PANAMA CITY — “It is a large Methodist family that is gathered here today, with many members, each with our own personality,” said Roland Fernandes, general secretary for the general boards of Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry, addressing the 86 participants assembled for a mission consultation for Latin America and the Caribbean, held July 21-23 in Panama.

Bishops, pastors and laity from across the Methodist connection in Latin America, the Caribbean and several other countries discussed the future of mission collaboration and connectional relationships with Global Ministries, Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM), the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church (UMC), the Council of Evangelical Methodist Churches in Latin America and the Caribbean (CIEMAL), the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA), and other individual churches and mission partners. The full assembly of participants represented 40 partners across the region, including seven regional partners and seven pan-Methodist partners.  

“Just as a good family makes room for all and allows each one to share his or her gifts with the others, so Methodism in the Americas has room for each of us to contribute our own gifts to the mission of God,” said Fernandes.

Recognizing the diversity that has always characterized Methodism in the region, participants considered what they could do together, all offering what they can for the sake of God’s mission in Latin America and the Caribbean and beyond.

Pre-consultation conversations focused on eight themes: mission; youth and young adults; gender-based violence and child protection; education; climate justice and health; poverty and migration; financial accountability; and peacebuilding. These discussions laid the groundwork for continued dialogue at the consultation, where attendees explored ways to support faith formation among young people, promote justice, enhance regional communication and strengthen intergenerational leadership, among other topics.

“We needed and believed it was very important to be able to meet as a region and be able to identify strategies, identify important things for the development of the mission in our country and in Latin America,” said Bishop Pedro Araúz Valdéz of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Panama (IEMPA).

There was broad agreement that the strength of Methodist churches could be enhanced by fostering a regional presence and a connected infrastructure through dialogue and ecumenical cooperation. This could provide an opportunity to rethink the roles of regional organizations, such as CIEMAL and the Council of Bishops of CIEMAL.

The desire to better listen to and build relationships with partners has been a hallmark of Fernandes’ leadership since he became general secretary of Global Ministries in 2020 and Higher Education and Ministry in 2024. The agencies organized major mission consultations in Africa and the United States in 2023. “Having a consultation with mission partners in Latin America and the Caribbean seemed the next essential part of this process,” he said, as he expressed the agencies’ desire to learn from those in attendance. 

This consultation was the most expansive meeting of Methodist mission partners in the region in recent decades. Acknowledging that partnerships are shaped by the past, Fernandes recalled two key themes from a similar 2007 Panama meeting: 1) redefining and deepening connectionality to strengthen relationships and support the church’s mission and 2) fostering open communication.

Coming together as Methodists throughout the Americas fits with work that the Council of Bishops of the UMC has been doing through its Ecumenical Office to strengthen and renew relationships with the church’s autonomous affiliated sister churches. This work also aligns with a desire by CIEMAL to strengthen and renew relationships in the region following disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bishop Tracy Smith Malone, president of the UMC Council of Bishops, spoke of a new era emerging for the church. “God is calling us to grow and form disciples of Jesus Christ, to develop Christlike leaders, to stand in solidarity with the poor.” She spoke of Jesus’ call to bring good news of hope and salvation to a world yearning for God’s grace, mercy, love, compassion, justice and peace and to live humbly with the oppressed and marginalized.

Daily worship brought prayer, reflection and familiar hymns played with joyful Caribbean rhythms. Participants paused in reverence to honor those who had gone before them, lighting candles in memory of lives whose enduring light continues to illuminate the path forward.

Inspired by Luke 10:1, in which Jesus “…sent them on ahead in pairs to every city and place he was about to go,” participants discussed common challenges for their individual contexts and opportunities for greater collaboration among their respective churches.

“The task and mission of the church is to go beyond the four walls, to go where the need is, to seek out the man who is living, the woman who is experiencing moments of difficulty,” said Bishop Jorge Merino Riffo of the Methodist Church of Chile. “I believe that this is the task and the mission that the church in Latin America, the Methodist Church, must continue to fulfill, transforming itself into a space of hope amidst despair.”

Bishop Héctor A. Burgos-Núñez of the Upper New York and Susquehanna conferences of the UMC said, “This has been a time of building and strengthening relationships, learning together about our missional realities and beginning to dream together our next fateful steps.”

Bishop Lizzette Gabriel Montalvo of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico praised the active listening throughout the consultation, suggesting it must now be followed by concrete actions. “This is not just another meeting. This is a blessed moment that can be fruitful. I trust that in the near future we can return through connectionality as witnesses of God’s mission in all our contexts,” she said.

In closing remarks, Fernandes noted that listening and learning are key aspects of mutuality in mission. He offered thanks for the active dialogue and ideas exchanged throughout the consultation and committed to facilitating the next meeting follow-up, including soliciting feedback on the gathering and issuing a full report documenting key takeaways to serve as a blueprint for prioritization. “We have been called to this,” he said, referencing the disciples’ joyous return in Luke 10:17.

Fernandes thanked the event facilitators, staff organizers and hosts — Bishop Valdéz of IEMPA and Bishop Antonio Miguel Trottman Migar of the Panama/Costa Rica District of MCCA, as well as the support of Bishop Montalvo, president of the Council of Bishops of CIEMAL, Bishop Juan de Dios Peña as the president of the Executive Committee of CIEMAL, and Bishop Malone, president of the Council of Bishops of the UMC and all other distinguished bishops and church leaders in attendance and joining online. (Legal restrictions and visa challenges forced participants from Venezuela and Haiti to virtually attend the consultation and concurrent MCCA women’s meeting.)

During closing worship, an agape meal included the sharing of sweet milk and bread in the tradition of the early church. And as worship concluded, participants joined hands in friendship, celebrating the presence of God felt throughout the gathering, a presence that will continue to guide next steps.

Susan Clark is the chief communications officer for Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry.

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ATLANTA – Human Rights Watch reports that increasing violence has put the population of Haiti at grave risk. Gang violence, rising prices, falling income and below-normal rainfall that results in low agricultural production fuels the violence. Suffering is made worse when humanitarian aid can’t reach the communities that need it.

After the 2021 earthquake in Haiti, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) joined other humanitarian and faith-based organizations to increase relief efforts across the country. But today, only 10% of Port-au-Prince remains under government control, with criminal groups escalating attacks since late 2024. These groups have targeted key infrastructure, such as airports, seaports and roads, as well as state institutions, schools, health centers, media outlets, and residential and commercial areas.

“People no longer have a safe place to flee to,” an aid worker told Human Rights Watch. “Women who come here seeking help have not only lost loved ones, but have also been raped, displaced and left on the streets, starving and struggling to survive. We don’t know how much longer they can endure such suffering.”

In the face of these challenges, UMCOR has been working with Haitian partners that have capacity and ability to serve women, children and families. Providing health care and counseling for women, food and medical care for children and general food and shelter relief to families has become the focus for UMCOR’s grants in Haiti.

One way of getting health care and specifically, gynecological care for women, to the temporary places where they are sheltering is to meet them where they are using mobile clinics. Several partners have access to vehicles, staff and expertise to do this.

The Association for the Promotion of Haitian Family (Profamil) is a Haitian non-governmental organization dedicated to providing sexual and reproductive health services to women and adolescents. Places where displaced people shelter are typically schools, churches, and public spaces – none of which are designed for this purpose – yet they accommodate thousands of individuals.

“During our mobile clinics, we transport our equipment to these makeshift sites and set up our operations,” noted Profamil staff. “On one occasion, the room provided to us served as living quarters for 20 families. For the duration of the day, these families graciously moved their personal belongings to make space for us to establish our clinic in this room. We were able to provide medical consultations to over 100 women in a single day under these challenging conditions.”

REFKAD, an organization that brings together 30 women’s organizations in Haiti, received an UMCOR grant to organize community mobile clinics to assist women and girls who are survivors of sexual violence. It supplied medical staff, medicines, consultation and psychosocial support to women in shelters.

The Centre Hospitalier de Fontaine Foundation (CHFF), a Haitian nonprofit that helps underfunded schools and hospitals serving marginalized Haitian communities, supports health care, education, child protection and job creation services. CHFF hosted mobile clinics that visited K-9^th grade schools to provide health care for children and their families and school staff. CHFF also provided meals.

Négés Mawon, another Haitian nonprofit, received an UMCOR grant to improve the safehouse in Port au Prince that houses women, adolescents and children who are survivors of abuse. The grant was used to increase access to counseling and to make the residence more comfortable and functional for the residents.

The Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA) Haiti District has been a major emergency food distributor for several years now through ongoing and shifting disasters, including earthquakes, hurricanes, severe flooding, and now political and social unrest. MCCA Haiti, also knows as EMH, or the Methodist Church of Haiti, has an agreement with UMCOR to buy and distribute food throughout the 13 circuits (or districts) of the church across Haiti. These ongoing rations of rice, beans and cooking oil help to supplement many families’ food needs.

Other support for food programs includes Project St. Anne’s, which distributes similar food packets to families in Camp Perrin, in the western part of Haiti. In Dondon, south of Cap-Haitien, Organization for the Development Integral of Dondon (ODID), a grant helped to support cash assistance or food, medical supplies and school needs.

The Community Coalition of Haiti (CCH) has been working in Grand Sud and Port au Prince regions to provide emergency response and urgent activities to bring immediate relief to those most affected by the current crisis. Flexible cash grants provide help to vulnerable families in households that have doubled or even tripled in size because of people fleeing violence. In addition, educational institutions and parents seeking a way to help students in places where schools have been forced to close will receive resources and support to continue educational activities outside the classroom. Since Haiti is often struck by natural disasters, the coalition will also continue to work with communities on disaster response readiness, given that the government currently has no capacity to respond.

The humanitarian need in Haiti is so severe that UMCOR continues to explore new partnerships and granting possibilities, especially with Haitian nonprofits. Consultations with Global Ministries’ Global Health unit ensure that programs involving health care are reviewed and any guidance relayed to the partner.

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

UMCOR DISASTER RESPONSE

United Methodist Committee on Relief Disaster Response and Recovery serves as the primary channel for United Methodist assistance for disasters that strike both inside and outside of the United States.

Make a gift to help UMCOR provide for the basic needs of people and communities outside the U.S. affected by natural or humanmade disasters.

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ATLANTA – A family from Venezuela has just arrived in the city of Danlí in the south of Honduras and presented themselves to Honduran authorities. They have come a long way – through Colombia, into Central America through Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. But now, their 8-year-old son, who is with them, lies with his head on his father’s shoulder. He is unresponsive.

Fortunately, the United Methodist Mission in Honduras (UMMH) opened a clinic in Danlí two and half years ago and today, the Honduran migration officers notify the clinic when they encounter sick or injured migrants passing through. The clinic team arrived quickly to assess the boy’s health and agreed that he needed immediate medical attention…in a hospital. He was near death from severe dehydration, and the team convinced his parents to follow the advice. The specialized care saved his life.

In 2024, the Rev. Daniel Contreras, a new missionary assigned to UMMH, became the interim country director and he has confirmed that the small clinic served 10,000 patients last year. “The United Methodist Church in Honduras is committed to ministry with the poor and marginalized. Our health work started with a project for the elderly in Danlí, which then developed a fruitful partnership with the authorities. Sadly, the need for a clinic for migrants is greater now than it was before,” Contreras noted.

Others who are referred to the clinic, either by immigration officers or by word-of-mouth, receive direct care from the professional staff at the clinic. They see many cases of less severe dehydration, which they can treat, people with chronic diseases who have run short on their medications, malnutrition, respiratory problems, diarrhea, cold and flu, skin diseases, gastrointestinal infections, foot and leg injuries and wound infections. In most cases, migrants recover and continue their journeys, whatever their destinations may be.

The Government of Honduras promotes universal health coverage but lacks sufficient funding to cover its own citizens, much less the transient population. The city of Danlí has seen as many as 1,500 immigrants passing through each day. Migrants’ need for free, accessible primary health care is great and so the government has found ways to partner with the church’s ministry, such as providing consulting rooms and an ambulance.

The clinic is open eight hours a day, five days a week, and they see an average of 67 patients daily. The volume of patients has continued to increase, but there is uncertainty about whether the flow of migrants to the North will continue as a new U.S. Administration changes policy and procedures for immigrants at the U.S. border with Mexico.

Although the Methodist Church in Honduras is small, it has found ways to contribute important resources to local communities through its mission and ministry. Health care for passing migrants was a needed resource that church members and leaders in Danlí believed they could provide. With a series of grants (currently working on a phase 3 grant) from Global Ministries through Global Health and United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), and partnership with immigration officials, the primary health care clinic they envisioned has become a reality. In addition, the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, has a close relationship with the UMMH. Its support in 2024, the congregation’s third annual grant, helped to meet the clinic’s increased demand for services.

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

UMCOR and Global Migration

Learn more about migration ministry and programming through Global Ministries and UMCOR.

Global Health
Through United Methodist conferences and health boards, Global Ministries works to strengthen whole networks of health responses, from revitalization of facilities and staff training to building better water sources, developing sanitation facilities and promoting nutrition. Global Health concentrates on eradicating preventable diseases, such as malaria, HIV and AIDS, and COVID-19, and supporting the most vulnerable populations, including mothers, newborns and children.

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ATLANTA – 140 missionaries and staff gathered for a Town Hall Zoom meeting on Nov. 13, 2024, to talk with General Secretary Roland Fernandes and to celebrate milestone years of service for some missionaries and retirement for others. By the end of 2024, six missionaries at the gathering will be retiring from service in five different countries.

Fernandes affirmed Global Ministries’ rich history in sending missionaries over more than 200 years, and that they are all part of this legacy. “I want to remind all that this is not work that you do for Global Ministries or for The United Methodist Church, but work you do for God, and God has called each of you at this time in the place that you are. We live in hope knowing that God is with us and that we have the love of God amid all that is happening.”

The Rev. Dr. Judy Chung, executive director of Missionary Service, congratulated the group of retiring missionaries and gave each a chance to speak. They come from seven different countries and retire from assignments in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Central Africa, the Philippines, Zimbabwe and Liberia. 

The Rev. Dr. Ediberto Lopez Rodriguez, from Puerto Rico, served for 23 years as a missionary professor in New Testament studies with the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico. He said: “I am very grateful for these decades of service to the Lord in the ministry of Global Ministries. My joy comes to fruition when I see my current pastor explaining Scripture every Sunday with competency, and I see his effectiveness as a pastor. He is one of probably 2000 students I taught. If I had the chance to have another life like this, I would come back to my teaching place, to my theological education work for Global Ministries or to whatever place the Lord may send me.”

Nan McCurdy and Miguel Mairena, who are married, retire after 36 years for McCurdy and 28 years for Mairena. Originally Nan started her missionary service in San Juan de Limay, Nicaragua, with her first husband, Phil Mitchell. They were sent by the Baltimore-Washington Conference in 1985. “Phil and I discovered that our most worthwhile work was accompanying people who were grieving and suffering,” McCurdy said. “Almost every family had lost someone at that time.” After becoming Global Ministries’ missionaries in 1988, Mitchell died from a pulmonary embolism in 1991, leaving Nan, and their two girls, ages 13 months and 3 years. When given the choice of staying in Nicaragua or returning to the U.S., McCurdy chose to stay.

“I explained that I was grieving in a country where nearly everyone was grieving, so God had placed me where I needed to be,” she said. She continued work for two years with a foundation for war victims.

McCurdy and Mairena met in Nicaragua and were married in 1995. They served together through four more missionary assignments, the last being with Give Ye Them To Eat (GYTTE) in Puebla, Mexico.

Miguel Mairena grew up on an island in Big Lake, Nicaragua, and had no access to start primary school until he was 20-years-old. He values education very much. “Beginning in 1996, every time Nan and I were in the U.S., I would go to Wesley Seminary for one or two semesters. I graduated in 2007, later in Nicaragua.” He studied law on weekends in Nicaragua and now has a master’s in criminal law as well.

To GYTTE, in Mexico, Mairena gave legal advice, theological advice, but most of all, his ability to fix anything and invent solutions to problems at the 40-acre farm and training center. With his help, they now have water all the time and solar-heated showers.

Grace Musuka began her assignment in 2012, working with United Methodist Women (now United Women in Faith) in Central Africa as a Regional Missionary. Her assignment has been to empower women as peace builders, healers, economic developers in their communities and as leaders in their churches.

“I witnessed women growing spiritually, economically and in their self-esteem,” she said. “I plan to keep growing in my legacy, and my sincere appreciation goes to United Women in Faith and Global Ministries for the chance they gave me to be part of this journey. I’m retired, but I’m not tired. I’ll continue in my work.”

A second Regional Missionary, Emma Cantor, focused her work on leadership and organizational development in Asia. Leadership training encouraged women to stand up for themselves and recognize their abilities. Cantor provided literacy education that combined spiritual growth and various social issues.

She noted: “Some of these young women have become scholars and some went on to careers, so they have developed their leadership and become good decision makers. The leadership in rural areas is about economic development that has given the hope for women and young people to become effective, passionate, compassionate – to help themselves and to help their communities.”

Dr. Emmanuel Mefor is a medical doctor from Nigeria. He and his wife, Florence Mefor, a nurse midwife, have served as medical missionaries in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Dr. Mefor will be retiring from his assignment as a general practitioner with Old Mutare Hospital in Mutare, Zimbabwe. Florence Mefor continues as a missionary with Old Mutare, so they will remain in Zimbabwe for a while longer. Dr. Mefor plans to continue work on a voluntary basis.

“My 24-year journey of missionary work was neither prepared for nor premeditated,” he noted. “We Christians are all called to work daily in the vineyard of our God. To the younger and will-be missionaries; remember that there will be obstacles along your way. Prayers, integrity and passion for what you do are paramount. Being passionate about what you do is the driving force that makes you tireless.”

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

Global Missionaries

Global Ministries missionaries are a tangible connection between The United Methodist Church and mission. Through denominational or ecumenical ministries, missionaries bear witness to God’s presence all around the world. They are called by God and sent out to serve by the church, usually placed in a new cultural context beyond their country of origin. Missionaries engage in ministry that is defined by mutuality and partnership, seeking to expand the mission of God already present and active in people and places.

Explore the work of Global Ministries missionaries.

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_{Lulu Ramirez (center) with a Quiche women’s cooperative participating in the Guatemalan Methodist Church’s microloan program to make traditional cloth for women. (Photo: Courtesy of L. Ramirez)}

The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Matthew 25: 40

GUATEMALA – One of our Guatemalan sisters, Tomasa, lives in a rural area of Guatemala. She speaks Quiche, her native language, in a country whose official language is Spanish. Spanish is taught in elementary schools, but Tomasa had no opportunity to attend school. (Some of the women I meet don’t even have a birth certificate). She understands Spanish but can’t speak it and has little chance of finding a job.

She was sexually abused years ago and delivered and kept her baby boy. Her only way of surviving was washing clothes for other families daily – handwashing piles and piles of cloths, outside in the cold weather, earning a mere 3-4 U.S. dollars per day.

But God had other plans for my Quiche friend!

In 2019, we started a microloan program in Guatemala with the help of friends from the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the UMC. This program assists several groups of women in rural areas. When we meet the women, we talk about the “Parable of the Talents,” and why it is important to use the talents and gifts that God has given each one of us. Then these groups of ladies discuss their options and agree on a project that they know could be profitable for them. We need from three to seven women for a viable project, learning to work together as one body in Jesus Christ.

We do not choose their project; they decide based on their own skills. Some choose animal raising, with chickens and eggs; others raise pigs. We provide training in their own language on feed, vaccines, building shelters, from someone who knows animal husbandry. Some choose embroidery, which they have practiced since they were little girls. And they come up with many other kinds of projects. They pay back the loan eight months later, with zero interest, and the loan revolves as long as they keep paying it back.

Then we’ll give opportunity to a new group of women to start a project.

Tomasa was part of one of those groups. She started buying material (textiles, thread) to make and sell what they call “tipicos” traditional Guatemalan outfits for women.

She reinvested her profits, buying more material and even her own loom, so her business kept growing.

She paid back her microloan and took out another one. She has paid back every microloan she requested. She is proud because she has become a respected woman in her community and she is so grateful because now her son can attend school, and she can afford his uniforms and shoes.

As we start building relationships with these women, we might not have long conversations, but they know they are heard, they are loved, they are enough, and they extend their trust. Language is not a barrier when sharing Jesus’ love with a hug or time spent listening.

Please join me in prayer for the women we serve, and I give you their own words to meditate on:

Dear God, help us to remember women in rural areas who have no access to education or job opportunities, who say: “Thank you, nobody ever asked us what we wanted or needed before.” We thank you for connecting us with their need and their creativity and will to improve their lives. For those who say: “We are not important, so thank you for coming here and listening to us,” may you sharpen our listening skills and keep their stories before us. For those who say: “Nobody cared about us, so thank you for being here,” may your presence connect us across cultures and miles. And when they ask: “Why do American people who don’t know us help us?” may it be that we are so grateful for your love, God, that our thankfulness and love overflows to include even those we have not yet met.

My God bless you abundantly!

Maria de Lourdes Ramirez Meneses (“Lulu”) is a Global Missionary with Global Ministries. Originally from Mexico, she began her missionary service in Nicaragua in 2017. Today she serves with the Evangelical National Primitive Methodist Church of Guatemala as a Volunteer in Mission coordinator. Her husband, Richard Mroczka, is a Western PA Conference missionary who also serves in Guatemala.

Global Missionaries
Global Ministries missionaries are a tangible connection between The United Methodist Church and mission. Through denominational or ecumenical ministries, missionaries bear witness to God’s presence all around the world. They are called by God and sent out to serve by the church, usually placed in a new cultural context beyond their country of origin. Missionaries engage in ministry that is defined by mutuality and partnership, seeking to expand the mission of God already present and active in people and places.

Explore the work of Global Ministries missionaries.

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ATLANTA – Become a Global Mission Fellow (GMF) and join the movement of young adults who cross boundaries to better understand and respond to injustice.

The Global Mission Fellows program of The United Methodist Church places young adults, ages 20-30, in social justice ministries for two years of service. The program is excited to announce the launch of the application for the next cohort of fellows.

Since 1951, fellows have worked to address deep-rooted systems of injustice in a variety of areas, including food insecurity, migration/immigration, education and poverty. They gain a fresh perspective on systems preventing social change as they engage with current world issues.

“As we live in a world that is becoming increasingly polarized and the divide between socioeconomic classes, ideologies, race/ethnicity, and gender identities deepen, I believe God is pouring out God’s Spirit on all people so that ‘Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young will see visions. Your elders will dream dreams.’” (Acts 2:17, CEB), says the Rev. Dr. Judy Chung, executive director for Missionary Service for Global Ministries. “With the Spirit of God working in and through young people, a movement of God’s mission that ushers in justice and peace can transform the world.” 

The Wesleyan value of personal and social holiness is at the core of the Global Mission Fellows program. The program is open to those from different denominational backgrounds, but participants are expected to represent The United Methodist Church and uphold its social principles during their time of service.

Fellows form meaningful relationships with their host community as they are mentored by organizations meeting immediate needs and working toward lasting transformation. They receive ongoing training in spiritual and professional development and the program provides ways for the cohort to stay connected across countries and placement sites. 

The application deadline for the international track is Jan. 15, 2025. The program is not accepting applications for service on the US-2 track this year. Placement matches will be assigned throughout the selection process, but early application is encouraged for the strongest match. The application for the international track can be found at https://umcmission.org/become-a-fellow-international-track/.

Those selected for the next Global Mission Fellow cohort will begin onboarding in Spring 2025 and start service in August 2025.

For more information regarding the program or application process, email missionaryinfo@umcmission.org.

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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. Learn more about Global Ministries by visiting www.umcmission.org or by following www.facebook.com/GlobalMinistries and Twitter.com/UMCmission.

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ATLANTA – In 2024, Encounter with Christ (a ministry partnership between the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and Americas, the Council of Evangelical Methodist Churches in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Global Ministries) awarded grants to 11 mission partners from the permanent fund of Encounter with Christ in Latin America and the Caribbean. Ministries receiving these grants will benefit hundreds and thousands of people in Latin America and the Caribbean region. The total amount awarded was $196,088.

Global Ministries established a permanent fund called Encounter with Christ in Latin America and the Caribbean (Encounter with Christ) by vote of the Board of Directors in 1992. When the fund reached $1,000,000 in donations in 2005, grants began to be distributed by Global Ministries. Since then, Global Ministries has awarded more than $1,500,000 to regional mission partners.

Encounter with Christ tells the story of vibrant mission in South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The Methodist churches in Latin America and the Caribbean work to advance mission with some of the most marginalized populations in their communities, including women and children, immigrants, Indigenous communities, and those suffering from racial and gender inequality. The Encounter with Christ permanent fund supports Global Ministries’ efforts to partner with national and regional churches and ecumenical partners in the region by providing program funding for social justice and evangelism outreach efforts.

One of the projects approved this year will help reach new people in the remote area of Caruaru, a town in Brazil 166 kilometers west from the Central Methodist Church of Jaboatão dos Guararapes, which is on the east coast of Brazil just south of the city of Recife.

Central Methodist Church started a new mission in Caruaru in 2014 and was able to form a new faith community in this impoverished area of Brazil. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Central Methodist worked hard to help alleviate suffering by distributing food and providing support for the most vulnerable living in the town. A $20,000 Global Ministries grant from the Encounter with Christ permanent fund will help build a meeting place for the new faith community and support a missionary living in the area. One of the ministries of this new faith community is assisting women who are victims of domestic violence. Central Methodist has partnered with the Maria da Penha Institute, female police officers and local social workers to provide holistic support for women and their children.

The Evangelical Methodist Church of Bolivia (IEMB) received a $20,000 grant from Global Ministries using Encounter’ with Christ’s permanent fund to promote spirituality and renewal of ministries with children, youth and Methodist women of the IEMB. The program will distribute written resources that help strengthen biblical-theological knowledge among children and adolescents. It will train youth in holistic development with the aim of providing leadership in the local church and at district and national levels. It will also promote spirituality among Methodist women in Bolivia.

To reach these goals, workshops will be given in each of the districts of the IEMB. Written resources will be published for different age groups, including a guide and biblical notebook for children 4-6 years old, 7-9 years old, 10-12 years old and 13-15 years old. A national gathering of youth of the IEMB will be held in Cochabamba, Bolivia. There will also be a national gathering of Bolivian Methodist women.

The above projects are just samples of the 11 grants awarded to mission partners in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela. For a summary of all 2024 grants, click here.

The Rev. Dr. Douglas W. Ruffle is the mission interpreter for Encounter with Christ in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Encounter with Christ continues to raise funds to add to its permanent fund so that more support can be given for the region. To learn more about Encounter with Christ, visit its website: https://umc-encounter.org/. To make a tax-deductible donation, visit this page.

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ATLANTA – “Today, my children are studying and have what they need thanks to the kindness of the Comunidad de Paz Haws. My children are happy to have attended the Christian camp and my baby has had what he needs since his birth.”

This testimony of Patrice*, a single mother from Guatemala, speaks to the importance of local churches opening their doors to receive and offer help to migrants who have endured hardship and sometimes horrific circumstances to ask for asylum in the United States.

Comunidad de Paz Haws was developed by Haws Avenue United Methodist Church in Norristown, Pa. In 2023, the congregation received a $2,000 Mustard Seed Migration Grant from the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to expand its ministry in an area with a large Hispanic-Latino population.

A year after Patrice’s husband was killed in their village, she began to receive threatening messages that her children would meet the same fate. She packed up what she could and headed north with her children through Mexico and into the United States. They, like many immigrants crossing the U.S. border in the last three years, were received by the U.S. Border Patrol and loaded onto a bus. They did not even know where the bus was going.

Two young men from Nicaragua welcomed by Comunidad de Paz Haws described how they suffered from hunger, cold and mistreatment in a refugee camp at the border. They arrived in Pennsylvania in the middle of winter with nothing but a t-shirt, shorts and sandals. They came to the church seeking clothing and some food.

The Rev. Lisa DePaz, pastor of Haws Avenue UMC, describes her church as being an aging and small church that lacks the financial resources to help alleviate the economic needs of arriving immigrants. “It has been a barrier to actively demonstrating God’s love,” she said. “This grant has helped fulfill the goal of reaching out to this community.

“As a result of this project, anxiety, loneliness, misinformation and a sense of not belonging have significantly decreased among the 11 refugees and immigrants we served.” Haws UMC provided assistance with rent and bus tickets for transportation to job interviews. Single mothers, the majority of the recipients, received necessary supplies for their babies.

While some congregations can meet and interact with migrants in their communities, others are restricted by state or federal laws. The Somerset UMC congregation in Massachusetts wanted to help new arrivals.

When the project started, Jane Larsen, the church’s Staff-Parish Relations chair, networked to find ways to get supplies into the local hotel where Massachusetts was housing the migrants.

“Due to rules and regulations, we were not allowed to have direct contact with the migrants. All donations were given to them by the National Guard who were stationed at the hotel. Only the National Guard and our Town Health had access.” A key strategy for the congregation was to make friends with the health agent and members of the National Guard. This turned out to be the best way to serve those inside the hotel.

The state provided minimal supplies to arrivals to help with basic needs. Through the grant money and donations from church members, additional items, such as winter clothing, could be provided. In addition to supplies and food items, seven car seats were purchased so families could take their children to doctor’s appointments and other places.

In late December, the migrants were moved to better accommodations in Raynham, Mass. The church continued to deliver supplies to Raynham. The families were aware that the donations were given by members of Somerset United Methodist Church and through an UMCOR Mustard Seed Migration Grant.

Maple Grove United Methodist Church in Columbus, Ohio, set up an English conversation ministry to help more migrants with basic English skills.

But they also used their grant to focus primarily on one family, to help them through a complicated asylum process. The family, with a teenaged girl and a baby, fled from Ghana to Brazil to spare the young woman from the practice of female circumcision and the stigma and harassment of refusing to accept the practice. They made their way up the continent into the United States to ask for asylum, but then discovered attaining asylum is not easy or straight forward.

The family from Ghana was sent from the southern U.S. border to New York City, where they began their asylum request. They knew of a large Ghanaian community in Columbus and moved the family there. But that meant starting all over. They decided, on their New York lawyer’s advice, to move back to New York until their asylum paperwork could be finished. It took five months, and all the while, Maple Grove UMC found ways to support them.

Now the family has Social Security numbers, work permits, and state identification, which allows them to work and access Ohio medical and other family support systems. Their asylum case has been transferred to Ohio, so it will take an additional year before they know if they will be granted asylum.

The congregation has accepted this Muslim family, which now comes regularly to church. One member took off work and drove all the way to New York to bring the family back to Ohio because the mother was in her last month of pregnancy.

The Rev. Patricia Wagner, pastor of Maple Grove UMC last year, says the family became part of the congregation. “That they are Muslim, and that they dress in traditional style with head coverings, seems to make no difference to anyone anymore,” she noted. “When the family returned to worship, the congregation applauded. We had a baby shower for the mother in the next week, and soon their son was born.”

Being in community with migrants can be as creative as a congregation’s collective imagination and a Mustard Seed Migration Grant can be the push over the top that launches a new ministry. These three congregations took the chance of starting something new and have given and received the blessings of shared lives and the abundance of God’s grace.

Mustard Seed Migration Grant applications are open for 2024 projects. To learn more, visit https://umcmission.org/story/mustard-seed-migration-grants/.

* Name changed.

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

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Global Mission Fellows completing their two-year terms of service in spring 2024 shared photos and memories about their time as young adult missionaries.

Catch a glimpse into the work of 10 GMFs and what they found meaningful in their placements all over the world. 

A large part of the economy of Kamina is based on traditional subsistence agriculture, fishing and cattle breeding. Modern farms are rare. Yet, Kamina lacks neither rich land, nor rivers and lakes full of fish.

The people in the photo are from the southeastern part of Kamina in a village called Kinkunki, which is not far from Kamisamba farm, where I work. They are mostly peasant farmers whose livelihoods depend on their farms. Because of their financial constraints, this rural village finds it difficult to send its children to school, which results in high rates of illiteracy in the community.

The children, without resources to attend school, don’t have any other option than to join and support their parents in farming.

However, they lack some of the basic agricultural tools that could improve their farming techniques. They usually come to Kamisamba Farm to work during harvest. After the harvest, Kamisamba provides them with seeds that help them plant their own fields to improve their crop production.

In my place of assignment, I am involved both in the El Sembrador Sschool and in the church (which is located on the school grounds). I direct the English program, help with the school’s marching band, teach the recorder, pianica and the lira (glockenspiel), and I am involved with the church’s music team.

However, I have never felt so fulfilled and happy as I was during this moment. This is the first joint young people’s retreat/fellowship that I organized with the new GMF, Binu Bill Bright Abel from India. This was attended by the youth of two churches, both part of my work assignment: Iglesia Metodista Pastocalle and Iglesia Metodista Agua de Vida in Romerillos. We fellowshipped with each other, cooked and shared food, and listened to the Word of God shared by my seminary Professor, Dr. David Upp. The goal was to build a closer connection between the two churches and a community of young believers.

We all need friends, community, support and a sense of being loved. It is a blessing to have found all these through a local spiritual community in my place of assignment. This is one of the local churches in which I have spent time serving with the youth alongside the youth pastors of the church. Engaging in Bible studies together, celebrating and grieving with one another, visiting each other’s homes and learning more about our cultural dynamics has assisted in relationship building and enhancing our spiritual growth through shared stories of God’s experiences in our lives.

One of the days I will remember is July 9, 2023, pictured above. I had a role to play in the Sunday worship service. To my surprise, after the benediction, the band played a birthday song and the whole congregation started singing along, surrounding me. They showered me with gifts and prayers. I felt loved, like family, while joy overflowed in my heart on that day. With gratitude in my heart, I look forward to the continued growth and connection with them in my last days of GMF service and beyond.

Since the organization’s founding in 1994, Koinonia’s mission has been to mobilize ecumenical solidarity and render service to historically and culturally vulnerable groups that are in the process of social and political emancipation. The organization makes alliances with Black communities that are set in urban and rural areas, with women, young people, LGBTQIA+ communities, and with people who have HIV and AIDS.

Koinonia trains young people and adolescents on gender and diversity rights and coordinates public advocacy with people living with HIV, raising awareness in churches and religious communities on health and sexuality issues, and strengthening religious actions for inclusion.

The aim of the event pictured above was to build spaces to encourage and discuss information about the combined prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections as well as provide psychosocial support for people with HIV and AIDS, aiming to minimize the damage caused by pandemics in the outskirts and metropolitan regions of the city of São Paulo.

I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with children, teenagers and senior citizens. Our organization focuses on the underprivileged and marginalized, but especially the children. They have the right to learn and develop, but because of their circumstances, they are not growing in optimal conditions.

In the photo, the children are playing games after their classes. Although the conditions there are very poor, the children always smile brightly and welcome us whenever we visit. I believe that children need more attention because they are the generation that will continue the work of God in the future. We provide alternative educational programs for these children, and we also have Bible study classes with them. This ensures that they develop both physically and spiritually.

The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project promotes justice by defending and advancing the rights of immigrants through direct legal services, systemic advocacy and community education. In Seattle, I work as a citizen intake coordinator to help clients navigate their program eligibility and provide direct representation to support attorneys and legal advocates through the U.S. legal system.

Part of why I applied to be a Global Mission Fellow US-2 was to take part in mission that works toward positive impact, to advocate for social justice for those who need it and are experiencing injustice and working with communities instead of for them.

But leaving Oklahoma to come to Seattle, I found it was also important to find a good church community outside of work and one that matched the GMF mission. Here are a group of us kayaking on a church retreat as we spent the weekend at church camp growing together and feeling connected!

Serving people and serving the community is the way I serve my God. I am grateful for the skills God gave me to use in my ministry, especially to work with kids and young people.

It is my pleasure to meet and work with a diverse community that allows us to show our love, respect, kindness and unity.

Connecting the church in mission and engaging with the community has a big impact on me as I lead a team. In Northern Ireland, we do surf workshops while sharing the Gospel of Jesus as we believe that “Real Life Awaits.”

The spiritual life of young people is strengthened through the balance (Sports and Workshop) of the ministry, also, they’ll grow in personal and in social holiness. Ministry has a big influence on an individual’s life, portraying the ministry of Jesus in the boat, in the sea, in the mountains, in the cities, as we see differently and serve differently.

I work closely with the Green Scenery Advocacy Team in organizing advocacy activities, including seminars, conferences, and some specific campaigns. I assist in designing, planning, implementing and monitoring advocacy project activities, and in organizing seminars, workshops and special lectures.

Here we work hand-in-hand with vulnerable communities to help them understand the impacts of climate change, empowering them to advocate for ways to help the climate recover and reduce practices that are unsustainable.

In serving with the Pan Africa Climate Justice Alliance in Kenya, my focus lies within a climate policy and advocacy organization, distinct from direct church engagement. However, driven by a desire to find a local spiritual community of support, I connected with a United Methodist congregation while on this spiritual journey.

Following the disaffiliation of larger UMC churches in Kenya, including all of those in Nairobi, I, alongside like-minded believers, embarked on a mission to revitalize our United Methodist roots. Through collaborative consultation and concerted effort, we successfully planted six United Methodist churches in Nairobi. Today, these churches stand as beacons of hope, embodying the spirit of the UMC and nurturing spiritual growth within our community.

I am from the Philippines, and I serve in Clarendon Shelter, a homeless shelter in Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland. My job description involves learning about homelessness and active participation in doing support work.

I’ve learned never to underestimate the power of being different, especially in places where you will stand out. When I came to Derry, I was so afraid of being judged or profiled because of who I am and where I come from. However, I realized that if I don’t step into a lighted space I will forever be in the dark – unseen and unheard.

I started sharing my ideas in the shelter and facilitating projects with the residents. Going to schools and churches to share facts about the issue of homelessness helped me to feel at home with different people, especially young children, and to create an advocacy project.

Here at Clooney Hall Methodist Church, I met with the Elders Luncheon Club to share about the rapid growth of homelessness in Northern Ireland and the importance of advocacy for housing rights and how congregations and church members can get involved.

Please pray for these GMFs and their broader cohort of fellows as they transition to new careers, further studies or another phase of discernment in their lives.

Meanwhile, the 2024-2026 class of young adult missionaries has been selected and trained for service and will soon be arriving in their placements!

Learn more about the Global Mission Fellows program, including how to apply and ways to support.

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