Attendees at this year's World Mission Conference at First Presbyterian Church in Gainesville will hear stories from Africa, eastern Europe and Asia.

They also will be treated with traditional African drumming and hear stories of the church's youth group building homes in Jamaica.

The conference, now in its 10th year, is part of the church's efforts to reach out to the world through actions and goodwill.

"They'll know we are Christians by our love," said Mardi Morris, co-chairwoman of this year's World Mission Conference with her husband, Larry Morris. The mission efforts the conference supports, she said, emphasize work and service in other countries rather than proselytizing.

The church hopes to raise $95,000 by the end of the weekend, Mardi Morris said.

"Every single solitary penny we get goes to missions, and almost every single place we send money to we also usually send people to," she said.

The event's keynote speaker is William Bryant of the World Outreach Foundation, one of the main groups overseeing missions for the Presbyterian church. The Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship and the Medical Benevolence Foundation, who will be represented by Sean Walker and Jim and Jodi McGill, are the other two arms of missions outreach through the Presbyterian church, Mardi said.

Scheduled speakers on Feb. 7 also include the Sisters of Zambia, whose mission includes improving the lives of orphans in Africa; Frances Landers of the Haiti Education Foundation; Ben Mathes of Rivers of the World; Chuck Cogliandro, a world-renowned African drummer; and Jack Griffeth of Solid Rock Missions; there also will be a presentation by Son Servants, which organizes youth mission trips. Most speakers have two 45-minute time blocks Saturday talk about their work.

Each speakers' story reflects a different aspect of mission work, from the computer skills taught by Sean Walker, who lives with his family in Tajikistan, to the personal triumphs of Ebralie Mwizerwa, a representative of The Outreach Foundation and a native of Rwanda.

On Sunday, Mardi said, there will be a video presentation before the 11 a.m. service highlighting the work of all conference participants for anyone who couldn't see the Saturday presentation.

To sign up for the conference or for more information, call First Presbyterian at 770-532-0136.