Contributed photo Children from the Esperanza Viva/Living Hope orphanage in Puebla, Mexico, are seen with a mission team from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Kelly Wheeler, organizer of Mission Sunday at First United Methodist Church in Rockingham, is pictured far right on the third row.

ROCKINGHAM — Go. Love. Send.

That’s the name of the upcoming mission taking place Sunday at First United Methodist Church in downtown Rockingham.

The purpose of the event, which will start with a worship service at 11 a.m., is to promote local and global missions from the individual to the role of the church, said Kelly Wheeler, Richmond County native and teacher at Shenyang International School in Shenyang, China.

The morning service will be followed by what Wheeler is calling a “world food luncheon” in which everyone can experience foods from all over the globe including Thailand, China, Mexico, Haiti and America in support of global missions.

The price of the luncheon is a donation, and all proceeds will benefit the ministry partners that Wheeler has been working with the previous two years while in Asia. These include Ezperanza Viva or Living Hope International orphanage, school and divinity school in Puebla, Mexico, which takes in children who have been surrendered by parents who couldn’t emotionally or physically provide for them as well as children who have been exploited by members of the family in sex trafficking and/or abuse.

Kids are thriving and are free to leave at any time. The children stay until they “age out” and by choice attend the divinity school where some are serving in other countries across the world, including Africa and the United States.

Other partners working with Wheeler are Kids International Ministries in Manila and rural Tacloban in the Philippines and International Schools of China in Shenyang City, about three hours from North Korea.

“When I was with my company in China, we couldn’t necessarily say we were from a particular organization because of communism,” Wheeler said. “In China, if they knew we were a Christian organization they wouldn’t allow us to do work. We’re stepping out of our comfort zone and risking it for others.”

Her work with the orphanages and schools included community feedings, basic health care, vocational training and housing improvements. Wheeler has worked on two islands of the Philippines for the past two years while teaching at a mission school in northern China.

While in the Philippines, she worked with children on the street, orphanages and relief for victims for super typhoon Haiyan that hit the Philippine Islands in 2014, killing more than 6,000 people and leaving thousands without family, food and shelter.

“The focus of the event for this particular Sunday is to bring awareness for the church to plug in with the local and foreign missions,” said Wheeler. “What we’re doing is that sermon I will be sharing and following will be the food. All the money that’s raised will go to the partners I work with when I’m overseas.”

In addition to worship and the world foods lunch, there will also be a silent auction, said Wheeler, and priced items that will be for sale will feature the works and goods of locals in Richmond County.

“If you’re an artist or a business owner and you have a heart for serving others and changing the lives of children or adults with people from here in Richmond County that are out into the world, then please contact me to learn more or organize a drop-off for your items to be featured in the event,” she added. “We’re using what we have locally to benefit others globally.

“It’s not being sent to some company or some organization that we don’t know what’s happening with the money. It’s going to orphanages and paying for schools and sponsoring kids that actually need it. I know where every cent of the money goes because I’m there.”

Reach reporter Matt Harrelson at 910-817-2674, listen to him at 12:10 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on WAYN 900 AM and follow him on Twitter @mattyharrelson.