By allowing the Spirit to move in creative ways, the Methodist Church in Cuba is dancing, singing, and spreading scriptural holiness over the land. Since 1999, the church has grown from 8,000 to 36,000 members. Bishop Ricardo Pereira encourages congregations to live out their Wesleyan theology in ways that are uniquely Cuban.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Communities | Evangelism | Global connections | John Wesley | Mission opportunities | United Methodist Church | Wesley | Focus on Congregational Development | Cuba |
Date posted: Mar 06, 2012

The face of missionaries has changed, with nearly 50 percent of United Methodist missionaries coming from places outside the United States. "We now have missionaries who are coming from everywhere and going everywhere," said Thomas Kemper, who leads the denomination's mission agency.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Evangelization | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | United Methodist Church | Youth | Partners/partnerships | Methodism | Focus on Leadership Development | Congo DR | Kenya | Mongolia |
Date posted: Mar 01, 2012

Missionary service in the 21st century follows the New Testament's mission mandate to move outward from Judea into all parts of the world. Strongly influenced by the 19th century Protestant mission initiative that originated in Europe and North America, missionary service--especially in the Methodist tradition--combined spiritual piety with social ministry. In the 19th century, parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America were considered to be suitable areas for mission.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Evangelization | GBGM events | International affairs | John Wesley | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | United Methodist Church | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Leadership Development |
Date posted: Mar 01, 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

Nome, Alaska, February 13, 2012--Nome usually has long, cold winters, and Christopher Steppe, a United Methodist young adult missionary in the Alaskan city, thought he had packed enough heavy gear when he headed there from his native Virginia last September: plenty of hoodies, thermals, scarves, gloves, and even a heavier coat than he would have used back home. Not enough, and especially not when unusually early snowfall blanketed the subarctic region on the Bering Sea.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Communities | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | Natural disasters | United Methodist Church | Youth | Focus on Leadership Development | United States |
Date posted: Feb 17, 2012

The concept of the roundtable is finding a fresh application in the global mission of The United Methodist Church. Although "round table" may conjure the image of King Arthur and his knights sitting in a circle symbolizing their equal standing and unity of purpose, the roundtable is also a process.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Evangelism | Global connections | International affairs | Mission opportunities | Focus on Congregational Development | Argentina | Cambodia | Haiti | Russia | Sudan |
Date posted: Feb 15, 2012

February 9, 2012, New York, NY--For the second year in a row, top leaders from the General Board of Global Ministries met with representatives of the Methodist Church of Great Britain to continue conversations with a goal of being more effective partners in mission. The two-day meeting took place in London at the British Methodist headquarters. The United Methodist group was led by Thomas Kemper, general secretary, who said it had been a useful meeting and "showed the growing collaboration between the UMC and British Church in its international mission work."
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Global connections | International affairs | Mission opportunities | United Methodist Church | Wesley | Focus on Congregational Development | United Kingdom | United States |
Date posted: Feb 09, 2012

Consider becoming a US-2 or Mission Intern. If you are between the ages of 20 to 30 and feel called to address the root causes of injustice so that the gospel is lived out alongside communities and organizations seeking peace and systemic transformation, apply to become a United Methodist US-2 or Mission Intern.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Evangelism | Global connections | International affairs | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | Volunteers | Youth | Focus on Leadership Development |
Date posted: Dec 08, 2011

Methodist Cambodian youth, aged 16-24, gathered from around their country last week in Phnom Penh for their 2012 strategic planning at the Wesley Bible Center. Irene Mparutsa, a Global Ministries missionary and a nurse from Zimbabwe, took the opportunity to facilitate a discussion about HIV/AIDS with the 35 young people. While the rate of HIV infection is declining in Cambodia, there is a need to teach prevention as well as reduce stigma for those who are HIV-positive.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: AIDS/HIV | Health | Mission opportunities | Poverty | Prayers | United Methodist Church | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Cambodia |
Date posted: Dec 01, 2011

The Reverend Paul Shew from the West Ohio Annual Conference has been planting seeds of hope and promise for more than ten years in Japan. "I cannot imagine a place with more opportunity for student ministry than in Japan. We are in a unique position to point young people to a loving God through word and deed." Serving as a long-term mission volunteer through Global Ministries in Japan, Shew is a professor and university chaplain at Aoyama Gakuin, in Tokyo.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Christian love | Communities | Education | Emergencies | Environment | Evangelism | Global connections | International affairs | John Wesley | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | Natural disasters | Volunteers | Tsunami | Focus on Congregational Development | Japan |
Date posted: Nov 30, 2011

I sent Patrick Friday an email, suggesting that we meet for breakfast in the cafeteria for a conversation about social media and mission. Patrick suggested, instead, we should chat, pray, and invite others to join us at a Google+ "hang out." A couple of emails later, Patrick and I logged on to Google+ for our "hang out," a four-way videoconference with Patti Bacher in De Pere, Wisconsin, and Mi Rhang Baek in Madison, Alabama.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Communities | Evangelism | Global connections | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | United Methodist Church | Focus on Congregational Development | Asia and the Pacific Islands | Bulgaria | Cameroon | Europe | Honduras | Lithuania | Malawi | Russia | Senegal | United States |
Date posted: Nov 23, 2011

To introduce this issue of New World Outlook--which features a number of Global Ministries' staff members and their offices--I sat down with members of the Mission Initiatives team for a conversation about gospel and culture.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Evangelism | Global connections | International affairs | Mission opportunities | United Methodist Church | Focus on Congregational Development | Philippines | Russia | Uganda | Venezuela |
Date posted: Nov 04, 2011

In Christian lingo, "to discern" means to perceive God's call or spiritual direction. This week, a class of seven young adult US missionaries, US-2s, are meeting in New York to be in community and to discern their call to work for justice one year into their two-year missionary service.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Mission opportunities | Missionaries | Youth | Focus on Leadership Development | United States |
Date posted: Oct 28, 2011

"In the Tongan language there is no word for cousin, because you are either sister or brother," said Rev. Sione (Loni) Veikoso. On Thursday, October 13, 2011, 35 sisters and brothers of Rev. Loni from the Asian and Pacific Islander network of The United Methodist Church met in the upper Manhattan office of Global Ministries to discuss how to enlarge the Church for all people.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Global connections | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | United Methodist Church | Youth | Focus on Congregational Development | Asia and the Pacific Islands |
Date posted: Oct 18, 2011

New York, NY, October 12, 2011--The 100th anniversary of The United Methodist Church's mission magazine was marked on October 11 with a retrospective of mission highlights from each decade of the last century.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: GBGM events | John Wesley | Mission opportunities | Newsletters | United Methodist Church | Wesley | Methodism | Focus on Congregational Development |
Date posted: Oct 14, 2011

Bishop Rev. Bruce Ough Blesses 39 LSMC Certified Pastors In September 2011, the second annual meeting of the Lao Samphan Methodist Church (LSMC) of the South East Asia Mission Initiative--which includes Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam--was held. Rev. Bruce Ough, presiding bishop of the West Ohio Conference and president of the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church, recognized and blessed 39 certified pastors of the LSMC.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Evangelization | Global connections | International affairs | Mission opportunities | Methodism | Focus on Leadership Development | Laos |
Date posted: Oct 12, 2011

When the Russia Initiative mini-consultation meets on October 15, 2011, advocates will share stories of friendship and church growth. The group will celebrate Rev. Jim Athearn's leadership as he steps down from coordinating the initiative and meet the new coordinator, David McLaurin, from Lovers Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Education | International affairs | Mission opportunities | Natural disasters | Volunteers | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Congregational Development | Asia and the Pacific Islands | Belarus | Moldova | Russia | Ukraine |
Date posted: Oct 10, 2011

In addition to standard business meetings, the Global Ministries fall board meeting will include opportunities for worship, building new relationships, and actively exploring new ways to facilitate mission. For the first time, directors will meet at the agency's New York City offices. The semi-annual meeting is scheduled to take place October 10-13, 2011.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Evangelization | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | United Methodist Church | Youth | Focus on Leadership Development | Kazakhstan |
Date posted: Oct 06, 2011

After more than three weeks of training, ten United Methodists will be commissioned and sent to missionary assignments around the world. Global Ministries executive Judy Chung says that the training helps prepare the individuals for the mission field while building a foundation of support.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Evangelization | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | United Methodist Church | Youth | Focus on Leadership Development | Congo DR | Italy | Kazakhstan | Palestine | Uganda | Ukraine |
Date posted: Oct 04, 2011

The Holy Bible occupies a central place in the life and witness of churches in China, and it is this theme that the second exciting Bible Ministry Exhibition of the China Christian Council explores when it comes to the United States on September 28. Entitled Thy Word Is Truth, this multimedia event is set to tour.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Bible | Education | Evangelism | Global connections | John Wesley | Mission opportunities | United Methodist Church | Focus on Congregational Development | China |
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

You are invited and encouraged to join an online webinar with Global Ministries staff, Church and Community Workers, and National Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministries missionaries as they meet from September 17 to 20, 2011 at the Life Enrichment Center in Fruitland Park, Florida, to learn about the new and transformative ways to serve as United Methodist missionaries in rural or urban settings around the United States.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Education | Evangelism | Internet | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | Rural | Urban | Focus on Leadership Development |
Date posted: Aug 30, 2011

New York, NY, August 18, 2011--With celebratory singing and dancing, 25 candidates processed down the aisle of the Interchurch Center chapel in New York City to be commissioned as US-2s and Mission Interns by the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Christian love | Evangelization | Global connections | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | United Methodist Church | Youth | Focus on Leadership Development | Colombia | Germany | Haiti | Hong Kong | Mongolia | Nicaragua | Palestine | Philippines | Switzerland | Ukraine | United States |
Date posted: Aug 22, 2011

The Global Praise ministry of the General Board of Global Ministries traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand, in January 2011 to lead a two-week Worship and Music Training with the leaders of Global Ministries' Mission Initiative in Laos and Thailand. The participants took "core" classes in worship, music theory, and piano or guitar every day.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Education | Evangelism | GBGM events | Mission opportunities | Music | Focus on Congregational Development | Focus on Leadership Development | Thailand |
Date posted: Aug 18, 2011

William Wilson, Jr., 23, likes to pack light. For his journey from Southern New Jersey to Stony Point, New York, he carried a small duffel bag. He also packed "trust, faith, and flexibility," his guiding principles for the upcoming journey as a young adult missionary.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Justice | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | Poverty | Youth | Urban | Focus on Leadership Development | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | United States |
Date posted: Aug 05, 2011