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UMCOR Hotline, May 31, 2005
Providing employment for the area's fisher folk
who lost their livelihoods in the tsunami was just
one of the many reasons UMCOR started the beach
clearing project in Sri Lanka. UMCOR is helping to
contain the Marburg virus with a grant to train 40
women and men on prevention in their communities.
UMCOR is also helping The United Methodist Church
in the Cameroon respond to the cholera pandemic
there. Food shortages from both the lack of rain
and breakdown of civil infrastructures are causing
famines in southern and eastern African nations.
Date posted:May 31, 2005
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Church Bulletin Insert: To Buy Seed Is a Sign of Hope - Southern Africans Cope with Drought
The specter of famine prowls alongside the
life-threatening drought across much of southern
Africa. This bulletin insert, "To Buy Seed Is a
Sign of Hope," describes how United Methodists in
Zimbabwe are responding to this crisis. For more
information about this response, visit UMCOR's All
Africa Drought and Famine web page.
Date posted:May 31, 2005
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I dream of a Memorial Day so far beyond the last
war that war itself fades from memory: a time
when the last hostile gun has been fired; a time
when the machinery of war is corroded where it
sits; a time when the leaders of the world's
nations are standing side by side in friendly
dialogue; a time when fear is no longer upon our
hearts.
Date posted:May 27, 2005
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Five regional schools of mission, sponsored by the United
Methodist Women’s Division, will kick off a year of learning for
close to 25,000 lay people, clergy, children and youth around
the United States.
Date posted:May 27, 2005
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There's a hymn in the UM Hymnal written by Jane Marshall,
"What Gift Can We Bring". When I think of the words of that
hymn..."Give thanks for the past, for those who had vision,.." I
am reminded of our foremothers who gave birth to a missionary
movement that has grown from a handful of women to a
membership of nearly one million.
Date posted:May 27, 2005
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American Methodist leaders are well represented
among the endorsers of an unprecedented
Interfaith Convocation on Hunger scheduled for
Washington, DC on Monday, June 6. The objective
is to show the broad religious support for anti-
poverty measures in the United States and beyond.
Date posted:May 26, 2005
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Recent reports of an impending nuclear test in
Kiju, North Korea reflect the nuclear crisis of
North Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (the DPRK). While the United States
pushes for the resumption of the six-nation
talks, China is reportedly opposed to putting
any pressure on North Korea for such talks or
applying sanctions against the country. In the
current tension-driven situation, the advocacy
and reconciliatory role of the General Board of
Global Ministries (GBGM) has been important for
peace in the Asia Pacific Region.
Date posted:May 25, 2005
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Dry, parched fields push up to the churches and
homes of Mashvingo District, Zimbabwe; cattle
get a bit of water on a prescribed schedule. Yet
in timeless acts of hospitality, the people
share sweet potatoes and boiled tea with one
another.
Date posted:May 25, 2005
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Alarmed by killings of church human rights
workers in the Philippines, senior clerics have
called on the help of an independent human
rights group to pressure President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo's government to probe the
alleged involvement of the country's military in
the slayings.
Date posted:May 24, 2005
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UMCOR Hotline, May 24, 2005
Long-term recovery from last season's four
consecutive hurricanes is quietly treading
forward. UMCOR provided a grant to help tackle
rural poverty in Zimbabwe through nutrition
programs, food distribution, and self-supporting
activities such as gardening. Hurricane Adrian
rolled through El Salvador and Honduras late last
week.
Date posted:May 24, 2005
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Emmanuel and Florence Mefor share their
inspirational thoughts on their work at the
Rural Health Project, Zing, Nigera as medical
missionaries.
Date posted:May 23, 2005
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The international mission agency of The United
Methodist Church is increasingly concerned about
violence in the Philippines that is claiming the
lives of Christian pastors and laity who side
with the poor in demanding justice and economic
opportunity.
The Rev. R. Randy Day, chief executive of the
General Board of Global Ministries, said that
the situation in the Philippines is "deeply
disturbing to the Christian conscience."
Includes statements by Rev. Day and Bishops
Bolocon and Toquero.
Date posted:May 23, 2005
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Where do the bombs and guns and tanks stand among these
words: blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful, blessed
are the peacemakers? And what does this sermon mean in light
of the widespread practice of torturing enemies that seems to
have been engaged in and sanctioned by representatives of our
country?
Date posted:May 23, 2005
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As the world this year celebrates the 60th
anniversary of the end of the Second World War,
a new book has retrieved the almost forgotten
story of how churches helped to create one of
the key achievements to emerge from the wreckage
of the conflict, the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (1948).
Date posted:May 23, 2005
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A Statement Condemning the Violence Against and
Killing of Church and Mass Leaders and Human
Rights Workers in the Philippines
By the Asian Methodist Youth Network: this
statement serves as a call for the church,
groups concerned with human dignity
and ‘justpeace’ in all corners of the world to
makepleas to stop violence and killing of mass
and church leaders and human rights workers.
Date posted:May 23, 2005
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"The Korean-American Ministry is where we start
but not where we end," says Rev. Paul Hak-Soon
Chang, the new executive director of that
ministry, which has roots going back more than
one hundred years.
Rev. Chang invites everyone - from all
backgrounds and ages - to accompany the Korean-
American United Methodist community - more than
100,000 people in more than 420 congregations --
on this multi-dimensional Christian journey.
Date posted:May 22, 2005
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“I felt my heart strangely warmed…” The
immortal words of John Wesley describing his
moment of awareness of having his sins forgiven
are quoted frequently in United Methodist
circles. Often, however, they are used jokingly
to refer to some silliness. I know I’ve done
it - haven’t you?
Date posted:May 20, 2005
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For laity in the United Methodist Church who
feel called to a full-time vocation in service
to those who are marginalized and in need in the
world today, there is an opportunity to be a
part of a supportive community in connection
with the United Methodist Church as a deaconess
or home missioner.
Date posted:May 20, 2005
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World Refugee Day: Two UMCOR Church Bulletin Inserts
This month UMCOR offers two bulletin inserts.
Please use them in conjunction with World Refugee
Day on June 20 or another time of your choosing.
For more information, visit UMCOR's Refugees unit
page.
Date posted:May 19, 2005
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Geneva, (ENI)--Churches are growing fastest in
the
southern hemisphere but power remains in the
hands of the north,
a global gathering of leaders from most
Christian traditions has
said after an 8-day meeting near Athens.
Date posted:May 19, 2005
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United Methodists attending the Conference on
World Mission and Evangelism found the diversity
of participation inspiring, but the need for
healing and reconciliation also was evident.
Meeting May 9-16 in Athens, Greece, the 13th
such conference of the World Council of Churches
had a wider variety of participation than ever
before. Besides representatives from various WCC
churches, a 42-member Roman Catholic delegation
attended as full members, along with others from
non-affiliated Pentecostal and evangelical
churches.
Date posted:May 19, 2005
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Flanked by faculty and student representatives,
Bennett College President Johnnetta B. Cole
proclaimed the United Methodist-related school
to be on "solid" financial ground and announced
a new $600,000 gift from Bill and Camille Cosby.
Date posted:May 19, 2005
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More than 40 top religious leaders will gather
June 6 at Washington’s National Cathedral in a
show of force against hunger.
Date posted:May 19, 2005
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The one million members of United Methodist
Women are being asked to speak out against the
use of torture by the United States under the
guise of national security in the war on terror.
'Violence begets violence,' says a joint
letter from the president and top executive of
the Women’s Division of the General Board of
Global Ministries. 'When we abandon basic
principles of international law prohibiting
torture, we sink into barbarism, which puts
soldiers, military personnel, and civilians of
all nations at risk for the same treatment.'
Date posted:May 18, 2005
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A young woman shares her experiences traveling
to Laos and Thailand.
Date posted:May 18, 2005
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A United Methodist committee is stepping up
efforts to address the plight of retired pastors
and spouses in Africa and other parts of the
world, where pension plans are minimal or
nonexistent.
Date posted:May 18, 2005
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UMCOR Hotline, May 17, 2005
People in the Dominican Republic suffered
multiple floods and hurricanes in 2004. Rains
contaminated potable water supplies in eight
towns. A denominational committee, tasked with
raising $8 million for the United Methodist
Church Global AIDS Fund over the next four years,
has made prevention of mother-to-child HIV/AIDS
transmission a priority.
Date posted:May 17, 2005
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Athens (ENI)--A global gathering of church
leaders near
Athens that assembled divergent traditions
including
Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Protestants,
Orthodox and Roman
Catholics, has ended with calls to respond to
Christianity's
rapid growth in Africa and Asia and to engage in
dialogue with
other believers.
Date posted:May 16, 2005
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Eleven ministry tracks will be offered at the
2005 United Methodist School of Congregational
Development scheduled for August 3 to 8 in
Dallas, Texas.
These include new church development,
rural churches, and ethnic and multi-ethnic
congregations. Other tracks are geared to
bishops, district superintendents, and annual
conference leaders.
Date posted:May 16, 2005
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Studies indicate that by 2010, 58 annual
conferences of The United Methodist Church will
each have 100,000 Hispanic/Latino members, and
16 additional annual conferences will have more
than 500,000 Hispanic/Latino people in their
midst.
Date posted:May 13, 2005
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In the Mulathankari village in Meru district of Kenya,
young people attend school but then leave for the cities
where they can find jobs and other opportunities.
But the city is not home. And when they contract HIV/
AIDS, they come back with their children to die.
Date posted:May 13, 2005
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The most comprehensive document on religious
affairs since the founding of the People’s
Republic of China came into effect in March
2005. Issued by the State Council, the
Regulations on Religious Affairs addresses six
areas in detail: general principles of religious
freedom, expectations of religious
organizations, places of worship, specifics for
religious personnel, issues concerning religious
property and legal liabilities. Each area
contains a series of detailed articles, 48 of
them in all.
Date posted:May 13, 2005
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A United Methodist specialist on mission in Asia
says that today is the “golden age” of church
growth in China, although the official figures
on Protestant Christians are too low and the
numbers cited by some groups are too high.
Date posted:May 13, 2005
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Current and former residents of the Dumas Wesley
Community Center - Sybil H. Smith Family
Village, located in Mobile, Alabama, have
recently received community recognition for
their efforts and achievements. Dumas Wesley
Community Center is a National Mission
Institution related to GBGM's Community and
Institutional Ministries Unit.
Date posted:May 13, 2005
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Once a month the Italian and English-speaking
communities worship together. Bi-lingual
worship, we are discovering, is not a precise
science. Long explanations, puzzled looks, and
clapping out of rhythm are all part of an
awkward courtship.
Date posted:May 12, 2005
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An increasingly globalised world, marked by
religious diversity and tensions between faiths
means that
Christians need to reconsider the way they
relate to other
believers, a world meeting of Christian leaders
in Athens has
been told.
Date posted:May 12, 2005
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Despite the rain, smiles were under the umbrellas as
85 Korean United Methodist Women members,
children, and pastors gathered at Bear Mountain State
park in New York conference to walk for mission April
30.
Date posted:May 12, 2005
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India and Pakistan form the topic of the 2005-
2006 geographical mission study of The United
Methodist Church. “Children of the Bible” is
the theme of the Spiritual Growth Study of
United Methodist Women for the same time period
Date posted:May 12, 2005
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Athens (ENI)--A global church gathering on
reconciliation
is meeting at an army holiday resort in Greece,
a country
criticised by Amnesty International for its
treatment of
conscientious objectors. But a prominent
Christian campaigner for
non-violence is happy about the choice.
Date posted:May 12, 2005
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Understanding is the first step on the road to
reconciliation. This is one of the convictions
that Christian youth from diverse regions will
carry home with them following a week of
conversations and reflections on the themes of
mission, reconciliation and healing.
Date posted:May 12, 2005
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During its inaugural meeting, the United
Methodist Church Global AIDS Fund Committee set
aside $50,000 to fund programs to prevent the
transmission of the disease from mothers to
infants during birth.
Date posted:May 12, 2005
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The ornate handle shaped like an elephant's
trunk stood out among the debris scattered
around Banda Aceh. It looked like it broke off
of a pottery vase or pitcher. In comparison to
the other items in the rubble, a visitor could
tell that this once belonged to something
special. The handle caught the eye of an UMCOR
official visiting Indonesia in April. She
reflected how this piece of pottery echoes what
the tsunami did in many areas: it took something
beautiful and cherished, and left brokenness.
Date posted:May 11, 2005
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Methodist Churches in southeast India and
Andaman Island are paving the way for long-term
recovery in their regions following the Dec. 26,
2004 tsunami.
Date posted:May 11, 2005
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On March 21, 2005, the United Nations Secretary-
General Kofi Annan submitted a report to the U.N.
General Assembly entitled In larger freedom: towards
development, security and human rights for all.
Date posted:May 11, 2005
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Athens,(ENI)--Religious groups that
offer "miraculous
healing" and traditional denominations that
stress a "charity
approach" are alienating disabled people from
churches, an Athens
meeting of Christian leaders from around the
world was told on
Wednesday.
Date posted:May 11, 2005
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Athens (ENI)--The mission of China's 16 million
Protestant Christians is "to show God's love and
to benefit all
people" in a society that once saw their faith
estranged from the
national identity, a church leader from the
world's most populous
nation said on Tuesday.
Date posted:May 11, 2005
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From July 14 – 17, 2005, a Living Justice
Seminar will be held in New York City.
Coordinated by the Deaconess Program Office
through the support of the Women’s Division and
Mission Personnel Program Area, the event will
bring together a group of young United Methodist
women (ages 20 – 39) to explore new directions
and social justice issues.
Date posted:May 11, 2005
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As the sun rose over the Aegean Sea, some 700
Christians gathered to discern the healing
presence of the Holy Spirit.
That beginning of the 2005 Conference on World
Mission and Evangelism, meeting May 9-16 in
Athens, showed "the need for healing throughout
the world," according to the Rev. Larry Pickens,
chief executive of the United Methodist
Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious
Concerns.
Date posted:May 11, 2005
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Wayne Moy is the new executive director of the
United Methodist Development Fund (UMDF), an
investment channel for making loans to build
sanctuaries, parsonages, and other mission-
related buildings.
Date posted:May 11, 2005
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A United Methodist Women member wrote to the
Women's Division, asking that the organization take
leadership in addressing the issue of United States-
sanctioned torture. Torture has occurred in Iraqi and
Afghanistan prisons and through the "outsourcing" of
prisoners, who are allegedly terrorists, to countries
known for torture in interrogation and prisons.
Date posted:May 10, 2005
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Athens, (ENI)--The general secretary of the
World Council
of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, on Tuesday
urged churches to
rethink their ideas about mission in the face of
a global shift
in Christianity from the northern to the
southern hemisphere.
Date posted:May 10, 2005
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Athens, (ENI)--The head of Greece's Orthodox
church on
Tuesday pledged to join forces with Christians
of other
denominations to promote dialogue and common
witness, despite
opposition from some Orthodox church members.
Date posted:May 10, 2005
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UMCOR Hotline, May 10, 2005
n the Republic of Georgia "April Showers" turned
into April floods this year. UMCOR has just
published new electronic bulletin
insert, "Tsunami Recovery in Indonesia, Sri
Lanka, India, Somalia and Beyond". From coast-to-
coast, young folk are demonstrating that
humanitarian service need not be the sole
province of adults. n the mountainous Paktya
Province of Afghanistan, UMCOR workers recently
met with Banuzai tribesmen who have returned home
after years of being refugees in Pakistan.
Date posted:May 10, 2005
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The 2005 Conference on World Mission and
Evangelism, meeting in Athens, Greece, May 9-16,
is one of the most broadly-based meetings on
mission in history of Christianity.
Date posted:May 10, 2005
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Athens, 9 May (ENI)--Christians from all around
the globe have
gathered in Athens for a World Council of
Churches' conference
due to open on Monday, reaching across a nearly
1000-year breach
between Eastern and Western traditions of their
religion.
Date posted:May 09, 2005
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Athens, 9 May - The 12 world mission conferences
from 1910 to 1996.
Date posted:May 09, 2005
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In this season of Pentecost we are reminded of God's
profound love that brings hope for all humanity. We
recall Christ's commandment, to "love your neighbor as
yourself" (Matthew 22:39). With this love and hope as
our foundation, we are appealing to United Methodist
Women to speak out against the United States
government's use of torture in the "war on terror."
Date posted:May 09, 2005
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The bishops of the United Methodist Church spent
their weeklong spring meeting working on their
primary focus: Making disciples of Jesus Christ
for the transformation of the world.
It couldn't have happened at a more appropriate
time, as Christians around the world closed out
the Easter season by remembering Christ's great
commission to his followers. The bishops adopted
the 2005-08 emphasis last fall as their
quadrennial focus, one that points directly to
the United Methodist Church's primary mission of
disciple-making.
Date posted:May 09, 2005
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The United Methodist Council of Bishops has
adopted new resolutions on several issues,
including capital punishment, Hunger Awareness
Day and the sexual enslavement of Asian women by
the Japanese military during World War II.
The bishops met May 1-6 in Arlington, Va., for
their spring gathering. The bishops are the top
clergy leaders of the 10 million-member church,
which has congregations throughout the United
States, Africa, Europe and the Philippines. The
church has 68 active bishops and more than 90
who are retired worldwide.
Date posted:May 09, 2005
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United Methodist bishops met with U.S. lawmakers
and other
government officials on such concerns as AIDS
and support for struggling
African countries during a visit to Capitol
Hill.
The United Methodist Board of Church and
Society hosted more than a dozen
bishops-most of them African-during a May 4
legislative briefing at the
United Methodist Building, across the street
from the Capitol. After
briefings from board staff on legislative
priorities such as AIDS orphans,
immigration issues and the federal budget, the
bishops went to Congress.
Date posted:May 06, 2005
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There is an old story, from a long-ago forgotten
source, about four clergy who were discussing
the merits of the various translations of the
Bible.
One liked the King James Version best because of
its poetic English. Another favored the New
Revised Standard Version as being closer to the
original Hebrew and Greek. And yet another
cited The Message because of its contemporary
vocabulary and its flow of language.
The fourth pastor was silent. When urged to
express an opinion, the answer came: "I like my
mother's translation best."
Date posted:May 05, 2005
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Phyllis Singing Bird Ballard had a vision of
"many people from all walks
of
life, all religions, all races, all coming
together to pray for healing for
the Mother Earth."
That vision started to come true April 30
when more than 250 people gathered
to celebrate Birth Healing Day for Emiquon, a
project that will restore more
than 7,000 acres of farmland to a system of
lakes and wetlands in Illinois.
Date posted:May 05, 2005
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“Why are you studying these two countries
together? Why not just study one and then study
the other in another year? They have nothing in
common!” Such comments were heard by the Mission
Travel Study participants and GBGM staff members
as they visited churches and mission sites in
both countries.
Date posted:May 03, 2005
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The story of Methodism in India begins in 1856
with the coming of William Butler from America.
He began the work of the Methodist Episcopal
Church at a place called Bareilly.
Date posted:May 03, 2005
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The Methodist Church in India (MCI) has focused
on its threefold ministry of serving the body,
mind, and spirit of believers. In this crusade,
the MCI has partnered with the GBGM and Women's
Division of The United Methodist Church, the
National Council of Churches in India (NCCI),
and other agencies.
Date posted:May 03, 2005
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Today, India has approximately 3.2 million
hearing-impaired people, according to a census
taken in 1981. However, recent estimates put the
figure at 7 million out of a total of
approximately 100 million people with
disabilities of all types. On a daily basis, 17
profoundly deaf, 26 severely deaf, and
approximately 33 mildly to moderately deaf
babies are born in India. Perceiving the need
for a special school for hearing-impaired
children, Ingraham Institute established a
school and named it Asha Vidyalaya (“The School
of Hope”).
Date posted:May 03, 2005
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The Methodist Church in India (MCI), inaugurated
on January 7, 1981, at Madras, is an “autonomous
affiliated” church in relation to The United
Methodist Church (UMC) in the United States. The
Bangalore Episcopal Area covers two conferences,
the largest, South India Regional Conference
(SIRC), and the youngest, Madras Regional
Conference (MRC).
Date posted:May 03, 2005
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Unless a church is bombed or a similar tragedy
occurs, it is difficult to find news about
Pakistani Christians and their mission
ministries. But recently, 18 United Methodists
went to Pakistan and India on a Mission Travel
Seminar sponsored by the General Board of Global
Ministries and witnessed firsthand the ways that
God is working in these countries.
Date posted:May 03, 2005
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HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - The reestablished United
Methodist Churches in Latvia and Lithuania
continue to grow numerically and to expand their
social ministries despite the
financial ‘squeeze’ caused by their nations’
entry into the European Economic Community and
the decline of the American dollar.
Date posted:May 03, 2005
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UMCOR Hotline, May 3, 2005
Last summer three hurricanes ripped through the
United States leaving a swath of destruction in
Florida, Alabama, North Carolina and as far north
as western Pennsylvania. Twenty-five volunteers
from Grace United Methodist Church in Fergus
Falls, MN, packed school and health kits at UMCOR
Sager Brown this spring. In the aftermath of the
tsunami, UMCOR has opened recovery centers in Sri
Lanka and Indonesia. Talks are in progress for
support of additional rehabilitation in India.
UMCOR sent emergency aid to Somalia and Thailand
as well.
Date posted:May 03, 2005
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Since, I have arrived in Uruguay, the
“Maté” (pronounced ‘mahtay) has been a
very interesting ritual to observe,
Date posted:May 02, 2005
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A lack of clean water and a shortage of health
and education facilities make life a constant
challenge in Mozambique but faith in God is
alive and growing. Attacking the problems is
part of what it means to be the church, says the
United Methodist bishop of the African country.
Date posted:May 02, 2005
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