“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” (John 6:9)

 

In any given year, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) responds to a heart-stopping range of emergencies: earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, cyclones and typhoons, war, civil strife, outbreaks of cholera, fire, famine. For people caught in

these kinds of disasters, UMCOR becomes the face, hands, and heart of The United Methodist Church.

 

When an emergency ends, recovery work begins. UMCOR continues its ministry long after media attention and public interest have faded.

 

But such works of recovery and life-changing ministry don’t happen without the broad support of congregations and individuals. Through the One Great Hour of Sharing offering (OGHS), usually received on the fourth Sunday of the Lenten season, United Methodists ensure that when catastrophes cause suffering, their church will be in the lead to ease the pain.

 

“The One Great Hour of Sharing offering on March 21, 2004, is absolutely essential to UMCOR,” says the Rev. Paul Dirdak, the agency’s Deputy General Secretary. “UMCOR receives no World Service funds or any other apportionments, so United Methodists’ gifts to this special offering keep UMCOR’s lights on and its delivery system in place at home and around the world. Because of this, we can respond immediately to disasters.”

 

One Great Hour of Sharing gifts work in two ways. Most gifts received by UMCOR have been designated for specific programs. They receive 100 percent of the gift. Part of the OGHS and other undesignated donations support UMCOR’s administrative costs.

 

Donations to OGHS also enable UMCOR to assist programs that have not been fully funded through designated Advance gifts. In addition, United Methodists’ donations often become a springboard for additional funding. Of the total amount of general and designated gifts, UMCOR spends nearly 90 percent on programs, a very respectable ratio according to the National Center for Charitable Statistics.

 

At the mountain site where Jesus preached, the gift of five loaves and two fish made a big difference for the people who came to hear him. The gifts United Methodists give to the OGHS offering, channeled through UMCOR, enable the church to make a big difference. A few examples follow.

 

Deadly Fire and a Response

Throughout  October 2003, more than 10,000 firefighters struggled to contain the worst wildfires in California’s history. By the end of the month, deadly flames of 10 fires had blackened over 500,000 acres, killed and injured scores of people, and destroyed more than 1000 homes. The fires affected United Methodist congregations in six districts of the California-Pacific Annual Conference. Del Rosa UMC pastor, the Rev. John Yohan Yoon, and his family evacuated the parsonage with little more than the clothes they were wearing as their home and everything in it was lost to the flames.

 

UMCOR responded immediately. First, an emergency grant was sent to the conference to assist families who lost their homes and others who needed the most help. Second, UMCOR dispatched a disaster response consultant, the Rev. Gordon Knuckey, to help with issues of pastoral care. The guarantee of generous donations to the OGHS means that UMCOR’s response to wildfires in many areas of the world can be swift and effective.

 

A Puzzle

“I see Bosnia as a puzzle that has been dumped on the floor, and

now someone is trying to put back all the pieces,” says United Methodist volunteer Sandy Rowland. The Charleston, West Virginia, resident has served on

several missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina, most recently with

a United Methodist Volunteer-in-Mission team to Sumejja, a women’s nongovernmental organization in the Mostar region of Beijlo Polje. “People think the situation in the country is fixed, but it isn’t.”

 

In keeping with Sumejja’s goal of enhancing a woman’s ability to live independently, Sandy spent her evenings teaching English and making handicrafts. She also participated in a widows’ sharing group, one of Sumejja’s projects. “That group was a special project for me because I, too, am a widow and can relate to their pain,” she writes. Most mornings she sewed or ran errands with Saja, Sumejja’s founder, whose friendship became a treasure. “After hearing her many heartbreaking stories of life in a concentration camp, I became her listening ear...and we became very good friends.”

 

Your One Great Hour of Sharing gifts help women, children, and the elderly in entire communities, like the war-torn Mostar region, put back the pieces of their lives through self-sufficiency and education.

 

Hope for Earthquake Victims

“We love God and we want to share that love with other people,” says Gelmarie Moreno, who serves with her husband Danny Montes as an UMCOR volunteer in El Salvador . This twenty-something couple from Puerto Rico organizes volunteer teams to build homes in Jayaque, where a recent earthquake destroyed the buildings and nearly all hope.

 

“The people here struggle for survival,” says Gelmarie. “They live one day at a time. But when you turn over the keys to their new home, something changes. You see hope in their eyes, and you feel the presence of Jesus Christ through the work of the team.”

 

Volunteers from Ashbury United Methodist Church in Maitland, Florida, praised Danny and Gelmarie as gracious hosts, “always there when we needed help.” these volunteers returned to Jayaque for a second year.

 

Bitter or Bittersweet: Fair Trade Cocoa

A farmer in the Dominican Republic will gather 50 or 100 kilos of cacao pods in each cutting. He (or she) places the pods in large boxes or vats. A week-long process removes the thick membrane around the seeds, fermenting them. Then a roasting process yields a reddish-brown dry “nib.” The deep brown substance inside the nib tastes exotic: a mix of chocolate, roasted nuts, and tobacco. Ground up, the nibs produce a liquor, the main ingredient in chocolate, which is then pressed to extract cocoa butter and cocoa powder.

 

But the economic return for the majority of small cacao farmers

is small. For all his work, this farmer may not earn a living wage. Abel Fernandez, a leader in the Confederacion Nacional de Cacao-         cultores Dominicanos (CONACADO) explains a more equitable chain of events.

 

Farmers can join a cooperative, or bloque. CONACADO represents 126 bloques in the Dominican Republic, about 9000 farmers. CONACADO’s trading partner is Equal Exchange, a fair-trade organization. As part of its fair-trade projects, UMCOR has partnered with Equal Exchange to help guarantee a minimum price for fermented cacao beans. Such pricing will provide farmers a fair return for their labor. In addition, purchasing fair trade cocoa expands farmers’ access to education, organic farming techniques, and credit to improve their farms. About 500 United Methodist congregations currently participate in the project.

 

 

* Linda Beher is the communications director for UMCOR. Joanna Kinberger is a communications consultant for UMCOR/Europe. Sandy Rowland is a UMVIM team member who worked at the Sumejja project in Mostar, and Norma Valvolizza is a freelance writer in New York City.