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Mission News for March 15, 2010

HOOSIER UNITED METHODIST Mission Opportunities

For Monday March 15, 2010
This newsletter is paid for through your annual conference connectional ministries tithe.
Edited by Dan Gangler, director of communication

The Rev. LeKisha Reed, Associate Director of Mission and Advocacy, is available to you in the new Indiana Conference Center and would like to hear what your congregation is doing in mission and advocacy. Submit mission news, information and volunteer opportunities to lekisha.reed@inumc.org or call 317-924-1321. The Indiana Conference Mission and Advocacy area has created a Facebook Fan Page. Check it out here.

Mission Census Being Taken During March by Conference

The Mission Resource Team of the Indiana Conference is conducting a Mission Census 2010 during the month of March. The Mission Census is a short survey about the mission ministry of your congregation. The Mission Resource Team wants to become more familiar with the various ways you serve. All information collected will be used as a way to determine how the Mission Resource Team may service you better and to help create mission affinity groups throughout Indiana.

Register to participate at www.inumc.org/missions. If you need a paper copy of this survey, call the Rev. LeKisha Reed at 317-924-1321 ext. 1006 or toll-free 877-781-6706 ext. 1006.

Thank you for participating in this important survey.

REMINDER

Applications Open for Summer 2010 Global Justice Volunteers

NEW YORK (UMNS) – Now is the time for young women between the ages of 18 and 30 to apply for short-term, volunteer-mission service in the 2010 Global Justice Volunteers program of United Methodist Women. The deadline to apply is March 15. The areas of service are Asia and Africa. The program offers young people the opportunity to live internationally for six weeks and explore the issues of justice and its advocacy. Download applications at here.

MORE WAYS TO GIVE TO HAITI, CHILE RELIEF

As of March 11, $14.5 Million has been received for UMCOR Haiti Relief. Please remember that 100 percent of your gifts to the Haiti Emergency will support the people in Haiti.

Haiti, Chile Earthquake Emergencies need your support

Here are the UMCOR Advance numbers for Haiti and Chile.

UMCOR Financial support can be made to Haiti Emergency UMCOR Advance #418325

UMCOR Financial support can be made to Chile Emergency UMCOR Advance #3021178.

For latest information about these emergencies, visit www.umcor.org

To send funds collected for UMCOR, ask churches to make check to Indiana Conference UMC with memo to either one of these Advances including number. Send check to INUMC, Dept. 6089, Carol Stream, IL 60122-6089.

Forward questions about Haiti and Chile relief efforts; contact LeKisha Reed in the Indiana Conference Center at toll-free 877-781-6706 or 317-924-1321 ext. 1006.

As of March 11, $14.5 Million has been received for UMCOR Haiti Relief. Hoosier United Methodists have given $455,684 for Haiti earthquake relief and recovery during the months of January and February. Thank you all for your generous gifts.

Indiana Conference no longer collecting health kits for Haiti

If churches have health kits, they may send them to the Midwest Mission Distribution Center, 1022 New City Road, Chatham, IL 62629, phone 217-483-7911 (www.midwestmissiondc.org) or to the UMCOR Sager Brown Depot in Baldwin, La. (www.umcor.org click on How to Give Relief Supplies). For either address, please enclose an envelope containing at least $1 for each kit you send.

Our conference emphasis is now on contributions for tents to Haiti survivors available through our partners Children of Abraham, 6635 Hohman Avenue, Hammond, Indiana 46324, phone: 219-513-0003 online at www.coa-worldwide.org. Each tent costs $150 and will sleep up to ten people.

Tents Desperately Needed in Haiti for Earthquake Survivors

Friends of the Orphans, a Chicago-based charity with Roman Catholic roots serving South America and the Caribbean, and Children of Abraham, an Indiana Conference Advance Special with offices at Hammond First UMC, have been resupplying the Saint Damien Children’s Hospital in Haiti. This 120-bed hospital currently has 700 people in serious or critical condition under its care. Children of Abraham have been supplying medical supplies and many additional beds, as well as food which are being distributed with help from the Italian contingent of the United Nations. Children of Abraham is partnering with other concerned relief agencies to supply ten-person mosquito netted tents complete with rain tarps. We have multiple suppliers willing to provide these tents for $150 each, which normally sell in the $350-$400 range. For more information, visit Children of Abraham at www.coa-worldwide.org.

Volunteers In Mission Team Leader Training Coming to Indiana
  • March 20, 2010 at First UMC in Bloomington, Ind.
  • April 10, 2010 at New Life UMC near Mexico, Ind.

Both of these workshops run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (ET), Penny Krug will be the trainer for these sessions.

Who should attend? Leaders and/or participants of work teams and youth leaders.

What is the cost? $15 person, which includes lunch and basic materials plus $25 for VIM Training Manual (only 1 needed per church).

Topics include: How to plan a mission trip, where to go when your church wants to send a team, spiritual enrichment, being a team member, cultural sensitivity, insurance and liability forms regardless of where you go, issues of risk, and answers to questions.

Register online or contact Bonnie Albert  – Bonnie Albert, Indiana Conference UMVIM Coordinator.

Health, Layette, Birthing Kits Needed

According to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), there will be a great need for volunteers to help rebuild once the initial crisis is past, but it is not safe or possible for volunteers to go to Haiti at the present. Instructions for assembling and shipping health kits are available on the UMCOR Web site.

There is a need for volunteer groups in March to serve at the Midwest Mission Distribution Center in Illinois assembling the shipment to Haiti. Please contact MMDC to make your team’s reservations. Contact: Midwest Mission Distribution Center, 1022 New City Road, P.O. Box 56, Chatham, IL 62629, phone: 217-483-7911, fax 217-483-7981 or online.

For more information about latest in Haiti relief efforts by UMCOR, visit www.umc.org/haiti.

DEATH NOTICE

Lucinda E. Hamilton, 60, retired associate clergy member of the Indiana Conference who lived in Greenwood and formerly Kokomo, died Saturday, March 13, 2010 at Beech Grove. Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 18 at the Stout & Son Funeral Home, Russiaville Chapel, 200 E. Main Street in Russiaville, Ind. A memorial service is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Friday, March 19 at the funeral home with the Rev. Steven Fritchman, pastor of the Russiaville UMC, officiating. Burial will follow in Russiaville Cemetery.  Memorial contributions may be made to Russiaville United Methodist Church, PO Box 307, Russiaville, IN 46979 or the American Cancer Society. Condolences can be sent to Lucinda’s husband, Ronald Hamilton, 685 Green Meadow Dr., Greenwood, IN 46143.

MISSION NEWS

Send One Great Hour of Sharing Offerings to Indiana Conference PO Box

This past Sunday was One Great Hour of Sharing when United Methodists give to support the work of UMCOR, which is not supported through general church apportionments. Because of OGHS, UMCOR can give 100 percent of funds received for each of these disaster relief and recovery projects. Gifts from One Great Hour of Sharing offerings can be made payable to the Indiana Conference UMC, memo “OGHS” and sent to INUMC, Dept. 6089, Carol Stream, IL 60122-6089. For more information about special day offerings, go to www.umcgiving.org.

Robinson Chapel UMC plans to go to the Henderson Settlement

Robinson Chapel UMC in Fort Wayne is going to Henderson Settlement the week of April 25-May 2. That in itself may not be so interesting, but in a church that averages 70 in worship, 13 are going on this mission trip. Beyond that, Elizabeth Van Horn who will be 97 this fall is planning to go with us. Van Horn has been active in the church for years. Robinson Chapel will also have a 14-year-old go on this mission trip as well. Also, Elizabeth Van Horn’s daughter, grandson and his wife and her mother are planning to go, too, so mission is certainly part of her family’s mindset.

UMCOR makes, receives donations for Haiti work

NEW YORK (UMNS) – The United Methodist Committee on Relief has contributed $50,000 to Action by Churches Together Alliance to help provide water, sanitation, shelter and food to the most vulnerable groups affected by the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. UMCOR also is supporting Global Health Action's Community Health and Development Programs in the Leogane District of Haiti with a $30,000 grant. On March 4, Bishop Rafael Moreno-Rivas of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico and Milagros Martínez-Colón, president of the church's Organization of Methodist Women, presented a $20,000 check to UMCOR officials for Haiti relief, matching the $20,000 previously raised by Puerto Rican Methodists.

Chile faces long road to recovery

NEW YORK (UMNS) – A feeling of uncertainty lingers for survivors of Chile’s massive earthquake as the country struggles to recover. Continuing aftershocks and televised images of damage, desperation and violence have left everyone “in a state of unhealthy alert,” the Rev. Shana Harrison, a United Methodist missionary based in Santiago, said in an e-mail. “Please continue to keep the Chilean people in your prayers,” wrote Harrison, executive director of the Foundation Crescendo, a workshop and group home for adults with intellectual disabilities. “There is a long, long road ahead.”

Philippines court refuses to release health workers

NEW YORK (UMNS) – A court in the Philippines refused to release 43 health workers seized on Feb. 6 on charges of being communist insurgents. On March 10, a five-member panel of the Court of Appeals in a 3-2 ruling dismissed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus covering the group being held in prison. The decision is being appealed to the Philippines Supreme Court. Among those held is Dr. Alexis Montes, whose work in community-based health received small grants from the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries from 2007 to 2009, under an arrangement with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. Read the full story here. 

Missionary safety a ‘constant concern’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) – No United Methodists are assigned to Pakistan, but the March 10 murders of charity workers there points to the need for constant vigilance regarding the safety of missionaries, church officials said. Six Pakistani employees of the U.S.-based Christian charity World Vision were killed and seven others were wounded in an attack on the aid group’s offices in a remote village in northern Pakistan, according to news reports. Lois M. Dauway, executive with the Board of Global Ministries, reported that according to her records, no United Methodist missionaries have ever been killed by insurgents.  Read the full story here. 

Radio station impacts Ivorians

ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire (UMNS) – Alfred Degny, director of Dabou Methodist Hospital, tells of an elderly man from a nearby village who was suffering an attack of hypertension. Rather than take him to the Dabou hospital, his children took him farther away, to the country’s commercial capital, Abidjan, for treatment. There, he died. If the man had been taken to Dabou hospital first, he could have been stabilized before going on to Abidjan, and he probably would have survived, Degny says. He hopes the new United Methodist radio station in Abidjan will help reduce such incidents by broadcasting information about health matters and the hospital’s services. Read the full story here. 

AIDS Care in India featured by UMTV

NAMAKKAL, INDIA (UMTV) – Worldwide, 30 million people live with AIDS. Children are often infected and orphaned when parents die from the disease. Volunteers from a small town in the U.S. now fund an AIDS clinic that serves women, children and grandparents living with HIV/AIDS. This is the story of a young girl who helped inspire the partnership between the La Veta United Methodist Church in Colorado and the CARE health center in Namakkal, India. UMTV’s “AIDS Care in India” is available to view here.

Video story of Haiti relief efforts available here.
FOR THE LATEST IN DISASTER NEWS AND RECOVERY
VISIT www.disasternews.net and www.umcor.org.

NEWLY LISTED MISSION OPPORTUNITIES

UMCOR to lead training in Disaster Early Response and VIM Team Leader

Disaster Early Response Training will be provided by: Disaster Response and United Methodist Volunteer In Mission Coordinators and the Indiana Conference United Methodist Church Mission Resource Team. The training will be offered Saturday, April 10 at New Life United Methodist Church near Mexico, Ind. Coffee and snacks from 8:30 to 8:45 a.m. Training from 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

UMCOR Trainer Rick Hill. Who should attend? All persons interested in Early Disaster Response work, pastors, District Disaster Response Coordinators.

Cost is $25, includes snacks, lunch and materials.

For more information, contact Gary Peterson or call 260-437-1310 or Bonnie Albert or 219-464-1447.

Register online.

Download a PDF to mail in here.

FLOOD RECOVERY INFORMATION (UPDATED)

United Methodists Continue in Flood Recovery Efforts Statewide

The floods may seem long gone and out of the news, however, volunteers are still needed to assist residence in northwest, far northwest and in the central parts of Indiana.

In far northwest Indiana, contact the Lakeshore Area Regional Recovery in Indiana (LARRI). Visit www.larri.info located at Lake Business Center, 9200 Calumet Avenue, Suite N-510, Munster, Indiana. Contact via phone at 219 836-1325 or toll-free 877-LARRI4U; fax 219-477-5845. Many houses are in the rebuild phase and need volunteers. Grant funds from Eli Lily will cover the cost of materials but not labor. To contact Volunteer Coordinator, please call Rhonda Carlson at 219 836-1325 ext. 102 or via e-mail rcarlson@larri.info . Information updated (3/12/2010)

In Northwest Indiana contact Alan H. Welch, director, DANI-Disaster Assistance for NW Indiana, 1021 N 10th Street, Lafayette, IN 47904; ph 765-742-4718; welchah@gmail.com. DANI information is available by visiting http://daniflood.org.

Morgan County Lannie Stecher thanks the Indiana Conference for all the help that it has been to assist county residents rebuild since the summer 2008 flood. At this moment Morgan County recovery is finishing up but still needs skilled volunteers. They want to be finished by the end of April. If you or your church wishes to volunteer your help, contact Lannie Stecher at 765-318-8344, or pastorlannie@yahoo.com).

Southern Indiana – Contact Disaster Response Coordinator: The Rev. David Powell at 317-745-4330 or info@danvilleumc.org. Terre Haute and Bartholomew County areas are in need of volunteers.

ONGOING MISSION PROJECT REMINDERS

For more information about these opportunities, listings of ongoing projects and contact information, please visit http://inumc.org/pages/detail/171.

Check Out the New Gambling Recovery Ministries Web Site
  • Check out the United Methodist-related Gambling Recovery Ministries’ greatly expanded Web site www.grmumc.org.
  • Sign up for e-news Bonus Pages at www.grmumc.org.
  • This ministry is supported in part through your congregational tithe to the conference.
NOMADS Volunteers Work in Response to Disaster
Volunteers Needed in North Dakota
  • Volunteers are needed for rebuilds in Fargo/Moorhead and the Jamestown areas. Contact: Joan Buchhop at jbuchhop@lssnd.org or call 701-775-6151.

MISSION OPPORTUNITIES REMINDERS

For more information about these opportunities, listings of ongoing projects and contact information, please visit http://inumc.org/pages/detail/172.

Mishawaka Church Mission Trip to Henderson Settlement

  • April 5-10
  • The cost is $200 per person
  • For more information, contact Isaac Nanney, director of student ministry, at First UMC in Mishawaka or call 574-255-4707.
Individual Volunteer In Mission Training Available
  • April 15-18
  • People must apply and go through the Individual Volunteer Web site.

Operation Classroom VIM Trips to Africa

  • Workteams to Sierra Leone 2010
    • May 2 to 23 To Koidu – University of Indianapolis, Lang Brownlee, team leader
    • June 12 to July 15 - Constructing a school for the blind - Les and Hope Law, team leaders
    • July 25-August 3 - Construction project to be decided - Kay Hess, team leader
  • Workteams to Liberia 2010
    • April- New Georgia school construction
    • June 21 to July 6 - Tubman-Gray School - Especially for College Students
    • Construction of Elementary Building - Jill Bowen Team leader
    • June 22 to July 8 or July 20 to August 1 - Teaching seminar on reading, phonics and writing (elementary level)
    • Sept 7 to 27 – Kay Zeigler and Bob Evans Leaders, Construction project to be decided

Russia Initiative Consultation XV

Rx Consultation in Iowa

  • May 7-9, 2010
  • Walnut Hills UMC in Urbandale, Iowa
  • More information to come

Chain Saw Training Course in Wisconsin

  • May 15 at Pine Lake United Methodist Camp
  • Limited to 10-15 beginners or experienced cutters
  • Cost: $35 includes lunch
  • Register by May 7
  • More information: Chuck Wedemeyer 414-354-8285

Construction Volunteers Need to Construct New Houses

  • Work Camp Schedule for S.O.W.E.R. 2010 (Sharing Our Witness – Enriching Relationships)
    • Week 1 May 16 – 22 Frame shell
    • Week 2 May 23 – 29 Roofing, interior walls, exterior doors, windows, siding
    • Week 3 July 11 – 17 Install insulation and drywall, finish siding and soffit
    • Week 4 July 18 – 24 Finish drywall & paint, install porch railing
    • Week 5 August 8 – 14 Finish interior trim, install underlayment, and flooring
    • Week 6 August 15 – 21 Install interior doors, trim, and kitchen cabinets
  • To learn more or to join one of these camps contact Ralph & Carolyn Brandon, SOWER VIM Team Leaders. 231 McMillen Dr., Newark, Oh 43055, ph 740-344-5581, SOWER@wocumc.org
Volunteer In Mission Trip Planned to Africa University
  • May 20-June 8, 2010
  • Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe, Africa
  • Cost of the trip: $3800
  • For more information, contact Rev. Anyike at 317-925-1997 or Ruth Ellen Stone at ruthellen1@juno.com.
Applications Sought for Hunger Justice Leaders

Elgins to Lead TeachUM Team to Managua, Nicaragua

  • teachUM teams to Managua, Nicaragua
  • June 14-23, 2010
  • For more information, e-mail rrelgin@comcast.net
Terre Haute Church has Space Available for VIM Trip to Russia
  • June 15-26
  • More information at www.umcmemorial.com, click on the Missions tab
  • Peter Priest, Emeritus Professor of Russian

Vietnam / Cambodia

Poland
  • June 24-July 7, 2010
  • Cost is $2,500
  • Contact Ron Fontenot 618-628-8262.

Flood of Justice Missions

  • For your senior high youth
  • July 18-24, 2010
  • July 11-17, if needed
  • Cost is $250 per registrant
  • More information here. 

Peru

West Ohio Church Announce Two Mission Trips Need Volunteers

  • E-mail Grove City Missions for more information
  • JAMAICA:
    • July 31-Aug. 7
    • Cost is $1,300
    • Team Leader: Carol Coudle.
  • UGANDA:
    • Summer 2011
    • Cost is $3,200
    • Team Leaders: Jan Scharenberg and Dayna McFarland.