Your Passport to
YOU in the WORLD with YOUR CHURCH Date issued PLACE Name PHOTO HERE Your church/congregation Your Disciples region or UCC conference As a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) or the United Church of Christ, you are invited on a CRITICAL PRESENCE JOURNEY with Global Ministries. This passport is designed to help you learn more about the journey and to personalize your involvement as a traveling companion. You are encouraged to note in these pages how God is calling you to be a part of God s global mission with your church. You can also find an interactive version of this passport on www.globalministries/about-us/passport.html Bon Voyage!
Journey Guideposts ORIENTATION FOR YOUR JOURNEY Disciples and UCC, Together in God s Global Mission Through Global Ministries, we share staff in Cleveland and Indianapolis, financial resources, mission personnel, programs, projects, advocacy concerns and governance through a common board in which global partners actively participate. Being a Global Mission Church Here and There Each UCC and Disciples member, each UCC and Disciples congregation, and each UCC conference and Disciples region is invited to claim our identity as a Global Mission Church, and actively engage in God s mission with Global Ministries. Sharing in Global Partnership As we walk with global partners, our fundamental mission commitment is to a shared life in Christ, and to an ecumenical global sharing of resources and prophetic vision of a just, sustainable, and peaceful world order, joining with God s concern for the poor and oppressed. 2 Discerning Critical Presence in the World International partners invite us to participate in their ministries by sending persons in mission or responding to advocacy or funding requests. Through dialogue, we seek to discern with them our mutual Critical Presence to timely and appropriately meet God s people and creation at the point of deepest need: spiritually, physically, emotionally or economically. In this passport you will find VISA pages to help you discover your place and involvement in God s global mission. 3
Your Visa for 4 BEING A GLOBAL MISSION CHURCH Resolutions passed in 2009 at our UCC General Synod and Disciples General Assembly to Be a Global Mission Church, encourage congregations, regions and conferences to affirm this special designation by creating an action plan and signing a statement in covenant with Global Ministries. A Global Mission Church: PRAYS regularly for global partners and mission personnel EDUCATES its members about global issues SEEKS JUSTICE for the least of these in the world RECEIVES the gifts of the global church GIVES to the work of global mission SENDS its members to share Good News GROWS in sharing the story of God s mission around the world Questions for Your Journey Has your congregation, region or conference created an action plan and signed the Global Mission Church covenant statement? If not, what can you do to help in this process? How is your local church, region or conference living out its commitment to Be a Global Mission Church? What is your role? 5
Your Visa for ACCOMPANYING GLOBAL PARTNERS We are on a journey with over 270 international partners in about 70 countries. As we travel together, our five Global Ministries area offices (Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and Europe, Southern Asia and East Asia and Pacific) help us share persons in mission, financial resources, advocacy efforts and our needs for Critical Presence and accompaniment both here and there. Global partners are: Autonomous churches historically related to the Disciples and UCC Various mainline denominations and indigenous churches Ecumenical organizations and councils of churches Educational and healthcare institutions Sustainable development and human rights organizations Questions for Your Journey Who are the global partners that you know or would like to know? Who are the global partners with whom your church, region or conference shares a special relationship through the Global Church Partnership program? Who are the global partners who have visited your congregation, region or conference to share their gifts of ministry with you? 6 7
Your Visa for CONNECTING WITH PERSONS IN MISSION More than 100 individuals serve on our behalf as persons in mission in over 40 countries at the request of partner churches and organizations. Today, mission personnel appointments emphasize capacity building, medical/health services, pastoral accompaniment, interfaith dialogue, theological education, sustainable development, social work and education. People in mission are: Fully Supported serving 3-4 year terms Short and Long-term Volunteers paying part of their expenses Global Mission Interns who are young adults with a college degree Overseas Associates employed directly by global partners Questions for Your Journey How might God be calling you to serve as a person in mission? Who are the mission personnel with whom your congregation, region or conference shares a special connection through Global Ministries relationship program? Who are the persons in mission who have visited your congregation or whom you have visited in another country? 8 9
Your Visa for TAKING A GROUP MISSION TRIP People-to-People Pilgrimages are trips taken by groups at the invitation of our global partners to share a 7 to 10 day journey of faith and solidarity with open hands and hearts. Sometimes the cross-cultural experience may include a work project, but not always. In nearly every case, pilgrimage participants are transformed as they share life with their brothers and sisters in another country. Questions for Your Journey Which global partners have you visited or would you like to visit on a People-to-People Pilgrimage? How did your pilgrimage transform your thinking and life? What gifts of ministry did you receive from our global partners? 10 11
WHERE WE SERVE IN THE WORLD Canada United States Mark a place where you have a special interest United as a result of reading, studying or knowing Kingdom Poland Germany someone who comes from that country. Switzerland Hungary Mark where you have traveled or would like to travel. France Countries named on the map are Global Ministries current mission sites. Mongolia Bosnia Bulgaria Italy Greece Highlight the countries where you know a person in mission or a global partner church organization. Cyprus Israel/Palestine Turkey Armenia Syria Lebanon Iraq Jordan North Korea South Korea Iran Pakistan Nepal Egypt Cuba Mexico Jamaica Belize Guatemala 12 Bangladesh Haiti Honduras India Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Guadalupe and Martinique Nicaragua El Salvador Costa Rica Taiwan Hong Kong Laos Vietnam Kampuchea (Cambodia) Philippines Togo Marshall Islands Sri Lanka Ghana Guyana Myanmar (Burma) Thailand Sudan Sierra Leone Venezuela Japan China Afghanistan Colombia Malaysia Congo (Brazzaville) Ecuador Kenya Congo (Zaire) Micronesia Indonesia Timor Lorosa'e (East Timor) Brazil Peru Singapore Angola Zambia Papua New Guinea Solomon Islands Kiribati Western Samoa American Samoa Mozambique Vanuatu Fiji Islands Zimbabwe Namibia Chile Paraguay Botswana Swaziland Lesotho Argentina Uruguay Australia South Africa New Zealand 13
Your Visa for DOING GLOBAL ADVOCACY & EDUCATION Sharing in community with others around the world means we speak out on issues of peace and justice, poverty and human rights and the integrity of creation. Global Advocacy and Education staff raise awareness, encourage action in local congregations, and work ecumenically in Washington, DC and at the United Nations to bring faithful public witness to critical policy questions. Advocacy priorities are discerned in dialogue with global partners. Questions for Your Journey On which advocacy/justice issues are you or your local church committed to work? What are some of the global facts or stories which are pushing you to action? 14 15
Your Visa for 16 GIVING TO GLOBAL MISSION Global Ministries is funded in part by Disciples Mission Fund, the Disciples Easter Offering, Our Church s Wider Mission (UCC), Disciples Week of Compassion, and One Great Hour of Sharing (UCC), plus various UCC and Disciples endowments and generous donors like you! The Resource and Financial Development staff works with individuals, congregations, regions and conferences on: Special giving opportunities Support of mission personnel Alternative Christmas giving Planned gifts and endowments Making a will or a charitable gift annuity Unconventional ways to give or fundraise Questions for Your Journey What does your church give to Our Church s Wider Mission (UCC) or Disciples Mission Fund and One Great Hour of Sharing (UCC) or Disciples Week of Compassion? How is your congregation participating in over and above special giving for Global Ministries? How are you being called to give to God s global mission through Global Ministries? 17
18 Your Visa for SPONSORING A CHILD We can change the world by educating a child. The Child Sponsorship program provides an opportunity to extend a helping hand to aid a child at risk. A commitment to sponsoring a child provides housing, clothing, food, education, and basic health care until age eighteen. Currently there are 15 centers run by our global partners and over 1,100 children are sponsored by UCC and Disciples members. Questions for Your Journey Is God calling you or your church to sponsor a child? If so, how will you get started? Where do you sponsor a child and what is that child s name and birthday? 19
Your Visa for INTERPRETING GLOBAL MISSION Ministries and Mission Interpreters (MMIs) are part of a network of over 1,000 trained UCC and Disciples interpreters. MMIs commit to using their gifts as volunteers to share the story and help their local church, region or conference to actively engage in God s global mission. Global Ministries also offers a special program for Disciples and UCC seminarians called the Council of Theological Students. Questions for Your Journey: How is God calling you to be a Ministries and Mission Interpreter (MMI) or a part of the Council of Theological Students? What are your gifts to share the story of God s global mission? When did you attend an MMI training and what are some of the discoveries you made during the event? 20 21
YOU ARE ON YOUR WAY! RESOURCES FOR YOUR JOURNEY Everything you need for your journey can be found at Brief weekly email updates Weekly prayer, programs and events Video mission moments, blogs and webinars Worship and church school resources Global news perspectives from partners Mission stories and project opportunities Ideas and how-tos Thank you for being our traveling companion on this CRITICAL PRESENCE JOURNEY with our global partners. thank you 22 23
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Your Passport to Global Ministries helps you learn more about the CRITICAL PRESENCE JOURNEY Disciples and UCC members take with our global partners. You are invited to personalize your involvement in God s global mission on these pages. Will you travel with us? You can also find an interactive version of this passport at /about-us/passport.html For additional information Global Ministries/Wider Church Ministries 700 Prospect Avenue Cleveland, OH 44115-1100 216-736-3204 email: wcm@ucc.org or Global Ministries/Division of Overseas Ministries P.O. Box 1986 Indianapolis, IN 46206-1986 317-713-2571 email: dom@disciples.org Printed with soy-based ink on paper containing 100% post-consumer fiber.