Every now and then I come across an attention-grabbing story in the bound volumes of World Outlook or The Missionary Voice--both predecessors of New World Outlook magazine. Such a story helps me understand that history is never quite what I supposed it was. Martha Drummer's story was captured in World Outlook in 1952 by Florence Hooper, a mission secretary who had been responsible for sending Miss Drummer her monthly pension.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Civil rights | Education | Global connections | Health | Human rights | Missionaries | United Methodist Church | Women | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Angola |
Date posted: Mar 08, 2012

Budapest, Hungary, March 1, 2012--The United Methodist Church in Hungary has regained official state recognition, after having been removed from the list of "privileged" religious groups by Parliament in the summer of 2011.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Civil rights | Evangelism | Global connections | Human rights | International affairs | Justice | United Methodist Church | Focus on Congregational Development | Hungary |
Date posted: Mar 02, 2012

Under a hot and humid December sky, 800 Filipino protesters were marching. Some farmed rice paddies for a living, some fished, and some scraped by in the big cities. Others represented churches, nongovernmental organizations, and political parties. Children and old women walked side by side. But one protestor was conspicuously different from the rest. Not only did he stand head and shoulders above his companions--he had white skin and auburn hair.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Civil rights | Communities | Human rights | International affairs | Justice | Mission opportunities | Poverty | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Philippines |
Date posted: Feb 29, 2012

Thomas Kemper letter: Dear Friends, Please join me in praying for our brothers and sisters in Senegal. They are facing political violence as they prepare for coming elections scheduled for this Sunday. According to Global Ministries national in mission, Aly Bashir, 20 people have died, hundreds have been injured, and hundreds more arrested.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Civil rights | Conflict | Ethics | Global connections | Human rights | International affairs | Peace | Poverty | Violence | War | Statements | Focus on Congregational Development | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Senegal |
Date posted: Feb 23, 2012

New York, NY, November 15, 2011--A delegation of 18 Methodists hosted by the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries will attend the People's Global Action on Migration, Development, and Human Rights (PGA) in Geneva, Switzerland, from November 28 to December 2, 2011, as part of the mission agency's focus on global migration and poverty.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advocacy | Christian love | Civil rights | Ecumenical | Global connections | Human rights | Immigration | International affairs | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Africa | Europe | Mauritius | Philippines | Switzerland |
Date posted: Nov 17, 2011

Rev. Ramos-Gallardo uses this image of a water-soaked Bible to express the longing for God that a steady stream of rebuilders have felt as they've come to the city of New Orleans.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advocacy | Civil rights | Family | Human rights | Immigration | Justice | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Mexico |
Date posted: Oct 04, 2011

The global mission agency of The United Methodist Church joins the voices of other Methodists and of the global ecumenical community in expressing grave concern over the Fijian government's recent restrictions placed on the Fiji Methodist Church.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Civil rights | Evangelism | Ethics | Global connections | Human rights | International affairs | Justice | Prayers | United Methodist Church | Focus on Congregational Development | Fiji |
Date posted: Sep 15, 2011

Labor Day is not an excuse to buy items on sale at department stores. Labor is a legacy of 19th-century US workers who fought for and won legal guarantees for workers, such as the garment workers who made (and make) the clothes sold in the sales racks at department stores.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advocacy | Civil rights | Ethics | Human rights | Justice | Mission opportunities | Social Principles | Youth | Focus on Leadership Development | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | United States |
Date posted: Sep 02, 2011

Zachary Ferguson has enjoyed being a part of this class of missionaries for the last three weeks as they have prepared for their next two to three years as US-2s or Mission Interns. Zach felt safe, comfortable, and challenged.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Civil rights | Communities | Human rights | Justice | Music | Race | United Methodist Church | Focus on Leadership Development |
Date posted: Aug 17, 2011

Gaza is like a prison in many ways, surrounded by high walls on three sides. Gun towers oversee the free-fire stretch of scorched earth and rubble, warning anyone--including farmers who once tilled the land--against getting close. On the fourth side, the west, the Mediterranean inexorably draws the eye to the horizon; but it, too, is forbidden.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Children | Civil rights | Conflict | Emergencies | Health | Human rights | Hunger | Peace | Poverty | Violence | War | Women | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Israel | Palestine |
Date posted: Jul 07, 2011

At this time of year, Ms. Josephine Deere's phone at the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference starts ringing off the hook as United Methodists call, asking her to refer worship leaders to celebrate Native American Ministries Sunday. The giving on this Special Sunday undergirds Native American networks and scholars within the United Methodist connection.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Civil rights | Communities | Ethics | Human rights | Justice | Martin Luther King Day | Special Sundays | Focus on Congregational Development | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | United States |
Date posted: Apr 27, 2011

In the Middle East and North Africa, millions of men and women, young and old, Muslims and Christians, rich and poor, have recently hit the streets to call on their leaders to step down and demand the end of corrupt regimes. President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia was the first head of state to go.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Civil rights | Conflict | Economy | Global connections | Hate | Human rights | International affairs | Justice | Missionaries | Peace | Race | United Methodist Church | Focus on Congregational Development | Africa | Middle East |
Date posted: Apr 06, 2011

I come from a large, highly connectional Pennsylvania Dutch family. I can't remember a vacation that didn't include five more people than the room could hold. My understanding of immediate family extended beyond my brother, mom, and dad to include aunts, cousins, great aunts, second and third cousins, and family friends.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: AIDS/HIV | Civil rights | Hate | Human rights | Justice | Lent | United Methodist Church |
Date posted: Mar 18, 2011

New York, NY, March 3, 2011--The United Methodist Church's chief mission leader has expressed solidarity with the Christian community in Pakistan in the wake of the assassination of the most prominent Christian in that country's government.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Civil rights | Ecumenical | Global connections | Hate | Human rights | Justice | Martin Luther King Day | Missionaries | United Methodist Church | Violence | Statements | Focus on Congregational Development | Pakistan |
Date posted: Mar 03, 2011

March 1, 2011--What makes a space holy? I guess it has something to do with the undeniable presence of the divine in a space where something happens that transcends everyday reality. A space where miracles happen.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Civil rights | Ethics | Human rights | Justice | Martin Luther King Day | Resolutions of the UMC | United Methodist Church | Focus on Leadership Development | United States |
Date posted: Mar 01, 2011

Global Ministries celebrates Black History Month and Valentine's Day on February 14, 2011 by offering a performance that will go straight to the heart. Poet Andrea Michelle will perform "Palpitation: Heartbeats in Rhyme."

As people of all ethnicities take time to reflect on the contributions of African Americans, many will note the strong connections to the church and the community. A sense of mission provides the network through which those connections flourish.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Civil rights | Evangelization | Human rights | Justice | Martin Luther King Day | Mission opportunities | United Methodist Church | Focus on Leadership Development |
Date posted: Feb 04, 2011

January 14, 2011--In honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the General Board of Global Ministries is committed to Dr. King's legacy of justice, which includes economic justice and ending poverty. Dr. King is remembered for his leadership in the United States and his work towards racial justice, desegregation, and non-violence. At the time of his assassination in 1968, Dr. King was in the midst of planning a Poor People's March, integral to a campaign to unify and take action on behalf of people living in poverty.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Civil rights | Human rights | Martin Luther King Day | Poverty | Social Principles | United Methodist Church | Focus on Ministry with the Poor |
Date posted: Jan 12, 2011

Public celebration of Christmas--public testament of faith in Jesus Christ--is not always easy, or even safe. As we move into a new year, my prayer list includes persons and situations in which Christian brothers and sisters lost their lives in recent days because of their faith, or where a public official was killed for trying to protect religious rights of Christians.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Christian love | Christmas | Civil rights | Conflict | Ethics | Global connections | Human rights | Justice | Peace | United Methodist Church | Violence | War | Statements | Egypt | Iraq | Pakistan |
Date posted: Jan 07, 2011

New York, NY, December 14, 2010--The government of the Philippines has dropped criminal charges against 43 health workers arrested last February and jailed for months on allegations of being Communist rebels possessing illegal weapons and explosives. The "Morong 43" had won widespread support from civil rights and religious groups, including the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advocacy | Civil rights | Global connections | Human rights | Justice | Prayers | Prison | United Methodist Church | Focus on Leadership Development | Philippines |
Date posted: Dec 14, 2010

The reflections below come from two of the 26 United Methodists who joined with more than one thousand people in Mexico City, Mexico from November 2 to 5, 2010, as part of the People's Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights. From community-based, migrant rights, faith-based, women’s, union, and academic organizations, delegates shared their concerns and hopes for migrants everywhere.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advocacy | Civil rights | Global connections | Human rights | Immigration | Poverty | Refugees | Wesley | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Mexico |
Date posted: Nov 08, 2010

The Community Developers talked, danced, laughed, cried, practiced yoga, prayed, sang, learned, planned, and took action together. At the 2010 training event held in Scottsdale, Arizona, they shared stories about their work during sessions packed with devotions and workshops.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Civil rights | Communities | Human rights | Immigration | Justice | Missionaries | Focus on Congregational Development | United States |
Date posted: Oct 07, 2010

Maybe you're like me and you consider Labor Day weekend simply the last blast of summer-- back-to-school thoughts, picnics, and family fun. But I've come to realize the holiday has a deeper meaning. Labor Day is a legacy of 19th century American workers who fought for and won legal guarantees to fairness and justice in our workplaces.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Civil rights | Economy | Finance | Globalization | Human rights | Justice | Poverty | Prayers | Welfare | Statements | Focus on Ministry with the Poor |
Date posted: Aug 27, 2010

New York, NY, July 21, 2010--The Methodist Church of Mexico is deeply concerned about immigration policy in its own country and the United States, and it especially questions the soundness of the new Arizona law that criminalizes undocumented people in that state.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Civil rights | Economy | Ethics | Globalization | Human rights | Immigration | Justice | Martin Luther King Day | Poverty | Refugees | Statements | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Latin America | Mexico | United States |
Date posted: Jul 22, 2010