I have two small children--a five-year-old daughter and a son, age two. When my daughter was only a few months old, I joined the Henderson Settlement's Maternal Infant Health Outreach program (MIHOW). I usually visit the settlement once a month to get diapers, wipes, and other baby things. It means a lot to have a helping hand these days. I don't think the outreach workers realize just how much they help others and how greatly appreciated they are.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Children | Communities | Education | Family | Poverty | Women | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | United States |
Date posted: Oct 27, 2011

New York, NY, October 12, 2011--A dynamic Korean American church in one of earth's most ethnically diverse neighborhoods was the setting where ten new United Methodist missionaries were sent into the world on October 11.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Education | Evangelization | Family | Global connections | International affairs | Missionaries | Prayers | United Methodist Church | Youth | Focus on Leadership Development | Congo DR | Italy | Kazakhstan | Korea | Mongolia | Palestine | Uganda | Ukraine |
Date posted: Oct 12, 2011

Among the ten new missionaries to be commissioned at the First United Methodist Church in Queens on Tuesday, October 11, 2011, four of the new missionaries--Fresie and Rukang Chikomb, and Eumin and Prumeh Kim--are married couples. Serving as a family with children poses special challenges and opportunities for missionaries.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Education | Family | Global connections | International affairs | Missionaries | Prayers | United Methodist Church | Focus on Leadership Development | Congo DR | Kazakhstan | Korea |
Date posted: Oct 11, 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

A delegation from The United Methodist Church met with the Foreign Minister and other leaders of Côte d'Ivoire to explore areas of common interest as the West African country recovers from a post-electoral crisis earlier this year. Bishop Weaver of New England led the delegation and later said he was encouraged by the meeting and emphasized the role of the church as a global organization.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Conflict | Education | Family | Global connections | Health | Poverty | Refugees | Violence | War | Water | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Cote d´Ivoire |
Date posted: Sep 22, 2011

"Jesus learned new things when he went to the border," said Rev. Edgar Avitia, who led the worship in Florida for US-based missionaries of The United Methodist Church. Jesus' continuing education and migration to the border of Tyre and Sidon in Matthew 15:21-28 spoke truth to missionary Jim Perdue, who attended the missionaries meeting on the heels of the immigration task force meeting at the Church Center of the United Nations (CCUN) in New York from September 16 to 18, 2011.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advocacy | Children | Family | Human rights | Immigration | Justice | Missionaries | Poverty | Race | Social Principles | United Methodist Church | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Guinea | Mexico | Philippines |
Date posted: Sep 20, 2011

Increasing public awareness about expanded access to recovery services for substance use and mental disorders in the landmark US health care plan is the focus of this year's National Recovery Month, observed during the month of September.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Education | Family | Health | Welfare | Youth | Focus on Global Health |
Date posted: Aug 31, 2011

Rose, a 14-year-old orphan in the DR Congo, never had the opportunity to attend school. When her parents died, she went to live with her widowed grandmother. When her grandmother proved unable to support her, Rose had to marry young.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Bioethics | Children | Conflict | Education | Family | Health | War | Women | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Congo DR |
Date posted: Aug 18, 2011

As part of the Healthy Families, Healthy Planet initiative, maternal health advocates from the Global South visit the United States to share their experiences with United Methodists and government policymakers. Their purpose is to urge congregations to support increased funding for international family planning.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Bioethics | Children | Communities | Ethics | Family | Health | Human rights | Missionaries | Welfare | Women | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Sierra Leone |
Date posted: Aug 05, 2011

Ever wonder what esperanza, hope, looks like? Go to San Francisco Libre, Nicaragua, on Lake Managua. That's what Arlene Andrews, Stuart Andrews, Katherine Hepfer, Rick Hepfer, Miriam Freeman, and Rita Rhodes did from May 14 to 21, 2011. They were the team from several United Methodist churches in Columbia, South Carolina.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Communities | Family | Hunger | Poverty | Volunteers | Women | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Nicaragua |
Date posted: Jun 10, 2011

The Children's Fund for Christian Mission is a creative way to harness children's natural enthusiasm for learning about and caring for one another and the world. Teachers, teens, parents, pastors, and kids in United Methodist churches can use the online resources to connect with children and issues around the world.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Education | Family | Health | Human rights | Hunger | Mission opportunities | Natural disasters | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Welfare | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Haiti | Kenya | United States |
Date posted: May 09, 2011

From 2002 to 2007, I worked as a counselor with a program at East Tennessee State University called Upward Bound. Upward Bound is a federally-funded college-prep program for high school students from lower-income families and first-generation college students.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Economy | Education | Family | Justice | Lent | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Welfare | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | United States |
Date posted: Apr 06, 2011

March, Women's History Month, is full of special days, such as the World Day of Prayer, Ash Wednesday, St. Patrick's Day, the first day of Spring, and this weekend, Ecumenical Advocacy Days.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advocacy | Children | Education | Ethics | Family | Health | Human rights | Justice | Missionaries | Poverty | Welfare | Women | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Sierra Leone |
Date posted: Mar 24, 2011

New York, March 1, 2011--Grace United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Russia, will continue a ministry with at-risk children despite city action closing a child-care center closely related to the congregation.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Communities | Family | Global connections | Jesus Christ | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Volunteers | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Russia |
Date posted: Mar 01, 2011

This Lent, SPSARV, the Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence, offers a 2011 devotional, Hope for the Transformation from Addiction to Abundance for the friends, families, and beloved children of God who are challenged by the disease of alcoholism and addiction.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advocacy | Christian love | Education | Family | Health | Lent | Mission opportunities | Prayers | Welfare | Focus on Global Health |
Date posted: Feb 25, 2011

The United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence (SPSARV) is creating a Lenten Bible study called Hope. "We need your contribution in providing a biblical basis for our denomination’s compassionate response to substance abuse and violence in our global community," said Rev. Cynthia W. Sloan, programs associate of SPSARV.
Source: Health & Welfare Ministries, GBGM
More about: Advocacy | Family | Health | Welfare | Focus on Global Health |
Date posted: Nov 03, 2010

On July 29, participants at the 2010 School of Congregational Development watched the award- winning film, Lost in Woonsocket, which provided a rare glimpse into the hopes and struggles of two homeless alcoholics from Rhode Island, and sparked discussion on the church's role in responding to homelessness and addiction.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Disabilities | Education | Family | Finance | Health | Poverty | Welfare | Focus on Global Health |
Date posted: Aug 02, 2010

I met Tereza in one of my visits to the detention center. She is married, the mother of two boys aged seven and five. Alily, the father of the two little boys, is applying for refugee status, thus the detention. The impact of the detention is a long struggle.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Family | Globalization | Human rights | Immigration | Justice | Refugees | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Japan |
Date posted: Jul 29, 2010

Justice For Our Neighbors (JFON), a ministry of UMCOR (United Methodist Committee On Relief), reaches out to the "alien" among us--immigrants who have nowhere to go for help. Amy Spaur is a United Methodist missionary serving as a Church and Community Worker with JFON in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Christian love | Communities | Family | Human rights | Immigration | Justice | Mission opportunities | Refugees | United Methodist Church | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | United States | World |
Date posted: Jul 08, 2010

These are just some of the ways that teachers, parents, pastors, and kids in United Methodist churches can join in the 2010 Children's Fund for Christian Mission. This annual fund offers creative ways to capture and build on children's natural enthusiasm for learning about and caring for children in the world through mission.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Donations | Education | Family | Global connections | Health | Hunger | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Sudan | Ukraine |
Date posted: Jun 04, 2010

"Christian faith is the only hope for the future of the Choctaw nation," stated one member of the tribal council of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. For more than 180 years, the United Methodist Choctaw Mission near Philadelphia, Mississippi, has sought to listen to, learn from, and love the Choctaw Indians. Now, more than ever, it is essential for the Choctaw leadership and the Choctaw Mission to encourage and cultivate leaders among the next generations.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Communities | Education | Family | Human rights | Poverty | Race | Women | Focus on Congregational Development |
Date posted: May 26, 2010

"Alive, alive, alive forevermore! My Jesus is alive, alive forevermore." Each night I sit in my living room and listen to my 2 ½-year-old nephew sing this song at the top of his lungs. He has lived with me for 15 months now and has taught me so much about what it means to have childlike faith.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Christian love | Family | Lent | Missionaries | Music | Prayers | Women | Focus on Ministry with the Poor |
Date posted: Feb 10, 2010

While going through a deep personal experience of dealing with her grandson's addiction, Jewell Meringer at times felt all alone. "I'd go to church and felt like I was alone," said Meringer, a member of Snellville United Methodist Church in Georgia. "I wasn't hearing from other people about addiction."
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Communities | Education | Family | Health | Prayers | Welfare | Focus on Global Health |
Date posted: Feb 08, 2010

Microfinance was one of the ways to address the needs of those living in poverty at a conversation on ministry with the poor sponsored by the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries on December 16. Held in New York City at the United Methodist Church of the Village, more than 500 people joined in from around the world via a live webcast. An overview of the meeting and a link to the download of the webcast can be found here: Microcredit, Restorative Justice.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Communities | Donations | Economy | Ethics | Family | Finance | GBGM events | Global connections | Human rights | Justice | Loans | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Welfare | Women | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Bangladesh |
Date posted: Dec 21, 2009

For years I dreaded celebrating Christmas. Due to an eviction I was separated from my family during my freshman year of high school. Living in a different home each week, I did not understand why, at my age, life took such a drastic turn. I felt so lonely and hopeless, especially during the Christmas season. I watched families eat, open gifts, and share memories together. I would wish that I could experience that same love and joy. I wanted that feeling; I wanted my family.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advent | Children | Christmas | Economy | Evangelism | Family | Finance | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor |
Date posted: Dec 04, 2009