Grand Service of Inauguration

Missionary Connie, far left, celebrates the baptism of  Francia, center,
and tells us about the growing church in the Dominican Republic.
(photo courtesy of Connie DiLeo)

I am not sure how I can put into words the tremendous feelings we had on this special day when our church in La Hoya was officially inaugurated by the Evangelical Church of the Dominican Republic. The pastors from all the churches in the southern region were present with representatives from their churches.

Many pastors and congregational members also came from the capital and even as far as La Romana towards the east of the country. We are still considered a ‘mission church’ as we are new and have just taken in our first membership class of twelve baptized members.

Pray that we will continue to grow and bring more lives to Christ in the days, months, and years to come.

For more about this Global Ministries missionary, visit Connie DiLeo's missionary bio page.

Missionary Mary Zigbuo Remembers Generosity

The generosity of Ms. Gborr, left, was praised by

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, right. 

(photo courtesy of United Methodist Church of Liberia)

I REMEMBER….2004, looking out the window of a makeshift administration office at Ganta United Methodist Hospital where we served as General Board of Global Ministries missionaries in rural northeastern Liberia. My husband, Herbert, and I watched her walking from a distance.  

It was the year after the town of Ganta was devastated by civil unrest. People were slowly returning to rebuild their lives. The elderly lady was closer to the office now. Slow, intentional steps. She looked really poor. Her clothing was clean, but ragged. She wore slippers. Like so many who were returning after months of hiding in the “bush” from hostile rebel forces, she appeared thin…..malnourished.

She sat down on the bench near the office door. We continued to watch her and Herbert and I surmised, “Surely, she is one of the town’s residents seeking food or building supplies assistance from the hospital...” With the hospital’s funds and resources almost depleted, there was nothing to offer this woman in need. Herbert and I had recently joined the local United Methodist Church’s Gompa District-led community volunteer effort that was cleaning the trash out of the buildings and off the grounds. The need was just overwhelming, stressful, and pitiful!  

“My name is Yei Gborr,” she said in the local Mano language. “I thank you people for coming to work with us.” She reached in her ragged clothing and pulled out a wad of Liberian Dollars. One thousand Liberian dollars (equivalent to $20.00 US dollars) was hard to come by in those desperate days.

Ma Gborr placed the money on the desk and told us she was led by the Holy Spirit to give all she had to the revitalization of the hospital. This 82-year-old lady earned a living by selling sweet potato leaves (potato greens) in the local market. Surely, the Lord sent her our way that day! In the midst of chaos and hopelessness, her calm spirit inspired everyone. Today Ganta Mission’s services have grown and developed far beyond its pre-civil war status.

Our Lord can and does use people from all walks of life to fulfill this perfect plan. As we anticipate the coming of the Savior of the World, I reflect on Christ’s humble birth. From all outward appearances, Jesus was born into poverty. Yet, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we receive the richness of God's grace. Ma Gborr’s selfless act reminds me of Immanuel, God with us!

Today, I am humbled to continue my service as a missionary assigned to yet another United Methodist Church-led ministry that addresses poverty. Anson County Circles of Hope encourage a Christ-like model of building relationships across class and race lines. A Circle is made up of a family living on a low-income and two or more allies from the middle class. They meet once or twice monthly to work toward the family’s plan to move out of poverty. Weekly meetings bring the families and community volunteers and allies together through sharing a meal and engaging in discussions about poverty and developing community-driven plans to address poverty.

For more information on Anson County Circles of Hope, see Circles of Hope, Anson County. For more information on the General Board of Global Ministries’ efforts to address poverty, see Ministry With page.

United Methodist Missionary Mary Zigbuo worked at
Ganta United Methodist Hospital in Liberia
with her husband, Herbert Zigbuo, retired missionary.
Mary now serves in North Carolina creating Circles of Hope.
(photo courtesy of Global Ministries' communication)

After working in Liberia, Missionary Mary Zigbuo now works in Anson County, North Carolina, with people who are overcoming poverty. 


To learn more about her ministry, go to: Mary Zigbuo's biography.

Year in Review: Liberia's 2011 Election

Missionary Helen Roberts-Evans shares the story of the
2011 elections in Liberia
(photo by GBGM Communications) 

On October 11, 2011, Liberians went to the polls to vote for their representatives, senators, and president.  There were 16 presidential candidates. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of the Unity Party received the majority of the votes at 43.7 percent. The Congress for Democratic Change received 32.9 percent of the votes. In order to win the election, a candidate must have 50 percent plus 1 vote.  Since this did not happen, Liberians returned to the polls for a presidential run-off election on November 8, 2011.

On November 15th, after ballot boxes were collected from all over the Republic, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was announced the winner with over 90 percent of the votes. From my trips to visit rural schools, I can appreciate the challenge of reaching villages by canoe, on foot, and on dirt roads to deliver and collect ballots.

Less than half of the population is literate, so the candidates’ photographs are on the ballots. Voters marked the candidates of their choice. The Liberia Annual Conference supports the Liberian Government’s efforts to reach Liberian children, youth, and adults with education in order to create a literate society.

During the June 2011 dedication of the community school building in Boegeezay, Rivercess County, I thanked President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for her commitment to education in Liberia.

I also reminded her of her quote, “You know, if we get the resources, the technology, the manpower, we can fix the streets in six months. But we have the problem of a value system that has been destroyed- where violence, the dishonesty, the dependency is what has characterized our nation over the past twenty years.  That is the more difficult problem. We’re going to have to start at the elementary school level teaching the children ethics, morality, values.” ("After the Warlords," by Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, March 27, 2006)

President, in blue, beside Rev. Erlene Thompson, First UMC
(photo courtesy of Helen Roberts-Evans)

The school in Boegeezay is one of the schools built by our Community Development Program funded by the Central United Methodist Church of Oslo, Norway. In the photo, the President is seated next to her pastor, Rev. Erlene Thompson, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Monrovia. We are truly part of a connectional and caring church.

Thank for your prayers and support.
Blessings,
Helen Roberts-Evans

Read more about the missionary work on the bio page of Helen Roberts-Evans

Giving Thanks in Vietnam

On Thanksgiving Day, Melissa Hinnen, information officer for the General Board of 
Global Ministries, shared fellowship and fresh fruit with a Bible study group in Vietnam. 
(photo courtesy of M. Hinnen) 

It’s well past my bedtime here in Vietnam and I just spent my first Thanksgiving away from my family. I contemplated ordering the prix fixe ‘Thanksgiving’ meal that was being offered to tourists but I realized that it’s not the food I’m missing. It’s the buzz of the kitchen, gathering with family, everyone lending a hand to bring together a wonderful meal. So I ate a delicious one pot meal and was thankful for the nourishment, for the people who prepared it, and for the opportunity to spend time in this country where in spite of many obstacles, the United Methodist Church continues to grow.

After eating Thanksgiving dinner by myself in a nice restaurant, I met up with Global Ministries missionaries Ut Van To and Karen Vo-To and visited a house church. A dozen of us gathered around Van’s (our host), dining room table for their weekly Bible study. The group included new Christians who were deepening their faith as well as pastors from various churches in the area.

There was a time of welcoming and a time of praise music followed by a reading of Mark 10:46-53 – the story of the blind man, Bartimaeus asking Jesus to heal his eye sight. The people tried to shut him up but he kept calling out to Jesus in spite of the people getting in his way. As I sat around a table with people who have continued to seek Christ - meeting in homes as the first Christians did, I saw the story of Bartimaeus in a new way. Some of the people in the group told me that their families did not accept their new faith but that they decided to continue anyway. Others have witnessed to their families and like Bartimaeus, their families now follow Jesus with new vision.

After praying for and with each other, Van brought out plates of fresh fruit and we had some time for fellowship. I explained to them that today in America is a day to spend time with family and to give thanks for our blessings. Today I was thankful for their hospitality and for our global church family that continues to grow.

To learn more about Karen's ministry in Vietnam, visit the missionary bio page of Karen Vo-To. To give through the Advance, link to the Advance's secure page at Giving for Missionary Karen Vo-To.

To learn more about Ut's ministry, visit the missionary bio page of Ut To. Make an online donation to Ut's ministry through the Advance, the designated giving channel of the United Methodist Church at Giving for Missionary Ut To.

Giving Thanks

Randy Hildebrant is a missionary, a Church and Community Worker,
who serves in Nebraska, supporting small, rural churches. (Photo by Felipe Castillo)

This Thanksgiving will be very different for us. We will not be able to be with Aletha’s family in Kentucky. This may be the first year since we have been married, which is 17 years. So this year in Kentucky about 40 Everleys will gather at Faith United Methodist church in Bowling Green, Kentucky. This is the first year they have had Thanksgiving at the church.

In years past, we have always gathered at Aletha’s parent’s house to celebrate Thanksgiving. The adults gather at the table in the dining room. The grand and great-grandkids are scattered throughout the house. The menu is turkey and the usual trimmings, but always includes cheese pudding doubled. Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only times we get to indulge in this tasty dish.

As we sit around the table, Baun will always ask each of us to tell what we are thankful for. He always tearfully expresses his thankfulness for God and family. After each of us has shared, he leads us in singing the Doxology. The beginning is my favorite: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow”

Each time we sing that, I think about all the blessings God has given us. We have so much to be thankful for. I would like to ask you to think about these questions.

What does your church do that you are thankful for?
Does it bring tears to your eyes?
Does it make you want to jump up and shout?
Were you once blind, but now you see?
Remember baptisms, confessions of faith (once lost, now found), and special communions?

Former Global Ministries staff, Brenda Connelly, admires quilt
with missionary Randy Hidebrant. (Photo by Rachael Barnett)

I challenge you as you have church Thanksgiving dinner to let it be more than the motions that we just go through, but let it be an experience that brings us closer to God.

I would like to share a story with you. Some 75 people gathered at a church on Wednesday night to share a Thanksgiving meal with their families. There was no charge for the meal. They decided to take meals to two older ladies in the neighborhood. When they called to tell them they were bringing them meals, the ladies could not believe they were not going to have to pay for the meal. They asked why anyone would just bring a meal and not ask for money. They were told that the church was having a Thanksgiving meal and wanted to include them. The meal was an opportunity for the people to invite unchurched friends to come to their church.

You never know who will show up when given an invitation. You might be surprised. They were.

Read Randy Hildebrant's bio and learn more about the missionaries who serve as Church and Community Workers.

Reenergized, Not Retired in Hong Kong

Missionary Joy Prim, (seated, far right) meets with re-tired missionaries from Hong Kong
and Global Ministries Asia and Pacific executive, Rebecca Asedillo (seated, far left).

The past week has been a celebration of the 160th anniversary of Methodism here in Hong Kong. This celebration brought in many people from many Methodist Churches worldwide and missionary friends who had served in Hong Kong through the years. There were meetings, tours, and events through the week and many of the guest ventured over to Macau yesterday.

Earlier this week Becky, executive secretary for Asia and Pacific and my regional executive, invited me to breakfast to join her and “re-tired" GBGM missionaries who had served here in Hong Kong. I accepted and joined them this morning.

We shared food but, more importantly, we shared fellowship. They all welcomed me with open arms, shared bits about their experiences serving here and what they had learned. They listened as I shared about my ministry here and briefly about how I ended up in Hong Kong.

One warned that, when it becomes home, Hong Kong has a way of never letting go of you. I smiled and shared it had already pulled me in and I wasn’t sure I wanted to ever leave. They shared about the many ministries they are currently involved in stateside, their thoughts as General Conference approaches, and generally enjoyed being with each other, if for nothing else than to remember and look ahead.

I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the amount of what they are still doing since they “retired from missions” to become “re-tired” -- as in re-treaded to keep going strong. Let me tell you this group of retired missionaries is really just a group of “re-tired" missionaries.

We spent 90 minutes together and, while I didn’t feel like I said much, I left full of life and reenergized about my time here. As we bid each other good-bye, one of the ladies commented about how nice it’s going to be to think of Hong Kong and think of a face....

Joy Prim (photo by Mary Beth Coudal)

Read more of Joy's blog at Living by God's Grace.
Link to the Missionary Bio of Joy Prim.

Difference is a Gift

Rev. Elizabeth S. Tapia, Ph.D., is director of mission theology at the General Board of Global Ministries. 

Here is an excerpt from her opening reflections at the meeting for Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Asian Church leaders held in New York on October 13, 2011. (Photo by Felipe Castillo)  

Another aspect is mutual respect. Each part needs to be treated with equal respect and care in order that all may  function together harmoniously. "If one member suffers, all suffer together, if one member is honored, all rejoice together."

This is damayan spirit as we call it in Tagalog. Isn’t this a theology of belonging and interdependency?

For Paul says, "You are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. Even the gifts of the spirit are to be used in this harmonious body. There are varieties of gifts, but all these are activated by the same Spirit." -1 Cor. 12:11.  

Difference is a gift. As all gifts are recognized, all may function in harmony within the body of Christ. And what is the missional principle in all this? It is the principle of love, “a still more excellent way.” 1 Cor. 13.

Our Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Island traditions promulgate a theology of belonging and interdependency. There is room for everyone, there is food for everyone, there is mission for everyone. Ours is a strong communal sense of relating.

But as we live and work in an individualistic, capitalistic, and globalized society, communal sense is being eroded. Here is where we need to develop and nurture multicultural ministries and churches. Here is here we need to develop and nurture migrant churches. Here is where we welcome diversity as a key to congregational vitality.

As global migration has become a major phenomenon, diversity is becoming more and more a major reality in schools, business, travel, and politics. But  it seems Majority white churches are slow to welcome diversity;  monoculturalism rather than multiculturalism; assimilation, rather than self-expression; clausthropobic rather than cosmopolitan...

I want to believe that part of our participation in  God’s mission in today’s world is to offer and practice our communitarian way of life, spirituality of sharing and hospitality, and a theology of belonging and interdependency.

Learn more about the Asian American, Pacific Islander and Asian Church Leaders Gathering, held last week at the General Board of Global Ministries in New York City.

Palestinian Christian Remembers 9-11

Rev. Alex Awad, Global Ministries mission worker, reflects on hearing the news from New York ten years ago on the streets of Jerusalem. (Photo by Mike DuBose)

On September 11, 2001, my son and I were walking along one of the narrow streets of East Jerusalem when suddenly we began to hear voices coming from here and there. One voice said, "America is attacked!" Another said, “Take a look at the TV; New York is under attack!”  

Thanks to modern technology, people in shops in Jerusalem and in Bethlehem were watching the drama unfold in New York. Shopkeepers, customers, and tourists became glued to TV screens watching the savage attacks on the World Trade Center. When I entered one of the shops to see what the fuss was all about, my heart sunk and I felt sick at my stomach. I hurried home to watch the rest of the tragedy with my family. 

I was one of the many Palestinians who totally deplored the attacks. I knew from the outset that the majority of Palestinians who felt like me would be ignored by the media and the few Palestinians who celebrated the attacks would have prime-time coverage. In spite of the fact that not one of the attackers were Palestinians, Palestinians suffered much after the attacks.

Now, ten years after 9/11 and after America has carried out a decade of retribution on Afghanistan, Iraq, and radical Islamists around the world, it is good for Americans, and especially American evangelicals, to ask some hard questions and seek real answers—questions like, "Why did the attacks take place?"

Have evangelicals in the US followed the teachings of Christ in seeking and endorsing revenge on their enemies? What could evangelicals do today to bridge the gap between them and their Muslim neighbors? And how should we act in the next 10 years to shine with the light and love of Christ to the Muslim world? As evangelicals remember 9/11, I pray, God bless America and may America learn how to live at peace with the rest of the world!


Rev. Alex Awad is a Palestinian Christian who was born in Jerusalem and serves on behalf of Global Ministries as Dean and professor at Bethlehem Bible College and as pastor of the Jerusalem Baptist Church. To learn more about Rev. Awad, link to: http://new.gbgm-umc.org/work/missionaries/biographies/index.cfm?action=details&id=26  


To read Rev. Awad's reflections on the Arab uprisings and the Christian response, link to an earlier Global Ministries story at: http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/full_article.cfm?articleid=6008

The Great I Am

New missionaries of The United Methodist Church.
(Photo by Dan Randall, missionary)

May the Great I AM Hear You Deliver You
Protect You

May the Great I AM
Provide for You
Nourish You
Guide You and Lead You

May the Great I AM
Teach You
Train You
Transform You

May the Great I AM
Redeem You
Restore You
Rejoice over You

May the Great I AM
have all of your lives -
all of your faith, hope, and trust,
all of your doubt, anxieties, failures, and shortcomings
that you may know the Great I AM in ever deeper and fuller ways
because the Great I AM - the triune God - was, is,
and will be for you...forever.

Alleluia.
AMEN

***
Dan Randall, missionary, posted this prayer on his blog. He wrote the prayer for the 26 young adults who are being trained and are about to serve in communities throughout the United States and throughout the world through The United Methodist Church. (Photo by Dan Randall)

In the story of Israel's exodus and exile and relationship with God, "I AM" is the name given to Moses by God in the book of Exodus, and it is a name by which Jews and Christians continue to call on God today, as seen through the stories of the Old Testament.

For more on Dan's reflections, link to: http://randallsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/08/great-i-am-prayer-for-young-adults-in.html