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AIDS Pandemic Hits Hardest in Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is dying, in part, because of
a cultural taboo. Cultural and religious
traditions make talking to people about the
HIV/AIDS epidemic almost impossible because it is
a topic so closely associated with sexual
behavior. Yet an estimated 28 million people are
living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, and
new cases are cropping up at an alarming rate.
Date posted:Oct 31, 2002
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Evangelization and Church Growth (ECG) in
collaboration with the GBGM web team has
launched its new web site. The new home page
opens to its visitors a door into the mission
and ministry of ECG, offering a broader
understanding of the resources, training and
opportunities for mission available to the
United Methodist Church.
Date posted:Oct 30, 2002
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Churches in Cambodia, Honduras and the Cote
d'Ivoire have been formally approved as "mission
churches" by the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries.
Date posted:Oct 29, 2002
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We are pleased to announce that The Rev.
Randy Day has been elected to
the position of General Secretary of the General
Board of Global Ministries
(GBGM) at the meeting of the General Council on
Ministries (GCOM) in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this week.
Date posted:Oct 29, 2002
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Nancy Hobbs, a missionary of the General Board
of Global Ministries, is a Church and Community
Worker in Virginia. Her newsletter offers a
message on the importance of community outreach
and of taking the church to the people.
Date posted:Oct 28, 2002
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The Rev. Randy Day, a member of the United
Methodist New York Annual (regional) Conference,
has officially been elected
new chief staff executive of the United
Methodist Board of Global
Ministries.
Date posted:Oct 28, 2002
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United Methodist Board of Global Ministries
directors want their retiring chief executive to
use his experience and
expertise to convince others of the importance
of worldwide church mission.
Date posted:Oct 28, 2002
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The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)
has approved a $973,192 grant to allow the
denomination's Virginia Annual
(regional) Conference to further address the
needs of those affected by the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Date posted:Oct 28, 2002
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The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries
has added its voice to denominational groups
concerned about the threat of war with Iraq.
Date posted:Oct 25, 2002
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Despite severe cuts to staff and programs, the
United Methodist Board of Global Ministries
continues to struggle with its finances.
Date posted:Oct 25, 2002
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As the United Nations marks the 57th anniversary
of its charter, we applaud their work and will
continue to help meet those eight goals by 2015.
Date posted:Oct 24, 2002
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United Methodists Urge Saving Lives Through Organ Donation
For Randy Wright, a new kidney means another
chance to coach his 11-year-old daughter in
basketball and softball. For the Rev. Pat Buss,
it means the possibility of preaching again. They
were lucky. Many others aren't.
Date posted:Oct 24, 2002
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At this critical time of possible war by the
United States against Iraq, the General Board of
Global Ministries urges all United Methodists to
pursue the things that make for peace. We
cannot remain silent.
Date posted:Oct 24, 2002
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Paul Matheri Njunguna is a Missioner of Hope of
the General Board of Global Ministries who works
with "Ministry with Street Children" in Kenya.
On October 18th, he shared news of the crisis of
a national teachers’ strike in Kenya and the
impact it is having on children’s lives.
Date posted:Oct 23, 2002
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Religious leaders from around the metropolitan
area gathered Oct. 22 to offer prayer and
support for community and law enforcement
officials investigating the ongoing series of
sniper shootings.
Date posted:Oct 23, 2002
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The administrative body of the 1 million-member
United Methodist Women has joined other
religious groups voicing opposition to war with
Iraq.
Date posted:Oct 23, 2002
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Afghan Children Study Under the Trees
In many parts of Afghanistan, the shade from
trees substitutes for school buildings that were
destroyed by the Taliban. Over 70% of the
country's 7,000 schools have been damaged or
destroyed; so thousands of students must meet
under the trees or in tents. Few students have
books; they copy their lessons from chalkboards.
Date posted:Oct 23, 2002
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Today marks the last of the General Secretary
Reports which I shall make as General Secretary
of the Board.
I should like to express a
word, many words, of gratitude and deep
appreciation as well as admiration to you as
Directors of the General Board of Global
Ministries for your witness and your
steadfastness for the mission of this church as
expressed through the General Board of Global
Ministries. You have never flagged nor weakened
in your commitment to the mission of God as
expressed through the General Board of Global
Ministries.
Date posted:Oct 22, 2002
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Peter S., Maria Estela de Hudy-Velasco and their
children, Benjamin and Jonathan, are a
missionary family assigned by the General Board
of Global Ministries of The United Methodist
Church to Bolivia. Peter is director of the Rio
Colorado Agricultural School, and Maria works
with Community Development. In the
Spring/Summer edition of their newsletter,
Peter shares a story that illustrates how God is
present in even the most ordinary of our daily
activities.
Date posted:Oct 21, 2002
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Afghanistan One Year Later: Rebuilding Homes and Lives
UMCOR plans an integrated multi-sectoral approach
to address the needs of individual communities in
Afghanistan. In the past year, UMCOR has
distributed shelter kits and non-food items to
2,000 families in northern Afghanistan.
Additionally, school kits donated to UMCOR will
be distributed to schools and schoolchildren in
the region. In May, UMCOR opened a new office in
Kabul. From this base, it is helping to rebuild
homes, schools, and people's lives in Afghanistan.
Date posted:Oct 21, 2002
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Macedonia is everywhere. It can be a place or a
group of people or a partner church, where there
is a need. And this need is articulated. Where
there is a cry for help: “Come over to Macedonia
and help us!”
Date posted:Oct 21, 2002
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The General Board of Global Ministries of
The United Methodist Church has four mission
goals that define its ministries and its
programs. This issue of New World Outlook
considers a few of the ministries that meet the
fourth goal, “Seek justice, freedom, and peace,”
although, in most cases, these active ministries
meet more than one goal.
Date posted:Oct 18, 2002
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It was a glorious Sunday morning in Abidjan, the
kind of day everyone involved in the Mission
Visione (Vision of Mission) of the Protestant
Methodist Church of Côte d’Ivoire had prayed it
would be. The sun shone brightly on May 26,
2002, with no sign of rain. But even if it had
rained, it’s unlikely that it would have subdued
or diminished the enthusiastic crowd of 20,000
who came to worship and celebrate at Champroux
Stadium.
Date posted:Oct 18, 2002
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Peace building in the midst of conflict is a
slow and painstaking process. Wi’a m Palestinian
Center for Conflict Resolution, directed by
Zoughbi Zoughbi, has continued to operate in
Bethlehem — despite Israeli occupation, house
searches, and the closing of the entire area for
more than eight weeks while the Church of the
Nativity was under siege. News from the region
indicates that closures continue every day.
Date posted:Oct 18, 2002
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“I was an alcoholic by the time I was 17.” After
11 years of sobriety, Billy Godwin can still
recount his past life in poignant detail. In
fact, his very future depends on it.
Following in the footsteps of the previous four
generations of his family, Godwin joined the
army in 1969. Although he successfully concealed
his alcoholism during 10 years of “distinguished
service,” it finally got the better of him. He
underwent extensive clinical treatment but
received an honorable discharge in 1982 because
his addiction had taken over his life.
Date posted:Oct 18, 2002
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In Gallatin, Tennessee, an interracial,
ecumenical coalition of seven churches worked
alongside local residents, businesses, and
institutions over the past four years to rescue
and refurbish a city park once overrun with drug
dealers. Today, the park is used for recreation
programs and a community garden that grows and
nurtures relationships as much as it does
vegetables, according to the Rev. Cathie
Leimenstoll, pastor of Rehoboth United Methodist
Church.
Date posted:Oct 18, 2002
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We reach out to people in need because God
reaches out to us when we need help. They need
him right now, and I’m part of the way they can
receive Him–a tangible representation of God’s
love.
Jane Millen, IHN volunteer at Resurrection
United Methodist Church, Durham, NC.
Date posted:Oct 18, 2002
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The following short articles may be reprinted
and used as worship bulletin inserts. They are
available in the proper size for reproducing in
the print version of September/October issue of
New World Outlook.
Date posted:Oct 18, 2002
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The National Observance of Children's Sabbath is
scheduled for October
18-20, 2002, an annual opportunity to learn
about the urgent needs of children and the
mandate in every
faith tradition to nurture and protect children,
to seek justice on behalf
of those most vulnerable. People of
faith may learn more about the problems facing
children and families (such as
poverty, lack of health care, and violence) and
commit to responding to
them. It is a time for celebrating children in
our congregations, in our
communities and around the world.
Date posted:Oct 17, 2002
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A Volunteers in Mission team led by United
Methodist Bishop Susan M. Morrison brought
supplies and support to the Methodist Church in
Cuba immediately after Hurricane Lili struck the
island.
Date posted:Oct 17, 2002
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As their 10,000-mile journey neared its end, it
wasn’t the steep grades of the Appalachian
Mountains in Virginia and Kentucky or the 115-
degree temperatures in Nevada that Dirk and Bill
Van Gorp were thinking about, but the people
with whom they shared a meal, a campfire or a
church pew along the way.
Date posted:Oct 17, 2002
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The natives and indigenous peoples who live
along the many rivers feeding into the Orinoco
River in Venezuela are the focus of an
extraordinary ministry conceived by the son of a
Christian Alliance Fellowship pastor. Zabdiel
Arenas, a Methodist who from his youth had
wanted to be a medical doctor in order to heal
his people, is the founder and president of the
El Renuevo Ministry, which monthly sends a
medical boat and an ambulance boat up the river
to bring healthcare and the gospel to those who
live within its vicinity.
Date posted:Oct 15, 2002
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Last evening, the quiet of the night was split
by the sound of an explosion. Rattling the
windows, I had a feeling it was something within
our larger neighborhood. At first I thought it
might be a tank shell exploding, but with the
lack of any firing for weeks, this seemed
unlikely.
Date posted:Oct 15, 2002
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Council of Bishops Issue Pastoral Letter on
Iraq Situation. Compiled By John Nuessle,
with material from UMCom Office of Public
Information, Stephen Drachler, Director, and
Gretchen Hakola, General Board of Church
and Society.
Date posted:Oct 11, 2002
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Judy Atwood, a missionary of the General Board
of Global Ministries is assigned to Friendship
House in Manhattan, Kansas, one of the many
community centers across the country supported
by the United Methodist Church. Her current
newsletter gives a glimpse into the many ways
that these institutions are serving children
and working parents as the school year begins.
Date posted:Oct 10, 2002
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Around New York, UMCOR Reaching Out to 9/11 Victims
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)
has become a major participant, with groups such
as the Red Cross, Catholic Charities and the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, at New York
City's unmet 9/11 needs roundtable. Families and
individuals affected by the September 11 attacks
can receive assistance at seven satellite offices
established in New York City by UMCOR.
Date posted:Oct 10, 2002
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Louisiana Churches Work to Overcome Hurricane Damage
In the span of a week, two tropical storms plowed
into Louisiana's coast, sending people to
emergency shelters, causing extensive flooding
and damaging many United Methodist churches.
Hurricane Lili hit Louisiana's coast early Oct. 3
and left nearly a half-million utility customers
without power. With barely a week to recover from
the effects of Tropical Storm Isidore, the
Acadiana area and much of south Louisiana quickly
prepared for Lili, a second, more powerful storm.
Date posted:Oct 08, 2002
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We greet you from Jerusalem in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christi - himself the Prince of Peace.
We are greatly troubled as we learn of the new
legislation you have signed in recent days -
Date posted:Oct 08, 2002
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Nan McCurdy and Miguel Mairena, missionaries of
the General Board of Global Ministries of The
United Methodist Church recently returned to
Nicaragua. In an excerpt of their newsletter,
Nan reflects on suffering of the poor in the
region where they work with Community
Development Ministry.
Date posted:Oct 07, 2002
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Overview of Food Crisis in Southern Africa
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has
described the food crisis in southern Africa as
the most severe and urgent dilemma facing the
international community at the moment. The food
shortage is a complex crisis with a different
situation in each country. The overview below
summarized the current situation in those
countries where ACT members have started programs
to assist people in this crisis.
Date posted:Oct 04, 2002
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Sunday, October 6th is World Communion Sunday,
celebrating the global nature of our faith.
Fifty per cent of the special offering for this
Sunday from United Methodist churches will go to
support the Crusade Scholarship Program of the
General Board of Global Ministries. These
scholarships enable persons from churches in
nations other than the U.S. and from ethnic and
racial minorities in the U.S. to prepare for
leadership in mission in church and society.
Date posted:Oct 03, 2002
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Churches Assess Hurricane Lili's Damage in Cuba
The Cuban Council of Churches (CCC), one of
UMCOR's ecumenical partners though Action by
Churches Together (ACT) International, reports
that housing reconstruction material, food and
medicines are needed by people who have weathered
the storm. The council was already responding to
the humanitarian situation caused by Hurricane
Isidore. Its emergency committee conducted
assessments, particularly in Pinar del Rio, the
western province most affected by the first
storm. Assessments of the damage by both
hurricanes are continuing.
Date posted:Oct 03, 2002
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One man is dead. Another has been shot in the
face. Both belong to opposing Protestant
paramilitary groups that are fighting a bloody
turf war with each other. Both come from
families who are part of the Rev. Gary Mason’s
Methodist church in East Belfast.
Date posted:Oct 02, 2002
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Concerned United Methodists are calling upon the
denomination to give priority to the churches
and people of Latin America and the Caribbean.
They hope the Nov. 3-4 joint meeting of the
United Methodist Council of Bishops and Council
of Evangelical Methodist Churches in Latin
America (CIEMAL) in Puerto Rico will help foster
increased attention from the United Methodist
Church to its partnership with the 19 Methodist
bodies in the region.
Date posted:Oct 02, 2002
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The 2002 World Methodist Council’s executive
committee meeting was "bathed in prayer" around
the clock – and around the world – by global
prayer partners.
The Rev. George H. Freeman, top executive for
the World Methodist Council, emphasized the
critical need for prayer as world leaders
gathered for the meeting.
Date posted:Oct 02, 2002
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It was an emotionally charged week to be in New
York City that left a group of United Methodist
District Superintendents with lasting
impressions of our denomination’s presence in
the Big Apple.
Date posted:Oct 01, 2002
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On September 15-21, 2002, forty participants
gathered in Kinshasa, The Democratic Republic of
Congo for the Academy on Evangelization and
Church Growth . Academies have been held in
Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Nigeria–and
evolved out of the “Global Consultation on
Evangelization and Church Growth: “Offering
Christ in the New Millennium”, which took place
in Atlanta, Georgia in 1999.
Date posted:Oct 01, 2002
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Being a student in Africa is a major challenge
in that one’s status is characterized by many
dynamics that make the journey difficult and
often impossible to even begin. These dynamics
evolve around the social-economic, cultural, and
political environment. Young people/students,
women , and children bear a heavy brunt during
times of economic hardships and political
upheaval throughout the continent. A present and
ever-growing threat to student-life in Africa is
the pandemic of HIV/AIDS.
Date posted:Oct 01, 2002
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Methodists around the world are being asked to
pray and "use every means at their disposal" to
bring about a peaceful resolution to the violent
situations in Iraq, the Palestinian territories
and Israel, and Zimbabwe.
Date posted:Oct 01, 2002
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