Living Word UMC helps with clean up
On May 1st 558 people from Living Word UMC gave 2500 hours of community service in 33 projects. They served at schools, parks, retirement homes, church agencies and community agencies. They also did a lot of tornado clean up. Their green shirts which said "Go Living Word - All Church Service Day" were seen everywhere.
First UMC Sikeston Receives Flood Buckets
Pictured are flood buckets being unloaded at First UMC, Sikeston. The Office of Creative Ministries delivered a combined total of 1,500 flood buckets to the First United Methodist Churches in Popular Bluff and Sikeston. Some of the buckets were transported in the Festival of Sharing gooseneck trailer driven from Steve Baima, Community UMC and Joe Bartelsmeyer, Mt. Vernon UMC. The majority of the flood buckets were transported by Convoy of Hope. All of the buckets came from the United Methodist Mid-West Distribution Center in Illinois. Click here for a list of items included in a flood bucket.
Making a Difference in Guatemala
Ernesto contracted polio at the age of seven. For years he had been begging for money on the streets, spending his days on the ground. Then at the age of 44, he received a PET. Using his creativity and entrepreneurial skills he made a “Snack Cart” to sell soda and chips from. He pedaled 7 kilometers to a PET distribution that was taking place in Cobán, Guatemala to show us what he had done. When he stopped by in the morning his cart was full, when he came back that afternoon it was empty – he had sold out! This PET not only gave Ernesto mobility, it also gave him the opportunity to support himself.
Caring for Creation in Guatemala
Earlier this month twelve team members returned from a Volunteers in Mission experience in Guatemala where they participated in a mission focused on the environment. Their primary task was to plant trees but team members also greatly benefited from extensive learning about the cloud forest and about the Queqchi, (one of the indigenous Maya groups) who live in the part of the country they visited.
Some of the trees the group planted around a school yard will bear fruit. There are now twelve different kinds of fruit trees in that location which, once mature will provide a healthy source of food throughout the year for the impoverished children who attend the school. As one team member noted, they serve as, “…the tree of life.” In Revelations 22:2, it states, “…on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, (was) yielding fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
The cloud forest is spectacularly beautiful in the mountain communities the team visited but it is also vital to the environment in that part of the world. As the Mayan people say, “The forest catches the clouds,” and they are correct! Moisture in the clouds condenses on the leaves of the thick forest and other vegetation and drops to the ground. In the cloud forest, precipitation has been measured at seven meters (275 inches) per year while in areas where the forest has been cut, three meters (118 inches) has been recorded. The precipitation in the cloud forest is essential to all of the communities below who use it for water and for the livelihood of the plants, birds, insects and animals that live there. A highlight for all of the team was spending two nights in the homes of host families in the mountain community of Sanimtaqa. Communication provided the greatest challenge as no team members spoke Queqchi, (the language used by the women and children) and only a few knew Spanish which the men also spoke. However drawing pictures, pointing, gesturing and lots of smiles and laughter enabled the team to share with these loving and very family oriented people.
The team returned home much more knowledgeable about the importance of creation in this incredibly beautiful part of the world and with greatest respect and appreciation for the Queqchi and their way of life. This mission opportunity was truly an inspiration for all who participated.
Inner Thoughts from Outer Mongolia
Helen Sheperd, CPO Box 1242, Ulaanbaatar13, Mongolia
December 2010
Again, greetings to you from Outer Mongolia! May this Advent season create in your hearts a special joy as you await the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As our world continues not to be filled with peace, may each one of us continue to be focused on being agents of peace starting with our own hearts and lives. May the Year 2011 be filled with joy, hope, love, and peace as you seek to know God’s will for you, and share the Good News with those whom you meet. Update on “GBGM of Mongolia” Mission:
This year we have added three congregations to the UMC mission and all of them are outside of Ulaanbaatar, anywhere from 1-6 hours away from here. This has been exciting especially for the pastors, but I have, also, noticed lots of joy in the congregations which sponsor these new branch-churches. Please pray for these developing congregations. Only one of them has a Bible school trained pastor.
There are children’s programs this fall at both Tsaiz and Chingeltei Centers. The one at Chingeltei is for 3 hours each weekday. The children, kindergarten aged, happily come in to learn and play under the supervision of a young teacher and helper. They have a hearty snack prepared by our Mission Center cook. One class we hope to begin soon for young people from both Chingeltei and Tsaiz Centers is lessons on the morin khuur, the horsehead fiddle, which is our well-known traditional 2- stringed instrument. This class has been made possible by the donations of two retired GBGM staff.
Grace Hospice:
We have definitely felt God’s presence in Grace Hospice as we had to face some problems and make some changes which were extremely painful. The dismissal of two doctors because of conflicts led to the hiring of two brand new doctors. What a risk, but certainly worth it! Our team is now working well together!!! Thank you for your prayers and please keep praying that things will continue in this way. When I returned from 10 days in China, the team was happy to show me how well they could do without me. AND, they even jokingly told me I could leave again as the patient census had increased so much in ten days and NO ONE had died in that 10 day period. Praise God!
Blessings in 2010:
Blessings of this year have been the donations which have been given to keep us operational. We are still struggling, but we survived last winter and will plan to do the same this next year thanks to your generous donations. (Our heating in the new Center is what costs us so dearly!) Along with this financial support, we have also received letters of encouragement and prayers which have been so important in supporting us as well. Thanks to each one of you. Another two blessings have been Holli Vining and Erin Eidenshink, our young mission interns, sent here by GBGM to serve for 1 1/2 years. What a difference two bright, energetic, full of faith women can make in a mission’s programs. Their hugs, when touching often is in the form of hitting in Mongolia, their flexibility and eagerness to teach English and give encouragement to young people, as well as adults and the elderly, have made a huge difference. But, there is a down-side to their coming! That is that they will be leaving the first week of March!!!!!! We give thanks for their service as they felt called to “mission.” AND, we hurt as we prepare to say goodbye! They are preparing themselves for leaving, but that will be painful for them, too. Still another two blessings, are the new baby for our Tsaiz UMC pastor and his wife- Dongmin Seo and Hyeyun Hong. She was born today, 12/14. They already have two daughters. And, also, Oyuntuul, a Grace Hospice nurse, is expecting a baby in the spring. We give thanks for these new lives in our mission family.
Finally, I want to mention the blessing of Batkhuu being alive for another year. Batkhuu, our former accountant is at home and is doing quite well. I visited him last week and was glad to know that his reliance on God and witnessing about God’s love has not ceased. He requests strong prayers that God will make a way for him to have some very expensive medication. There are many problems associated with it, besides the fact that it costs $1,000/day, which he does not have. Free treatment may be available, but only for a short time. Batkhuu really wants to live and is so hopeful that there may be a way for this treatment to become a reality. Please add him to your prayer list.
Personal News:
In October I was in Michigan to celebrate the life of my brother Alan with my other brother and sister, nieces and nephews and their children. Losing a family member is so painful, but Alan’s life was remembered by many as they shared about the kindness they saw him show toward others. Alan’s life was so difficult, but this sharing was very comforting for me to hear about, because I didn’t know that Alan showed this to many people. The realization that Alan died hit when I returned to Mongolia and was asked to fill out an application which requested my brothers and sisters names. There was another big hole in our family - father, mother, and now my oldest brother has died. I am sure you can relate to this loss. Now, with Christmastime I keep wanting to hear the song, “O Holy Night,” which Alan played so well on the trumpet and later on the baritone. It makes me feel closer to him to hear this song. In November, my friend Grace and I went to China for ten days, visiting Shenyang where I was asked to give help to some doctors who wished to start a hospice program; Changchun, where Grace was asked to share with some young doctors and one congregation about work in the community in Mongolia, and then to Harbin and Beijing for a vacation. While in Shenyang we visited a nursing home, an HIV support center and met volunteers with both of those programs.
We attended two churches in Changchun and they were both very welcoming, although originally we heard that we as foreigners would not be welcome for fear of some negative repercussions. That did not seem to be true. My impression was that religious oppression is not so great nowadays. Apparently there is some fear that we would cause some anti-Chinese government sentiment. We visited four bookshops, owned by our host friend, which sell Christian books, coffee, and gifts and which have space for various meetings in which religion can openly be mentioned. We did our presentations to some doctors in the backroom of one coffee shop. Another time there was a lively English lesson being attended by many young adults
Beijing had green grass, trees and roses in bloom, which was quite a contrast to Harbin, which was VERY cold. The cold didn’t stop people from dancing in the street in the evening in the downtown Harbin. We saw that as we were eagerly headed toward a Russian tea shop for something HOT to drink. No dancing outside for us!
Advent:
Christmas cookies, a staff Christmas party (45 people this year), presents, mass mailing, and decorating are some of the joys of the season. One joy especially is being able to share the meaning of Christmas and some customs with others. Today, I took a nativity set to work and placed it on the conference table and our two new doctors asked what it was. They had no idea about this decoration, but the “old” staff knew well after a few years of exposure to such things.
Do you want to learn more about the GBGM (UMC) Mission in Mongolia? In 2011 if you want to know more about the UMC mission in Mongolia, please look at this internet address: eternalmongolia.blogspot.com OR check out “GBGM” on the internet and look under “Mongolia” and you will see more. Also, the article in “New World Outlook,” the GBGM magazine, September, 2010. Our two mission interns are featured there. We have needs for: Prayers as mentioned above: Batkhuu’s health Financial support for the whole Mongolia Mission Initiative Grace Hospice team’s cohesiveness Help to build a playground at each of our two mission centers in UB. We need people to financially support this project, and also people who want to do the actual construction. If you are interested, please contact me by email.
Donations may be made through the GBGM Advance, by the use of these project numbers:
Grace Hospice: #14928A Mongolia Mission Initiative: #00209A
Until next letter, may hope fill your heart during 2011.
Helen
Mutambara Mission Hospital
The High Risk Mother’s Shelter at Mutambara Mission Hospital, Zimbabwe needs your help! The Mother’s Shelter was originally a government-run hospital based shelter for single, pregnant women; however, the government no longer funds the shelter. Two summers ago Florence Mefor, registered nurse midwife and wife of Missionary Doctor Emmanual Mefor, decided to undertake the responsibility of running the shelter.
The shelter now serves in two capacities. First, it maintains its original goal to provide shelter to women who must stay close to the hospital in order to deliver their baby safely. But the shelter has taken on an additional role - it also extends its services to women who have been abandoned or abused by their husbands. At the shelter these high risk mothers are fed and given a place to sleep up to one month before they give birth. They are also allowed to stay one month after their child has been born to address any complications.
In June of 2010, a donation of $150 would allow Florence to feed 60 women and infants for 2 weeks. “I am now struggling to raise the money to buy food for the women on a missionary’s salary,” says Florence. “Not only that, it is hard to see babies sent away without even as much as a blanket.”
Florence’s goal of sustaining the shelter led her to developing a “canteen” (restaurant) for the Mutambara area. All of the profits will be used to sustain the High Risk Mother’s Shelter and provide blankets for infants on a long term basis! While the canteen is more than half finished, it will require approximately $5,000 to make it operational.
If you would like to support this ministry, a number of options are available:
- Make a blanket or provide money for the purchase of a baby blanket (blankets are available for purchase in Zimbabwe). To ensure that a blanket will make it safely to the Mutambara High Risk Mother’s Shelter, please email r_ports@hotmail.com or cem23@students.calvin.edu to make arrangements.
- Make a tax deductible donation through the United Methodist Church. Please make checks payable to: UMCOR Advance #982168: Mutambara Waiting Mother’s Shelter. In the memo, please write canteen to support the sustainable project, or write food to provide direct support to the waiting mothers, or write blanket to buy baby blankets. Any support is greatly appreciated.
Jeff Baker Serves in Haiti
Jeff Baker (top), in mission with his wife Laura Baker (bottom), embraces some new friends during his Volunteers in Mission experience in Petionville, Haiti. While there, this VIM team is participating in some construction to assist in earthquake recovery. For more information on how you can serve Haiti contact Audrey Phelps at phelps@umocm.com.
Rockport UMC Youth in Jamaica
In this week's photo we see the youth of Rockport UMC who traveled to Jamaica in mission. On two separate days they worked in a government facility for abused and neglected children. They helped the staff feed and change infants and toddlers and played with the children. For many of the youth, this was their first encounter with children suffering from malnutrition and fetal-alcohol syndrome.