitude that they overwhelm a community’s ability to recover on its own. Vision Community Church is a new church start that meets every Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Warwick Valley Community Center. Celebrating its fifth year, Vision uses innovative worship experiences, making deep spiritual connections with those for whom traditional church styles and structures are not working. The Vision Web site at www.visiblechurch.org provides more information.