Post War Rebuilding Continues In Liberia
Operation Doctor Seeks $100,000 For Surgical Suite
GANTA, Liberia -- School is expected to begin here in November, but
many of the buildings at the United Methodist mission school are still
in ruin.
Joe Wagner, Operation Classroom coordinator,
recently reported to the Indiana Operation Classroom Committee that the
high school building at Ganta was extensively damaged. "It was
burned, the roof is gone and all interior woodwork is too. We will do
the minimum amount of work needed to get school started. We'll wait
until a stable government is established before we put more money into
the school," Wagner told the 14-member committee.
Ganta
United Methodist Hospital also lies in ruin. The Indiana committee is
scheduled to meet with United Methodist General Board of Global
Ministries staff by conference call on Nov. 10 to discuss needs and
assistance to the hospital in recovering.
Meanwhile in Sierra Leone, Committee member
John Shettle reported on behalf of Operation Doctor that the walls of
the surgical unit at the United Methodist-operated Kissy Urban Maternity
and Health Center in Freetown are up and the roof is being constructed.
The committee seeks to raise $100,000 required to build two hospital
wards that are needed as part of the surgical unit.
Operation Doctor recently received medical
equipment from a closed nursing home in Clinton, Ind., that filled a
40-foot container now being shipped to Liberia. Also, two X ray machines
are coming from Wisconsin and one from Wabash. Another shipment is
coming from Minnesota.
Also at Freetown, Wagner reported that school
has started and Operation Classroom conducted a counseling training
seminar at the beginning of the school year in August. Approximately 200
students participate in the scholarship program. However, Wagner said
school buildings and infrastructure are in bad condition there.
Two containers of supplies and equipment were
loaded Oct. 14 and were scheduled to be shipped to Liberia and Sierra
Leone. For more information about Operation Classroom and Operation
Doctor log onto www.gbgm-umc.org/operationclassroom,
by e-mail wagners@operationclassroom.org
or call 765-324-2556.
New Ordinands Express Thanks For Wesley Tour
As is his custom, Bishop and Mrs. White along
with the Rev. James Jones, bishop's assistant, hosted newly ordained
ministers of Indiana on a ten-day Wesley Heritage tour in July, during
the 300th anniversary of John Wesley's birth. Wesley was the founder of
the Methodist movement.
The
Educational Opportunities' trip included New Room and Charles Wesley's
home in Bristol, City Road Chapel in London, the Old Rectory and St.
Andrews Church at Epworth, Coventry Cathedral and Birmingham - the
boyhood home of Francis Asbury, and St. Mary de Crypt at Gloucester, the
congregation of George Whitefield.
Here are comments from some of the
participants, who were provided travel grants for the trip by the
Indiana Area Foundation of The United Methodist Church. In addition to
these comments, each participant thanked the Foundation for its
generosity.
- I sometimes struggle to convey my love for our church's history .
The immediate difference the study trip has made in me is that I now
find myself teaching that portion with much more power and
enthusiasm. We continue the tradition of doing whatever it takes to
reach new persons for Jesus Christ."
-- Russell Allanson, lead pastor, The Promise UMC,
Fishers, Indianapolis East Dist.
- "I have even a greater appreciation of John Wesley and his
desire to spread the love of Christ to all the world. I can only
hope and pray that I live up to the standard he (Wesley) set for all
of us so long ago."
-- Mary Eileen Spence, Burlington UMC, Lafayette
Dist.
- "The experience helped me to understand more of my Wesleyan
heritage."
-- Nanci Rosinski, Trinity UMC, Huntington.
- "The trip has helped to bring alive the historical roots of
our Wesleyan heritage. I have gained new insights and now have a
better grasp of our early Methodist history . It has been very
valuable to my learning experience and has inspired me to dig even
deeper in my reading."
-- Mark Helm, Ford Street UMC, Lapel, Marion Dist.
- "I will never forget the experience to walk where John Wesley
ministered to the people of England and where the Methodist Church
was launched. This also was my first experience to travel anywhere
by plane which added to the excitement. God was surely with
us."
-- Stephen Bard, Liberty Center UMC, Huntington
Dist.
- "It was a ministry building and life enriching experience
that I will not forget. Thank you every much for rendeavoring to
fulfill Bishop White's vision for the ordinands.
-- Steven Loft, Yorktown UMC, Yorktown, Muncie
Dist.
- "For me the highlight was to stand at the place in Christ
Church Cathedral Oxford where the Wesleys were ordained and hear the
Reverend David Tripp read the ordination service of the 1700s. It
brought to mind my own ordination and the fact that I am part of a
2000 year line of people called to follow Jesus Christ. I approach
my life and my ministry with a new and much longer time
perspective."
-- Don Dexheimer, Christland UMC, Marion Dist.
Journalist Chosen To Lead Women's Monitoring Agency
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -- M. Garlinda Burton, editor of the United
Methodist Church's Interpreter magazine, has been elected as the interim
top executive of the Commission on Status and Role of Women.
Burton,
45, who has edited the magazine for eight years and is a former director
of United Methodist News Service, assumed the position of general
secretary Nov. 1. She will remain interim executive for one year.
Commission members chose Burton through an
Oct. 16 e-mail ballot, according to Gail Murphy-Geiss, president of the
women's monitoring agency. The election comes on the heels of the
commission's decision not to re-nominate the Rev. Raponzil
"Ra" Drake and the Rev. Soomee Kim as co-general secretaries
for 2004. No explanation was given for the decision regarding Kim and
Drake.
The churchwide Commission on Status and Role
of Women, created in 1976, works for the full inclusion of women in the
life of the United Methodist Church. Offices are in Evanston, Ill.
Young Adult Mission Experience Bound For Mexico
The North Central Jurisdiction United
Methodist Volunteers in Mission announces Mission Discovery 2004:
Mexico.
According to Lorna Jost, the mission's
administrator, the two-week Mexico trip sponsored by UMVIM-NCJ is an
international youth to youth mission experience scheduled for June 26
through July 10, 2004.
Jost says, "the goal of The Mission of
the Discovery 2004: MEXICO trip is to bring youths from the North
Central Jurisdiction, including Indiana, and Puerto Rico to Mexico for a
cross-cultural and spiritual experience. The Discovery is in
experiencing Christian fellowship in worship, work, study and play with
youth of three cultures, learning about the global connection of the
United Methodist Church."
For more information, contact the UM
Volunteers in Mission - NCJ office for a detailed brochure and
application form by writing to UMVIM-NCJ, Old Sanctuary, 928 4th St.,
Office #2, Brookings, SD 57006 or by e-mail at umvim-ncj@brookings.net
r call 605-692-3390.
Wesley Foundation Director Honored By Purdue
WEST
LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The Rev. Steve Cain, campus minister and director of
the Wesley Foundation at Purdue University, is one of this year's
recipients of the Purdue Alumni Association's Special Boilermaker Award.
The award is given to members of the university community who have
contributed significantly to improving the quality of life and/or
bettering the educational experience for a substantial number of Purdue
students.
Hoosier Um Would Like To See Hunger Eradicated
At 91-years of age, Virgil Hunt is losing
patience as a citizen of this world. His two goals in life are to
completely eradicate global hunger and end war. He says he has trouble
sleeping at night, waking to thoughts of hungry and dying children. He
says, "we should have been further along on this by now."
But Hunt's not whining about world hunger, he
is doing something about it in a bigger than usual way. He has written
to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan with a modest proposal
that all nations agree to postpone war until the hunger problem is
solved.
While waiting impatiently for the United
Nations to act, Hunt challenged his fellow members at Meridian Street
UMC in Indianapolis to raise $22,000 this summer for the United Nation's
World Food Programme. The program is directed in Rome by Indiana native
Jim Morris. Meridian Street meet his challenge and raised $22,576.
A life long educator, Hunt was honored
earlier this year as a Doctor of Humane Letters by Indiana University in
Kokomo, where the science building has been named Hunt Hall in his
honor. Hunt serves on the Board of Directors of United Methodist Metro
Ministries in Indianapolis.
- This article first appeared in Nexus, newsletter
of Metro Ministries.
Giving Remains Strong Among Um Women
STAMFORD, Conn. (UMNS) -- Giving by members of United Methodist Women
has remained strong in 2003, despite a general dip in donations
throughout the denomination.
Directors
of the Women's Division of the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries, which serves as United Methodist Women's administrative
body, received that news during their Oct. 17-20 annual meeting.
Connie Takamine, division treasurer, reported
that undesignated giving had increased by 7.6 percent through August
compared to the same eight-month period in 2002. "There is an
increase in giving in every channel," she added. Undesignated
giving in five different funds was at about $6.4 million.
On a denomination-wide level, the amount of
apportioned funds sent from annual conferences to the general church has
decreased by about $3 million, or 5 percent, for the first three
quarters of 2003 compared to that period the year before.
The Women's Division increase, Takamine
explained, brings the 2003 giving totals in line with 2001. In 2002,
undesignated giving had dropped as it traditionally does during a year
when the organization holds its quadrennial Women's Assembly and members
divert funds to assembly participation and related offerings. However,
she noted that it is not unusual for United Methodist Women giving to
remain steady during declines in general church income.
"Many of our members are on fixed
incomes, but they do have a real faith and commitment to the
organization," she said.
Genie Banks, Women's Division president,
believes the spike in undesignated giving is a response to the telling
of the mission story. "As long as we interpret the need, the giving
will continue," she said.
In items for action, directors approved the
division becoming an organizational co-sponsor of an April 25 march in
Washington supporting reproductive rights, including access to birth
control and abortion. They also approved a $5,000 donation toward
expenses of the event, titled "Save Women's Lives: March for
Freedom of Choice."
Directors adopted a policy statement on
police brutality that will become part of the Women's Division's policy
manual. Expressing concern about cases of over-zealousness by police and
particularly harassment of ethnic minorities, the policy advocates that
the church become a refuge "for anyone beaten by one or more police
officers." It also calls for police officers suspected of brutality
to not be protected but "treated like any other citizen," and
it advocates creating civilian police review boards empowered to
investigate and end abuses.
On an international level, directors urged
United Methodist Women members to get their congregations involved with
efforts to promote peace on the Korean peninsula and to urge Congress
and President Bush to find multilateral and diplomatic solutions to the
current crisis with North Korea.
The women also celebrated the 40th
anniversary of the Church Center for the United Nations, owned by the
Women's Division and built in 1963 to reaffirm religious support of the
United Nations.
Vim Announces 'teachUM'
Opportunities For 2004
BROOKINGS, S.D. -- United Methodist Volunteers In Mission of the
North Central Jurisdiction, including Indiana, announces six "teachUM"
programs of teaching experiences in a variety of settings and places for
those who wish to offer their time and talents in an environment of
learning.
According to UMVIM-NCJ administrator Lorna
Jost, volunteer teaching experiences will be offered next year in
Florida, Bolivia, Alaska, Haiti, Poland and Chicago. Here is information
for each teaching experience.
- ampa, FLORIDA - Jan 12-16 and/or Jan. 19-23, Deadline Nov. 14,
2003
- Montero, BOLIVIA -- June 22-July 6, Deadline Feb. 1, 2004
- Chugiak, ALASKA -- June 17-30, Deadline Feb. 1, 2004
- Jeremie, HAITI -- Feb. 9-23, 2004, teachUM+ (VBS plus a
construction component). Contact Virginia Bell at 906-492-3203 or vbell@lighthouse.net.
Cost $1300 (includes airfare from Detroit, housing, meals and
in-country transportation). Project cost $300 to $500. Deadline Dec.
12, 2003
- Myslencie, POLAND -- July 5-14; 19-30; July 15-Aug. 1. English as
a Second Language. Contact Don Williams at 616-669-9086 or by e-mail
at willamd@gvsu.edu. Cost
$2,200 (includes airfare from Detroit, housing, meals &
in-country transportation). Deadline Feb. 1, 2004.
- Humboldt Park UMC, CHICAGO -- August 14-21 Tutoring in Hispanic
church. Contact UMVIM-NCJ office. Deadline Mar 31, 2004.
These short term mission opportunities are
sponsored by United Methodist Volunteers in Mission of the North Central
Jurisdiction. These short term mission opportunities are sponsored by
United Methodist Volunteers in Mission of the North Central
Jurisdiction.
Contact the UMVIM-NCJ office for brochures
and application forms at UMVIM-NCJ, Old Sanctuary, 928 4th St., Office
#2, Brookings, SD 57006 or online at umvim-ncj@brookings.net
or by phone 605-692-3390.
Video Examines Influence Of Religion On Public Life
Religious attitudes, ideas, and institutions
shape communities in powerful ways. From race relations to health care,
neighborhood politics to immigration, religious values infuse public
life in ways that generate both comfort and conflict. A new video and
discussion guide series Faith & Community: The Public Role of
Religion, produced by The Polis Center at Indiana University Purdue
University Indianapolis, examines the changing face of religion in
America and how these changes affect community life.
Based
on a six-year study, the series features stories about how civic and
religious leaders and organizations interact, and how these dynamics are
shaped by the assumptions and knowledge each party has about the other.
The 11-episode series, funded by Lilly Endowment Inc., addresses issues
common to many communities.
Faith & Community examines both the
dynamic - but often overlooked -- diversity within America's largely
Christian tradition, and how this evolving diversity affects public
life.
National civic, religious, and academic
experts guided Faith & Community, and most appear in the series.
These authorities include Martin Marty of the University of Chicago;
Nancy Ammerman of Boston University; Stephen Goldsmith, Faculty Director
of the Innovations in American Government Program at Harvard and former
mayor of Indianapolis; and others.
The Rev. Kevin Armstrong, director of the
Public Teaching Program at The Polis Center and associate pastor at
North UMC in Indianapolis, said, "Local leaders of all types will
better understand how the sometimes bewildering array of religious
beliefs and institutions are at work in our common life. We believe this
series will benefit anyone committed to building better
communities." For more information about the video series and a
4-minute presentation, log on to
www.faithandcommunity.org.
Loan Fund Invested $4.2 Million In Past Two Years
Officials of the North Indiana United
Methodist Conference Foundation based in Marion say the Indiana United
Methodist Loan Fund is a very successful new ministry. It was
established in December 2001.
United Methodists participants have invested
$4.2 million in the funds certificate and saving accounts. The loan fund
to date has made 25 loans to Indiana United Methodist churches and
agencies totaling $4,115,000. Officials say they would like to see more
deposits because they have churches waiting for loans.
According to the Loan Fund, any United
Methodist congregation or agency in Indiana, or person affiliated with a
United Methodist church in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan,
Arizona or Texas, can participate and earn up to 3.5 percent return on
their investment. For more information, call 765-664-2327 or
800-783-5138, log on to www.iumlf.org.
Growing In Faith
"'Do you want to get well?' is a
shocking question. Of course! But on closer reflection, I'm forced to
ask, Do I really want to get well? At times I'm so attached to my
illness (today we also could say 'addiction') that I prefer illness to
health ... In the Scripture passage where this question is posed (John
5:1-18) Jesus gives instructions to 'take up your bed and walk.' We are
asked to take some specific actions to open the doors to healing ... Yes
[I want to be well] even if it means taking up my bed and carrying what
has been carrying me." Adapted from a reflection by Rueben P. Job
in A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God, www.upperroom.org/bookstore.
UM-Related Indianapolis University Playing Key Roll In New Concept
For City's High Schools
INDIANAPOLIS -- Key leaders from education, business, government
began an historic dialogue here Oct. 30 and 31 that will lead, over the
next few years, to the creation of ten new, small high schools and the
redesign of five large, outmoded schools into smaller, focused learning
communities.
The dialogue launched the Network of
Effective Small Schools in Indianapolis, a community-based collaborative
that will put the city on the path to small high schools. The group's
work will radically redefine the high school experience locally and
create models for the rest of the state in order to raise student
achievement.
The network was convened by the United
Methodist-related University of Indianapolis' Center of Excellence in
Leadership of Learning (CELL) that was selected to administer an $11.3
million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation designed to
cover start-up costs for high schools of no more than 400 students. Ten
of those will be created from the ground up and could be public
(including charter) or private, but the grant also provides for the
transformation of the five senior highs in Indianapolis Public Schools
should they opt to apply for conversion funds.
CELL is serving as catalyst, from developing
the grant application procedures to providing technical assistance,
training and other support as schools get up and running.
United Methodist Student Day, Sunday, Nov. 30
United
Methodist Student Day calls the Church to support students as they
prepare for life in uniting faith with knowledge. The offering receipts
support the United Methodist scholarships and the United Methodist
Student Loan Fund. Help support United Methodist students at the
University of Evansville, University of Indianapolis and DePauw
University. For more information logo on to www.gbhem.org
or call 615-340-7346. E-mail umloan@gbhem.org.
Facts For Life Number 22
For every person who dies of a smoking attributable disease, there
are 20 more people suffering with at least one serious illness from
smoking. For more information on Indiana Tobacco Prevention and
Cessation, visit www.itpc.in.gov, www.WhiteLies.tv
or www.Voice.tv.
NEWS BRIEFS
By United Methodist News Service
Reuters Reconsiders Policy Against Religious Advertising
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The controversy surrounding a policy against
religious advertising on an electronic billboard in New York's Times
Square has compelled the Reuters communications company to reconsider
its position.
United
Methodist Communications had planned to showcase the United Methodist
Church's message of "open hearts, open minds, open doors,"
along with images from the church's Igniting Ministry media campaign, on
the billboard beginning Nov. 15. Those plans to place the $30,000 ad on
the giant, 11-screen electronic display were changed after Reuters,
which shares the host building with Instinet, said the advertising
violated company policy.
Controversy erupted once Reuters' policy
against advertising that is predominantly religious or political was
widely publicized. United Methodists expressed concern about not being
given the same access and equitable treatment as a company that serves
alcohol or other products.
California Fires Force Evacuations Of Homes, Church
LOS ANGELES (UMNS) -- As fires continue to burn across Southern
California, one pastor and his family are counting their blessings. The
Rev. John Yohan Yoon, pastor of Del Rosa United Methodist Church in San
Bernardino, evacuated the church parsonage with his family on the
afternoon of Oct. 25. "We didn't get any warning," he said.
Fire trucks and police cars did not come down the street telling people
to evacuate; instead, the family saw the flames coming. Yoon, his wife
and two young sons escaped with little more than the clothes they were
wearing. Fires, raging since the weekend, had killed at least 17 people
in California and Mexico and destroyed more than 1,500 homes as of Oct.
28. The United Methodist Church's California-Pacific Annual (regional)
Conference, led by Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, has requested help from the
United Methodist Committee on Relief.
United Methodist Giving Trails Last Year By 5 Percent
A continuing decline in income is reducing
the funds available for United Methodist missions and ministry. The
portion of giving that is channeled through the annual conferences to
the general church is down about $3 million, or 5 percent, for the first
three quarters of the year compared with the same period last year,
according to the denomination's General Council on Finance and
Administration based in Evanston, Ill.
Gap Between Rich, Poor, Threatens Children, Carter Says
The biggest threat to children today, says
former President Jimmy Carter, is the "extreme and unacknowledged
division between all of us rich folks and the poor people about whom we
care very little, if at all." The world's richest nations are 75
times richer than the poorest, and globalization and increased
communication have made the poor aware of the disparity, he said.
"I think that's the main reason we have more wars in the world now
than ever before in history." Carter spoke Oct. 14 at United
Methodist-related Emory University in Atlanta.
Africa University Plans Deaf Ministry
Africa University plans to offer courses in
deaf ministry, deaf education and special education by 2004. Last July,
officials cut the ribbon for a building that will house the Sanganai
Deaf Club, a facility in the Sakubva Township, outside Mutare. It was
built with funds from the United Methodist National Committee on
Ministry with Deaf, Late Deafened, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf Blind
People.
Board Of Pensions Makes Changes To Daily Valuing
The United Methodist Board of Pension and
Health Benefits began valuing its unitized funds on a daily basis Oct.
1. Five of the board's investment funds are unitized and are treated
like mutual funds. The change means that account transactions, such as
contributions and inter-fund transfers, will be processed each day
instead of weekly as before. The change aligns the agency with industry
standards. The board's Stable Value Fund is not a unitized fund. It
continues to be valued monthly, with interest credited to participants
at month's end.
Youth 'Soul Tending' Retreat Planned For March
Youth workers will have time to rest, reflect
and be in a community with fellow youth workers who seek a deeper
relationship with God at a March 16-18 Soul Tending retreat sponsored by
the United Methodist Board of Discipleship in Nashville, Tenn. For
information and a downloadable brochure, go to http://www.gbod.org/ministries/youth/soul2.pdf.
NCC Stewards Program Aims To Build Young Leaders
Katherine Parker, 25, of Ames, Iowa, looks
forward to networking with others who are organizing for change. Grant
Kinney, 21, of Alma, Mich., seeks a ministry that reflects ecumenical
compassion. Parker and Kinney, both United Methodists, are two of 10
young adults from across the United States selected as stewards for the
National Council of Churches' 2003 General Assembly in November in
Jackson, Miss. The Stewards Program, new this year, is the latest
addition to a wider NCC program of support for young adult leadership in
the ecumenical movement. Half of the stewards are United Methodist.
Chinese Christians Renew Ties With United Methodists
In the Fujian Province of China, people are
drawn to Christianity through the example that church members set in
their everyday lives, according to a church and seminary leader there.
"We emphasize that every Christian should be a good citizen in our
society," the Rev. Zhihua Lin told staff of the United Methodist
Board of Global Ministries during an Oct. 14 meeting. Lin was part of a
nine-member delegation of Christians from China making an Oct. 5-26
visit to renew friendships with Protestants in the United States and
Canada.
Missionary Couple Killed In Road Accident Outside Nairobi
A missionary couple commissioned by the
United Methodist Church in Germany was killed Oct. 11 in a road accident
just outside Nairobi, Kenya. Dietmar and Birgit Ziegler had developed an
AIDS ministry in Maua, Kenya, according to German church officials.
Survivors include their four children, ages 9 to 13, who are enrolled in
a boarding school in Kenya. |
