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Upcoming VIM Teams
(click on name for details)
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Mission & Justice Events
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ERT TrainingSaturday, May 10, 9am-4:30pm Sulphur Grove UMC Prison Immersion EventsJune 21, July 19-20, Aug. 16 Chillicothe Correctional July 7-10, 2014 Ohio Northern University July 11-13, 2014 August 22-24, 2014 Widewater Retreat Center
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Mission Encounters
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Missionaries Ut To & Karen Vo-To will be itinerating in West Ohio from May 28-June 12, 2014. A detailed schedule will be available on the Vietnam web page by mid-May.
A choir from Kamina University in North Katanga will be touring West Ohio from June 28-July 9, 2014. A schedule of their performances will be available in early June.
Romeo del Rosario, missionary to Cambodia, will itinerate in West Ohio from October 20-November 2, 2014. Churches interested in hosting Romeo may contact Dee Stickley-Miner. |
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Prison Ministry Luncheon
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Interested in learning more about taking prison ministry to the next level in your congregation? Come to the All In Community Luncheon at Annual Conference on Monday, June 9, 12:00-1:30pm at Wesley Lodge. Click here to register!
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Holy Currencies Luncheon
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Find out what West Ohio Conference is doing to empower local congregations to become missional and sustainable. Join us on Weds, June 11, 12:00-1:30pm at Chautauqua Hall. Register here!
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| Support the Peace with Justice Offering! | |
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June 15, 2014, is the Sunday most congregations collect the Peace with Justice Special Offering. In West Ohio, Peace with Justice funds support CDF Freedom Schools, where in 2013 alone, 645 scholars had the opportunity to become better readers and develop a more positive attitude about learning. This June 15, please give generously to the Peace with Justice Offering!
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Greetings from the Office of Mission & Justice at the West Ohio Conference! In this edition of Mission Mosaic, the Mission & Justice newsletter of the West Ohio Conference, you can learn more about West Ohio's response to the flooding in Marion County, get a glimpse into the new ways West Ohio is doing prison ministry inside - and outside - the prison walls, and pray for the children of Orphanage #1 in Samara, Russia, who recently underwent a terrible trauma. One other newsworthy note, this year at West Ohio's Annual Conference, we will commission three missionaries - what a joy and privilege! Thanks for all you do to support the work of mission and justice in West Ohio!
Dee Stickley-Miner
Director of Connectional Ministries
West Ohio Conference
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 | Disaster Response Update
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On Sunday, December 22, 2013, residents in LaRue, Ohio woke up to high water - again. Homes were flooded and many residents had to be evacuated - some walked out on their own, but others were taken out of homes and apartments by rubber raft.
Thankfully, the residents of LaRue - and Marion County - aren't facing this disaster alone. Debi Berry, an UMCOR-trained case manager and former West Ohio pastor, has stepped into the gap to help individuals and families recover from the recent flooding. In addition, UMCOR has also awarded the West Ohio Conference a $50,000 grant to help with the recovery effort. West Ohioans have contributed $4,000 to helping with disaster recovery in Marion County, following Bishop Palmer's recent appeal.
Residents of Marion County still need your help! To donate to West Ohio Disaster Response, click here. To learn more about Disaster Response in West Ohio, visit the conference web page.
To give to UMCOR's relief efforts for the recent tornadoes and flooding across the U.S., go to The Advance and give to #901670.
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 | A Matter of Justice
|  Prison ministry used to mean one thing: men or women from the outside ministering to prisoners on the inside. But what happens to those prisoners once they are released? With a recidivism rate higher than 65% after three years, many ex-offenders aren't making it on the outside. Of the 2.2 million people currently in prison in the United States, 95% of them will someday be released back into their communities. What might happen if they didn't have to walk that path alone?
The West Ohio Conference has started an initiative called the All In Community, an extension of the Horizon Prison Ministry, which seeks to restore the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated to healthy, purposeful living. All In brings the larger community into the process of restoring offenders back to society, helping to greatly reduce the rates at which they re-offend. Congregations and individuals are invited to participate in this new Community in a variety of ways, including Outside Brothers (mentoring program), Wesleyan Covenant Groups (small groups for ex-offenders), Immersion Events (going inside the Horizon program), and other training programs. For more information, go to the All In Community web page.
One way to impact the lives of our brothers and sisters on the inside is to let your Senators and Representatives know you support the Smarter Sentencing Act (S.1410), which would significantly reduce harsh minimum mandatory sentences for low-level drug offenses and help increase fairness, reduce racial disparity and limit overcrowding in the Bureau of Prisons. Click here to voice your support! |
 | Trafficking Bills Need Support! | |
Survivors of sex trafficking need your support! Two critical anti-trafficking bills have just been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and could be brought to the floor for a vote as early as this week. Please contact your representative and ask them to support these two important bills!
-The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (H.R. 3530) addresses domestic sex trafficking by creating a fund for domestic victims of trafficking, ensuring that U.S. citizens as well as foreign victims of trafficking can access services and support, and reducing demand for sex trafficking by calling on law enforcement and prosecutors to go after sex buyers in addition to pimps and exploiters.
-The Stop Exploitation through Trafficking Act (H.R. 3610) protects children exploited through sex trafficking by requiring all states to help ensure that minors who are sold for sex aren't treated as criminals but are recognized as victims, creates a National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking to coordinate efforts between federal, state, local and tribal authorities, and helps survivors of trafficking rebuild their lives by increasing their access to job training opportunities and to restitution.
Find your Representative here: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/.
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 | The Four Corners of the World
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 | | Video: Orphanage #1 |
Caring for orphans in Samara, Russia, has become much more difficult in the past six months for the United Methodist Church. Before then, the Church worked closely with Orphanage #1 in Samara to care for more than 120 orphans, most of whom are between the ages of 7-17. Last November, the orphanage's director, Tamara Turkina, passed away, leaving the children without a woman who had been their greatest advocate and friend. Tamara was a member of Samara United Methodist Church and a friend of many in the West Ohio Conference. Several directors later, the orphanage is being threatened with closure after two children were found dead from drug overdoses. Police are investigating the director, and the children may be parceled out to other orphanages until a new director can be found. Please pray for the children of Orphanage #1!
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