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

Today's youth are often confronted at every turn with peer pressure to take drugs and engage in destructive behaviors. The latest podcast from the United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence's "Speak About It!" series features a substance-abuse ministry in the North Carolina Annual Conference's Rockingham District that is empowering youth through positive activities and programs to stay away from behaviors that may lead to drug use.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Communities | Health | Poverty | Youth | Urban | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | United States |
Date posted: Feb 13, 2012

Thery's family was living in extreme poverty and could no longer care properly for their young daughter. They found a home for Thery at Cambodia Light Children's Orphanage and the affiliated Methodist school. Teachers recognized that she was a gifted dancer and nurtured her passion. Today she is 19 years old and attending the Royal University of Fine Arts. She continues to live at the orphanage and teaches dance to the children. The children's dance performances help raise funds to support the orphanage.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Poverty | Women | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Cambodia |
Date posted: Dec 20, 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 assembly hall at the Asian Rural Institute in Tochigi, Japan, was filled with a spirit of celebration as graduating students anticipated bringing the fruits of their labor back to their home countries. In a commencement message to the 2011 class on November 19, 2011, Thomas Kemper, the head of Global Ministries, said:
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Agriculture | Christian love | Communities | Donations | Emergencies | Environment | Global connections | Health | International affairs | Natural disasters | Poverty | Prayers | Rural | Welfare | Statements | Tsunami | Focus on Congregational Development | Focus on Leadership Development | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Japan |
Date posted: Nov 23, 2011

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

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

In Samara, Russia, Michael watched a grandmother and her grandson carry a suitcase together as they boarded a train. Michael had an epiphany: If these two family members of such different ages and abilities could carry such a heavy weight, which neither could lift alone, perhaps the church family too could carry one another's weight.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Missionaries | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Focus on Leadership Development | Mongolia |
Date posted: Oct 10, 2011

Walk together in God's mission with our scholars. Give to your utmost ability. As we invest in their education and leadership, churches and communities shall help transform the world. By God's grace and sitting around the Lord's Table We bear witness to multiple ministries everywhere.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Ecumenical | Finance | Health | Poverty | Focus on Leadership Development | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Brazil | Liberia | Philippines | United States |
Date posted: Sep 28, 2011

In the month following South Sudan's independence, the United Methodist people of South Sudan outlined the priorities that will help strengthen the church as part of building a new nation. A team of clergy and lay leaders from Yei District came together for a roundtable meeting in Kampala, Uganda, on August 9 and 10, 2011, with delegates from the East Africa Annual Conference, the General Board of Global Ministries, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), the Holston Annual Conference, and Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City, Ohio.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Agriculture | Education | Finance | Poverty | Water | Focus on Congregational Development | Focus on Leadership Development | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Sudan |
Date posted: Sep 23, 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

In the late 1970s, millions of people starved in Cambodian refugee camps. Among the hungry were present-day United Methodist missionaries Marilyn and Joseph Chan. In the camps, they witnessed and experienced Christian love and converted to Christianity. The couple went on to study theology in the US and returned to Cambodia to work with Christian and global aid networks as teachers and theologians, offering to help in health and agriculture in rural communities.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Agriculture | Health | Missionaries | Poverty | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Cambodia |
Date posted: Sep 19, 2011

This coming Saturday will mark 10 years of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The reactions that followed this event radically changed our world and the context of Mission. As we take time together to reflect and pray we are mindful of other instances of violence, including the recent shootings in Norway and all the places and people in the world who suffer violence in this very hour.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Conflict | GBGM events | Global connections | Health | Human rights | Hunger | International affairs | Peace | Poverty | Prayers | Violence | War | Statements | Focus on Congregational Development | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | United States | Afghanistan | Iraq | Norway |
Date posted: Sep 09, 2011

I first met Dan Terry in 2004 in Afghanistan. One day he offered to help me get to a meeting on the other side of Kabul--by bicycle. We took a "shortcut" up to a steep ridge, following a rocky path where we had to push or carry our bicycles. At the top, while I caught my breath and admired the view, we encountered a family of returned refugees. This steep ridge--far from roads, water, and the city proper--was the only place this family could find to live.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Christian love | Communities | Conflict | Education | Global connections | Health | International affairs | Missionaries | Peace | Poverty | Refugees | Rural | Social Principles | Violence | War | Methodism | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Afghanistan |
Date posted: Aug 24, 2011

While at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington DC, Stephanie Kimec befriended two men in her neighborhood who were homeless. On her way to the car or Metro, "There'd be times when I would hear my name shouted and get a great big hug," Ms. Kimec remembered.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Christian love | Immigration | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor |
Date posted: Aug 17, 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

Even as you read these words, the people of Southern Sudan are opening their eyes to a new reality: independence. This July, we welcome them as citizens of the world's newest nation and as partners in the pursuit of global peace and development. On July 9, 2011, the independent government of Southern Sudan is to be formally constituted. Earlier this year, the Southern electorate voted overwhelmingly to secede from the Republic of the Sudan.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Children | Communities | Conflict | Education | Human rights | Peace | Poverty | Refugees | United Methodist Church | Violence | War | Focus on Congregational Development | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Sudan |
Date posted: Jul 22, 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

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

Before the January 12, 2010, earthquake, the people of Haiti had not had a major seismic event for decades--though they had endured countless social and political upheavals, along with natural catastrophes, throughout their history.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Agriculture | Communities | Emergencies | Health | Natural disasters | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Welfare | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Haiti |
Date posted: Jun 08, 2011

May 31, 2011--"With each other we can put our faith into action and transform the world into God's kingdom of love and justice." In a dynamic new video, the mission agency of The United Methodist Church (UMC), in partnership with United Methodist Women, invites the denomination to revisit their views and join in new ways to minister with those living in poverty.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Communities | Donations | GBGM events | GBGM news | GBGM programs | Human rights | Hunger | John Wesley | Mission opportunities | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Volunteers | Wesley | Methodism | Focus on Ministry with the Poor |
Date posted: May 31, 2011

New York, NY, May 25, 2011--Steps are under way to strengthen and coordinate the United Methodist Church's aviation ministries in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). One goal is the purchase of a larger aircraft to replace one of the small planes now in service.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Emergencies | Evangelism | Health | Missionaries | Natural disasters | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Volunteers | Welfare | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Congo DR | South Africa |
Date posted: May 26, 2011