Shanquel Askew is a US-2 Global Mission Fellow with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, engaged in a two-year term of service.  

The Global Mission Fellows program takes young adults ages 20-30 out of their home environments and places them in new contexts for mission experience and service. The program has a strong emphasis on faith and justice. Global Mission Fellows become active parts of their new local communities. They connect the church in mission across cultural and geographical boundaries. They grow in personal and social holiness and become strong young leaders working to build just communities in a peaceful world. 

Shanquel is member of Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, Macon. She is involved in the usher, culinary and senior ministries. She volunteers with the youth/young adult ministry and the church’s food pantry. 

Shanquel earned two degrees, a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Middle Georgia State University, Macon, and a Master of Social Work with a concentration on child and family from Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta. 

Troubled by gun violence in her community, Shanquel envisions local churches as safe havens. She said, “The church must be a place where people feel welcomed and not judged. A place to hear a word from God and feel free to be themselves. The church is us, and we must go outside the four walls into the community. Do in it in love like Jesus did. He did not judge, and he accepted everyone for who they are.”  

She encourages conflict-resolution classes where people learn to mediate problems without violence. She explained “Each person will learn how to communicate in a respectful way. Place-based violence intervention can reduce gun violence. Vacant buildings can be turned into safe hubs in hot spots with high rates of gun activity. Restoring abandoned and blighted buildings will beautify the community. It will give residents a sense of pride and appreciation of their community. Violent activities and loitering may decrease.” 

Shanquel recommends a year-long process of qualitative and quantitative data collections to get an in-depth assessment of the community, followed by two years of buying and renovating vacant buildings. She advised, “A committee board of members from the community should be created. People from the board will go out into the community. This will ease tension and build rapport.” 

Shanquel would like to see churches inviting youth to meet and relax in “late-night hubs” where they could get essential items, receive tutoring, play games, connect with necessary resources and relieve stress. Other services would include mentorship, support, health and sex education, workshops and community service. 

Shanquel believes Global Mission Fellows is a good fit for her. “My personal and professional experiences allow me to work and interact with a diverse group of people,” she said. “I can adapt to new learning experiences. I love opportunities to learn and grow. Global Mission Fellows aligns with my passion for helping others.”

Askew, Shanquel

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Becca May Baughman is a US-2 Global Mission Fellow with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, engaged in a two-year term of service.  

The Global Mission Fellows program takes young adults ages 20-30 out of their home environments and places them in new contexts for mission experience and service. The program has a strong emphasis on faith and justice. Global Mission Fellows become active parts of their new local communities. They connect the church in mission across cultural and geographical boundaries. They grow in personal and social holiness and become strong young leaders working to build just communities in a peaceful world. 

Becca is a member of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, Indianapolis, part of the Indiana Annual Conference. “I am in a Bible study for young adult women,” she said. “I love reading theology books and serving where I can.” 

As a teen, she worked as a buddy at Camp Healing Tree in Indianapolis. She helped to provide a safe space for campers to express grief, led small-group activities and helped to ensure campers’ safety. 

She earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Her majors were theater directing and women’s/gender studies. 

Becca has always had a heart for others. “My bio mother taught me that God calls us to help those whose needs are greater than our own,” she said. “We should never turn a blind eye to those in need, whether that need be financial, physical or emotional. All gifts are given from God, so who am I to hoard gifts that do not belong to me?”  

Recently, Becca has grappled “with the intersection between my faith, my passions and making a living,” she said. “I have been struggling with how to turn my passions into a career. I graduated college with no idea of what the next step was, but a promise to God to say ‘yes’ to the doors God opened for me.” This led her to apply for an instructional assistant position at Lebanon Middle School, in which she was given the opportunity to help students thrive academically and behaviorally. She said, “I love helping my students grow, and teaching them that even if they can’t strive in the classroom, they still have talents and strengths.” 

In June 2022, Becca’s openness to say “yes” to the doors God opened led to Global Mission Fellows. Becca’s mom attended annual conference and learned about GMF. 

“I looked into the program,” Becca recalled, “reminding myself of my commitment to say ‘yes.’ My excitement continued to increase. I saw the perfect intersection between faith and service. I love working at the middle school, but I cannot share with my kids true hope and faith, nor can I tell them about the God who loves them so much he sent his son to die for them.” 

When asked what she hopes to gain from Global Mission Fellows, Becca replied, “I want to learn where this intersection can take me; how I can continue to care for those most in need in our community, yet also continue to share the hope that lies within me.”  

Baughman, Becca May

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Althea is a graduate of Lenoir Rhyne University where she earned the Master of Arts in Human Services in addition to a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services from Columbia College. She is married to Alvin Belton, a US Marine Corp veteran. They are the proud parents of two daughters, four grandchildren and the legal guardians of two nephews.

Her faith journey has roots in South Carolina where she grew up and served in the Methodist church. This was instrumental in the building of her spiritual foundation. She continues to be guided by the Holy Spirit in ministry to promote positive outcomes through comprehensive community building, coordinated services and activities for underserved, low-, and moderate-income populations.

Althea’s shared testimony highlights God’s transformative, restorative and redeeming power of unconditional love that provides a promise of provision regardless of stations in life – circumstances – situations – or what it may look like. This promise can be found in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Belton, Althea

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As an active missionary, the role of MIR is to be a liaison between Global Ministries and its missionary community. The work of MIR is pastoral, listening to and caring for missionaries directing their diverse concerns to Global Ministries, and organizational, advocating for missionaries.

Before becoming MIR, Grace was a missionary in the Philippines for 18 years. At first, she worked as a youth coordinator of the Philippines Annual Conference. Later, she served at Harris Memorial College, a deaconess training center for Christian education. At Harris, she was a community health coordinator at an indigenous community and urban informal settlement area. Also, she taught music courses and led the school choir.

Grace says, “When I was a teenager, I read many missionary stories, and I wanted to be a missionary.” So, she entered a nursing college to prepare herself to be a missionary. Later, however, she forgot about it and pursued a worldly success. Then suddenly, she was stricken with an illness doctor could not diagnose. Grace confesses, “Through the illness, my mind was getting humble. I began to long for God and recovered my dream to be a missionary.” She continues, “Ever since I became a missionary, I have always affirmed that mission is not about sacrificing myself for God, it is to participate in God’s mission trusting in the Lord who sacrificed himself for me. 

A native of South Korea, Grace earned Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Yonsei University in Seoul, and Master of Divinity from the Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary in Gwangnaru, Seoul. In the Philippines, she studied voice performance at the University of Santo Tomas.

A full member of the Philippines Annual Conference, Grace is married to Jae Hyoung Choi, also a GBGM missionary. They have two sons, Soo Hoon and Ji Hoon.

Choi, Eun Ha

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Jay was born in a Christian family. “When I was little,” he recalled, “my father had received God’s grace and became a pastor. Out of joy of serving God, he often put his three children on his lap, singing hymns and praying to God.” Later, all three children became pastors and married pastors. Jay said, “I decided to be a full-time pastor at a youth revival gathering, where I strongly experienced the Holy Spirit.”

In February 2001, soon after Jay and his wife, Grace, completed their theological study in Korea, they were commissioned as global missionaries assigned to the Philippines. He first served as a youth coordinator of the Philippines Annual Conference and later worked at Union Theological Seminary, the oldest Protestant seminary in the Philippines.

Throughout his missionary service in the Philippines, one thing pressed Jay’s mind: the rampant poverty and inequality in the Philippines, supposedly the only Christian country in Asia. “During that time,” Jay said, “I came to read a book titled Progress and Poverty written by Henry George, an American political economist. The book led me to the issue of land justice, the biblical law of Jubilee, and their relationship with Christian mission. My new assignment at UTS was like a God’s given stage to study and share Jubilee through the course called ‘Geo-theology.’”

In 2018, Jay moved to Atlanta to work as a missionary in residence. The main roles include providing direct missionary participation in meetings of Global Ministries, participating in the orientation of new missionary candidates and other mission-related seminars for the church on all levels, communicating with active and retired missionaries and informing them of events related to mission, and serving as a liaison between the mission personnel associations, Global Ministries staff and directors.  

While serving as an MIR, Jay remembered one Scriptural verse he had cherished after his Spirit experience. It is from Psalm 2:8, “Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession (NIV).” Jay said, “At that time, I just liked the verse, even though I was not able to fully understand the text and its context. One day, when I was meeting with missionaries of Global Ministries, I realized that I was serving missionaries from everywhere serving in everywhere. The verse was like God’s telling me to serve fellow missionaries faithfully.

“I am forever thankful to God,” he added, “for giving me such a privilege to participate in God’s mission as a full-time missionary for the last 20 years in different capacities. I also thank all those who have been faithfully participating in God’s mission in many different and unique ways of their own because mission is always possible because of God and the people who commit themselves for God’s saving work in the world.”

From South Korea, Jay finished his Master of Divinity degree at the Presbyterian Theological University and Seminary in Seoul, Korea. Later, he earned a Master of Science in sociology at the Asian Social Institute and a Master of Theology at Asia Graduate School of Theology in the Philippines. A clergy of the Philippines Annual Conference, Jay is married to the Rev. Eunha Kim (Grace Choi), also a missionary of Global Ministries, and they have two sons, Soohoon and Jihoon.

Choi, Jae Hyoung

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Goncalves was adopted by a Methodist family in Brazil, his birthplace. “At the age of 17,” he said, “I received the call to the pastoral ministry. In 1982, I completed my Bachelor of Theology course.” He was ordained in 1985. For 20 years, he was a pastor (1983-2000), district superintendent (1986-90) and regional program secretary (1990-2000) in the Methodist Church of Brazil. Today Juarez Goncalves is an elder in the New England Conference.

In 2000, Juarez and his clergy spouse, Clauri, began exploring missions as a vocation. They read that the General Board of Global Ministries was selecting missionaries to plant Portuguese-speaking United Methodist churches in Boston. They applied and were selected as church planters.

“We arrived in the USA in 2001,” Juarez Goncalves said, “and started missionary work among Brazilians. In 20 years, we planted seven United Methodist churches in the New England Conference.”

In his new missionary placement, Goncalves assists in the development of the Conference Strategic Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry. The primary location is the Family (Brazilian) United Methodist Church in Saugus, Massachusetts. This church/community is the launching pad for growing, vibrant and emerging Brazilian faith communities in the New England Conference.

Although Saugus is a predominantly White community of about 27,000 people, Family UMC draws its membership from metro Boston and central Massachusetts. The disciple-making and planting of new faith communities in Worcester, Framingham, Lowell and Springfield are the results of the need and effectiveness of this placement.

Goncalves serves half time as conference coordinator of Latino ministries and half time as pastor of Family UMC. As coordinator of Latino ministries, he oversees, implements and evaluates a three-year plan supported by a Global Ministries/Northeastern Jurisdiction grant. As Family UMC pastor, Goncalves strives to make the church a place of mutual support and spiritual growth for the Brazilian community and others, cultivates relationships and partnerships with area churches and develops leaders within the congregation.

Juarez and Clauri Goncalves are the parents of two adult children.

Goncalves, Juarez

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The parish consists of seven churches. Randy works with them in community development, leadership development, special projects, and in hosting volunteer-in-mission teams. He travels among and speaks often in the churches. God’s County Cooperative Parish has been a transforming community for 30 years.

Randy was formerly with the Rural Revitalization Project of the Elkhorn Valley District of the Nebraska Annual Conference. The Elkhorn project was both spiritual and programmatic, seeking to engage an outward-directed sense of ministry among the laity.

In his congregational revitalization work, Randy asks congregations to answer three questions:
1. Why do people need Christ?
2. Why do people need church?
3. Why do people need this particular church?

“As they answer these questions, they will find their vision and purpose of the congregation,” he says.

Prior to his service in the Nebraska Conference in June 2011, Randy was assigned for 10 years to the Jubilee Project, an Appalachian ministry based in Sneedville, Tennessee in the Holston Annual Conference. He has a strong commitment to rural ministry. Earlier in his work, he was assistant pastor of the Franklin United Methodist Church in Franklin, North Carolina.

Randy was born in Oklahoma and studied sports administration at East Central University in Ada. He and his family now live in Plainview, Nebraska, where he is active in both the Crawford Valley and Plainview United Methodist churches.

He is married to Aletha Hildebrant and the couple has two children, Grace and Adam.

Hildebrant, Randy

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Joel works closely with the conference executive director of connectional ministries in the coordination of Hispanic/Latino ministries, including border ministries in the San Diego and Imperial County areas. He became associate director of the conference Hispanic/Latino program in 2013. Earlier, he served in pastoral appointments.

A citizen of the United States and born in Mexico City, Joel graduated with a degree in architecture from the Universidad Regiomontana in Mexico in 1986 and subsequently focused on biblical studies and evangelism at Cliff College of Sheffield University and theology at Westminster College, Oxford, in the United Kingdom. In 2010, Joel earned a Master of Divinity degree from the Claremont School of Theology in California and in 2018 the Doctor of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena. Joel was ordained in the Methodist Church of Mexico in 1998 and became an elder in full connection of the California-Pacific Conference of The United Methodist Church in 2011. During his years on the conference staff, he has been affiliated with the Bardsdale United Methodist Church in Filmore, California.

Joel grew up in a Methodist home and congregation, making his personal confession of Jesus Christ when he was ten years old and under the guidance of his teacher Pepe González. He was active in youth and student Christian groups and began to consider ministry after attending a Christian student conference in 1987. With no seminary training, he took at church assignment in Cancun as a lay missionary in new church development and after two years left a group of 20 adults and eight children in a pioneer Methodist community. He then did similar work in the Tijuana area.

After his study in the UK, Joel served in pastoral ministry in Mexico, becoming ordained, and transferring following his study at Claremont to the California-Pacific Conference.

Much of Joel’s experience and training pointed toward mission service. “I am sure that God has called me to build his kingdom with the mind of a missional leader,” he says.

Joel is married to Carmen Julia Hortiales and the couple has three children, Alicia, Carmen, and Joel.

Hortiales, Joel

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James (Jim) Keech is a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church serving as a Mission Advocate with his wife, Bernice Keech. They are assigned to the Southeastern Jurisdiction.

Jim and Bernice have been in aviation ministry since 1989, first in Nigeria (from 1989 to 2002) and then in Central Asia. Jim was in the U.S. Air Force from 1977 to 1981, and in 1983 received a Bachelor of Science degree in aviation technology from Moody Aviation, a part of Moody Bible Institute, then in Tennessee.

The son of a pastor, Jim says that St. Francis of Assisi ’s advice, “preach the gospel daily, use words if necessary,” was instilled in him at an early age. “I saw Christ lived out daily by my parents in their commitment to serve others, both inside the church and outside, and to serve each other.

“While attending church camp at the age of 10, I had the unshakable certainty that I could not live without God. Although, as a 10-year-old, I didn’t know what that looked like, I knew that Christ died for me and I had to live for him.

“When I was 19,” he continued, “while in the Air Force, I met my wife, Bernice, who showed me that life lived for Christ is full of joy, even when it’s not easy. As part of our wedding ceremony, we dedicated our life together to full-time Christian service.”

Jim says that his first awareness of missionaries came at age 5 when a missionary from “Africa” spoke at his church. He remembers thinking he could live in Africa someday.

At Moody, an opportunity opened to serve with The United Methodist Church in Nigeria. As he and Bernice were cleaning the house where they would live in Africa, he saw the name “Roger Burtner” painted on a mattress. That was the missionary he had met when he was a child!

As Mission Advocates, Bernice and Jim work with congregations, districts and conferences to help develop mission leadership, challenge greater commitment to mission and nurture relationships that include prayer, communication and financial support. They represent a human face, a physical presence and a voice that speaks to Global Ministries’ commitment to be in mission to everyone everywhere.

Jim’s church membership is in the Valley Forge United Methodist Church in Elizabethton, Tennessee, a part of the Holston Annual Conference.

Jim and Bernice have two children, Micah and Sarah.

Keech, James

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Mamei Sombo Lansana is a Global Missionary with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church.

A member of Milton Margai Memorial United Methodist Church in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Mamei Sombo earned a master’s degree in public administration and bachelor’s in social work. She was a grant research and compliance specialist and is passionate about promoting sustainable development.

Raised in the church, Mamei Sombo said, “I’ve had ups and downs and twists and turns throughout my faith journey.” Her parents took her to church every Sunday, but she didn’t fully understand what it means to be a Christian.

“As I became older,” she said, “the church became my safe space as I couldn’t find that extent of joy anywhere else.

“God shows up for me when I least expect it, so I’ve learned to trust him. I’ve accepted that God’s will is the perfect plan for my life. God loves all his children unconditionally. He calls and equips the imperfect; his grace is sufficient, and he never gives up on us.”

Amid life’s uncertainties, Mamei Sombo’s trust in God grows every day.

“God always reassures me that all I have to do is try,” she said. “This gives me the confidence that I don’t have to be perfect to be God’s child.

“I know my faith journey will be lifelong, and more plot twists are coming, but I also know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I will continue to be steadfast in my faith, grow, learn and live my life according to the will of God.”

In her new role as a mission advocate for young adult mission service, Mamei Sombo will tell the mission story as it relates to Global Mission Fellows and the partners they serve through virtual and in-person opportunities throughout the denomination. She is based in Atlanta. She served as a Global Mission Fellow as part of the 2017-2019 cohort and served with the Inspire agency in Chemnitz, Germany.

Describing herself, Mamei Sombo said, “I am naturally a planner. I always have a plan A, B, C and D if necessary, but then there’s God’s plan. All roads lead back to God. I have always had a desire to serve God, but I’ve always been hesitant to serve in the church as a pastor or a missionary. I opted to work in the nonprofit sector, which isn’t quite working directly with the church in most instances.”

In 2022, Mamei Sombo realized that everyone has an integral role in God’s mission. “I understand now that I can serve God anywhere, in any capacity, as long as I collaborate with individuals and communities to do God’s work,” she said. “After having this epiphany and feeling confident in my ability to serve God, I applied for the mission advocate position. I believe this is God’s plan for me at this moment: to support his children as they go to different parts of the world to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.

“At this point in my life, I trust God’s plan and will, and I have resolved to follow his lead. So here I am, open-minded, open-hearted and looking forward to the numerous ways I can follow God’s lead to serve him.”

Lansana, Mamei Sombo

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