February 11, 2022 | ATLANTA

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An update on “Love Beyond Borders: The Interfaith Movement to End the Pandemic” and UNICEF’s 2022 priorities for equitable vaccine distribution around the world through ACT-A/COVAX will be shared during a webinar slated for Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, at 7 p.m. ET. Registration is free and open to the public at https://unicefusa.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5INLxfmDRLy4_h09XJHXdA.

According to Kathy Griffith, Global Health Team Lead / Senior Technical Adviser for Global Ministries, who will serve as moderator, panelists will discuss updates on the progress being made on vaccine distribution and how faith communities are partnering in this movement.

Announced in October 2021, “Love Beyond Borders: The Interfaith Movement to End the Pandemic” seeks to engage The United Methodist Church in supporting UNICEF’s global COVID-19 response, which includes distributing safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility, diagnostics and treatments.

Through this initiative, members of The United Methodist Church are contributing to UNICEF’s historic efforts in leading the procurement and supply of 4.1 billion COVID-19 vaccines globally in 2022. For just $19.50, members could help provide 10 people with two doses of the vaccine. Global Ministries, the United Methodist mission and humanitarian response agency, has created Advance #3022671 for this effort to ensure that 100% of donations go directly to UNICEF USA for this project.

“Since the start of the humanitarian crisis, Global Ministries and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) have responded with health boards, medical professionals, disaster management coordinators and faith leaders to help, as comprehensively as possible, manage the crisis and strengthen existing work,” said Roland Fernandes, general secretary of United Methodist Global Ministries and UMCOR. “It has been said that no one is safe until everyone is safe. Helping to fund the equitable distribution of vaccines through this Advance will help United Methodists play a key role in efforts to make that a global reality.”

The coronavirus pandemic continues to have severe consequences, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable populations. Accelerating the rate at which all people are vaccinated is the key to ending the pandemic, alleviating suffering and preventing deaths.

Global Ministries and UMCOR have supported partners in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North America as they work to respond to the pandemic and its impacts. Grants have been awarded for personal protective and essential medical equipment; cleaning solution, soap and handwashing stations; assistance with salaries, livelihoods, food, rent and utilities; awareness and training in COVID-19 prevention; and vaccine promotion.

Activities with partners and communities have included training and grants, directed and administered through Global Ministries’ Global Health program.

According to modeling conducted by Northeastern University, 61% of deaths globally could be averted if an effective vaccine were distributed to all countries proportional to their populations. While many wealthy countries have made significant inroads into vaccinating their citizens, this is not the case in less-developed countries. The Love Beyond Borders campaign will support UNICEF and COVAX’s initiative to equitably distribute vaccines around the world.

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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 more than 200 missionaries in over 60 countries, including the United States. It has personnel, projects and partners in 115 countries. Founded in 1940, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is the global humanitarian relief agency of The United Methodist Church and is a part of Global Ministries. Learn more about Global Ministries by visiting umcmission.org or by following facebook.com/GlobalMinistries and twitter.com/UMCmission.

The post Global Ministries to lead update on UNICEF’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution effort appeared first on Global Ministries.

Dr. David Boan, a member of First United Methodist Church of Boise, Idaho, and Kathleen Griffith, a veteran global heath leader with the General Board of Global Ministries, discuss Love Beyond Borders, an equitable vaccine distribution campaign. The goal: To make sure every person in every part of the world has access to COVID-19 vaccines.

• Donate to Love Beyond Borders through The Advance.
• Learn more about 

Dr. David Boan, a member of First United Methodist Church of Boise, Idaho, and Kathleen Griffith, a veteran global heath leader with the General Board of Global Ministries, discuss Love Beyond Borders, an equitable vaccine distribution campaign. The goal: To make sure every person in every part of the world has access to COVID-19 vaccines.

• Donate to Love Beyond Borders through The Advance.
• Learn more about Love Beyond Borders.
• Kathleen Griffith is the team lead and senior technical advisor for the General Board of Global Ministries’ Global Health unit, including the Abundant Health initiative.
• David Boan is a member of Cathedral of the Rockies/First United Methodist Church at Boise, Idaho.

• Read: “The mission opportunity of COVID-19 vaccines”  
• Watch: “Get Your Spirit in Shape: Coronavirus facts and inspiration”

• Email our host Crystal Caviness or our producer Joe Iovino about this episode, ideas for future topics, or any other thoughts you would like to share.

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• Get Your Spirit in Shape and other United Methodist podcasts

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This episode posted on February 4, 2022.

Transcript

Crystal Caviness, host: Today we invite you hear the inspiring story of how one United Methodist in Idaho, dismayed at the inequity of global Covid 19 vaccine distribution spoke up in his local church, inspired a grassroots campaign that has engaged the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Global Ministries and UNICEF in an effort to make sure every person in every part of the world has access to vaccines.

Crystal:  Hi, David and Kathy. We’re so excited to have you here on this episode of Get Your Spirit in Shape. Welcome.

David: Thank you, Crystal. It’s really a pleasure to be here.

Kathy: Thank you, Crystal, for the privilege. We’ll enjoy it.

Crystal: We’re going to talk about something that is just so topical right now, so relevant, super important, an initiative called Love Beyond Borders. Before we just kind of jump into that conversation, though, I would appreciate if each of you would just take a minute to tell our audience a little bit about who you are and the work you do even beyond the context of Love Beyond Borders.

Kathy: David, please go first.

David: You beat me to it, Kathy. Okay. Well, thank you for that. So, again, I’m David Boan and I’m here actually as a member of the Cathedral of the Rockies which is First United Methodist Church here in Boise, Idaho. It’s really through my engagement with my church that we have developed Love Beyond Borders. It came out of a missioncy of Cathedral of the Rockies. Going into that, I bought into that engagement my experience going back a number of years doing international work. I’d have to say I’ve had a couple of careers. I have a healthcare background, mental health. I’m a psychologist by training. And I was also at Wheaton College where I co-directed the Humanitarian Disaster Institute. And in that role became connected with the World Evangelical Alliance, and worked with them as the Director for Humanitarian Advocacy and then later a fulltime role as Director for Youth and Development which I, last month, retired from. But it was in that context and working in a number of international settings that I began to see the broad impact of the pandemic, especially in poorer countries. And it’s from that background began to have a conversation with the missions team at Amity. And we can go into that later on when we talk about background. But that’s briefly who I am and what I’ve brought to this.

Kathy: Thank you, David. And congratulations on your retirement. My name is, as you know, Kathleen, or Kathy, Griffith. I’m originally from Zimbabwe. So mine is the correct accent. I work for the General Board of Global Ministries in the Global Health unit. So we have a great deal to do with Covid, with Covid interventions—Covid interventions on their own, but also integrated with other programming like malaria, health facilities, maternal, newborn and child health. I live in Atlanta. And I’m a member of the Smyrna First United Methodist Church. I’m a nurse midwife registered in Zimbabwe and South Africa, but not here in the United States. It’s a tremendous background for the work that we do.

Crystal:  Well, thank you both for being here. So I want to talk about Love Beyond Borders. The tagline on that is ‘The Interfaith Movement to End the Pandemic.’ And it’s really about equitable vaccine distribution. And that feels like such a big task. It’s fascinating to me that this initiative, which is a partnership with UNICEF… (We’ll talk more about that, too.) …started in the local church, started with a United Methodist who said we must make a difference here. We must do something. And David, that’s your story. Can you tell us about that?

David: Well, thank you. Yeah, I’d be happy to tell you about that. You know, it goes back to the team, and actually the Amity Campus of the Cathedral of the Rockies, which I mention because we’re really a pretty small church in the suburbs outside of Boise. Cathedral of the Rockies is a large church, but we’re a small group that came together. The church had just moved online as a result of the pandemic. And a group decided in conversations about how do we do missions in this context. And part of that conversation was ‘and who is our neighbor.’ And so when we started talking about that I was talking with a colleague of mine, Christine McMillon, and she shared with me what they were doing in Canada with an initiative called Love My Neighbor. And basically Christine and her associate Sara Hildebrand were inspired to say to their churches, we should pay this forward. We live a life of privilege. We have access to vaccine. We are protected, but so many millions of people are not and don’t even have access to that. And so we’re going to say pay that forward as a demonstration of loving our neighbor. So our missions team started talking with Christine and Sarah about what they’re doing in Canada. And the team was really inspired by that, and saying really in an online world it transforms ‘who is our neighbor,’ and who do we have the opportunity to be able to serve. And so the group decided we would like to do something similar. And so the next step from that was to begin to reach out, reaching out to the pastors and our pastors Ben Cremer and Duane Anders were wonderful in terms of their immediate support for that, saying absolutely the church should be doing this. And from there reaching out to UNICEF-USA which was really similar to what they had done in Canada, the ??? partnership with UNICEF. And we can say a little more later about the role of UNICEF. So it really started moving in 2 directions—sharing the word among our own church, getting people on board in terms of supporting that, and thinking about how important it is to help others to be vaccinated and at the same time reaching out to UNICEF, reaching out to Abundant Health and the Abundant Health network with the wonderful support of Emily Kahn(?) and then reaching out to Global Missions and getting connected with Pat Fleem(?) and the wonderful support there. So, one point I’d like to emphasize about that is that while our team took the first steps with this, it has really been the way the Methodist Church at large has embraced this initiative and really made it possible to be able to reach out through the network and through Global Missions that has allowed this to grow the way it has.

Kathy: Thank you, David. The Global Health Unit of Global Ministries works with The Abundant Health Initiative. And of course we have thought so much about what we could do for Covid and have had programming for it, but had not worked with actually procuring or transporting vaccines. That seemed beyond our reach. And we did not want to start another Advance, another special way of giving in the United Methodist Church because we didn’t want overly to be from Global Ministries. So we’re very, very grateful to David’s church, Cathedral of the Rockies, for this partnership and that we could join them and help to promote this way of giving that is a way of getting vaccines to everyone. Our focus in The Abundant Health Initiative is working towards accessible, affordable, equitable health services for everyone, with a focus on those who have the least and who are furthest away. So working like this and UNICEF’s incredible reach, but having United Methodists involved to the hilt is a wonderful way of mission. It’s radical and it’s one more way to care for our neighbor.

Crystal:  Kathy, why does The United Methodist Church have a place, have a role in this space of this really important work?

Kathy: Oh, Crystal, how long have you got? Firstly, we’re a connectional church. We really believe in reaching out to our neighbors around the world. We have this opportunity to reach out to our own constituents. But we have this opportunity also to reach out to other denominations and to work with people of other faiths. This seems the most wonderful opportunity. And if Covid has provided anything, perhaps we could take this as an opportunity for this radical mission, radical hope and radical neighborliness. You know, in our health work with The Abundant Health Initiative, which is mostly in sub-Saharan Africa at the moment, the episcopal areas work with networks of health facilities. And these health facilities all have catchment areas. And these catchment communities all have Methodist churches, Catholic churches. They have traditional leaders. They have traditional birth attendants and traditional healers. We are trying to include them all in this initiative to overcome vaccine hesitancy, the myths about Covid, and as we’re able to…as more and more centers open for vaccination…to make this accessible to them. So this is part of our programming, but Love Beyond Borders makes it possible for UNICEF as the lead partner and Covax to procure vaccines, to transport vaccines, to maintain the cold chain and all the logistical management to get vaccines into the arm of women, of men, of grandmothers, of grandfathers, of community leaders of the least, of the most. So this is a connection for our connectional church. I could say more but maybe I should hand over to David.

David: Thank you, Kathleen, because that’s really good. And I’d like to build on that a little bit. I think it’s really necessary for the church to do this. It’s not only an opportunity to serve, but it’s also an opportunity to demonstrate the church in its compassion for others and its seeking justice. And that’s, I think, a really important statement to the community. It’s important for us to create opportunities for the members of our church to put their faith into action and to become agents of justice and compassion. And it’s also important, I think, as Americans who are really seen as really privileged, to demonstrate to the rest of the world that people of faith in the United States recognize, care about and will do something about their suffering. And we will do something to create equity and reach out to those in need and be able to help them in their circumstance. And it’s the church that needs to do that. I really don’t expect the government to do that. Frankly, I think government’s completely failed to do that. And we’ve really seen that as where countries in the West have really, if you will, taken up the majority of the available vaccines and most recently in the G7 meetings they really failed to step up to the plate and do something in terms of more equitable distribution. So the church really needs to be the agent of justice and compassion and step into that gap and do something.

Kathy: So you see, Crystal, that we are working well together with two hands. We’re using the resources we have with the relationships we have in communities in sub-Saharan Africa and in other places to actually deliver the services. But the other complementary and higher level, at least multi-level, the compassionate advocacy, justice level are just as important or in some aspects even more important to get the message, to get the knowledge and to get the giving.

Crystal: David, you mentioned that is an opportunity for United Methodists to get involved in this work. How can I, as a United Methodist in my own church, become involved in Love Beyond Borders?

David: Well, there are a lot of ways. And again, as Kathleen suggested, that’s at multiple levels. First of all, I think it’s important to keep in mind that while having the donations and getting funds to UNICEF and through UNICEF is really important. That’s the output. But the greater aim is the engagement of the church. And so how do we engage the church? Well, we have a couple of strategies related to that. And these are all strategies that we invite people to help with. One of those is gathering stories about what is happening in the rest of the world. And so we have a website where we’re beginning to post these stories so that we can humanize what generally comes across as really large numbers without really kind of the human suffering that exists behind those numbers. So we’re trying to humanize that so people can see what’s actually going on in people’s lives, and through that, really from a sense of empathy. And, if you will, it’s empathy that’s the foundation for moral action. So people need to understand it’s a human story not just a numbers story. So as far as getting engaged we welcome people to share the stories that we’ve been collecting and also help us to collect more stories and be able to get that out to other people. Secondly, think about the ministries you already have in your own church. When we work in disaster preparedness and disaster resilience we often emphasize to people it’s not so much creating a new effort, but thinking about how you can leverage those efforts, those ministries you already have. And so looking at how your existing ministries are being impacted by the pandemic and use that to help begin to create greater awareness of the broad impact of this pandemic. It’s not only a story of infection and disease. It’s also a story of increasing poverty, of people losing their jobs, impacts on child development as well as broader impacts on family, increasing in substance abuse, spousal abuse, all kinds of things. It’s very much a holistic impact. And so many of our various ministries are being impacted. And so all of those are ways in which we can raise awareness and create much more of a role, incentive and awareness of the need to respond to do something about the pandemic itself, around the world. It’s also possible for people to have a country-specific focus. And so in our work with UNICEF, the people raise…I think the threshold number is 11 thousand dollars…and you have a specific ministry to a certain poor country, you can target donations to that country. And so it’s possible then to rally support around individual countries where churches already may have a connection. And then one more suggestion. This is just a few. But churches certainly can start their own Love Beyond Borders initiative. We’re happy to share the resources that we have, some of the things we’ve learned along the way. We’re happy to partner with others if they want to do a similar initiative in their own community and use it as a way to reach out and get people to become much more involved.

Crystal:  How is it going? How is the initiative going? I know it’s fairly new and launched in late in 2021, I believe. What are you seeing happen?

David: Well, we’re seeing a couple of different things. And Kathy probably sees some other things that I am not necessarily exposed to. But locally there’s been a lot of interest. And I have been hearing from individual pastors, for the most part in the Northwest, but in other parts of the country as well. And people are beginning to become aware and talk about Love Beyond Borders and getting their own churches onboard. For example, I received a wonderful note from a pastor of a Methodist Church in Cleveland and saying that at their Christmas offering their church got behind us and gave their entire Christmas offering to support this initiative. And I’m getting emails from other pastors saying our church is talking about this. Tell us how we can participate and what we can do. And I see that increasing. In terms of raising funds, I think the Christmas response, which is still being counted, is going to be significant. And on a larger national level together with UNICEF we’re also reaching out to other faith groups. And so we have participation from Buddhist groups, from Muslim groups. Early on we were partnered with both Mennonite Conference. So there are other groups that are picking this up and beginning to work together with us.

Crystal:  Kathy, do you have some information on how the vaccine distributions are going as far as in other countries where the access just has been very limited and even existing.

Kathy: Crystal, I don’t have anything specific to tell you. I can say that I saw the other day that the Democratic Republic of Congo is 0.5% immunized in the population. And it’s a huge country with a very large population, but that’s scary. And I do know that UNICEF in the Covax partnership, they’re focusing on Africa at this time and last year they had hopes to deliver… Let me just see here. …2 billion doses of vaccine, which is a lot of vaccine. It is ramping up. Countries are receiving more vaccine, but we need to…. Please pray for us as every country works on this. You can have as much vaccine as you like, but if the sites aren’t set up, if the logistics aren’t set up and if the community does not believe that it is necessary or that it is evil then the vaccine is going to expire and be wasted. And that’s a very real situation. And so we’re working on multiple concerns at a time, asking perhaps…. You know, using the video of bishops being immunized and giving messages that this is something good. Asking bishops to speak to their clergy, asking clergy to speak to their congregations, asking women’s groups to speak to their networks, all to overcome hesitancy, but also finding ways that people can travel to vaccine sites.

Crystal:  As I hear you talking about this, it feels big It almost feels like this is just too much. And yet, David, I’m going give you a chance to talk about this book that you’ve written. The title is Creating Shared Resilience: The Role of the Church in a Hopeful Future. And I love that resilience piece. We’re going to need to be resilient here, aren’t we?

David: Well, absolutely. And interestingly the book was published just at the start of the pandemic. And so we hadn’t anticipated how relevant it was gonna become in a very short time. It comes out of the work that I did in a number of the poorer countries where it was just very obviously that the health ??? of the community was directly related to the extent in which people brought down barriers in the communities so that they could work together, that they could recognize and share from those who were in need, respond to them, care for them. And the role of the church in creating that kind of environment. In the work that I did one of the things I often fought against was the idea of a local church network just being an extension of the work being done by the government or by the NGO. Churches really have a unique role in the community and it’s an important and necessary role where you’re reaching out across the barriers that often exist in a community and being able to communicate across those lines and respond with compassion to all people in the community. And the church has an important role in creating that kind of environment. And, as a direct connection to that and how communities are impacted in a disaster and their ability to cope with and recover from that disaster. And that was a variety of research that makes it very clear how connected that is. So it was coming out of that background and the work that I was doing with WEA that led to my colleague Josh Ayers and I writing the book about the role of the church and how it really is not only distinct, but it’s essential if we’re going to create healthy communities.

Crystal:  Kathy, I know your work with GBGM, the General Board of Global Ministries, the resiliency that you’ve seen the church exhibit…the people of the church exhibit time and time again. How do we feel hopeful here?

Kathy: I think that we are seeking to serve people who are determined to come through it. And we learn from that determination. It’s a mutual learning process. But, as David said, we need to keep more than a silo-ed view here. Let me just emphasize what he was saying, and from our own observation. Tuberculosis, HIV, malaria, they’re on the rise because so many resources have gone into Covid and people have been afraid. There have been lockdowns. Maternal, newborn and child health services, women are still having babies and still need help. There are still health crises. There are still conflicts going on where people have traumatic injuries. These are still necessary, but have been impacted by Covid. There’s more food insecurity. There’s more malnutrition. Children haven’t been able to go to school. So everything is impacted. And so in our work we’re talking about, yes, Covid on its own, but always Covid integrated. And what can we do about Covid integrated? So this is a very long story, not just a story for today, but in the days to come. And for many people that we work with who earn $2 and less a day, this is not a story for 15 years. This is how can we eat today? But somehow they teach us to carry on, and are looking to us as their partners, to America as their partner, and people that they’ve looked to for a long, long time to stand with them.

David: If I could share a quick example, building on what Kathy was just saying…. One of the ministries that I have had the privilege of supporting is also in The Congo, in the Northeast. And there’s a wonderful ministry where a group of churches came together to find and rescue street children. And they bring them into an orphanage where they have housing, food and education. But they don’t operate as an orphanage. They operate as a family reunification program. And then once they find a child and get the child off the street, then the church network goes looking for their families because so often, with all the violence in The Congo, families are broken apart. And there are many children living on the street who just can’t find their parents and other relatives. And that ministry has been devastated by the pandemic because churches have had to lock down. And so they no longer have the individual resources to support this, and now this ministry for street children is having to turn children away because they simply can’t feed them. And there are so many stories like that of the ramifications of this pandemic have caused so many different kinds of ??? ministries. And so it’s stories like that that I think really emphasize the importance of us reaching out to countries like Congo, helping them to get vaccinated and bring this pandemic to an end.

Kathy: Crystal, I’d like to add another thought. We’ve been talking mainly about Love Beyond Borders being advocacy awareness and also giving from the developed world to countries that haven’t had…don’t have this access. But I’d like to say that as United Methodists here and in other developed countries, there’s a chance, as David again said, about awareness. But there’s also a huge chance for this huge opportunity for this wonderful discipline we have of praying for each other. And that’s praying for our people around the world. But also, praying and being aware of communities in the United States that also have issues with access or have issues and hesitancy about the vaccine. There are hundreds of thousands of people in the United States whom I respect, but who haven’t access or haven’t the desire for immunization. So support, prayer and spreading the awareness in this country is also terribly important. And we can begin without having a hammer but a care for people in our own community for discerning, for knowing, for understanding and offering to help here and away.

Crystal: You both work so tirelessly on behalf of The United Methodist Church, on behalf of just humanity, really. I’m going to ask you a question that we ask all of our guests on Get Your Spirit in Shape. How do you keep your own spirt in shape?

David: Well, for me I think it’s a couple of things. On one level, it’s my own family and having support from my own family. But in terms of my spiritual connection, I have the privilege of living in an area where it’s very easy to get connected to some really wonderful aspects of nature. So camping, hiking and I’ve more recently got into night sky photography. And I live in an area which is a dark sky area. And that means it’s an area…it’s about 3 hours north of Boise, but it’s recognized by the United Nations as a dark sky zone, which means there’s very little light pollution. And you get out into those mountains. And in the middle of a clear night the Milky Way just jumps out at you. And it’s probably where I feel closest to creation and really re-experience that sense of wonder at what God has created.

Kathy: Crystal, you don’t want an hour long…. I think I can say two things. One, life is so busy and so I find resourcing in being still—being still in prayer, being still in reading Scripture, but the importance of quieting, of stilling my spirit and my thoughts so that I can breathe and receive. But the other part, like David, is that I have a wonderful family. They are…my husband is with me here in Atlanta, but we have family in Pennsylvania and family in England and family in South Africa. I mean, we are spread out, but that doesn’t stop the support. And it’s wonderful. And my team at Global Ministries and Global Ministries itself has become a rock and a trusted place that I deeply appreciate.

Crystal: Thank you for sharing that. Thank you both for being here today. You know, I’m really inspired by you. Kathy, I’ve known your work for a long time. And David, I’m just so happy to have met you and hear about not only what you’re doing now but what you have done. It’s so important. And I appreciate that we all have a chance to step into the initiative and be a part of it. And that’s really what we’re called to be as followers of Jesus and as part of The United Methodist Church. So thank you for leading the way on that. And I hope you guys have a great rest of the day. Thanks so much.

David: Well, thank you, Crystal. And thank you for the opportunity for us to share.

Kathy: And we share our appreciation and that no one can do it alone. We need each other. Thank you so much.

Crystal: That was Dr. David Boan, a member at First United Methodist Church in Boise, Idaho, and Kathleen Griffith a veteran Global Health leader with the General Board of Global Ministries discussing Love Beyond Borders, an equitable vaccine distribution campaign. To learn more about Love Beyond Borders and how you can be a part of this important work, go to UMC.org/podcasts and look for this episode. In addition to the helpful links and transcript of our conversation you’ll find email address so you can talk with me about Get Your Spirit in Shape. Thank you so much for joining us for today’s episode of Get Your Spirit in Shape. I look forward to the next time that we’re together. I’m Crystal Caviness.

The post Making vaccines available for all appeared first on Global Ministries.

Since the early months of 2020, the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) have followed a broad, proactive course in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, reflective of the international guidelines for nonprofit participation in the effort to control and overcome the disease and in line with established denominational policy on the alleviation of suffering. Guiding us always is the key United Methodist value of “doing no harm.” 

Global Ministries response through the “Sheltering in Love” Advance and other sources of funding have, to date, enabled the release of over 340 grants totaling $4.5 million to more than 300 partners in 57 countries. These funds provided educational resources about COVID-19 prevention and dismantling vaccine myths, food relief to communities deeply affected by job losses and purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), respirators and hospital equipment, among other needs related to combatting the virus. Regionally, we have spent $1.5 million in the United States, $1 million in Africa and several hundreds of thousands in other regions of the world.

“Love Beyond Borders,” launched in October 2021, is our participation in the interfaith movement to assure the equitable distribution of vaccines worldwide. This campaign (represented by Advance #3022671) was inspired by First UMC, Boise, Idaho, and is part of the effort of the international COVAX Alliance to assure that low and middle-income countries receive their fair amount of vaccines. The COVAX Alliance is comprised by the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and UNICEF as the key implementing agency. To date, United Methodists have contributed about $250,000 to this effort and UNICEF has distributed close to a billion vaccines and anticipates distributing 4.1 billion in 2022. We are an integral part of the largest and most complex vaccination campaign in history. Advocacy for vaccine equity is critical and this has also been emphasized by the Council of Bishops of the UMC and the Connectional Table. Advocacy and education are the two keys areas that can positively impact the global distribution of the vaccine.

The elimination of the coronavirus is a daunting task and can only be done with governmental and other partnerships. Logistical challenges are among the greatest barriers to immunization. Vaccines must be legally purchased, safely transported and stored under certain conditions before being administered.

Global Ministries is not in a position to do this as it is usually the responsibility of governments and partners like UNICEF. Moreover, to be effective in addressing the pandemic, vaccinations need to be administered to family or community groups simultaneously. This remains Global Ministries’ primary goal for its participation in the COVAX campaign: to effectively and equitably respond to the pandemic in ways that alleviate suffering for entire communities.

All our COVID-19 related response reflects our established policy of the alleviation of suffering without regard to religion, race or national origin. This was a founding principle of UMCOR in 1940 and remains our bedrock foundation today. Our disaster response and health ministries are not and never have been by Methodists solely for Methodists. They are expressions of the love of God in Christ for all God’s children, our neighbors. This theology of inclusion has particular relevancy in regard to proposals to target particular populations with denominational affiliation or specific denominational roles for preferential vaccination.

Along with our active role in the COVAX campaign, our efforts and resources are best devoted to our ongoing program, Health Systems Strengthening, which works with multiple United Methodist health facility networks, primarily in Africa, to establish necessary triage and handwashing stations and supply PPE as well as continuing other essential health programs. Some of our facilities have been selected as vaccine sites and we will continue to support them in this role.

Chief among concerns is the preparation of communities to understand the importance of vaccines to stop the spread of COVID-19. Our annual conference health boards in Africa are actively engaged in work to dismantle myths about the disease and vaccine. One of our major roles is to prepare health workers to advocate within their own countries for the vaccine and to help health facilities meet government criteria to become vaccine sites, in partnership with health ministries.

We urge all United Methodists to join us in this life-giving mission – to support and advocate for the equitable distribution of vaccine and to equip personnel and facilities in the safe vaccination of communities. We ask for prayer, that God will guide us in the ways of compassion, generosity, equity and hope for deliverance from all suffering.

Roland Fernandes
General Secretary
General Board of Global Ministries and
The United Methodist Committee on Relief

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When COVID-19 cases skyrocketed in South Asia, support made it possible for partners to mobilize, prevent and treat the virus in their local communities.

By Dan Curran
November 12, 2021 | ATLANTA

Currently, less than 10% of the world outside the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Since the start of the crisis, improving global access to coronavirus prevention and treatment has been a top priority for United Methodists. As the mission agency of The United Methodist Church, Global Ministries, with the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), has been supporting efforts around the world to improve local access to health care, especially in areas that have been particularly hard-hit by the coronavirus.

During the spring and summer of 2021, Global Ministries and UMCOR provided grants to partner organizations in the South Asia nations of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. The grants were targeted to areas where the effects of a rapidly growing surge in coronavirus cases wreaked havoc on health-care systems already stretched thin.

In India, access to hospitals and health care can be complicated by many issues, and this was especially evident during the worsening wave of the pandemic beginning in April.

At the Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India, substantial grants funded procurement and mobilization of essential medical equipment, medications and supplies. This enabled CMC to expand its ability to provide COVID-19 treatment, including increasing intensive care capacity by a remarkable 15 to 20%. Global Ministries also helped to support CMC’s “Vaccinate Vellore” campaign, a program that provided vaccines to thousands of marginalized individuals across all age groups.

In the Hyderabad Regional Conference of India, the Methodist Church of India (MCI) established a fully equipped COVID-19 isolation center on its Methodist Boys’ School campus. With support from Global Ministries, MCI purchased an ambulance to collect and transfer patients to the facility, thereby improving essential local access to health care.

Other grants awarded to partners in the country, such as the Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), funded the distribution of COVID-19 protection hygiene kits, public education campaigns and unconditional cash transfers.

Off the coast of India on the island nation of Sri Lanka, the pandemic worsened in May. Partner organizations Lanka Evangelical Alliance Development Service (LEADS) and Association of Mobilizing Community Resources received assistance to get food and hygiene items to low-income families in quarantine and lockdown, as well as personal protection equipment (PPE) to government responders.

Bangladesh has had more than a million cases of COVID-19. While the country has made significant progress in its poverty reduction and food security efforts over the last decades, the pandemic has threatened to undue this progress.

To bolster local food security, UMCOR awarded a grant in July to the Bangladesh Methodist Church (BMC) that was used to provide vulnerable households in Dhaka with food and hygiene kits. This support made it possible for the BMC to help meet the basic human needs of these families suffering because of COVID-19 lockdowns.

In Nepal’s Lumbini province, United Mission Hospital Tansen (UMN MDT) reported record-high maternity statistics for the year just ending – 2,557 deliveries – because government birthing centers were closed as a result of COVID-19. Women were unable to access safe delivery services anywhere else. The hospital’s Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) project gave women the information they needed to come to Tansen for help, thanks to Global Ministries funding.

In Raksingrang, Nepal, an UMCOR grant to partner Sangyukta Methodist Mandali Ko Biswabyapi Sewakai in August ensured the delivery of food rations and hygiene kits to vulnerable households. The public health crisis and lockdowns were particularly hard on daily wage earners who were unable to provide for their families.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic persists in its continuous mutations and spread. Global Ministries and UMCOR remain committed to supporting partners and working to reduce the spread of the disease.

In October, Global Ministries supported a new Advance project initiated by First UMC in Boise, Idaho. One hundred percent of funds donated to “Love Beyond Borders: The Interfaith Movement to End the Pandemic” (Advance #3022671) will support UNICEF’s global effort in distributing safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines around the world.

“Since the start of the humanitarian crisis, Global Ministries and UMCOR have responded with health boards, medical professionals, disaster management coordinators and faith leaders to help, as comprehensively as possible, manage the crisis and strengthen existing work,” said Roland Fernandes, general secretary of Global Ministries and UMCOR. “It has been said that no one is safe until everyone is safe. Helping to fund the equitable distribution of vaccines through this Advance will help United Methodists play a key role in efforts to make that a global reality.”

Dan Curran is a consultant for Global Ministries and UMCOR.

Make a gift to Advance #3021770 to support the fight against COVID-19 around the world.

The post Global Ministries support helps South Asia partners prevent and treat COVID-19 appeared first on Global Ministries.

October 18, 2021 | ATLANTA

Media Contact:

Dan Curran for Global Ministries/UMCOR
770-658-9586
DanCurran@CurranPR.com

Global Ministries is launching a new initiative and joining interfaith partners in an effort to increase the equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine around the world. Funds donated to a new Advance giving project will support “Love Beyond Borders: The Interfaith Movement to End the Pandemic” campaign supporting UNICEF’s global vaccine distribution efforts.

Proposed to Global Ministries by First United Methodist Church of Boise, Idaho’s, missions team, “Love Beyond Borders: The Interfaith Movement to End the Pandemic” seeks to engage The United Methodist Church in supporting UNICEF’s global COVID-19 response, including distributing safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility, diagnostics and treatments.

Through this initiative, members of The United Methodist Church will contribute to UNICEF’s historic efforts in leading the procurement and supply of 1.4 billion COVID-19 vaccines to approximately 196 participating COVAX countries and economies by the end of 2021. For just $37 dollars, members can help provide 10 people with two doses of the vaccine. Global Ministries has created Advance #3022671 for this effort to ensure that 100% of donations go directly to UNICEF USA for this project.

“Since the start of the humanitarian crisis, Global Ministries and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) have responded with health boards, medical professionals, disaster management coordinators and faith leaders to help, as comprehensively as possible, manage the crisis and strengthen existing work,” said Roland Fernandes, general secretary of Global Ministries and UMCOR. “It has been said that no one is safe until everyone is safe. Helping to fund the equitable distribution of vaccines through this Advance will help United Methodists play a key role in efforts to make that a global reality.”

“United Methodists in the Northwest have been saving lives by fighting COVID-19 for more than a year. Our people and churches have made this a priority by masking, keeping distance, meeting immediate needs for food, shelter and community, suspending in-person worship, singing and communion, welcoming and encouraging vaccination,” said Bishop Elaine J.W. Stanovsky, episcopal leader serving the Greater Northwest Area of The United Methodist Church. “But it was hard to know how to extend our love of Christ and one another beyond local communities to neighbors around the world. ‘Love Beyond Borders’ is a grassroots campaign, envisioned by one member of one church in the Oregon-Idaho Conference. Now, as an Advance project within The United Methodist Church, working with interfaith partners and UNICEF USA, it offers a beautiful way to protect and save lives around the world.” 

The coronavirus pandemic continues to have severe consequences, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable populations. Accelerating the rate at which all people are vaccinated is the key to ending the pandemic, alleviating suffering and stopping deaths.

Global Ministries and UMCOR have supported partners in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North America as they work to respond to the pandemic and its impacts. Grants have been awarded for personal protective and essential medical equipment; cleaning solution, soap and handwashing stations; assistance with salaries, livelihoods, food, rent and utilities; awareness and training in COVID-19 prevention; and vaccine promotion.

Activities with partners and communities have included training and grants, directed and administered through Global Ministries’ Global Health program.

In July, as part of the Interfaith Vigil for Global COVID-19 Vaccine Access, Global Ministries urged President Biden to share COVID-19 vaccine stockpiles and advocated for equitable global distribution of vaccines. He has pledged 500 million vaccine doses to the world’s lowest income nations, but far more will be needed to stop the spread of this deadly illness.

At its August meeting, the Connectional Table, a United Methodist leadership body, took an action affirming the importance of equitable COVID-19 vaccine distributions.

According to research from Northeastern University, 61% of deaths globally could be averted if an effective vaccine were distributed to all countries proportional to their populations. While many wealthy countries have made significant inroads into vaccinating their citizens, this is not the case in less-developed countries. The Love Beyond Borders campaign will support COVAX’s initiative to equitably distribute vaccines around the world.

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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 more than 200 missionaries in over 60 countries, including the United States. It has personnel, projects, and partners in 115 countries. Founded in 1940, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is the global humanitarian relief agency of The United Methodist Church and is a part of Global Ministries. Learn more about Global Ministries by visiting www.umcmission.org or by following www.facebook.com/GlobalMinistries and Twitter.com/UMCmission.

The post New Advance open to support the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines appeared first on Global Ministries.

A new program in Phnom Penh helps people stay out of human trafficking networks.

By Christie R. House and Patrick Booth 
June 10, 2021 | PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 

Patrick Booth learned about interdependence at a young age. When circumstances changed for his family, his mother, who had been a stay-at-home mom for 15 years, went back to work to support her three children. The job she found didn’t pay enough to meet their needs, so she worked two jobs. It took a few years for her to stabilize their finances. 

Booth remembers what it was like to become a latch-key kid overnight and the loss of things they once had. But mostly, he remembers how the church community eased the family’s burden. 

“I remember going to CCA (Christian Community Action) for food and the church stepping in. One church member gave a check for rent, another paid for gas. The congregation chipped in and helped us. I’ve always wanted to give back and help others,” Booth explained. 

He participated in the church’s local youth mission trips. Booth obtained an associate degree in substance abuse counseling and an associate certificate in mental health and substance abuse prevention. He continued his education to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology and began counseling in downtown Dallas. A third of his initial clients were homeless. After a few years, he returned to Lewisville, his home town, to open a private counseling practice with a partner. Their clients were primarily people on probation. 

After four years, their practice grew to include four locations, 17 employees and $375,000 in annual gross revenue. Booth continued to participate in volunteer mission trips, including some international trips. In 2014, he sold his half of the business to his partner, which freed up his time for more travel and volunteer work. In 2020, he was commissioned to serve as a missionary with Global Ministries in Cambodia. 

Booth is in Phnom Penh to help the Cambodia Mission Initiative launch a nonprofit called Advancing Resilient Khmer (ARK), with a goal to keep people out of human trafficking networks. He explained that there are many kinds of human trafficking, and often, trafficking involves a pattern of wage theft and overwhelming debt accumulation, whether the trafficking involves sexual exploitation or labor exploitation. Though some are kidnapped and literally locked up, more commonly, a deliberate system of predatory debt and wage bondage keeps them in the trafficking system even after they leave a job. 

“Someone comes in from the outside and says he’ll pay 10 times what you are making if you give six months of your life while you work on his project,” Booth said. “Half the men in town sign on. After being transported to the job site, workers are charged for that transportation. They charge you for room and board. At the end of the day, they pay you $4 a day so that you can owe them $5. If you quit the job, you still owe the money. In our view, that is what modern slavery looks like.” 

The Cambodia Mission Initiative and the Global Ministries Asia Pacific Regional Office surveyed nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in the field of human trafficking in Cambodia and discovered that once people are extracted from a trafficking situation, they have a 90% chance of falling back into it because of excessive debt. They also determined that an overwhelming majority of helping agencies focus their efforts on supporting women and children, so the first participants in Project ARK are underserved men; they plan to expand to all populations in the future. 

Plans for ARK changed as the coronavirus pandemic and government restrictions affected the economic landscape. Currently, Booth and his Cambodian coworkers are focusing on a “Business as Mission” model. They bid for construction jobs and hire a crew of skilled workers. Men that enter the program as clients work alongside the crew and learn from them. 

Another aspect of ARK is a communal living situation that provides time for learning, group discussion and instruction on work, living, finance and business management. The dorms and meeting space are up and running. 

Booth said: “If they remain with us for the full 18 months, we provide them with everything they need to set up shop on their own. That’s our end goal for every participant, but the minimum that we want for everyone is the ability to earn a livable wage.” 

By Patrick Booth 

Rati is 35 years old. He is from Kamput province. He traveled 150 km to Phnom Penh to search for work to provide for his wife and three-year-old boy. He has many years of experience working with electricity in the construction field but many problems with employers. 

For two years, he worked far away from his family in Sihanoukville, traveling back home to see his wife and child only once or twice each year. The construction sites promised to pay workers during COVID lock-downs but four months went by without a single dime for the hired workers. Rati had no choice but to leave Sihanoukville without his pay to search for better opportunities. 

He found a job building a wall along the riverbank in Phnom Penh. This government district contract seemed promising. However, the local community living along the river resisted. They came at night and physically destroyed the construction progress the crew made during the day. The district blamed the crew for lack of progress and refused to pay the workers. In the last year alone, Rati has worked nearly five months with various employers who promised to pay him and then refused to do so after his work was completed. 

To further complicate matters, Rati borrowed money from a money lender to pay for medical treatments for his mother. She eventually died, but not before he had borrowed a considerable amount. He has wisely refinanced his debt with a bank. His interest rate with the bank (1.5%/month) is considerably lower than the original interest rate with the money lender (10%/week). 

At Project ARK, Rati is able to spend his days working toward a better future. He learns a variety of skills, such as air conditioning maintenance, concrete structuring, plumbing, tiling and brick laying. Furthermore, he shares his knowledge and understanding of electrical work with others. He also has the opportunity to grow personally and spiritually through routine encouragement with personal mentors. 

When asked what Rati hopes to gain through his cooperation and work with our program, he replied, “I want to learn more skills so that I will be able to work different jobs that are available. I want to share my skills and understanding with other people.” 

This is what we want for you, too, Rati. So, we will work every day to give you that opportunity. 

For more information about Project Ark, visit https://umccambodia.org/ark/. A gift to the Cambodia Mission Initiative, designated for ARK, will help support this important work. 

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR. Patrick Booth (Advance #3022599) is a missionary with Project ARK in Phnom Penh.

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For Release: IMMEDIATE 

Media Contact: Dan Curran for UMCOR – 770-658-9586 (cell) – DanCurran@CurranPR.com

Seeking to help the global community as the world responds to the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 8,350 people recently donated $1.7 million to the Sheltering in Love campaign coordinated by the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) of United Methodist Global Ministries.

Thanks to donations to the Sheltering in Love campaign and other funding from Global Ministries, a total of $2,329,785 through 230 grants to 43 countries and 43 U.S. states and territories has been awarded in support of 105 local churches, 54 episcopal areas and 52 nonprofit organizations.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief established the fund to provide rapid response grants to help churches and partners assist vulnerable populations dealing with pressing needs related to the pandemic, such as food security, healthcare, job stability and water, sanitation and hygiene.

Examples of Sheltering in Love grants include:

• in Alaska, stranded fishing industry employees in Unalaska, 800 miles from the nearest hospital in Anchorage, were given access to a Saturday/Sunday day shelter by Unalaska United Methodist Church, which offered showers, laundry facilities, meals, utilities and limited assistance with travel and planning.
  
• in Alabama, seasonal workers and resort industry personnel who lost their jobs or businesses received funds through Gulf Shores United Methodist Church to pay for utilities, childcare and other basic needs. in California, the Gum Moon Residence Hall of San Francisco provided groceries and rent to low-income Asian women who lost their jobs or had their income reduced because of the pandemic.
  
• in Texas, the Good Neighbor Settlement House of Brownsville, the sole food pantry open in the area during the height of the pandemic, was able to provide for the unhoused population, unemployed families, furloughed restaurant workers and people who have suffered layoffs. The grant covered purchasing food, disposable carry-out and cleaning supplies needed to continue their program.
  
• in Nepal, 500 households in the Jukepani Rural Municipality of Nawalparasi District affected by the lockdown received groceries when a grant to Sanyukta Methodist Mandali Ko Biswabyapi Sewakai helped the residents of this marginalized area receive food that would give their immunity systems a needed boost. in Nigeria, for farmers, Fulani herdsmen and others displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency living in a displaced persons camp, a grant enabled the United Methodist Church of Nigeria Rural Health Program to provide rice, beans, magi, palm oil and groceries to 700 households.
  
• in Puerto Rico, where 45% of the population lives under the poverty level, a grant helped the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico provide food to families and personal protective equipment gear to first responders (volunteers) of local churches distributing food and supplies.
  
• in Eurasia, families who had lost all sources of income because of the pandemic were helped by The United Methodist Church in Eurasia (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan).

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused people to shelter in isolation, but we are all united in our desire to demonstrate God’s love for one another by supporting programs that help those impacted by the novel coronavirus,” said Thomas G. Kemper, general secretary of Global Ministries and a leader of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). “We appreciate the tremendous outpouring of support for this program and the ability to quickly distribute these funds to partners serving their local communities.”

Grants were rapidly released through the Sheltering in Love fund, enabling partners to assist vulnerable populations around the world impacted by COVID-19, including racial/ethnic and indigenous communities in the United States. You can continue to support the work of Global Ministries and UMCOR in its ongoing programmatic response to the coronavirus. 

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About the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)

Founded in 1940, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is the global humanitarian aid and development agency of The United Methodist Church. UMCOR is working in more than 80 countries worldwide, including the United States and its territories. Its mission, grounded in the teachings of Jesus, is to alleviate human suffering—whether caused by war, conflict or natural disaster— with open hearts and minds to all people. UMCOR responds to natural or civil disasters that are interruptions of such magnitude that they overwhelm a community’s ability to recover on its own. UMCOR works through programs that address hunger, poverty, sustainable agriculture, international and domestic emergencies, refugee and immigrant concerns, global health issues and transitional development. Learn more at www.UMCOR.org, www.Facebook.com/UMCOR and www.twitter.com/UMC_UMCOR.

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We worship a God whose character is equity and who intends the well-being of all people. Therefore, advocating for vaccine equity should be seen as a part of the mission of the Church. 

Bishop Joaquina Nhanala, Mozambique 

We, participants in the Global Consultation on Vaccine Equity held virtually on May 4, 2021 by the International Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges, and Universities (IAMSCU), the Ecumenical Consultation on Protocols for Worship, Fellowship, and Sacrament, Candler School of Theology at Emory University, and the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of The United Methodist Church, publicly declare our position regarding the need for a worldwide equitable distribution and accessibility of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

As educational, public health, and church leaders from diverse nations around the world, we reached consensus in support of a call for equitable, worldwide development of and access to vaccines and effective treatments for COVID-19. 

We affirm the sacredness of life demonstrated by Jesus Christ when he healed the sick and cleansed lepers, upheld by John Wesley in his dissemination of medical knowledge, supported by ecumenical initiatives espousing the integrity of life, and expressed in multiple religions through their cultural, theological, and liturgical traditions. 

We respect the crucial role of science and scientists in promoting the well-being of people worldwide, and we uphold the role of education in addressing the COVID-19 global crisis by seeking truth and countering falsehoods. 

We acknowledge the challenges of promoting public health in many countries where systems are broken, hospitals are overrun, and socio-economic disparities are coupled with fear of the unknown. We understand health care as a fundamental human right, including vaccine accessibility to combat diseases affecting millions of people worldwide, and we recognize that we continue to be at risk from mutations of COVID-19 until all people are vaccinated. 

We applaud and support visionary leaders, healthcare professionals, and essential workers who maintain accessibility to health care, information, food, and safe shelter during this pandemic. 

Finally, we recognize IAMSCU as a vibrant international network of educational institutions in the Wesleyan and Methodist traditions that represents a diversity of regions, languages and cultures, and that connects us in a common purpose of preparing our communities and societies for the future. 

On behalf of a global network of more than one thousand institutions related to the International Association of Methodist-related Schools, Colleges, and Universities (IAMSCU) in eighty countries and five continents and in partnership with the Methodist network of disaster response and health clinics, we resolve to provide key resources, including reliable scientific information, and to expedite equitable distribution and accessibility of the COVID-19 vaccine worldwide. 

Understanding health care, vaccine equity, and abundant life to be fundamental human rights for human flourishing worldwide, we commit ourselves to the following actions: 

• To engage educational institutions, churches, and communities in educating people about the human right to health, the ethics of accessibility to healthcare, and the equity of vaccination processes in their local communities and around the world; 

• To acknowledge and respect contextual differences, including cultural, ethnic, and linguistic diversity as well as social and economic conditions as we chart constructive ways to contribute to vaccine equity; 

• To challenge governments, businesses, and media outlets to respond to the social needs of their communities and to take actions that will promote wellbeing, address economic stress, and generate social improvement of all people, especially in impoverished and vulnerable communities; 

• To call upon governments, pharmaceutical companies, institutions, and citizens of the world’s major economies to share knowledge, release patents, facilitate production processes, distribute vaccines, and work cooperatively with other nations on creative solutions to logistical, political, administrative, and diplomatic obstacles to global vaccine equity; 

• To urge political, economic, religious and philanthropic leaders to take immediate actions concerning donations, resource-sharing, information exchange, and other initiatives necessary to overcome this global health crisis; 

• To combat disinformation by educating people about COVID-19 and its variants, promoting global vaccine equity, and working in partnership with relevant institutions in these activities; and 

• To join with other organizations and people of good will in enhancing the common good by promoting these actions for the sake of human flourishing. 

A global pandemic crisis calls for global action and a high degree of trust and collaboration among governments and among international leaders of religious, philanthropic, educational, and public health communities. As institutions and organizations in the Wesleyan and Methodist traditions, we will support vaccination programs and public health education in the various locations where our expertise, trusted relationships, and resources are already established. We will leverage our influence by bringing our global partners to the task and by supporting our educational institutions and health facilities in their implementation of the actions called for in this Declaration. 

Dr. Thomas V. Wolfe, President of Iliff School of Theology and IAMSCU President, United States of America 

Bishop Joaquina Nhanala, Resident Bishop, Mozambique/South Africa 

Bishop Rosemarie Wenner, World Methodist Council, Geneva Secretary, Germany 

Bishop James Swanson, Global Education Task Force, UMC Council of Bishops, United States of America 

Dr. Joshua San Pedro, Co-Convener, Coalition for People’s Right to Health, Philippines 

Dr. Emmanuel Kodjo Niamkey, Professor, School of Medicine, Cote d’Ivoire 

Dr. Stephen Hendricks, Dean, School of Public Health, Sefako Makgatho University, South Africa 

Dr. James Hildreth, President, Meharry Medical College, United States of America 

Dr. Diana Sanchez-Bushong, Director, Discipleship Ministries, Music Ministries, United States of America 

Dr. Young Min Paik, Professor, Yonsei University, South Korea 

Dr. Amos Nascimento, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and IAMSCU Secretary, United States of America / Brazil 

Dr. L. Edward Phillips, Convener, Ecumenical Consultation on Protocols for Worship, Fellowship, and Sacrament, Associate Professor, Candler School of Theology, United States of America 

Dr. Gerald Lord, Consultant, IAMSCU Board of Directors, USA 

Dr. Jamisse Taimo, Member, IAMSCU Board of Directors, Mozambique 

Dr. Connie Semy Mella, Dean, Union Theological School, Philippine

The post Declaration on global vaccine equity appeared first on Global Ministries.

Global Ministries and UMCOR continue to work with partners in India and other countries to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 and treat patients who contract the virus.

Additional grants have been approved for “Vaccinate Vellore,” a project of Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, and to the Hyderabad Annual Conference of the Methodist Church of India to purchase an ambulance to transport those who are ill to an isolation center established by the church.

Partners in Sri Lanka and Nepal are receiving funds for information campaigns, PPE and the support of vulnerable children and others in lockdown.

Health boards in the Burundi, Central Congo, Mozambique, North Katanga, South Congo and Zimbabwe Episcopal Areas are receiving funds to assist their relief efforts.

One thousand households in Syria are receiving hygiene kits. Villagers in Uganda are being provided with small farming tools and education about sustainable farming practices to reduce food insecurity in a poor area further harmed by COVID-19. And Grace Children’s Hospital in Haiti has received funds to purchase PPE.

Others are invited to join these critical humanitarian relief efforts with gifts to the UMCOR COVID-19 Response Fund (Advance #3022612). Gifts can be made online here or sent by mail to Global Ministries/UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068 (“Advance #3022612” should be written on the memo line).

May 20, 2021 | ATLANTA

To date, support in the amount of $110,000 each has been given to the partners in India noted below, Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, and Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA). These grants will allow for the purchase of medical equipment to treat COVID-19 patients and provide relief to those who have lost income due to the pandemic.

Global Ministries and UMCOR are working with partners in the surrounding region, identifying additional ways to assist in the COVID-19 response.

April 30, 2021 | ATLANTA

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected health systems globally, crippling service delivery in both high- and low-resource countries. However, the effects on already weakened health systems in the developing world have been far more devastating. In recent weeks, the COVID-19 case count – first in Brazil and now in India – has risen dramatically, stressing health systems as well as the supply of essential drugs and medical equipment.

Global Ministries and UMCOR are responding to the health crisis in India by supporting long-term Indian partners who are working on the ground in emergency humanitarian and health response. Support to Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, will allow the organization to cope with the direct health consequences of the pandemic. This includes the purchase of emergency medical equipment, beginning with bedside ventilators as they expand their capacity to treat COVID-19 patients at the behest of the government. Additional hospital beds are also being requested to increase capacity. CMC Vellore is a long-established and highly credible institution in the country. Additionally, UMCOR will support Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA) to respond to the humanitarian consequences of the pandemic through information campaigns, hygiene support and unconditional cash transfers to help people meet their basic human needs. CASA is one of the largest faith-based humanitarian organizations in the country representing all Protestant denominations, including the Methodist Church in India.

Through Global Health and Humanitarian Response efforts, UMCOR will continue to provide emergency aid when needed as countries face health and humanitarian crises associated with COVID-19, such as the one being faced in India. Additionally, UMCOR’s COVID-19 response will include ongoing support of essential health services throughout the UMC health network and support of communities affected by the burden of COVID-19.

To further address this crisis, Global Ministries will again promote its UMCOR COVID-19 Response Fund (Advance #3022612) to allow those throughout the church to share in this outreach. Gifts can be made online here at or sent by mail to Global Ministries/UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. (“Advance #3022612” should be written on the memo line.)

The post Global Ministries and UMCOR’s ongoing response to COVID-19 appeared first on Global Ministries.

By Christie R. House 

January 15, 2021 | ATLANTA

A few grants and strong connections opened UMC food pantries and kitchens in key underserved areas of New York during the pandemic.

When COVID-19 cases started to rise in New York City in March 2020, state and city restrictions effectively shut down the city, causing job losses for many people, with the highest rates of unemployment experienced by communities of color. Within weeks, paychecks ceased, savings evaporated and no jobs appeared on the horizon. As the need for food rose exponentially across the city, nearly 75% of food pantries closed, unable to meet the need. 

At the same time, churches saw rental income dry up overnight and congregational giving decrease. Yet, more people than ever needed food. Clergy and laity in the New York Annual Conference found themselves asking the same question the disciples asked of Jesus in Matthew 15:35. 

Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd? 

And so, as Jesus directed, they started their ministries with what they had, seven loaves and a few small fish. 

In June 2020, the New York Annual Conference received one of the COVID-19 Rapid Response grants from Global Ministries, the denomination’s mission agency. It was used for food ministries, and because efforts reached immigrant and ethnic-minority communities, where the gaps in service were the greatest, Global Ministries tapped funding from the Human Relations Day offering for this work and a second grant. 

The Human Relations Day offering is a denominationwide offering of The United Methodist Church taken the Sunday before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Gifts received for the offering support the Community Developers and United Methodist Voluntary Services programs as well as the Youth Offender Rehabilitation Program. In 2020, gifts also supported ministries that met urgent needs in racial/ethnic communities related to poverty, hunger and homelessness. 

In New York, Tom Vencuss, director for Missions and Disaster Response, set up twice-monthly conference calls in each district with congregations willing to step up and do what they could to open new food ministries. 

In addition to the UMCOR and Global Ministries grants, New York Conference contributed mission funds of its own. Support also came from the United Methodist New York City Society and the United Methodist Frontier Foundation. A few churches in the city had well-established food pantries that were still operating and increasing service: Bushwick UMC in Brooklyn; St. Paul and St. Andrew UMC and the Church of the Village UMC in Manhattan; and Salem UMC in Harlem, and all were willing to accompany pastors and congregations seeking to open new food ministries. Each of the churches below received a start-up grant for their pantries. 

The Rev. Wesley Daniel at Calvary UMC in the Bronx was compelled to action by what he saw on the streets. Calvary is a predominantly African American, Caribbean American congregation. “With pantries closing, people were roaming the streets to try to find food.” 

“We’d been trying to figure out how to partner in the community,” Daniel continued. “Fortunately – and unfortunately – COVID gave us an answer. We started by offering whatever we had in the church. Soon, we realized this work demanded more than we were able to offer.” 

Calvary contacted Grace Episcopal Church in the Bronx, which had an active food pantry. Grace was able to supply food boxes to Calvary on a weekly basis and gradually increased its distribution. 

“We started with distribution to 40 people. Now we serve 130-150 households, about 300-400 people every week,” Daniel said. 

Calvary connected with Salem UMC in Harlem for additional food boxes and later with Trader Joe’s. In addition, Calvary identified several families needing rent assistance, which the conference arranged to pay with funds from the Human Relations Day grant. 

“Volunteers are the backbone of the operation,” Daniel noted. “We have a church van and a church bus we converted for food hauling. We don’t foresee this ministry being finished anytime soon. It is such a necessity in this community, with its people of all nations.” 

In March, the Rev. Morais Quissico, pastor of St. Mark’s UMC in Brooklyn, was looking at a bleak forecast for the church’s 2020 income. No rentals, no offering plates, and he was concentrating energy on how to transition to online services. His wife, Fatima, had other matters on her mind. 

“We were feeling pressure to respond to people losing jobs and becoming hopeless,” Quissico remembered. “Fatima said, ‘we will have to start a food pantry.’ Where would we get money to feed people? But to her it was obvious – long lines of people were waiting for food at the few churches offering help. We prayed about it every day.” 

St. Mark’s is part of the Brooklyn cooperative parish started by the New York Conference last year. During their Thursday online meetings, the churches lend support and advice to one another. Rev. Sharon Cundy-Petgrave of the Bushwick parish UMC offered to provide food boxes and shared where and how they sourced food. 

St. Mark’s also connected with Evangel Church on Long Island City, an Assemblies of God congregation. In a program called Nine Million Reasons, the church receives surplus food as well as farm-fresh produce from the federal government for distribution. 

Today, St. Mark’s is feeding up to 1,200 people a week. In November, the church’s pantry was approved by the city as an Emergency Food Assistance Program. The New York City Society supported the renovation of a space in the church for food storage. 

St. Mark’s has a diverse congregation, with Caribbean, Asian, African American and African members. “All of the races we have in the city you’ll find in the food line, really, to our surprise,” noted Quissico. 

First United Methodist Church in Flushing, Queens, a predominantly Korean congregation with the Rev. Chongho James Kim as senior pastor, started outreach into the community by making a thousand cotton masks. Mina Yoo, the English language minister for the church, says that small act, distributing to senior home residences, nursing homes, and family shelters beyond the Korean community, sparked a good energy in the congregation. 

Members decided to share whatever they could to help day laborers with no work – one family bringing 100 bags of rice and another 100 frozen chickens to distribute 100 bags of food one day a week. Those first weeks they distributed food to about 50 Korean families, but also to 100 mostly Hispanic families in the community. Later, an influx of Chinese families lengthened the line. 

“We were staring out with our hearts and with willingness and lots of love from the congregation,” said Yoo. They had no prior experience with a food pantry. 

The Saturday food distribution started at 9 a.m., but within a few weeks, people were lining up as early as 6 a.m. to receive food. By mid-summer, the line formed at 3 a.m. 

First UMC continues to serve 250-300 people each week and has applied for an Emergency Food Assistance Pantry with the city. In addition, the congregation is dreaming of future projects, like a food coop that will not only supply fresh food but also job training and nutritional education for the whole community. 

First Spanish UMC in East Harlem was at first concerned for its own. “We were just trying to serve these three or four elders, and we ended up getting food from WSCAH (West Side Campaign Against Hunger) over with St. Paul and St. Andrew in Manhattan,” said the Rev. Dorlimar Lebrón Malavé, the pastor. 

Once the word got out that First Spanish, known in the community as “the people’s church,” had food, demand rose quickly. The congregation connected with the Church of the Village and then Evangel Church for food boxes. Today, First Spanish provides food for 400-450 households every week, or about 1200-1500 individuals. 

First Spanish follows a mutual aid model, in which people receiving services are given the opportunity to volunteer to offer those services to others. 

“We want to treat people in line with dignity and respect,” Lebrón noted. “We invite them and make them part of the ministry. We are literally serving and loving our neighbors as we serve people.” 

Even with the chaos of the COVID pandemic, Lebrón says God offered an opportunity to serve in new ways. “Now people ask when our doors will reopen because they want to come to worship. Our church is growing, not because of what we’ve said, but because of what community members have seen us do. One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that we already have enough to help those in need. Our problem is we try to work in isolation. But when we come together, we realize how much stronger we are and how much more we have to support our ministries.” 

The New York Conference aided the churches mentioned in this article and others, not just in New York City, but in rural districts of New York state and other cities across the conference. 

This Sunday’s (January 17) Human Relation’s Day offering will support ministries in multiethnic congregations and communities of color. Click here to give to this UMC Special Sunday offering. 

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

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