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I’ve just arrived here and life in the South
Pacific isn’t exactly what I thought it would
be. I expected deserted beaches, crystal-clear
ocean swimming, overflowing seafood markets, and
gentle cooling breezes. Evidently these things
exist, just not in the community of Tonga where
I serve. I’ve been told that there are some
beaches within an hour’s bike ride of my home
and I’ve bought a single-speed beach cruiser
bike just for trips like that.
Date posted:Feb 28, 2005
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A waterline high on a red picket fence
dramatically shows the height the floodwater
reached at the New Hope Community just east of
Georgetown. Georgetown is the capital of Guyana
on the northeast cost of South America. Weeks
after the late January flood, water still
remains in this hardest hit area. As it slowly
recedes, an awful odor comes up from the wet,
soggy ground. Garbage is in piles on the ground
along with the occasional bloated remains of a
dead animal. Stray cattle pick at the rubbish.
Date posted:Feb 28, 2005
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Most US teenagers believe in God
and attend conventional congregations but at the
same time have
difficulty expressing how religious faith
impacts their lives,
according to a new survey funded by the Lilly
Endowment.
Date posted:Feb 28, 2005
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Each year the Mission Education unit sponsors a
Mission Travel Study based on the geographic
study of the Schools of Christian Mission. The
2005/2006 study is Pakistan/India.
Mission Ambassador Programs are managed by
annual conferences to encourage participation in
the annual Mission Travel Study.
Date posted:Feb 28, 2005
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One sign of living faith is the mystery, power
and energy shared though human hands. Hands have
linked volunteers, congregations and communities
across North and South America in building and
rebuilding homes and schools and clinics:
Date posted:Feb 25, 2005
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A total of $15 million has been contributed to
the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)
for tsunami relief and rehabilitation in the
Indian Ocean region.
Date posted:Feb 24, 2005
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Htoo Saw Ywa spent two years in a Burmese jail
where
the government held him, his mother, two
brothers and a sister.
Date posted:Feb 24, 2005
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Members of the World Council of Churches'
Central Committee want a new vision for a new
century.
Efforts to shape a new ecumenical vision, as
well as confront the world's continuing crises,
topped the agenda when the council's decision-
making body met Feb. 15-22 in Geneva,
Switzerland. It was the committee's last
gathering before the World Council of Churches'
9th Assembly, set for Feb. 14-23, 2006, in Porto
Alegre, Brazil.
Date posted:Feb 24, 2005
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One was white, and one was African-American.
They were at two different churches, but both
these missionaries had the same vision for poor
women and their children in Nashville. These
differences might have been overwhelming to some
111 years ago. But God brought two strong
Methodist women, Sallie Sawyer and Estelle
Haskins together.
Date posted:Feb 23, 2005
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Where is God when the plates of the earth shift
mightily sending the waters of the sea to
destroy mounds of property and belongings,
sweeping thousands of bodies away? Who can speak
meaningfully of God in the face of unsurpassed
natural disaster? We have struggled with this.
It is a mystery.
Date posted:Feb 22, 2005
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UMCOR Hotline, February 22, 2005
A powerful earthquake razed villages in Iran
overnight. UMCOR is responding. From coast to
coast in the United States, young United
Methodists have shown that humanitarian service
need not be the sole province of adults. Several
hundred Baghdad children have some new tools to
manage their often bewildering and sometimes
frightening world.
Date posted:Feb 22, 2005
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Iran Earthquake
A new powerful earthquake has razed villages in a
mountainous region in southeast Iran. The area is
only 160 miles from Bam, devastated in December
2003 by an earthquake that killed 31,000 people.
Temporary shelter will be critical in the wintry
rain. UMCOR will send emergency relief supplies
and other aid.
Date posted:Feb 22, 2005
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Brotherhood. Brotherhood of man. These words
have been said so often since December 26, 2004.
Who of us can forget that day? Who of us can
forget those images?
Date posted:Feb 21, 2005
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Newly elected Bishop Hans Växby sends his
greetings and thanks to friends and supportive
congregations for their committment and
faithfulness.
Date posted:Feb 21, 2005
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I had a very difficult life; my father abandoned
us and I always felt that I was a “nobody”.
Date posted:Feb 18, 2005
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Black History Month is a part of our American
landscape, even if it does continue to be
challenged with some opinions that it’s no
longer needed. There is a growing consensus that
emphasis on equality for African-Americans, or
Blacks in America has outlived its usefulness.
There is even some thinking that the playing
field is actually level.
Date posted:Feb 18, 2005
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In the Mulathankari village in Meru district of Kenya, the
young people attend school then leave for the cities
where they can find jobs and opportunities. But the city
is not home. And when they contract HIV/AIDS, they
come home with their children to die.
Date posted:Feb 18, 2005
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United Methodist Women joined the Campaign for
Tobacco-Free Kids in April, 2002. Here is an update of
the campaign and a call to continue working on this
campaign in the local units and states.
Date posted:Feb 18, 2005
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When 60 Methodist and United Methodist young
adults met in Brazil, they not only explored
their common religious heritage but also applied
its principles to social issues in the larger
world.
Date posted:Feb 18, 2005
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The Rev. Rosemarie Wenner of Germany has become
the first woman elected to the United Methodist
episcopacy outside of the United States.
She was elected at the Germany Central
Conference of the denomination convened in
Wuppertal on February 16. She received two-
thirds of the 100 votes cast on the fourth
ballot.
Date posted:Feb 17, 2005
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When segregation was legal in the United States,
blacks in the former Methodist Church were barred from
white sanctuaries, schools and retreat centers in their
own denomination.
Date posted:Feb 17, 2005
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When Bishop Leontine Kelly was growing up, she
remembers her father giving sage advice to her brother,
who was considering leaving the Methodist Church
over racism.
Date posted:Feb 17, 2005
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When Shanta Premawardhana visited Sri Lanka on
behalf of the U.S. National Council of Churches,
he was amazed by the resilience of its people.
Date posted:Feb 17, 2005
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Black History Month offers a wonderful
opportunity to hear the story of the Holy
Spirit’s working in the world through the
contributions of black people in the history of
missions in The United Methodist Church. If we
happen not to be of black heritage, these
stories offer an opportunity to hear our own
story and to learn more about who we all are.
Date posted:Feb 16, 2005
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Dominican Cocoa Farmers Recover with United Methodist Help
When Hurricane Jeanne struck the Dominican
Republic last September, the resulting damage
affected some 1,600 cocoa farmers. Those farmers –
or producers, are part of the United Methodist
Committee on Relief's coffee project. The project
encourages people to buy "fair trade" items such
as coffee, tea, cocoa and chocolate.
Date posted:Feb 16, 2005
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Larry and Jane Kies, United Methodist
Missionaries, assigned by GBGM to Zimbabwe share
thoughts on making a difference in others' lives.
Date posted:Feb 15, 2005
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We have been working with a group of young
people in Cesis, Latvia. Half were young
Latvians primarily from working class families
and the other, the team working on Kevin’s car,
tended to be poorer Russians from dysfunctional
families. Our goal was one united group out of
two suspicious ones...
Date posted:Feb 15, 2005
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10 Facts About World Hunger/Poverty: UMCOR Printable Brochure
"10 Facts About World Hunger/Poverty" is a two-
color brochure that can be downloaded from this
web page, printed, and reproduced. It two 8 1/2"
x 11" pages designed to be printed back-to-back
as a single page and folded lengthwise in the
center. Printed copies of this brochure also can
be ordered from the Service Center.
Date posted:Feb 15, 2005
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"Be There": South Asia Emergency: UMCOR Online Poster
This poster, which promotes UMCOR's Asian tsunami
emergency response uses the One Great Hour of
Sharing 2005 theme "Be There." When the PDF
format version is printed, it fits nicely on an 8
1/2" x 11" sheet of paper. This poster is also
available in JPG format for print and for the web.
Date posted:Feb 15, 2005
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UMCOR Hotline, February 15, 2005
The heaviest rains in a century have flooded
broad sections of coastal Guyana and displaced
nearly half the population of 750,000. Thousands
of volunteers are needed to help rebuild roofs,
walls, and interiors following 2004 hurricane
season in which four storms swept over the
southeast. An UMCOR worker has begun laying the
groundwork for UMCOR operations in Sri Lanka.
Date posted:Feb 15, 2005
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All United Methodist missionaries in Nepal are
safe in the wake of a February political crisis
that includes a Maoist rebel blockage of the
capital city of Kathmandu.
Date posted:Feb 14, 2005
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A prominent educator and world ecumenical leader
is the new United Methodist bishop of the
Central Congo in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC). Dr. David Kikomba Yemba, dean of
the faculty of theology at Africa University in
Zimbabwe, was elected at a regional conference
in the city of Kamina, DRC.
Date posted:Feb 12, 2005
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I could see the two boys from a distance and
guessed them to be about 12 years old. The
shorter lad was walking with crutches. He was
missing a leg. I watched him as he carefully
negotiated a ditch, then turned and looked into
it curiously. He carefully balanced himself on
his good leg and with his stick-crutches reached
into the water and picked out an empty juice
box.
Date posted:Feb 11, 2005
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The Rev. Hans Växby, a native of Sweden and a
pastor in Helsinki, Finland, is the new bishop
of The United Methodist Church of Russia and
several adjoining countries.
He was elected at a meeting of the
Northern European Central Conference in Moscow
on February 11.
Date posted:Feb 11, 2005
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Haunting! Eyes piercing deep into my soul
giving evidence that he’s not just a statistic-
one out of 12 million AIDS orphans of southern
Africa; but a person needing, wanting, and
deserving to be treated with love, kindness and
as a valued individual. This child lives
outside of Durban, South Africa in an orphanage
with about 130 other orphans who are cared for
in part by a 20-year-old man who lived in that
very place as an orphan for 10 years of his life.
Date posted:Feb 10, 2005
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Information regarding United Methodist Women's
connections and presence to areas affected by the
tsunami with remarks from president Kyung Za Yim who
visited disaster sites.
Date posted:Feb 10, 2005
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About the One Great Hour of Sharing
On behalf of The United Methodist Church, UMCOR
brings relief when a catastrophe strikes. We rush
to disaster areas all over the world with aid and-
- along with food, clothing, shelter, and medical
help-- we stay to assist survivors rebuild lives.
From re-educating soldiers to feeding school
children to establishing medical clinics in
remote villages, we are hope for millions in
nearly 100 of the poorest countries in the world.
Date posted:Feb 10, 2005
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Lenten Devotion for Ash Wednesday, February 9,
2005.
Date posted:Feb 09, 2005
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The chief mission executive of The United
Methodist Church expressed gratitude for the
mutual ceasefires announced on February 8 by the
top leaders of Israel and the Palestinian
Authority.
“Let us hope that this is a first step in
breaking a four-year cycle of violence,” said
the Rev. R. Randy Day, general secretary of the
General Board of Global Ministries, the
international mission agency of the denomination.
Date posted:Feb 09, 2005
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With the beginning of Lent this week and violence in
Iraq continuing, the United Methodist Women's Division
is trying again to bring issues of violence to the
attention of world leaders.
Date posted:Feb 09, 2005
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2005 One Great Hour of Sharing Art: UMCOR
Please use one or all of the three One Great
Hour
of Sharing (OGHS) images on this page to promote
the OGHS offering for UMCOR and its ministries
in
church newsletters and web sites. High
resolution
versions are for printed media. Low resolution
versions are suitable for web pages. More OGHS
2005 graphics are available from UMCgiving.
Date posted:Feb 08, 2005
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UMCOR Hotline, February 8, 2005
UMCOR needs volunteers to help Florida and
Alabama rebuild from the devastation caused by
multiple hurricanes last year. UMCOR has
dispatched two disaster workers to Utah to assist
with flood relief. Some 1,500 families in Somalia
and 20 Burmese migrant communities in Thailand
will receive UMCOR aid. In Sri Lanka, top
priority of UMCOR's long-term recovery efforts
will be the reclamation of livelihoods.
Date posted:Feb 08, 2005
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One Great Hour of Sharing 2005
Each year, join United Methodists worldwide on
the fourth Sunday of Lent in observing the One
Great Hour of Sharing. This special offering is
vital to the United Methodist Committee on Relief
and its humanitarian ministries. The theme for
2005 is "Be There."
Date posted:Feb 07, 2005
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Ganta United Methodist Hospital Provides Hope in Liberia
Two years ago, Patience Yah Sendolo of Gebeibini
Town, Liberia, lost her sight because of
cataracts. Her parents were desperate to help
her, but could not afford to take her to Monrovia
for surgery. Hope for the family was restored
when the outreach team from the eye project at
Ganta United Methodist Hospital arrived.
Date posted:Feb 07, 2005
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It has been two years since the beginning of the
Iraq
War. The War rages on and our troops continue to
serve in Iraq. We are in the middle of the
Decade to
Overcome Violence (2001-2010), a decade that the
World Council of Churches has designated for
church
communities to work towards peace and
reconciliation.
Date posted:Feb 04, 2005
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Church Bulletin Insert: Iraq: Dream of a Safe Future - UMCOR Works with Children in Basrah
This bulletin insert, "Iraq: Dream of a Safe
Future," describes UMCOR's work with Iraqi
children and youth in Basrah to help them cope
with their daily life and offer them hope for a
safe future. This document has one 8 1/2" x
11" "landscape style" page designed to be cut in
half and printed back-to-back.
Date posted:Feb 04, 2005
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The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)
in early February opened a new mission of direct
relief and rehabilitation in the embattled
Darfur region of Sudan. Top priorities include
emergency aid and development services in water,
sanitation, and agriculture.
Date posted:Feb 04, 2005
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Transcript of an interview with R. Randy Day,
General Secretary, on the recent trip to
Sumatra, Indonesia. - Part 1.
Date posted:Feb 03, 2005
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Interview with R. Randy Day, GBGM General
Secretary on recent trip to Sumatra, Indonesia -
part 2
Date posted:Feb 03, 2005
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UMCOR Readies Start-up Operations in Sri Lanka, Indonesia
Guy Hovey was in Sarajevo, Bosnia, during the
siege of that city, and he witnessed in Northern
Iraq how Saddam Hussein's efforts at ethnic
cleansing wiped away entire villages. But Hovey -
who directs operations for Europe and Asia for
the United Methodist Committee on Relief - was
unprepared for the magnitude of the devastation
he found in Sri Lanka after the Dec. 26 tsunami.
Date posted:Feb 03, 2005
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School Bag Sewing Pattern for UMCOR School Kits
In some countries, children don't have books or
school supplies. Many have no schoolrooms;
classes are held in inadequate or half-destroyed
buildings, tents, or even the open air. Often
students must write down everything the teacher
says or records on a board. Their teacher's
knowledge and their own notes are their only
textbooks. School kits may be these children's
only educational resources. This UMCOR kit is
designed for a variety of ages.
Date posted:Feb 03, 2005
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It’s been hundreds of years since African people
were first brought over to America in ships and
sold as chattel. Today, however, the
words “African” and “American” sound as natural
together as bread and butter.
Date posted:Feb 02, 2005
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United Methodists Continue Hurricane Aid in Alabama-West Florida
United Methodist churches throughout the Alabama-
West Florida Annual Conference are continuing to
help their communities recover from Hurricane
Ivan, four months after the storm. In partnership
with the United Methodist Committee on Relief,
the conference expects to be involved in the long-
term recovery process for at least two to three
years.
Date posted:Feb 02, 2005
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2006 United Methodist Women Assembly
The 17th Assembly of United Methodist Women -
Coming Soon! Its time to begin thinking about
attending
the 17th Quadrennial United Methodist Womens
Assembly.
Date posted:Feb 02, 2005
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The United Methodist Committee on Relief has
sent an initial grant for emergency
flood relief to the denomination's South Indiana
Annual (regional) Conference.
Date posted:Feb 02, 2005
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The Korean church is a "gifted community with
much to offer the whole church," a bishop told
leaders at the organizational meeting of the
United Methodist Council on Korean American
Ministries.
Date posted:Feb 02, 2005
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UMCOR Hotline, February 1, 2005
The United Methodist Committee on Relief will
assist with rehabilitation of rural schools near
Basrah, Iraq. Another 4,500 UMCOR school kits are
on their way to Grenadan children. An UMCOR staff
member leaves this week to provide short-term
logistics aid to the Methodist Church of Sri
Lanka, and soon another UMCOR aid worker will go
to Indonesia on a similar assignment.
Date posted:Feb 01, 2005
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Countless thousands of children were left
homeless, orphaned or traumatized after the Dec.
26 tsunami slammed into 12 countries around the
Indian Ocean.
As the children struggle to survive, they become
even more vulnerable.
Date posted:Feb 01, 2005
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