Do you know a young adult with a passion for justice and the faith to change the world? l Rache debos International and U.S.-based Young Adult Mission Opportunities GLOBAL MISSION FELLOWS Two years of service, ages 20 30 MISSION VOLUNTEERS Flexible service length, ages 18 30 To learn more: Visit the General Board of Global Ministries booth today or tomorrow morning Visit www.umcmission.org/gt Meet us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/globalmissionfellows) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/umcmissiongt) SERVICE OF COMMISSIONING Missionaries T H U R S D AY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 6 8 : 0 0 A. M. OREGON CONVENTION CENTER PORTLAND, OREGON
TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH Missionary is one of the oldest and most essential roles in the Christian story! Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, commissions 70 to go before him on the way to Jerusalem bringing news of the dawning of the kingdom of God. In Acts, chapter 1, the Risen Christ expands the mission territory in addressing the Apostles: You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And so, across the ages, the church has commissioned blessed and sent missionaries to proclaim in word and deed the message of God s love for all in Jesus Christ. Methodism was born in 18thcentury England as a missionary movement; it took hold in America through the work of missionaries sent by founder John Wesley. One hundred and ninety-seven years ago, on April 5, 1819, the Methodist Episcopal Church organized the first formal Missionary Society within what is today The United Methodist Church. For many decades, missionaries were primarily men and women from the Northern Hemisphere sent to the Global South, from the centers of high development to the edges of the less-developed areas. Today, the former mission margins have become mission centers taking their role in the mission cause to the ends of the earth. In the 21st century, United Methodist missionaries are from everywhere to everywhere. Half of our missionaries have origins outside the United States. They are pastors, teachers, doctors and nurses, technicians, pilots, and agriculturalists serving the spiritual and physical welfare of people and communities in more than 60 countries. To encourage and service mission and missionaries from everywhere to everywhere, the General Board of Global Ministries is setting up a network of regional offices in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to relate more directly to mission personnel, partners, and projects. Coordination will come through a headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. that will also include a U.S. regional office. Global Ministries is honored to have the opportunity to commission a new class of missionaries at the 2016 General Conference. Missionaries serve the whole church. This morning we invited the whole United Methodist family, represented by the General Conference, to bless and commission new missionaries who will serve from everywhere to everywhere to take the gospel of Jesus Christ into all the world. In mission together, Thomas Kemper General Secretary General Board of Global Ministries 1
CATEGORIES OF MISSIONARIES Missionaries of Global Ministries are: 1. Professing Christians who are familiar with and committed to The United Methodist Church and its doctrine, history, and polity 2. Able to articulate their call to missionary service 3. Able to demonstrate experience and/or passion in mission and active involvement in the life and ministry of a faith community 4. Willing to engage in ministry with people of different racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds 5. Willing to serve in a context that best matches their gifts and experiences as discerned and affirmed (or authenticated) by Global Ministries 6. Willing to connect the church in mission by itinerating and cultivating financial and spiritual support Global Missionaries Global missionaries are from everywhere going to everywhere to engage in crosscultural mission service outside of their home context. They serve within the global Methodist connection in a variety of roles and ministries with Methodist partners around the world in alignment to the Mission Theology of Global Ministries. These missionaries vary in age, trade-skills, and occupations, and they serve in ministry with others as teachers, pilots, lawyers, agriculturalists, dieticians, physicians, nurses, administrators, accountants, pastors, photographers, journalists, community organizers, and Christian educators just to name a few. They desire to learn about and share God s love in Jesus Christ in tangible, everyday ways. Church and Community Workers (CCWs) CCWs serve a collaborative effort between annual conferences and Global Ministries as they take the church into the community and bring the community into the church. CCWs respond to God s call and serve in domestic placements in ministry with the poor and disenfranchised in a variety of contexts, such as cooperative parishes, ethnic ministries, criminal justice ministries, congregational health ministries, immigration ministries, rural and urban ministries, and disaster response. www.umcmission.org/missionary HOW TO SUPPORT MISSIONARIES 2 1. PRAY for your missionaries and their ministries. 2. Stay in CONTACT through newsletters or social media. 3. Seek ways to PARTICIPATE. 4. DONATE by using the missionary s Advance # (provided in the individual listing) at www.umcmission.org.
TO BE COMMISSIONED AS GLOBAL MISSIONARIES Patrick Abro Côte d Ivoire Annual Conference Placement: Assistant Health Board Coordinator for the North Katanga Episcopal Area, Democratic Republic of the Congo Advance #3022175 Michael Arteen House of Bread Church, Bethlehem Placement: Chaplain and Director of Spiritual Life for Bethlehem Bible College and East Jerusalem Churches, Palestine Advance #3022176 PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE A. Broncano Philippines Annual Conference East Placement: Coordinator for English Language Program for the United Methodist Mission, Southeast Asia Advance #3022166 Douglas Childress Upper New York Annual Conference Placement: Pastor of International Ministry and Lecturer in Church History and Practical Theology for the Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary, Estonia Advance #3022134 Eden Fletcher Methodist Church of England Placement: Coordinator of Education, Resource Development, and Administration for the United Methodist Mission, Southeast Asia Advance #3022151 3
Leo Garcia Methodist Church in Cuba Placement: Professor in Theology, Quessua School of Theology, Angola Advance #3022182 Florence Kaying North Katanga Annual Conference Placement: Maternity and Child Health Nurse Practitioner for the Mozambique Episcopal Area, Mozambique Advance #3022177 Hector N. Laporta Methodist Church of Peru Placement: Faculty for Methodist Studies for the Methodist Church, Mexico Advance #3022160 David McCormick Louisiana Annual Conference Placement: Hospital Administrator of Chicuque Rural Hospital, Mozambique Advance #3022179 Elizabeth McCormick Louisiana Annual Conference Placement: Pharmacist for Chicuque Rural Hospital, Mozambique Advance #3022180 4
Jennifer Moore Gaithersburg Church of the Nazarene, Maryland, USA Placement: Christian Educator for the Serbia-Montenegro- Macedonia Provisional Conference, Macedonia Advance #3022165 Jean Mwenze North Katanga Annual Conference Placement: Banyam Theological Seminary Faculty Member, Nigeria Advance #3022159 John Nday North Katanga Annual Conference Placement: Agricultural Coordinator for Cambine Mission, Mozambique Advance #3022170 Jim Perdue Iowa Annual Conference Placement: Global Migration Missionary for Central America and Mexico for Central American University in El Salvador Advance #150298 Marcel Sachou Côte d Ivoire Annual Conference Placement: Church Developer/Planter and Mentor for Local Pastors, Central African Republic Advance #3022178 5
Desiree Segura-April Pacific Northwest Annual Conference Placement: Resource Person for Children at Risk Ministries, Nicaragua Advance #3022171 Külli Tõniste Upper New York Annual Conference Placement: Assitant Professor in Biblical Studies & Theology for Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary, Estonia Advance #3022133 PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE Josh Van California-Nevada Annual Conference Placement: Ministry with Vietnamese Migrant Workers for the Methodist Church, Malaysia Advance #3022156 Aaron Vandersommers East Ohio Annual Conference Placement: Chief Operations Officer for the Church of Christ in the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo Advance #3022154 Mary Vandersommers East Ohio Annual Conference Placement: Community Development Consultant for the Church of Christ in the Congo, DR Congo Advance #3022155 6
Ryan Williams Watermark Community Church, Texas, USA Placement: Teacher and Technical Coordinator for the UM Englishspeaking School of Lubumbashi, DR Congo Advance #3022184 Stacey Williams Watermark Community Church, Texas, USA Placement: Teacher and Administrator for the UM Englishspeaking School of Lubumbashi, DR Congo Advance #3022185 PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE D. Yang Minnesota Annual Conference Placement: Congregational Development Specialist for the United Methodist Mission, Southeast Asia Advance #3022186 Mike Zdorow Florida Annual Conference Placement: Pastor at the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy, Russia Advance #3022150 Henri Zombil North Katanga Annual Conference Placement: Health Services Administrator for the Sierra Leone Annual Conference, Sierra Leone Advance #3022169 7
TO BE COMMISSIONED AS CHURCH AND COMMUNITY WORKERS Jennifer Henneman New Mexico Annual Conference Placement: Program Director, Faith Community Health Connection, Columbus, Ohio, USA Advance #3022137 Amy Purdom Virginia Annual Conference Placement: Mentoring Program Coordinator for House of the Carpenter, Wheeling, W.Va., USA Advance #3022042 Linda Stransky Holston Annual Conference Placement: Executive Director for Jubilee Project Inc., Sneedville, Tenn., USA Advance #803004 Anna Troy Rio Texas Annual Conference Placement: Outreach Coordinator for Partners in Ministry, Youth Empowered to Succeed, Laurinburg, N.C., USA Advance #3022172 COME MEET THE NEW MISSIONARIES! There will be a brunch immediately following this commissioning worship in Oregon 201 of the Convention Center at 9 a.m. 8
Do you know a young adult with a passion for justice and the faith to change the world? l Rache debos International and U.S.-based Young Adult Mission Opportunities GLOBAL MISSION FELLOWS Two years of service, ages 20 30 MISSION VOLUNTEERS Flexible service length, ages 18 30 To learn more: Visit the General Board of Global Ministries booth today or tomorrow morning Visit www.umcmission.org/gt Meet us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/globalmissionfellows) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/umcmissiongt) SERVICE OF COMMISSIONING Missionaries T H U R S D AY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 6 8 : 0 0 A. M. OREGON CONVENTION CENTER PORTLAND, OREGON