Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

Isaiah 58:6 NRSV

The Jubilee Project in Hancock County, Tennessee, works with people and families oppressed by poverty, by land management, by personal choices, by lack of education. Yes, students have graduated from Hancock County High School, gone to college, and found good jobs, but they are the exceptions. Most graduates stay here in the county or area, work minimum wage or part-time jobs, struggle to find good places to live and juggle to pay the monthly bills. Jubilee can assist with emergency and USDA food, with clean and safe water, and home repair for health and safety, but I also think we are called to help county residents use their resources to create better places to live, work and raise families.

What is our response when we are not loosening the bonds of injustice and when we are serving instead as the oppressor rather than freeing the oppressed? At a recent clergy meeting, we heard that Tennessee (and other states) builds prisons based on 3rd grade reading scores. The Covid-19 pandemic had a severe effect on reading scores across the country, and those without easy internet access often suffered the most.

Hancock County Elementary statistics show that overall 17.9% of students “scored on track or mastered on annual state tests.” 19% of students were on track or mastered language arts and 17.4% did the same in math. The State of Tennessee overall average was 27.8% which could be translated to imply that the state would be building prison capacity for over 70% of third grade students. Often the prisons are owned by for-profit organizations, who would much rather be full than not. Do we really want to support building bigger prisons instead of education?

The Jubilee Project works with elementary students at Hancock Elementary Afterschool program. When asked, the students shared that there was either very little or no art education at school. Through simple arts and crafts, staff and volunteers work with K-5 students and encourage them in their efforts, their creativity, and their uniqueness as children of God.

Jubilee Project also works with groups of incarcerated people, and they are one of our best sources of lifting and painting. When staff decided to paint the downstairs meeting space last fall, the prisoner trustees at Hancock County jail went to work. The group did a great job painting the meeting room and the restrooms. The trustees also help unload trucks of food at both Jubilee and at the mobile food pantry once a month. We could not provide food without their help. We hope our encouragement and relationships lead to positive changes for them too.

The trustees are so glad to use their skills that they have not been able to use since being incarcerated. To my knowledge, they have removed a ceiling and painted for Jubilee Project, and have worked on many other projects in the community.

Elizabeth (Lisa) Lamb Nichols is a deaconess serving as a Church and Community Worker. She is executive director of the Jubilee Project, Inc., a facility in Sneedville, Tennessee, that provides food security, safe and healthy housing, access to clean water, and ministries that focus on spiritual development, socialization and education.

Church and Community Workers (CCWs)

Church and Community Workers (CCWs) are missionaries who work collaboratively between U.S. annual conferences and Global Ministries as they take the church into the community and bring the community into the church. CCWs serve in domestic placements in ministry with the poor and disenfranchised communities in a variety of contexts, such as ministries with ethnic populations, criminal justice, congregational health, immigration, rural and urban ministries, cooperative parishes and disaster response. Explore the work of Global Ministries missionaries.

Support the ministries of missionaries working around the world, Advance # 00779Z.

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By Althea Belton
November 1, 2022 | WAVELAND, MISSISSIPPI

By God’s grace, I have settled into my new position as Community Outreach Coordinator with Gulfside Assembly of Waveland, Mississippi, and I absolutely love it. I am surrounded by the best of the best who have helped with my transition. Acclimating to a new state, job and culture can be emotional and challenging. Getting started in this position, I wondered where to begin. There was so much to do and only two of us to get it done. The needs of the community are great, and our resources seemed limited. However, I prayed and trusted God to make plain the vision. In a way that only God can do, God has not only given the vision but has amazed me with his provision.

We are working with a diverse group of nonprofits, grassroots and religious organizations comprised of different generations and cultures. These organizations have embraced Gulfside’s mission, vision and purpose for their communities, primarily to advocate and provide opportunities for underserved, excluded and discriminated-against people. We discovered these groups offer many gifts and talents but also have challenges and old conflicts. We learned that the challenges and conflicts served as lessons and preparation for greater outcomes.

As a representative of Gulfside Assembly and Global Ministries, I had to think about the dynamics of this group and quickly realized that we had to teach and model the behaviors we expected. It is important that our behavior exhibits Christian conferencing.

In doing so, we had to remember that our individual and collective focus is on the mission. As old conflicts were aired and dealt with, relationships in the group moved to a different level; the healing process began. I have grown so much from this experience of forming purposeful, impactful partnerships and collaborations to bring hope and healing to the Hancock County community.

An example of a ministry we are currently working on is family-centered support. Our faith-based group began an educational series offered by United Methodist Discipleship Ministries entitled “It Takes a Church to Raise a Parent.” Gulfside Assembly has a rich history and an enduring legacy. As such, the community has embraced our continued ministry and mission initiatives. My biggest lesson came from not only realizing that I was enjoying the fruit from the seeds that were planted through the years but also the importance of modeling the change we want to see in our society.

As I fellowship with local churches, Valena C. Jones United Methodist Church and Church of the Living God Resurrection, members often ask if Gulfside Assembly needs any help. What a mighty and amazing God we serve! Although we started as a small workforce, God has provided willing vessels to advance our shared mission and ministry. I am energized by this renewed movement of community unity focusing on families. I am also reminded of God’s promises. The magnitude of what God has done, and is doing, blows my mind. 1 Corinthians 2:9 gives the best summation, “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived – the things God has prepared for those who love him.” (NIV)

Originally from South Carolina, Althea Belton was commissioned as a Church and Community Worker in 2021 and serves as the Community Outreach Coordinator for Gulfside Assembly, a historic African-American mission center founded in 1924. Though its facilities were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Gulfside, with the support of the Mississippi Annual Conference and the Southeast Jurisdiction, has continued its mission to serve the community of Hancock County.

Global Ministries Church and Community Workers

Church and Community Workers (CCWs) are commissioned missionaries of Global Ministries who serve within disenfranchised communities in the United States. The program was founded in 1885 by women of the Methodist Episcopal Church. CCWs take the church into the community and bring the community into the church, equipping churches and communities to work together to address deep-rooted issues that cause human suffering.

Support the ministries of missionaries working in the United States.

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Missionary Julie Wilson tracks the progress of gentrification in her Winston-Salem neighborhood by looking out the front door. The community members Open Arms serves are increasingly losing their rental homes to people who can purchase and rebuild them. 

By Christie R. House 
August 15, 2022 | ATLANTA 

The Rev. Julie Wilson, a Church and Community Worker with Open Arms Community in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, discovered she could witness the rapid change in her neighborhood by looking out of the center’s front door. 

“This is the view from the front porch at Open Arms Community center,” she says of the opening image. “If I had taken this photo last year, you would not have seen the house on the far left due to all the trees blocking it. The green house on the right would have been yellow and in very poor condition, and the red and yellow house on the far right would not have been under construction.” 

The neighborhood around Open Arms Community is changing – quickly. This neighborhood, called Sunnyside, and Waughtown, the one next door, are the communities Open Arms serves. 

Apartment buildings nearby have recently been sold. Some will be fixed up and rented at a higher rate, while others will be remodeled and sold again as single-family homes at a much higher price. Sunnyside is undergoing gentrification. The tight housing market has driven up prices and made Sunnyside attractive again to prospective buyers. While the neighborhood undergoes what seems like a positive transformation, the improvements do not benefit everyone. 

The community that Open Arms serves is not the community buying and remodeling the houses. It serves the families being forced out. 

“It’s not good news for us, considering the goal of our ministry is to ‘mitigate the effects of poverty, low educational achievement, addiction, and socio-economic and racial prejudice… in the Waughtown neighborhood,’” Wilson reflected in a recent blog. “It’s hard to do that when the people who fall into some of the groups we want to reach are literally being forced out of the area we serve.” 

When Open Arms Community first opened in 2000, it was reaching out to an African American community within a few blocks of the center. As the years progressed, Open Arms has had to extend its reach farther out from its home base. The Open Arms van is now vitally important as children, youth, and sometimes even whole families need to be transported to the center. 

Both Waughtown and Sunnyside have undergone a lot of change. Sunnyside used to be a wealthy neighborhood with big stately homes, but the introduction of a highway, which basically split Waughtown and Sunnyside, started an exodus of the families who had the means to move. 

Since 2000, a growing number of Hispanic and Latino immigrants has again changed the demographics, with about 40% Hispanic, 40% African American and 20% white families. Most of Open Arms’ clients and participants are families who have migrated to the U.S. from Mexico. 

Behind the scenes, Wilson has been working with the Open Arms Board of Directors, other nonprofits, faith communities and service organizations to meet the needs of some of the people falling through the cracks. She’s been talking to a Moravian ministry two blocks away. 

“We know renters who would love to buy a home, but many of the families we both work with involve mixed status,” said Wilson. Mixed status means some family members may have green cards, others may be citizens born in the U.S., while others may be undocumented. They don’t have what’s necessary to qualify for a mortgage. 

“We’ve partnered together to try to do some problem-solving and realized that the problem is bigger than the two of us can tackle. You have to find lenders who are willing to work outside of the current system – we haven’t found any. One more barrier these families have to face,” Wilson explained. 

Open Arms has joined with a few more community partners to create the Latino Caucus Mutual Aid. With the pandemic and the housing shortage, before some families can even contemplate a mortgage, they must pay a backlog of mounting bills. The loss of a family member or a job, a family crisis or an extended illness can make this even more difficult. No one social service agency works with undocumented or mixed status families to meet their needs. Through Latino Caucus Mutual Aid, Open Arms has become a conduit to funnel aid for one family at a time. Though the effort is like a drop in a bucket, accompaniment by a trusted agency can also mean the world to a family in danger of losing its stability. 

Programming for children and youth, especially before and after school programs, summer activities and, during the pandemic school closures, help for kids falling behind with remote learning, are still foundational for the Open Arms Community center. Youth group and children’s program are open again, but unfortunately, some of the volunteers have not returned. Volunteers are vital to Open Arm’s programming. 

Even so, the youth group has been especially creative this summer. 

In mid-July every year, people gather for an unusual event in Winston-Salem known as “the Big Chill,” a fundraiser for the Shalom Project of Winston-Salem and a few other nonprofits. 

A main feature of the event is “Cold Calling,” in which local celebrities, social activists and nonprofit leaders yell at passers-by and call people on the phone to ask them to donate money to the Shalom Project – while the callers sit on huge blocks of ice. The sooner they raise the money, the sooner they can get off the ice. 

Open Arms Community took part in the Big Chill this year, but Wilson didn’t have to sit on a block of ice. The youth decided to enter the other major event of the Big Chill, the ice cream-making contest. The youth decided to concentrate on sorbet rather than ice cream. 

“Everyone makes their own flavors of ice cream, various nonprofits and churches, and then you hand out samples,” Wilson explained. “Then tasters vote for their favorite flavor by donating money at the booth.” 

The youth chose to make mango flavor and then wanted to spice it up with chili. “We expected that wouldn’t go over so well with this crowd, so we made less of the mango chili flavor and more of the plain mango, but everyone loved the mango chili! And the kids had so much fun,” said Wilson. 

Even though they didn’t win the contest this year, all was well. After the contest, they made up another batch of “Mango con Chili” sorbet and then ate it. Learn new things and apply them to life immediately – always a good way to teach and learn from teens. 

“The neighborhood is changing,” Wilson said, “but we’re still here. We may change our approach, but our arms will still be open, and we will still welcome those in need.” 

As a Church and Community Worker, the Rev. Julie Wilson can be supported through the Advance, #3022608. 

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.

The post Where goes our neighborhood? appeared first on Global Ministries.

Missionary Fuxia Wang is the server second on the right. PHOTO: COURTESY OF FUXIA WANG

By Fuxia Wang

April 15, 2022 | NORMAN, OKLAHOMA

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals – one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

Luke 23:32-34 (NIV)

Hear the good news from Good Friday: Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross offers the redemption of sin and restoration of right relationship with God. The most significant thing about Jesus’ suffering was that he was not, in any sense, the victim of circumstances. He was in control. Jesus said of his life in John 10:18, “no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself.” It is terrible to be forced to endure such torture, but to freely choose it out of love is remarkable.

The love of Jesus never fails. On the cross, Jesus prayed even for his executioners, asking God not to hold their sin against them. In this, Jesus fulfilled his own command to “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good for those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you (Matthew 5:44).” On the cross, Jesus reserved no material possessions. He came down from heaven to redeem us. He let go of absolutely everything: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor 8:9)

We are still in mission preaching the good news of grace and peace in Oklahoma and God’s light shines brighter in the darkness. We experienced God’s faithfulness and witnessed the light of hope during a time of challenge and uncertainty these last two years. The Wesley international ministries continue to thrive as we connect, invest and serve through practicing radical hospitality with the University of Oklahoma international students’ community in Norman and beyond.

God has multiplied our Chinese ministry into a multiethnic ministry. We ministered to more than 320 different international students from 42 countries and five continents through weekly worship and Bible study, free dinners and English as a Second Language classes, monthly grocery trips and hiking trips in 2021. Three Chinese students prayed the prayers to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior and received baptism as professions of faith during the pandemic. Glory be to God!

Gracious and loving God, great is your faithfulness. You rebuild and restore all that’s broken, you redeem from the ruins, you return all that’s stolen from your children. You give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Help us press into this new season to keep our focus on Christ and be shining examples of hope to the world. Help us love and serve others. With God’s grace and help, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. In the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, Amen.

The Rev. Fuxia Wang, a Church and Community Worker from China, serves as the director of International Ministries at the Wesley, the United Methodist Wesley Foundation center at the University of Oklahoma in Norman and South Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

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By Christie R. House
March 3, 2022 | ATLANTA

About 30 Church and Community Workers (CCWs) from across the United States, active, former and retired, met virtually for their biennial meeting, Feb. 25-26. The last time they met was October 2019 in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, before the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s event was welcomed by the U.S. missionaries as a chance to see each other’s faces again and compare notes on the effects the pandemic has had on community ministries.

They also reflected on God’s light, focusing on Luke 11:34-35 and 1 John 1:5 – “God is light and in him there is no darkness.” They each gave witness to the faithfulness of God in their ministries and the ways God’s love shines through in dark places and depressing times.

The Rev. Fuxia Wang, who works with the Wesley Foundation in International Ministries at the University of Oklahoma, raised the light of God’s faithfulness in the professions of faith recently affirmed for three international students there. Althea Belton, who just started as a new CCW with Gulfside Assembly in Waveland, Mississippi, thanked God for the opportunity to engage with community members after two years of the ministry’s reduced programming and interactions.

Lisa Nichols, with the Jubilee Project in Sneedville, Tennessee, lifted up the Jubilee Water Project, which continued to find solutions to bring clean water to households that lacked it in Appalachia. The Rev. Julie Wilson sees God’s light reflected in the faces of the youth she works with through the Open Arms Community in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Roland Fernandes, Global Ministries’ general secretary, sent greetings via video. He recognized the program’s 137-year history, having been founded in 1885 by women of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He reflected on the text of 1 John and shared the current work and priorities of Global Ministries.

“What marks the CCW history is that it is filled with accounts of real workers among real people in real community dealing with real sorrows and joys…You are bearers of gospel light that allows people to find their way in the often confusing pathways of existence,” he said to the missionaries.

The Rev. Dr. Judy Chung, executive director of Missionary Service, acknowledged the challenges facing Church and Community Workers, many of which are also facing Global Missionaries and Global Mission Fellows. She thanked the Rev. Sonia Brum for her leadership in coordinating U.S. missionary programs and her efforts to recruit new CCWs and cultivate new placement sites.

Church and Community Workers are commissioned missionaries of Global Ministries, who, in response to God’s call, work to alleviate poverty, racial injustice and domestic violence in the communities they serve. They work in a variety of ministries, including health care and addiction ministries, coordination of volunteers in mission, outreach among immigrant communities and students, and with programs for children, youth and women. Support for the CCW is shared between Global Ministries and the conference or project to which the worker is assigned.

Both denominational uncertainty and the COVID-19 pandemic has affected church and community ministry in the past two years. Fewer conferences have positions to fill and many community ministries shut down. Yet, those who continue to serve in this capacity value the role of connecting the church with the community and community members with the church.

Sonia Brum noted: “Seeing the current and former missionaries was a wonderful reminder of how valuable and transformative the CCW program has been to the life of the church. My heart was warmed by their passion and commitment.”

Two new CCWs were welcomed into the fold this year. Julie Wilson started with Open Arms Community in June 2020. This United Methodist ministry seeks to mitigate the effects of poverty, low educational achievement, addiction, and socio-economic and racial prejudice by offering programs specifically designed to address these issues. Many of the programs are designed for children, youth and immigrant families.

Althea Belton has been with Gulfside Assembly for only a month, but she is already building relationships in the community. Opened in 1923, Gulfside Assembly was the first religiously based educational and retreat facility open to people of color on the entire Gulf Coast. The grounds and all its buildings were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but the Southeast Jurisdiction and dedicated churches and volunteers have worked to rebuild some of the structures to open for events once again. Belton is scheduled to be commissioned later this year.

CCWs acknowledged those who were ending service in their ranks, four for retirement and seven who left service to pursue other opportunities. Gary Locklear and Thelma Barnes, who passed away in 2021, were remembered.

The retirees in the last year include Shirley Townsend-Jones, who began service in 1981 with the Black Methodists for Church Renewal. From there, she accepted a CCW position with Bennettsville-Cheraw Area Cooperative Ministry in South Carolina and is retiring after 40 years of service.

Koni Purcell retired after 20 years having served in Virginia, the Holston Conference and Nebraska. Margaret Madison retired with 25 years of service with the West Ohio Conference at the Church for All People in Columbus. Vicky Sigmon, who retired after 35 years of service, started out working in prison ministries in North Carolina. She developed and retired from Open Arms Community in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where Julie Wilson now serves.

Lisa Nichols, with the Jubilee Project in Tennessee, was recognized for her upcoming 40^th anniversary as a CCW. Randy Hildebrant, serving in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, was honored for 20 years of service and Fuxia Wang for 10 years in Norman and South Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The CCW program is now accepting applications for missionary service, as several new positions have opened.

Visit this page for more information or contact Missionaryinfo@umcmission.org.

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.

The post Walking with the light: CCWs meet for biennial gathering appeared first on Global Ministries.

For release: IMMEDIATE

Media Contact

Sara Logeman, Content Strategist

slogeman@umcmission.org

Ten United Methodist missionaries will be blessed for ministry in the United States during a virtual service of worship on Friday, August 27, 2 p.m. EDT. All are welcome to watch the service via Facebook Live.

The blessing service follows weeks of training for these missionaries and affirms their calling to mission. Of the 10 missionaries, seven are Global Mission Fellows, two are Mission Advocates and one is a Church and Community Worker. Global Mission Fellows are young adults ages 20-30 who desire to serve the church at the intersection of faith and justice, focusing on issues such as food insecurity, education, and migration. The Global Mission Fellow US-2 program, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, places fellows in new contexts outside of their home communities for two years.

Mission Advocates are assigned to a U.S. jurisdiction and connect the annual conferences, districts, and local churches within it to the work of Global Ministries. Mission Advocates focus on missionary support and sharing mission news locally and around the world.

Church and Community Workers strive to take the church into the community and bring the community into the church, equipping both church and community to work together to address human needs. CCWs are devoted to uplifting the poor and disenfranchised in rural and urban areas.

The individuals to be blessed and sent forth into service include:

Althea Belton, Church and Community Worker

South Carolina Annual Conference, Mt. Zion United Methodist Church

Assigned to Mississippi Annual Conference, Gulfside Assembly of Waveland

Precious Tatenda Kufarimai, Global Mission Fellow

North Alabama Annual Conference, St. Paul United Methodist Church

Assigned to Florida Annual Conference, First United Methodist Church of Miami

Amber Kupfer, Global Mission Fellow

Western North Carolina Annual Conference, St. Stephen United Methodist Church

Assigned to Florida Annual Conference, First United Methodist Church of Miami

Rev. Courtney Randall, Mission Advocate

New England Conference

Assigned to the Western Jurisdiction

Rev. Daniel Randall, Mission Advocate

New England Conference

Assigned to the Western Jurisdiction

Megan Marie Rittenberry, Global Mission Fellow

Louisiana Annual Conference, First United Methodist Church of Bossier

Assigned to Michigan Annual Conference, United Methodist Community House of Grand Rapids

Grace Elizabeth Rogers, Global Mission Fellow

Arkansas Annual Conference, Cabot United Methodist Church

Assigned to Florida Annual Conference, Justice For Our Neighbors

Meleanitema Sapoi-Finau, Global Mission Fellow

California-Pacific Annual Conference, United with Hope United Methodist Church

Assigned to Florida Annual Conference, Metropolitan Ministries of Tampa

Bailey Grey Townsend, Global Mission Fellow

Holston Annual Conference, Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church

Assigned to Michigan Annual Conference, Motown Mission of Detroit

Cenaya M. Ward-Johns, Global Mission Fellow

Delaware, United Fellowship Ministries

Assigned to Michigan Annual Conference, Wesley Fellowship of Kalamazoo

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About the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church

Global Ministries is the worldwide mission and development agency of The United Methodist Church. Founded in 1819, Global Ministries today supports 200 missionaries in over 70 countries, including the United States. It has personnel, projects, and partners in 115 countries. Learn more about Global Ministries by visiting www.umcmission.org or by following www.facebook.com/GlobalMinistries and Twitter.com/UMCmission.

The post Ten new missionaries to be blessed for service in the US appeared first on Global Ministries.

Although COVID-19 prevented an official commissioning in 2020, missionaries have remained creatively engaged in ministry and were commissioned at small, in-person services in their host annual conferences this spring. 

By Sara Logeman
June 23, 2021 | ATLANTA

By June 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had prompted many people around the world to just stay put.

Rev. Julie Wilson was not one of them.

Her calling to serve as a missionary in the United States meant that she was going to be (safely) on the move.

Even though the pandemic deferred her official commissioning as a Church and Community Worker, Wilson was still virtually blessed and sent out to serve at Open Arms Community Center, a ministry of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference.

In July, two weeks after arriving in Winston-Salem, Wilson wrote: “With the COVID-19 pandemic, we don’t quite know what this year will bring. But we have faith that God will lead us through.”

Even when Open Arms’ physical building closed or its programming was put on pause, she was able to safely and creatively remain in mission and ministry with her community.

Recognizing the need to support children and families within the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School system as learning shifted to a virtual format, Wilson found a way to open a remote learning center at Open Arms on Tuesday afternoons. Children ate lunch together, attended class online, spent time on tutoring activities and played outside.

A Blessing Box right outside the entrance to Open Arms made nonperishable food and toiletry items available for anyone, no questions asked. And a new partnership with Winston-Salem Rescue Mission brought a mobile food pantry to the front porch of Open Arms once a week.

Wilson was not the only missionary to begin service in the U.S. in the middle of a pandemic. Five young adult Global Mission Fellows (GMFs) serving on the US-2 track and one Mission Advocate began service, too.

GMF Emily Autry from Arkansas has served in Florida as a field coordinator for the Fill the Table Initiative. Like Wilson, Autry is passionate about addressing food insecurity. After COVID-19 exposed how pervasive food insecurity is in the U.S., the Florida Annual Conference launched the Fill the Table Initiative in July 2020 with the goal of feeding 3 million Floridians by September 2021.

They have already well-surpassed this goal.

“Our Florida United Methodist churches’ outreach ministry and partners heard the call and acted,” Autry said in a report given at Florida’s recent annual conference gathering. While the initiative will close this fall, Autry is clear that there is still much work to be done. And her time serving with Fill the Table laid a strong foundation for the church’s continued engagement around the issue of food insecurity.

In addition to Autry, Katelyn Dino from Georgia serves as an administrative assistant with Justice For Our Neighbors in Florida; Shiree Fetterly from Michigan serves as a group leader for Metropolitan Ministries in Florida; Magdeline Russo from Louisiana serves as the director of Evangelism and Community Engagement at Pasedena Community UMC in Florida; and Emily Palm from Illinois serves as a caseworker for the NOAH Project (Networking, Organizing and Advocating for the Homeless) in Michigan. Trisha Manns from Georgia serves as a mission advocate at the General Board of Global Ministries in Atlanta.

Although COVID-19 prevented an official commissioning at the beginning of their service last year, all seven missionaries have now been commissioned on behalf of The United Methodist Church.

Throughout the spring, their host annual conferences held small but in-person commissioning services. The presiding bishops, representing the church, set them apart for mission service through the ancient practice of laying-on of hands. A Global Ministries representative vested them by placing an anchor cross around their necks. And the missionaries reaffirmed their own commitment to service.

“We rejoice to recognize you as a missionary of The United Methodist Church. We will sustain you with our prayers; support your mission service; and together strive to minister to the needs of all of creation,” said Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson of the North Georgia Conference at the end of Trisha Manns’ May commissioning service.

“With God’s help, these individuals faithfully explored and implemented ways to keep the church and their new communities connected in mission during a unique year,” says the Rev. Dr. Judy Y. Chung, executive director of missionary service for Global Ministries. “We celebrate their commissioning and surround them in prayer as they continue their service.”

The United Methodist Church has a great tradition of sending persons into mission. “Throughout history, the church has understood that Christian mission can be a perilous journey. The challenges of mission are no less today,” said Roland Fernandes, general secretary of Global Ministries, at the Florida Annual Conference commissioning service. “Christ calls us to ministry to all peoples, wherever there is need. The anchor cross, a symbol in early Christian iconography, reminds us of the necessity to be firmly grounded in Christ as we engage in God’s mission.”

Sara Logeman is the content strategist for Global Ministries.

The post After a year in service, 7 US missionaries officially commissioned appeared first on Global Ministries.

As with all of its work in global migration the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s support of migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border centers around these foundational principles: the biblical mandate to “welcome the stranger,” UMCOR’s mission statement of 80 years to “alleviate suffering without regard to race or creed,” and the desire to work with local partners wherever possible. We believe that both humanitarian assistance and policy change are required in this current moment of transition and confusion on the U.S.- Mexico border. 

UMCOR has been actively working with shelters and other programs on both sides of the border since 2016. Currently, UMCOR has grants with 17 such entities totaling over $670,000, including emergency grants that have provided shelters with the means to place those who test positive for COVID-19 in hotel quarantines, assist with transportation, and provide food and clothing for the recent uptick in arrivals. 

We affirm moves by the Biden Administration to rebuild a humane immigration policy that is consistent with international law but recognize that much remains to be done before the few strands of policy improvements enacted to date can be woven into the full fabric of a comprehensive immigration policy. In the meantime, there are some serious gaps that must be filled. 

One of these gaps is the lack of a solid plan for processing asylum seekers in ways that do not cause additional trauma and harm. It is our hope that the U.S. Government will develop a system that provides services similar to that of the Refugee Admissions Program administered by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration at the Department of State, in conjunction with the Office of Refugee Resettlement at the Department of Health and Human Services. We encourage United Methodists and others to amplify the suggestions offered by the General Board of Church and Society, the advocacy and justice agency of The United Methodist Church, and by Church World Service (CWS), a longstanding ecumenical partner in refugee resettlement and other migration work. 

In a major lift that will increase the collective ability of various agencies to process and welcome newly arrived migrants, UMCOR approved a $1.1 million grant to CWS that will help launch a substantial program to resettle asylum seekers. This will include case management at several Methodist-affiliated border shelters, a national call center for asylum seekers, connection with local resettlement affiliates throughout the U.S., assistance in filing for asylum and many other services.

Our work with National Justice For Our Neighbors (NJFON) includes support of their efforts to provide legal assistance for those seeking asylum as well as their increasing advocacy efforts. 

As the situation on the border evolves, UMCOR will continue to explore opportunities to offer welcome, care and a new sense of belonging to refugees and migrants from around the world.

To support UMCOR’s work in global migration, give online or send a check to Global Ministries/UMCOR, GPO, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068 with #3022144 in the memo line. 

There are many reasons people leave their homes. The impact of government corruption, gang violence and natural disasters, like hurricanes, in developing countries can be devastating. Climate change, too, is impacting agriculture in many regions. Crop failures in multiple years, for example, can lead to food insecurity. These reasons and more motivate people to start new lives in new places. 

UMCOR supports the four rights of migrants consistent with various international conventions, including and dating back to the 1951 Refugee Convention. These include the 

• RIGHT TO STAY – to facilitate an enabling environment in countries of origin to encourage people to stay in their homes. 

• RIGHT TO SAFE PASSAGE – if people have absolutely no choice but to leave, to support their ability to travel safely along the migration corridors. 

• RIGHT TO WELCOMING AND BELONGING – to support a process through which the migrant and the receiving community work together to meet the needs of welcoming, integration and belonging. 

• RIGHT TO SUPPORT FOR THE RETURNED – to support in whatever way possible the dignified reintegration of the deported and those voluntarily returning to their countries of origin. 

What is UMCOR doing about the situation at the U.S.-Mexican border? UMCOR is working closely with partners such as Church World Service (CWS) and National Justice for our Neighbors (NJFON) to assist refugees and migrants coming to the United States. 

In addition, UMCOR is supporting shelters and other programs on both sides of the border Right now, UMCOR has grants with 17 such entities totaling over $670,000, including emergency grants that have provided shelters with the means to place those with COVID-19 in hotel quarantines, assist with transportation, and provide food and clothing for recent arrivals. 

In most cases, your assistance is needed most wherever you currently reside. Helping refugees at the border is complicated because conditions and policies change daily. Right now, it is best to support those already serving at the border who are familiar with the area, have local and national partners and know the immediate needs of the refugees and migrants hoping to enter the country. 

There are many ways to help refugees and migrants. Pray for those who have fled violence and natural disasters leaving everything behind in hopes of finding safety and new life in a new place. Consider supporting or assisting at a program in your local community that is supporting refugee or asylee resettlement. Invite staff from the program to speak at your local church or civic organization to learn more about their work and what would be helpful to refugees in your area. Support the global migration work done through the United Methodist Committee on Relief by giving online or by mail to Global Ministries/UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. (“Advance #3022144” should be written on the memo line.) 

The Rev. Jack Amick is director of Global Migration at the United Methodist Committee on Relief

The post UMCOR’s Work on the U.S.-Mexico border appeared first on Global Ministries.

PHOTO: PAUL JEFFREY

A devotion for Palm Sunday

By Anna Troy

March 28, 2021 | CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA

I have only been around a few donkeys in my life so far, but they have not left an impression of “obedient” or “care-free” on me. Donkeys are not only stubborn, as many know, but also extremely protective of their “family,” which is what makes them such good guard animals for sheep and goats. So, I find myself wondering about a stubborn guard as the choice of entry for Jesus. And yet, donkeys are also known for plodding along and getting the job done. There is comfort in that when facing difficult times. Something Jesus would have wanted in those days. The combination of stubborn guard and plodding comfort seems to be just what Jesus and many of us need in times of struggle.

The neighbors served at Open Heart Ministries often face uncertain and stressful days – utility shut-offs, eviction notices, food or medicine decisions, and more. They need someone to walk with them who provides hope, comfort and reassurance that they are not alone. Most importantly, we are there to remind them that God loves them in the middle of their struggle.

Jesus knew he would be facing a struggle and chose a humble creature to comfort him as he entered Jerusalem. I am reminded that being a donkey is quite a good thing after all. To guard and comfort Jesus is quite an inheritance, and a wonderful lesson for us all, no matter what we are facing.

Prayer: God of Peace, we give to you our struggles, knowing that you are always beside us, walking with us through the trials we face. Help us comfort others as you comfort us; help us lead others as you lead us – that we may all find the joy and peace you have waiting for us. Amen.

The Rev. Anna Troy is a Church and Community Worker missionary who serves as the director of Open Heart Ministries of Harrison County, Inc., a nonprofit agency located in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Open Heart provides emergency financial assistance to county residents, primarily through rent and utility assistance, although other necessities are also provided on an as-needed basis. Each neighbor receives information about further resources in the area and is prayed with individually regarding their needs.

The post Walking with Jesus appeared first on Global Ministries.

By Christie R. House 

March 15, 2021 | NEW CASTLE, PENNSYLVANIA 

Katie Peterson learned her construction skills in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a Church and Community Worker with God’s Cooperative Parish. “The parish included seven churches in 2,500 sq. miles,” she said. She compared that to a previous assignment in Tennessee, in which 15 churches comprised a parish across 500 sq. miles. 

“Yes,” she said, “up there, each church was a beacon in its own community, but they all knew that they needed one another to keep going. I learned how to do lots of construction – shingles, drywall, aluminum siding – in the remoteness of the woods.” 

Those skills and others learned throughout her 23 years in mission service contribute to her current assignment with the Western Pennsylvania Conference at its Eastbrook Mission Barn in New Castle, Pennsylvania, a former dairy farm. About half the work of the facility involves building and installing handicapped-accessible ramps. The other half relates to the facility’s role as part of the UMCOR relief supply network. Volunteers collect and verify UMCOR hygiene and cleaning kits coming from area churches and other organizations. The Mission Barn stores and ships kits to disaster areas at UMCOR’s request. 

Normally the mission barn hosts volunteer teams throughout the year, with many from Pennsylvania and near-by Eastern Ohio working for the day. Some groups from further distances stay in the community longer, but 2020 was nothing like a normal year. Before COVID-19, they’d ship out 20,000 kits annually, with about 2,000 staying in the four-conference area: Upper New York, East and West Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. 

“Last year we sent out 2,000 hygiene kits to West Ohio and Western PA because of COVID. We shipped 1,400 buckets to another UMCOR network location in Illinois,” Peterson confirmed. 

Eastbrook Mission Barn works with Highland House, a halfway house for men recovering from alcohol and drug addictions. A few of them volunteer once a week to help in the barn and build ramps with the team in the community. 

Before COVID-19, the mission barn regularly hosted a high school group and four adult day groups as well as church and community groups. Members of the adult day groups may have different kinds of handicapping conditions and may be differently abled, in terms of what tasks they can do, but they work side-by-side with “typically abled” volunteers. The differently abled will often teach the typically abled how to put together the UMCOR kits or other tasks as needed. 

“It has opened my eyes to see we are all God’s children with something to contribute, it doesn’t matter if we have drug or alcohol addictions or whatever our challenges might be. We can all work together,” Peterson explained. “I’ve worked with people of different abilities in the past, but never with this many at any given time. We are one of the few volunteer agencies that has stayed open during the pandemic. They love coming to the barn just as much as we love having them. We hope to see more groups return after the pandemic.” 

Peterson describes herself as a preacher’s kid from West Ohio who felt God’s call to service during a mission event in Fremont. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Gerontology from the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati. From 1998-2000, she served as a US-2 missionary with an inner-city church in Memphis, Tennessee, where she was introduced to deaconesses and Church and Community Workers and learned about mission vocations in the United States. 

“Before then, I had no idea there were missionaries serving in the United States,” she said. In 2001, she was commissioned as a United Methodist deaconess, and in 2004, as a Church and Community Worker. While in Memphis, she earned her Master of Arts and Religion in Christian Education from Memphis Theological Seminary. Her brother, John Jessup Peterson, was commissioned in 2016 as a Home Missioner and works at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. 

Church and Community Workers are commissioned missionaries of Global Ministries whose ministries focus on the poor and disenfranchised in rural and urban areas throughout the United States. They work to change the social inequities of poverty, racial injustice and domestic violence. Today, deaconesses, and their male counterparts, home missioners, are commissioned for lifetime service by United Methodist Women. 

In addition to serving existing ministries, Katie Peterson has been called to help start new mission ministries. After working with God’s Cooperative Parish in Michigan for seven and a half years, she moved to Williston, North Dakota, to work with an ecumenical ministry. Between 2008 and 2012, Williston’s population jumped from 6,000 residents to 30,000 when an oil company increased drilling. There was plenty of work but a lack of housing and skyrocketing prices. Workers were living in their cars. Many people came from other parts of the country to work in the oil fields, but some were not prepared for the North Dakota winters. 

Peterson and her colleagues developed the Out in Faith Bakken Oil Rush Ministry that provided shelter, food, warm clothes and blankets. They were serving anywhere from a dozen to 40 people a week. Today, the ministry continues through the ups and downs of Williston life, serving an average of 200 clients a week. 

Most years, Peterson’s team builds about 25 ramps for individuals and families in the surrounding area. In 2020, though they lost two months because of COVID-19 restrictions in the state, they still managed about 25 ramps before the winter months closed their season. 

One of the ramps last year was for a 14-year-old boy who had lost his leg because of a hereditary health condition. The family obtained a wheelchair, but the only way for him to get in and out of the house was for a family member, usually his 16-year-old brother, to carry him. 

The day after Peterson’s team finished, the young teen was already using the ramp to ride up and down his street to visit his friends. When schools open, he will be able to get to the school van by himself. In December, Eastbrook Mission received word of a handicapped-accessible van that someone was willing to donate, so this family received a second gift. 

“It was just because of God’s grace that we were able to help them with a ramp and a van. We don’t normally help with extra things like that, but God provided, just at the right time,” Peterson added. 

And the good work multiplies. “Over the past 13 years, we have trained 12 other ramp ministries in our conference,” Peterson noted. When requests come for ramps some distance from New Castle, Peterson can refer people to one of these 12 ministries. 

Katie Peterson’s work can be supported through her Advance missionary support number, #982942. 

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.

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