Mission Update
When United Methodist Women gathered at Memorial United Methodist Church in White Plains, N.Y., those who sew were given materials for making school bags. They brought the finished bags to the next meeting while other unit members and church members brought school supplies to put in the bags.
Members sorted the donated supplies then filled the bags following instructions from the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). The finished bags were shipped to UMCOR’s Sager-Brown Depot in Baldwin, La., from which they were sent to areas of need around the world.
Such is the journey of a mission kit. Local units of United Methodist Women gather materials for kits –- school kits, layettes, health kits, flood buckets, bedding kits and sewing kits. UMCOR delivers them to sites of need, including areas impacted by severe weather and armed conflict across the United States and around the world.
Sager-Brown Depot, a warehouse and shipping center, is owned by the Women’s Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries. United Methodist Women members are among those who keep the depot stocked.
For example, Charlotte Woodin, president of United Methodist Women at Elkhorn United Methodist Church in Palo, Ill., reported her unit prepared 18 health kits, her congregation 18 kits and nearby Grace United Methodist Church in Brookville, Ill., 11 kits.
Illinois Great Rivers Conference United Methodist Women President Norma Jung said the conference delivered five carloads of kits to the United Methodist Women’s Assembly in Philadelphia in April. Kits brought to Assembly were loaded onto a container that was trucked to the depot. At the depot, volunteers processed the kits, which will be shipped out as they are needed. A well-stocked depot allows UMCOR to respond quickly to crises.
Units may also send or deliver material resources directly to U.S. mission institutions. For example, Georgia Riley reported United Methodist Women at First United Methodist Church in Poplar Bluff, Mo., sent baby supplies to Della C. Lamb Community Services in Kansas City, Mo.
For information on sending items to Sager-Brown Depot and mission institutions, order the Material Resources for Mission Catalog (#2579/$4.50) from the Service Center, 1-800-305-9857.
Each kit given is a gift from one of God’s children to another.
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