Global Health Care & Christian Response-Ability Study Links

Resources from The United Methodist Church

Action Ideas

Green Guidance
http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/environmental/
United Methodists have a Biblical, moral, and Church mandate to begin modeling greater environmental responsibility in planning events. Here is a sample of serious environmental justice problems which we can either exacerbate or reduce through how we conduct our events.

Health Development Projects
http://gbgm-umc.org/advance/
http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/umwmap/maphome.htm
Support specific health projects through the Advance and United Methodist Women's Undesignated Giving.

Health Kits
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/kits.cfm#Health
Health kits are distributed to people who have limited resources. When people gain the wherewithal to maintain personal hygiene, their overall health improves.

The Medicine Box
http://gbgm-umc.org/health/medbox/
The Medicine Box contains 18 essential drugs and medical supplies-- enough to respond to illnesses and injuries in a population of approximately 1,000 for a period of three months. These are basic medicines and supplies needed for day-to-day treatment.

Organ Donor Sabbath
http://gbgm-umc.org/health/organdonor/
Organ and Tissue Donor Sunday, observed as part of the National Donor Sabbath, becomes a new United Methodist special Sunday in 2001. Give the gift of Life. Transplantations save lives, but only if you help.

Volunteers in Mission
http://gbgm-umc.org/vim/call.htm

World AIDS Day, December 1
http://gbgm-umc.org/programs/hiv/wad.html

World Health Day, April 7
http://gbgm-umc.org/health/worldhealthday.stm

Tobacco Free Kids
http://tobaccofreekids.org/

World TB Day, The Stop TB Initiative
http://gbgm-umc.org/health/tuberculosis/

AIDS

Biblical and Spiritual Resources

Congregational Health Ministries Resource Packet
http://gbgm-umc.org/health/congmin/
Information on congregational health ministries, health ministers, lay counselors, healing congregations, participatory health, holistic health scriptural references, health ministries activities, guidelines for the health committee, and resources

Hope, Faith Set On God by Una Jones, Response, May 2000
http://gbgm-umc.org/response/articles/africabible.html

Hope for the Children of Africa: "Relief, Reconciliation and Rebuilding" Biblical and Theological Foundations by the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church
http://gbgm-umc.org/hope/theology.html
The ground of hope for the children of Africa, as for all God's children, is found in the mission and ministry of Jesus, in his announcement and enactment of the coming of the divine reign of justice, generosity, and joy. And we know that this hope is sure by his resurrection from the dead.

Let Us Pray for the Children by Bishop Kenneth L. Carder
http://gbgm-umc.org/mission/action/umns072799ttmw.html

On the Danger of Increasing Riches by John Wesley (Sermon 126)
http://gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/serm-126.stm
It is true, riches, and the increase of them, are the gift of God. Yet great care is to be taken, that what is intended for a blessing, do not turn into a curse.

On Visiting the Sick by John Wesley (Sermon 98)
http://gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/serm-098.stm
... visiting the sick: A plain duty, which all that are in health may practise in a higher or lower degree; and which, nevertheless, is almost universally neglected, even by those that profess to love God.

Primitive Physick, An Easy and Natural Method of Curing Most Diseases by John Wesley, 1747
Wesley realized that medicine in England was available just to the wealthy. His aim in Primitive Physick was to bring practical medical advice to workers and others who could not afford private doctors. Only his Preface is reproduced.

Somebody's Crying, Lord, Lucinda and Geneviev Scheldorf, GBGM, July 26, 2000
http://gbgm-umc.org/africa/angola/gbgm072600lssc.stm

Global Health

Hope and Healing Through Comprehensive Community-based Primary Health Care by Sarla Chand (adapted and updated in 2001 from New World Outlook March-April 1999)
http://gbgm-umc.org/health/community/ccphc.stm

New World Outlook: Special Issue on Global Health, March-April 2001
http://gbgm-umc.org/nwo/01ma/

Lessons Learned from Watching Health Care in Action by Paul Dirdak
Mission Education: Taking Care of Ourselves-- and the World by Faye Wilson
Radio Africa International, Editor's Column by Sharon Maeda
Reviving United Methodist Church Hospitals in Africa and Asia by Cherian Thomas
The Uzumba Orphan Trust: a New Approach to AIDS in Africa
Water: The Looming Crisis by Paul Jeffrey
Working Together for Health Through the United Methodist Federation of Health Care Volunteers by Roger W. Boe

Landmines

Don't Touch! A Story and Activities for Children by Faye Wilson
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/esperanza.stm
Healing the Land, GBGM Initiative on Removal of Landmines by Faye Wilson
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/altmines.stm
Landmine Removal: Restoring Land, Restoring Lives, UMCOR, May 2001
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/stories/landmineremoval.stm
Includes a photo library and slide show, depicting a current project in Mozambique that involves the Agri-Flail machine and mine-sniffing dogs.
Watch Your Step! Why We Care About Landmines (Upfront with Youth) by Faye Wilson
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/watchstep.stm

Mothers and Children

Bishop's Appeal: "Hope for the Children of Africa."
http://gbgm-umc.org/mission_programs/mcr/4.24/
Children in War Situations by Brenda Wilkinson, GBGM, August 31, 1999
http://gbgm-umc.org/mission/news/gbgm83199bwbm.html
Child-to-Child Health Promotion (Haiti)
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/stories/childtochild.stm
Kosovar Children Receive Health Kits with Unadulterated Joy
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/kitkosovo.stm
These children, torn from their homes, living in tents, wearing donated mismatched clothes, accepted health kits with unadulterated joy. They delighted in the simple pleasures of having a towel and washcloth, soap, toothbrush, and toothpaste.
Flooding Latest Challenge for Chicuque Rural Hospital by Beth Ferrell, Response, May 2000
http://gbgm-umc.org/response/articles/chicuque.html

In Mission with Nairobi Street Children by Kaburo Kobia, GBGM, October 1, 1999
http://gbgm-umc.org/mission/news/gbgm100199kkbm.html
New Wing Up and Running at Psychiatric Hospital in India
http://gbgm-umc.org/asia-pacific/india/nurmanzil.html
A Methodist psychiatric hospital in North India has a brand-new wing that not only makes room for a bigger number of patients, but gives children a ward all their own.
Mother and Child Survival
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/hunger/motherchild.stm
The resources to save children's and mothers' lives are basic. The knowledge that leads to infant and maternal health is common. The solutions are simple. Yet millions of mothers and children die or suffer needlessly.
Rebuilding Hope in Sierra Leone by Etta N. Nicol, Response, May 2000http://gbgm-umc.org/response/articles/sierraleone.html

Working for Health Communities in Latin America
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/stories/motherchild.stm
Dalva Maria decided she had to do more for the children than play and sing with them. She began to teach them to read and write and raised money to feed them.

News and Stories

GBGM Mission News
http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/newnews.cfm
Current news, features, and news archives from the General Board of Global Ministries
Inspiring Stories of People Living with AIDS
http://gbgm-umc.org/cam/stories.html
Mission Stories from Around the World
http://gbgm-umc.org/resources/stories/
Short inspirational stories suitable for devotions and "mission minutes."
UMCOR Stories for Adults and Children
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/stories/
Stories and photographs about UMCOR Advance projects, including children's stories, sermons, and activities.

Online Videos

Generation of Hope: Orphans of the Zimbabwe AIDS Crisis. Running Time: 10 minutes
| Low (28K) | Medium (128K) | High (300K) Bandwidth |
Missioners of Hope: On a continent where millions suffer from war and the devastating effects of disease, a new mission composed primarily of Africans brings hope to the children (from Mission Magazine).
| 28k/56k | LAN |
To see these videos, you must download and install RealPlayer®. RealPlayer® Basic is free, "Plus& is a cost item.

Resources from the United Nations

The following outside links will open in a new window.

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
http://www.unicef.org/
The web site is in three languages: English, Spanish, and French.
Landmines: Hidden Killers, UNICEF
http://www.unicef.org/sowc96pk/hidekill.htm
A section of UNICEF's The State of the World's Children 1996
The Progress of the Nations, UNICEF
- 2000 Edition
  http://www.unicef.org/pon00/
- 1999 Edition
  http://www.unicef.org/pon99/
- 1998 Edition
  http://www.unicef.org/pon98/
Rights of the Child, UNICEF.
http://www.unicef.org/crc/
Includes the complete document The Convention on the Rights of the Child and other material.
The State of the World's Children 2001, UNICEF
- English: http://www.unicef.org/sowc01/
- Spanish: http://www.unicef.org/spanish/sowc01/
- French: http://www.unicef.org/french/sowc01/
The State of the World's Children 2000, UNICEF
- English: http://www.unicef.org/sowc00/
- Spanish: http://www.unicef.org/spanish/sowc00/
- French: http://www.unicef.org/french/sowc00/
The State of the World's Children 1996-1999, UNICEF

United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS)

United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS)
http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/mine/
UNMAS is responsible for the management and coordination of all UN activities in the areas of humanitarian mine action and peacekeeping demining.

World Health Organization (WHO)

The World Health Organization (WHO)
http://www.who.int
Health Is a Key to Prosperity Success Stories in Developing Nations
http://www.who.int/inf-new/
A look at the following health issues: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, childhood diseases, and maternal and perinatal conditions. The book is online in HTML, text, and PDF format. The latter two formats must be downloaded.
World Health Day
http://www.who.int/world-health-day/
The web site is in three languages: English, Spanish, and French.

Next: Youth Study

E-mail: umw@gbgm-umc.org
Web: http://gbgm-umc.org/missionstudies/globalhealth/

This page of "Global Health Care & Christian Response-Ability" links has been compiled by the Rev. Nancy A. Carter, Ph.D. Please send suggestions and corrections to her at ncarter@gbgm-umc.org.

Disclaimer: Some links jump to outside sites for further information and resources. Links do not constitute an endorsement by the Women's Division of the information on other web sites. External web sites offer us diverse perspectives; afford us an opportunity to compare them to United Methodist positions; and, encourage us to critically analyze the issues raised by the Global Health Care & Christian Response-Ability web pages.