Announcements for January 22, 2010

ANNUAL CONFERENCE CHOIRS NOW BEING FORMED FOR JUNE SESSION

Worship leaders are seeking talented high school, younger adults and older persons to be a part of the Indiana Annual Conference session worship team. Open audition CDs, MP3s and audio cassette tapes are being received now through Feb. 22 for the 2010 Indiana Annual Conference Session being held at Ball State University in Muncie, June 10-13.

To be a part of the team, participants are committing to rehearsals in Indianapolis on Saturdays, March 13, April 10 and May 8 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. plus Wednesday, June 9 from noon to 10 p.m. at Ball State University for conference June 10-13.

Send auditions to Chuck Scott, Saint Joseph United Methodist Church, 6004 Reed Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46835 or escott@stjoemin.com, phone 260-485-9681 ext. 32. If you have sent an audition recording in the past, you need only contact Chuck Scott and express your interest to serve as a conference choir member again.

United Methodist Volunteers in Mission for the North Central Jurisdiction UMC

AVENUE FOR MEDICAL VOLUNTEERS INTO HAITI

Dr. Cherian Thomas, head of the UMCOR Health Unit, suggests that some volunteers, who have the qualifications and want to go into Haiti before UMCOR stations are up and ready, might want to consider this way of serving, through the U.S. Government.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is requesting physicians of specific specialties to deploy with the National Disaster Medical Assistance teams to Haiti. The need is for trauma surgeons, orthopedists, anesthesiologists, and others with experience in treating crush injuries. Volunteers must be able to serve for at least 2 weeks, and be willing to live and work in Spartan conditions.

Preference will be given to physicians who are Creole or French speakers and to those currently credentialed through the Medical Reserve Corps in their home state, or the ESAR-VHP program (Emergency Services Advanced Registration of Volunteer Health Personnel).

These volunteers will need to be credentialed as temporary federal employees and will need to be able to provide credentialing paperwork as soon as asked. Credentialing normally takes about a week. Volunteers with these clinical skills should contact Michala Koch (Michala.Koch@hhs.gov). Not everyone who wishes to help will necessarily be deployed, and those without the requisite skills may not receive a direct response.

For medical professionals wishing to help in this way in future relief efforts, please take a few minutes to learn about the Medical Reserve Corps. Click here, identify your local unit, and register to become part of the corps. This is the channel through which medical volunteers are deployed immediately following an event, and only those registered beforehand are likely to be deployed.

Thank you for your service!

For information on UMVIM teams /project sites, write Lorna Jost, UMVIM-NCJ Coordinator, 928 4th St. #4, Brookings, SD 57006, phone 605-692-3390 or visit www.gbgm-umc.org/northcentralvim/index.html.