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

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

Near the end of the 20th century, a decade of planning, summits, and conferences involving member governments of the United Nations culminated in the UN Millennium Document. This document, adopted by UN member nations at the 2000 Millennium Summit, serves as a multinational commitment to reduce extreme poverty around the world.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Children | Education | Global connections | Health | Human rights | Hunger | International affairs | Justice | Women | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Ministry with the Poor |
Date posted: Jun 23, 2011

Late in the afternoon of Tuesday, January 12, 2010, having just finished eating their usual dinner of beans and rice, the young patients at Grace Children's Hospital returned to the main area of the inpatient ward. There, the infants rested in their cribs, their bellies full of milk, while the older children gathered in front of the television set. It was 4:53 p.m., and winter darkness had begun to fall on the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Children | Communities | Health | Natural disasters | Poverty | Volunteers | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Haiti |
Date posted: May 24, 2011

Western Hills United Methodist Church in El Paso, Texas, sought to answer this question in an ordinary yet radical way--sitting down to dinner with neighbors. While many churches saw the Change the World weekend as an opportunity to engage in acts of Christian service, one group of Texas churches led by Western Hills saw the event as a chance to listen to and learn from Muslim neighbors in partnership with the Institute of Interfaith Dialogue/Turkish Raindrop House in El Paso, Texas.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Christian love | Ecumenical | John Wesley | Peace | Wesley | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Congregational Development | United States |
Date posted: May 23, 2011

Using a new set of directions, United Methodists from the United States and Eurasia recently mapped an innovative route for partnering in God's mission.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Education | Evangelism | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Congregational Development | Russia |
Date posted: Apr 25, 2011

Dear Friends, As the crisis in Japan continues with daily reports of aftershocks and radiation concerns, we continue to pray for all who have lost loved ones, homes, and jobs, or been exposed to radiation in Japan.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Christian love | Emergencies | Global connections | International affairs | Missionaries | Natural disasters | UMCOR | United Methodist Church | Volunteers | Partners/partnerships | Statements | Focus on Congregational Development | Japan |
Date posted: Apr 14, 2011

Stamford, Connecticut, April 13, 2011--Through the marvel of technology, missionaries and other new church developers from a half-dozen countries told their stories to directors of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries meeting in a suburban Connecticut hotel. The one-hour mission celebration was broadcast on the internet.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Communities | Evangelism | GBGM events | Global connections | Internet | Mission opportunities | United Methodist Church | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Congregational Development | Vietnam |
Date posted: Apr 13, 2011

Stamford, Connecticut, April 12, 2011--A call for United Methodist confidence and boldness in mission was issued on April 12 in the semi-annual report of the denominations' chief mission executive.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Christian love | Evangelism | GBGM events | GBGM news | GBGM programs | General Conference | Global connections | International affairs | Jesus Christ | John Wesley | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | Natural disasters | Peace | Resolutions of the UMC | UMCOR | United Methodist Church | Advance | Partners/partnerships | Methodism | Statements | Focus on Congregational Development | Focus on Ministry with the Poor |
Date posted: Apr 12, 2011

Stamford, CT, April 11, 2011--The chief executive of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries has no doubts that his agency and United Methodist Women will remain "missionally connected" if a proposal for a structural separation is finalized.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: GBGM events | GBGM news | Mission opportunities | Resolutions of the UMC | United Methodist Church | Women | Partners/partnerships | Mission updates | Statements | Focus on Ministry with the Poor |
Date posted: Apr 11, 2011

The situation in Japan at present is not conducive to relief volunteers coming in from other countries. Neither UMCOR nor the General Board of Global Ministries facilitates volunteers in disaster zones unless they are requested by local partners or government agencies. No such requests have been received to date from Japan.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Emergencies | Environment | Natural disasters | Prayers | UMCOR | Volunteers | Partners/partnerships | Action alerts | Focus on Congregational Development | Japan |
Date posted: Mar 15, 2011

New York, NY, March 14, 2011--United Methodist response to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan will be closely coordinated with churches and church-related agencies in that country, which continues to reel as the death toll continues to rise.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Emergencies | Global connections | International affairs | Missionaries | Natural disasters | Volunteers | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Congregational Development | Japan |
Date posted: Mar 14, 2011

The Mission Initiatives of the General Board of Global Ministries have captured the imagination of United Methodists across the connection, sparking a passionate response from local churches and mission volunteers.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Internet | Mission opportunities | United Methodist Church | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Congregational Development | Cameroon | Europe | Honduras | Lithuania | Malawi | Russia | Senegal |
Date posted: Mar 03, 2011

As Christian young people in West Africa engage and deepen their dialogue of justice and faith across countries, languages, and traditions, Patrick Abro, a youth leader in Côte d'Ivoire, shares his prayers and priorities through an e-mail exchange with staff writer, Mary Beth Coudal.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Global connections | Mission opportunities | United Methodist Church | Youth | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Leadership Development | Cameroon | Cote d´Ivoire |
Date posted: Mar 03, 2011

Our desire to connect with family and friends reaches a peak during Advent and the holiday season. Few people want to be alone on Christmas and New Year's Eve, and many feel distant from God.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advent | Bible | Christian love | Christmas | Ecumenical | Global connections | Globalization | Internet | Jesus Christ | Peace | United Methodist Church | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Congregational Development |
Date posted: Dec 15, 2010

The Millennium Development Goals aimed at lifting the economic status of the world's poorest people are in the spotlight as the United Nations opens its new session September 20-22. This Summit is intended to measure progress toward the attainment of the goals and to serve as a recommitment during the next five years.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: AIDS/HIV | Children | Education | Global connections | Health | Hunger | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health |
Date posted: Sep 20, 2010

New York, NY, September 8, 2010--Advocates for the In Mission Together program in Eastern Europe and the Balkans will meet on October 9 at the conclusion of the "Beyond These Walls" Mission Conference at McEachern United Methodist Church in Powder Springs, Georgia.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advocacy | Education | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Congregational Development | Europe |
Date posted: Sep 07, 2010

There have been two major concepts of land ownership in the world: private and communal. The Christian concept of communal ownership in the Book of Acts--the communion of saints--is voluntary, not compulsory, as in Communism. But the most widely accepted concept is private ownership, in which individuals own the means of production. Its roots are in dominium, a concept of ownership deriving from Roman law, in which individuals have absolute, unrestricted control over property.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Communities | Human rights | Justice | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Welfare | Partners/partnerships | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Philippines |
Date posted: Aug 20, 2010

United Methodist Bishop Heinrich Bolleter, Geneva Secretary of the World Methodist Council, offers his observations on Edinburgh 2010, the ecumenical world mission conference held in Edinburgh, Scotland, on June 2-6. The event marked the one hundredth anniversary of a landmark missionary conference in 1910. Bishop Bolleter, who is retired from the Southern and Century Europe Central Conference, represented the World Methodist Council on a committee of "stakeholders" that assisted in planning the 2010 conference, which had the theme "Witnessing to Christ Today."
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Ecumenical | Evangelization | Global connections | Human rights | International affairs | United Methodist Church | Partners/partnerships | Methodism | Focus on Congregational Development | United Kingdom |
Date posted: Jun 10, 2010

Edinburgh, Scotland, June 9, 2010--The 2010 World Mission Conference in Edinburgh recognized a direct descendent of the only Korean participant, who was Methodist, at a landmark missionary conference a hundred years ago.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Ecumenical | Evangelism | Global connections | International affairs | Missionaries | United Methodist Church | Partners/partnerships | Methodism | Statements | Focus on Leadership Development | Africa | Asia and the Pacific Islands | India | Korea | South Africa |
Date posted: Jun 09, 2010

Edinburgh, June 4, 2010--Christian mission among people of other faiths was a complex, recurring theme at "Witnessing to Christ Today," the broadly ecumenical World Mission Conference held in Edinburgh, Scotland, June 2-6.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Christian love | Communities | Evangelism | Evangelization | Ethics | Global connections | Globalization | Human rights | International affairs | Jesus Christ | John Wesley | Partners/partnerships | Methodism | Statements | Focus on Congregational Development | Korea | Romania | South Africa | United Kingdom |
Date posted: Jun 04, 2010

Edinburgh, Scotland, June 3, 2010--Is united Christian witness possible today, given the historical divisions within the church and the increasing cultural and political diversity within the Christian family?
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Evangelization | Global connections | Globalization | International affairs | Jesus Christ | John Wesley | Mission opportunities | United Methodist Church | Wesley | Partners/partnerships | Methodism | Focus on Congregational Development | United Kingdom |
Date posted: Jun 03, 2010