Virginia Conference UMVIM Team to Southern Sudan
There is a need for two additional two team members who will be part of the first United Methodist presence in the Southern Sudan city of Rumbek. This Virginia Conference UMVIM team will attempt to build relationships as a first step for a possible future United Methodist presence in the area. Presently, there are no UMC churches in this area of Southern Sudan in the East Africa Conference.
Team members must be very flexible and have a willingness to undergo possible travel hardships with regard to weather, food, and accommodations. Internationally experienced UMVIMers may be especially suited for this mission.
Travel dates are April 20 to May 7, leaving and returning from Richmond. There is a mandatory team meeting March 15 in Great Falls, VA. The cost of the trip is $3700. For more information contact Kip Robinson at Krobin7856@aol.com or 804.264.7856.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Starvation in Kenya
Several children in Nakuru Camp, Kenya for the internally displaced enjoy a nutritious meal.Image by: Melissa Crutchfield Source: UMCOR
New York, NY, February 20, 2009--Several weeks ago, Felix was admitted to the Maua Methodist Hospital, in Maua, Kenya, with severe tuberculosis. Felix weighed 20 pounds and was three feet tall. He was nine years old. Missionary Jerri Savuto sat by Felix's bedside, watching him gasp for breath.
"How hungry, alone and desperate he must have always been. I reached out and touched him and smiled at him," said Nurse Savuto. "His eyes looked up and met mine and then his little face broke into a smile. He gained weight and seemed to be doing much better but died four days ago." Jerri Suvuto is one of six United Methodist missionaries serving through Global Ministries in Kenya.
As many as 10 million Kenyans, a majority of them children like Felix, are dying due to pervasive drought and famine. The Kenyan newspaper, The Daily Nation, projected that October 2009 will be the first opportunity for a substantial rainfall. Ms. Savuto worries that many in Kenya will not live to see that next big rain.
As malnourished children are admitted to Maua Hospital, with their families' unable to pay, the staff goes without pay and the facility lacks money for necessities. So, too, families flock to Kenyan churches for food, prayer, and comfort, yet parishioners are no longer able to support their pastors. They subsist on donations. The Methodist Church in Kenya is seeking funding to continue the mission of the hospitals and churches.
Bishop Stephen Kanyaru M'Impwii, head of the Methodist Church in Kenya, visited the New York headquarters of the General Board of Global Ministries on February 19-20, 2009, to highlight the need for increased relief efforts. He met, among others, with the Rev. Edward W. Paup, general secretary, to convey the urgency of the famine.
"I'm not telling you what I've heard," Bishop M'Impwii said. "I'm telling you what I've seen. Starving people have died. It's very serious. Even in the capital, there are very many, many orphans."
"We are currently supporting churches in Kenya to respond to the famine in Nairobi, Coastal Province, and the Rift Valley (Nakuru)," said Melissa Crutchfield, an International Disaster Response executive with the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). "These activities include provision of food aid for some of the most vulnerable populations, including nursing mothers, vulnerable children, orphans, school children, people living with HIV and AIDS, and internally-displaced people from the election violence last year. The grants are also providing some medicines for a clinic in Nakuru, and agricultural inputs like seeds and tools, so that farmers in that region can begin to grow for themselves again."
A report from the United Nations indicates childhood malnourishment is at the level of one in five in Kenya, a number which exceeds emergency requirements. "The number of people who are starving in Kenya seems to increase daily. Our pediatric ward continues to have so many starving, emaciated children admitted," reported Missionary Jerri Savuto.
One of those emaciated children is four-year-old Martin. Tall for his age, he must have received nutrition earlier in his life, according to Ms. Savuto. "But now the family has nothing. He was admitted with malaria, pneumonia, severe anemia, and starvation. We can help these children recover from their illnesses and even gain weight, but then we have to send them home to the same situation. The hospital has started a program to send food home with families of children like this," Savuto said.
Ms. Savuto also reported that in the capital, Nairobi, she saw many Maasai herds of cattle roaming through the city streets searching for a patch of green to graze upon. She wrote:
Their cattle are dying and they are migrating. We need your help. Please pray for us and please remember the hungry everywhere. You may not see them, for often they are invisible, but they are there, standing quietly, pleading with God to help them. I know God hears them. Do you?
Donations to assist UMCOR's response in Kenya can be dropped in local church collection plates or mailed to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087. The check should be made to "UMCOR Advance #982450, International Disaster Response," with "Kenya Famine" on the memo line.
Their cattle are dying and they are migrating. We need your help. Please pray for us and please remember the hungry everywhere. You may not see them, for often they are invisible, but they are there, standing quietly, pleading with God to help them. I know God hears them. Do you?
Donations to assist UMCOR's response in Kenya can be dropped in local church collection plates or mailed to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087. The check should be made to "UMCOR Advance #982450, International Disaster Response," with "Kenya Famine" on the memo line.
For credit card donations, visit UMCOR's web site at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/ for online giving information or call (800) 554-8583. Give now.
Mary Beth Coudal is the staff writer for Global Ministries.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Update from Marty and Paul Law: Children's Ministry
From: paul@appointmentcongo.com
Subject: Children's Ministry Update
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009
Dear Friends,
We have attached several pictures of our children's ministry. We would like for you to see what is happening. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of our children in the Memory Class. I shared with you in my last update that I had given them until mid-March to memorize the WHOLE book of James! I have promised the boys each their very own soccer ball and the girls will get a dress and pair of sandals each. They are working on the book now and I KNOW they will DO IT!
I have these needs for our ministry:
Subject: Children's Ministry Update
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009
Dear Friends,
We have attached several pictures of our children's ministry. We would like for you to see what is happening. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of our children in the Memory Class. I shared with you in my last update that I had given them until mid-March to memorize the WHOLE book of James! I have promised the boys each their very own soccer ball and the girls will get a dress and pair of sandals each. They are working on the book now and I KNOW they will DO IT!
I have these needs for our ministry:
- One Word Processor
- One Printer plus extra cartridges
- Cartons of printing paper
- Solar Battery
- Funds for soccer balls
- Funds for dresses/shoes
- Salary Monies for our children workers.
- Of course, our number one need is prayer for the children as they "hide the Word of God in their hearts", that it will bear much fruit and "not return Void." Please pray for the workers and especially as they translate the lessons from English into Otetela. God's provision for the teacher's we will need to train and send into the out villages to multiply the ministry from one to 12-15 villages!
Blessings,
Marty
Send funds before March 1st to:
Appointment Congo, 12417 Moriah Way, Raleigh, NC 27614.
Designate: Children's Ministry
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
1st UMC trip to South Africa
Phakamisa is Zulu for Uplift
First United Methodist Church of Denton, NC sent a mission team to engage and support the Phakamisa project of Pinetown Methodist Church, Pinetown, South Africa last summer. The Phakamisa project of Pinetown S. Africa exists to serve and uplift impoverished communities through the provision of educational training, resources and support. The team was in mission with orphans, orphan caregivers and AIDS support groups. These groups endure extreme adversity, poverty and suffering in the townships near Pinetown.
The focus of the mission trip was to provide respites for these groups. Respites consisted of daytrips to the petting zoo for the kids and a trip to the nearby aquarium for the adults. The team was also in mission with several daycares supported by Phakamisa. Before departing, the team spent a day helping with the construction of the Hillcrest AIDS Clinic, a project of Hillcrest Methodist Church, in Hillcrest, S. Africa.
First UMC-Denton has committed to be in local mission for the 2009 year as they rotate between global and local mission each year. Therefore, the earliest another mission team would be sent to South Africa would be the summer of 2010. Anyone interested in being in mission to South Africa with the Phakamisa project may contact Rev. Bill Foust at Denton: First-Canaan UMC, phone: 336-859-4603, email: wfoust001@triad.rr.com. The mission team is available to visit area churches and present details of the mission trip with personal stories, slides and videos. For additional information or to donate to Phakamisa please go online to http://www.phakamisa.org/.
For United Methodist Advance connectional giving, Phakamisa is number 14154A.
Bev and Ed Wentz
Beverly (Bev) A. Wentz, R.N. (Retired) and Edward (Ed) L. Wentz, Jr., P.E. (Retired) have served as Individual Volunteers in Mission through GBGM into several African Countries, working especially in the water supply/needs area. For more information on contacting them, email me at mcollins@wnccumc.org
Bev and Ed are members of Oak Ridge United Methodist Church, Oak Ridge, NC, Greensboro District
Bev and Ed are members of Oak Ridge United Methodist Church, Oak Ridge, NC, Greensboro District
Scholarship Fund
Annual Oak Ridge United Methodist Church (ORUMC) Scholarship Fund:
This program was implemented after return from our first trip to Zimbabwe in June, 2005 when we first resided at Africa University while working at Old Mutare Mission. Students supported thus far with full scholarships are: Isaiah Njimbu, DRC, graduated June, 2006 with a degree in Sociology; Virginia Chipenhi, Angola, graduated June 2008 with a degree in Economics; Martin Kanund, DRC will graduate June, 2009 with a degree in Animal Production in the School of Agriculture and Tresor Yav Mutas, DRC who is a second year marketing student in the school of management and administration. To date ORUMC has raised approximately $32,200 + in scholarship funds and related support.
This program was implemented after return from our first trip to Zimbabwe in June, 2005 when we first resided at Africa University while working at Old Mutare Mission. Students supported thus far with full scholarships are: Isaiah Njimbu, DRC, graduated June, 2006 with a degree in Sociology; Virginia Chipenhi, Angola, graduated June 2008 with a degree in Economics; Martin Kanund, DRC will graduate June, 2009 with a degree in Animal Production in the School of Agriculture and Tresor Yav Mutas, DRC who is a second year marketing student in the school of management and administration. To date ORUMC has raised approximately $32,200 + in scholarship funds and related support.
Child Action Initiative
Child Action Initiative, Kasungami, Democratic Republic of the Congo:
Child Action is a Non-Government Organization founded in 2006 by Isaiah Njimbu after graduation from Africa University with a sociology degree, when he returned home to Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Child Action has been sanctioned by Southern Katanga Province United Methodist Bishop Katembo Kainda. Isaiah is currently in the process of submitting an application to UM GBGM, New York City, for financial support for this mission in nearby Kasungami, DRC where approximately 20,000 people reside. The original purpose of this organization was to provide primary and secondary education for children whose parents died from HIV/AIDS, who reside in Kasungami and attend Nazareth United Methodist Church. In the summer of 2006 Isaiah contacted us about the dire need for potable drinking water in Kasungami. Nazareth UMC is in a serious state of disrepair and would welcome support from UM Building Teams.
Bev and I (Ed Wentz) visited Lubumbashi and Kasungami, DRC May, 2008, to take an inventory of the existing sources of drinking water in Kasungami. While there we also observed the dire need for medical services and a continual source for food for all residents. We also met with the mayor of Lubumbashi and officials of World Vision whose DRC headquarters are in Lubumbashi to discuss their capabilities to drill wells.
The drinking water aspect of this project is tentatively receiving financial support from the Hershey and West Harrisburg, PA and Lubumbashi, DRC Rotary Clubs. This is being made possible through our friend Richard (Dick) E. Wright who is a retired professional geologist, member of First UM Church, Hershey, PA and a Hershey Rotary Club member. Dick is Chairman of the Rotary's Water Resources Committee which is studying the best approach to solve the need for water in Kasungami and methodology to raise funds to finance the project. January 20, 2008, Mr. Wright contacted me to advise he has made a significant contact with Mr. Kim Lorenz with World Vision, Federal Way, Washington who will ultimately advise their interest in providing matching funds for drilling wells in Kasungami.
The Child Action program has grown from providing education and clothing for the orphaned children of Kasungami to providing drinking water, medical services such as visiting nurses and doctors, facility for expectant mothers, a facility to care for the sick, vaccines and the development of a subsistence farming program in order that the residents can raise nutritional food for their own consumption and selling it to earn an income. We facilitated Isaiah to visit the United Methodist Mujilla Falls Agriculture Centre, Zambia in September, 2008 to learn about the program developed by Rev. Paul Webster resident missionary.
Child Action is a Non-Government Organization founded in 2006 by Isaiah Njimbu after graduation from Africa University with a sociology degree, when he returned home to Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Child Action has been sanctioned by Southern Katanga Province United Methodist Bishop Katembo Kainda. Isaiah is currently in the process of submitting an application to UM GBGM, New York City, for financial support for this mission in nearby Kasungami, DRC where approximately 20,000 people reside. The original purpose of this organization was to provide primary and secondary education for children whose parents died from HIV/AIDS, who reside in Kasungami and attend Nazareth United Methodist Church. In the summer of 2006 Isaiah contacted us about the dire need for potable drinking water in Kasungami. Nazareth UMC is in a serious state of disrepair and would welcome support from UM Building Teams.
Bev and I (Ed Wentz) visited Lubumbashi and Kasungami, DRC May, 2008, to take an inventory of the existing sources of drinking water in Kasungami. While there we also observed the dire need for medical services and a continual source for food for all residents. We also met with the mayor of Lubumbashi and officials of World Vision whose DRC headquarters are in Lubumbashi to discuss their capabilities to drill wells.
The drinking water aspect of this project is tentatively receiving financial support from the Hershey and West Harrisburg, PA and Lubumbashi, DRC Rotary Clubs. This is being made possible through our friend Richard (Dick) E. Wright who is a retired professional geologist, member of First UM Church, Hershey, PA and a Hershey Rotary Club member. Dick is Chairman of the Rotary's Water Resources Committee which is studying the best approach to solve the need for water in Kasungami and methodology to raise funds to finance the project. January 20, 2008, Mr. Wright contacted me to advise he has made a significant contact with Mr. Kim Lorenz with World Vision, Federal Way, Washington who will ultimately advise their interest in providing matching funds for drilling wells in Kasungami.
The Child Action program has grown from providing education and clothing for the orphaned children of Kasungami to providing drinking water, medical services such as visiting nurses and doctors, facility for expectant mothers, a facility to care for the sick, vaccines and the development of a subsistence farming program in order that the residents can raise nutritional food for their own consumption and selling it to earn an income. We facilitated Isaiah to visit the United Methodist Mujilla Falls Agriculture Centre, Zambia in September, 2008 to learn about the program developed by Rev. Paul Webster resident missionary.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
