|
Recent Disaster Response Team Stories!
| |
| |
|
|
Upcoming VIM Teams
(click on name for details)
| | |
|
|
Mission & Justice Events
(click on name for details)
| | |
|
Prison Immersion Experiences
| |
|
Experience first-hand the life-changing Horizon Community within the walls of Chillicothe Correctional Institute. One-Day or Two-Day experiences available. |
|
|
 |
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 find out more about the exciting learning opportunities students have through Freedom Schools, as well as what's happening with our Mission Partnership in Vietnam. We've also added a new section, 'Missionaries in Focus,' that will highlight some of the missionaries serving in or supported by the West Ohio Conference. If you're interested in becoming a missionary, check out the opportunities here! 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
|
 | Missionaries in Focus
| 
At this year's West Ohio Annual Conference, three new Global Ministries Missionaries were commissioned into service: Heather M. Bishop, a Church & Community Worker serving at Community Development for All People; and Brian and Tara Vinson, serving with their four children as missionaries in Zambia, Africa. Heather Bishop coordinates the HEAL Initiative (Healthy Eating And Living) at the community development corporation related to the Church for All People. The organization is dedicated to the improvement of the economic, social, and spiritual quality of life for the residents of Columbus' South Side. HEAL works especially with health and nutrition issues.
The Rev. Brian Vinson is serving as the coordinator of church planting in the Lusake District of Zambia, a part of the South Congo/Zambia Episcopal Area. The church in Zambia is growing rapidly, with the resulting need for new churches and for vital lay and pastoral leadership. Brian takes part in leadership development and coordination of volunteer church construction teams. Brian's wife, Tara Vinson, serves as the Volunteers In Mission (VIM) coordinator and Christian education trainer. Tara and Brian have four young children, Jonathan, Andrew, Lily, and Matthew.
|
 | A Matter of Justice
|  Each summer, hundreds of students in West Ohio participate in a Children's Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom School, a six-week program dedicated to increasing literacy in students who have fallen behind in their studies. Beyond this, CDF Freedom Schools aim to help children fall in love with reading, increase their self-esteem, and generate more positive attitudes toward learning. In 2013, 14 of the 27 Ohio CDF Freedom Schools were run by United Methodist churches or organizations, and the United Methodist Church has played a key role in expanding the opportunities for students to participate.
According to the State of Ohio's Third Grade Reading Guarantee, third grade students who do not meet a minimum score on the state reading test will not be allowed to advance to fourth grade. For many students in high-poverty neighborhoods, these requirements are simply out of reach as they often attend poorly funded schools and have parents who may not have the education needed to help their own children. Freedom Schools help children advance in their reading during the summer months when many children lose progress made during the previous school year.
To support the Freedom Schools movement, be sure to give to the Peace with Justice Offering each year (generally the first Sunday after Pentecost), or talk to your congregation about hosting a Freedom School next summer. For more information, email dstickley@wocumc.org.
|
 | The Four Corners of the World
|
 | Missionaries Karen & Ut
|
West Ohio and Global Ministries are making a difference through long term partnerships.
The Vietnam consultation held in June celebrated the expansion of the ministry, the promises it holds, and the underlying challenges facing the fastest growing initiative worldwide.
Since Ut and Karen Vo-To became missionaries in 2002, the Vietnam Mission Initiative has grown to include more than 300 churches and have a vision of planting 1,000 churches by 2020.
We celebrate with them...
- 75 new pastors who have been trained and are planting new faith communities to reach the Hmong people, which is a new population group for the emerging church in Vietnam.
- The commissioning of Dr. Quynh-Hoa Nguyen as a missionary to serve as the Director of Leadership Development in Vietnam. The growing movement necessitates increased pastoral and lay leadership training. She will also be developing indigenous trainers.
- The strengthening of the financial systems and structures which enable them to increase their capacity to lead the initiative.
- 60 churches have become self-supporting including covering all of the pastors' salaries.
- The motorbike ministry empowers pastors to visit members and expand the church into new areas.
To learn more about West Ohio's ministry in Vietnam, visit the West Ohio webpages here.
|
 | Walking with Palestinian Christians
|  Walking with Palestinian Christians...for Holy Justice and Peace, a conference presented by the General Board of Global Ministries, will be hosted at Ginghamsburg UMC in Tipp City, OH, August 7-8, 2014.
Workshops will focus on biblical/theological perspectives; pilgrimage and presence; political, economic and social advocacy and actions; and involvement and positions within The United Methodist Church. Plenary speakers include Mike Slaughter, Ginghamsburg Church; Lynne Hybels, Willow Creek Community Church; Alex Awad and other Palestinian Christians, and Global Ministries' Thomas Kemper. For more information, or to register, click here. |
|
|
|
|
