Welcome to the Mountain Top. Have you heard that before? If you are on Facebook, you may have been welcomed to a group of photographers called Mountain Top. If you're not on the social media platform Facebook, you still may know these guys; they attend almost every event in Sebring. They are the guys with the cameras around their necks, the guys with long white beards. Yep, they are Mountain Top Productions and they are digital historians.
Reaching out to the community since 1993, Mountain Top Productions creates digital video, photographic and audio archiving to record community events, charity events, family events and functions, and slide shows from your photographs.
As an M310 Agency, they support local charities, youth activities and church groups, both financially and through community service. They were at almost every Centennial event during focus week, and have put thousands of photos on the Internet for all to enjoy - all as a free service to our community.
The story of how "Mountain Top" began and why is something I did not expect to come across. I thought Mountain Top was just a great group of people that took photographs as a passion for our great city of Sebring. And although that is partially true, as they do embrace the community that has helped them through tough trials and tribulations, there is so much more to the story than I have space to tell you.
You see, Mountain Top founder Harold Conner's son, Michael, at the young age of 9 years old, was in a severe accident, and the years following were years of striving to reach "The Mountain Top" with God's guidance, love and answered prayers for the Conner family and others around them. Michael, now 36 years of age, continues to do well' he has 'locked in' syndrome so there is not much he can do and he responds differently to different people.
The philosophy of ministry behind Mountain Top Administrations, Inc. is that God leads through obedience to Him, to His work, caring for the orphans and widows, modeling Christian disciples to youth, and honoring in obedience to God, the tithe for missions. Harold Conner differentiates between faith and religion saying, "Faith is what we were given; religion is how we live it out".
In living out his faith, Michael and those who care for him impact people throughout the community. The word on the street among young people in the community is that "if you ever need help, go to the Conners." This is the extended sanctuary, house church, and ministry - based on this philosophy of ministry.
The Mountain Top administration began as a way to administer the business providing home-based care to Michael John Conner following traumatic and anoxic brain injuries.
From the outside, the Conners home looks like many other homes in the area. But it's not an average home by any stretch of the imagination. It is a hospice, a center to provide healing on all levels, a rehabilitation center, a ministry training center, a sanctuary for those who are troubled, and a discipling platform equipping Christians to higher levels. The Conners identify healing as "when God shows up." In a sense, it's a 24-hour crisis care center for anyone in need. It's a community of grace; it's all of these and more.
In addition, Mountain Top partners with local churches to minister to the community in a number of ways and has been involved with foreign missions through Missions International, has used digital photography and video to provide video programs and slide shows in the United States, Russia and South America for various mission projects and for youth ministries and programs in Florida, including 4-H and FFA.
These guys go above and beyond for our community and we thank them, not only for photo and video recording all of the Centennial Committee Focus week events, but for their ongoing service to our community, making Sebring that much a better place to live.
If you'd like to find out more about this incredible group of people, visit them on Facebook at facebook.com/mountaintop310. If you go to their website www.mymtp.tv, you can see all the photos from all the community events they have been to, or give them a call at 471-0228.
If you know of someone that deserves recognition for doing something in honor of our Centennial year, please let me know. I'm available at 655-5554, on Facebook at facebook.com/SebringCentennial or email JenBrown@email.com. Thanks to the News-Sun for the continued support, reference this article every Sunday for updates throughout the remainder of this year.
Sunday, November 25, 2012 - www.newssun.com/112512-centennial-notebook