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

On a recent visit to Susanna Wesley House in Baltimore, Maryland, three of the house's nine housing units were found to be empty. This was a positive sign. It meant that three families had recently made a successful transition from supportive housing to their own residences in the community.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Children | Christian love | Communities | Education | John Wesley | United Methodist Church | Welfare | Wesley | Women | Methodism | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | United States |
Date posted: Sep 13, 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

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

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

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

Two by two, the early followers of Christ went into an unknown world to prepare the way for Jesus. On their journey, surely they met resistance and opposition as well as kindness and joy upon receipt of the Good News.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Christian love | Communities | Evangelism | Evangelization | Mission opportunities | Missionaries | Welfare | Youth | Focus on Congregational Development | Germany |
Date posted: May 18, 2011

Melissa Crutchfield, assistant general secretary for International Disaster Response at the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), and Thomas Dwyer, executive director of UMCOR NGO, answered some of the more difficult questions and concerns about earthquake relief in Haiti during an information session in January.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: Donations | Economy | Emergencies | GBGM programs | Health | Hunger | Mission opportunities | Natural disasters | Poverty | UMCOR | Volunteers | Water | Welfare | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Haiti |
Date posted: May 12, 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

Our hearts grieve with those who grieve, Our lips pray with those who pray and lament, Our spirits and lives are connected with the people of Japan, and those living around the "Ring of Fire."
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Christian love | Emergencies | Global connections | Natural disasters | Prayers | UMCOR | Welfare | Tsunami | Focus on Congregational Development | Japan |
Date posted: Mar 17, 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

New York, NY, January 25, 2011--An international aid specialist urged United Methodists not to slack off or give in to the "sin of despair" in the church's essential, ongoing work to conquer poverty.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Economy | GBGM events | GBGM programs | Health | Poverty | Welfare | Statements | Focus on Ministry with the Poor |
Date posted: Jan 25, 2011

Three images from the Gospel of Luke fill my mind this Christmas: "no room," shepherds, and the manger.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advent | Christmas | Human rights | Jesus Christ | Mission opportunities | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Welfare | Focus on Congregational Development | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Brazil |
Date posted: Dec 14, 2010

The time of Advent reminds me to wait, wait, wait. Yet my social-media habit encourages me to hurry, hurry, hurry. This December I've found these modes--of waiting and of hurrying--are at odds. While I am happy to be connected to so many friends and family through social media, I fear my round-the-clock digital connectedness is distracting me from a deeper relationship with the people in my life and with God.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Advent | Global connections | Internet | Peace | Welfare | Women | Focus on Congregational Development |
Date posted: Dec 09, 2010

More than just a lovable orange character on Sesame Street, Zoe was one of the sisters of Greek mythology who resided in the Garden of Hesperides. Zoe translates to "life," and that is precisely what the ZOE Ministry, Advance #982023, brings not only on World AIDS Day, but 365 days a year.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: AIDS/HIV | Children | Health | Poverty | Welfare | Women | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Focus on Global Health | Rwanda | Zambia | Zimbabwe | Kenya |
Date posted: Dec 02, 2010

New York, NY, December 1, 2010--The Latin American Biblical University, an ecumenical school in Costa Rica with strong United Methodist ties, is one of four seminaries in Latin America that is developing a master's degree in theology with an emphasis on HIV/AIDS ministries.
Source: Health & Welfare Ministries, GBGM
More about: AIDS/HIV | Health | Welfare | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Argentina | Brazil | Colombia | Costa Rica |
Date posted: Dec 01, 2010

I have just returned from almost seven months in mission in Haiti. It is a time of joyous homecoming, of sad separations, of rest and recovery, of reflection and thanksgiving. I have seen God at work in unmistakable ways. I have been blessed to participate in the miraculous and healing work of Christ. It has been amazing.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: Children | Education | Emergencies | Global connections | Hunger | Natural disasters | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Volunteers | Welfare | Youth | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Haiti |
Date posted: Nov 29, 2010

"Healthy I am only when my family is also well and healthy," said a teacher in Malawi. "I am healthy only when I am at peace with my fellow human beings and with creation," she continued. "I am healthy when my relationship with God is right. Being healthy means physical and spiritual well-being." I think this teacher is right, so I ask myself: "How healthy am I by her criteria?" How healthy are my colleagues? How healthy are our families...our congregations...The United Methodist Church...our world?
Source: New World Outlook
More about: AIDS/HIV | Education | Health | Human rights | John Wesley | Poverty | United Methodist Church | Welfare | Wesley | Focus on Global Health | Cambodia | Congo DR | Cote d´Ivoire | Mozambique |
Date posted: Nov 04, 2010

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

My fellow mission intern in South Africa, Jen Tyler, organizes student visits to the VCT clinic and to some of its client's homes. The clinic does Voluntary Counseling and Testing for HIV. On one such visit, Jen arranged for Rachel Keller and me to come along. So we all headed for the United Methodist-run clinic in Alberton.
Source: New World Outlook
More about: AIDS/HIV | Health | Welfare | Youth | Focus on Global Health | South Africa |
Date posted: Oct 08, 2010

It has now been many months since I first arrived in South Africa—completely unsure and utterly terrified of the path that lay ahead of me. I have faced some incredible challenges since then but have also met some incredible people along the way. Yet there are times when I have asked myself, "Why am I here in South Africa?"
Source: New World Outlook
More about: AIDS/HIV | Health | Welfare | Focus on Global Health | South Africa |
Date posted: Sep 24, 2010

September 17, 2010--The number of Americans living in poverty has climbed, and The United Methodist Church is looking for ways to help.
Source: GBGM Mission News
More about: AIDS/HIV | Children | Ethics | Globalization | Health | International affairs | Poverty | Water | Welfare | Focus on Ministry with the Poor | Africa | Asia and the Pacific Islands |
Date posted: Sep 17, 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