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July 10, 2009
Volume 155, Number 62
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Children learn about Jesus in fun ways
Southwest Texas Conference churches
hold Vacation Bible School
 Children at Bulverde UMC learn hand motions to songs during the music time
at Vacation Bible School.
Managing Editor
They sing and shout and jump and dance, and all the while, they’re learning about Jesus.
More than 200 children attended Bulverde UMC’s Vacation Bible School in June, some of them children who participate in worship every Sunday, some of them children who had never stepped foot through the doors.
Bulverde UMC, along with many churches in the Southwest Texas Conference, offers Vacation Bible School as a way of reaching out to the children of the community and sharing God’s love with them.
“We do Vacation Bible School so the kids feel God’s love and learn that spreading the word is a good thing,” said Hannah Hedgpeth, Bulverde UMC’s VBS director. “They get excitement and joy when they leave here. They’re pumped. They go home and lead their own Vacation Bible Schools.
“I have parents tell me that, a year later, their kids are still singing the songs they learned here.”
Most VBS programs consist of different stations, including arts and crafts, science, recreation and snacks, storytelling, drama and music. Different churches use different themes for their Vacation Bible Schools.
At Bulverde UMC, where the theme this year was “Camp Edge” and had to do with extreme faith, 22 groups rotated to different stations every 30 minutes, Hedgpeth said. The VBS was open to children 4 years old through the third grade.
Older children, like 10-year-old Tori Tyler, returned to VBS as helpers. Tori volunteered as a 5-year-old assistant.
She said she’s been coming to VBS since she was old enough to start coming.
“I like it because I learn about God,” Tori said. “That God loves us and we need to read the Bible more.”
She said her favorite part this year was “seeing the little kids do the songs.”
Historically, Vacation Bible School was begun in Hopedale, Ill., in 1894. D.T. Miles, a Sunday school teacher, who was also a public school teacher, started VBS as a way of teaching her students about the Bible outside of the public school. The first VBS enrolled 40 students.
Asbury UMC, Corpus Christi, had 641 children attend Vacation Bible School this year, and about 270 workers helping out. Leaders say the Bible school is one of the largest in the nation.
Carol Loeb, who helped out with the church’s VBS, said leaders saw 62 first-time decisions for Christ among the children.
Asbury’s VBS also includes a mission project where children have the opportunity to raise money for a mission outside of the states. Jason Adams, pastor of the church, told children he’d kiss an exotic reptile—some kind of lizard—if the kids raised $2,000 for the mission project, Loeb said.
The children raised $2,418 for Avangebread, a United Methodist sponsored orphanage in Dobrich, Bulgaria.
Beth Gray, who runs Asbury’s VBS, said the week changes children’s lives.
“Vacation Bible School provides churches an extra opportunity to introduce kids to Jesus,” she said. “At Asbury, our hope is that by the end of the week, kids will make a decision to have Jesus Christ as their own personal Savior and Lord.”
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Methodist pastor was always ‘Boring’ but was never dull
By Robert Sledge
This is the third of eight articles related to the sesquicentennial celebration of the Rio Grande Mission Conference.
Jesse Boring became a Methodist preacher at the age of 15. A native Georgian, he spent most of his life in the Peach State and died there at the age of 83. But he was a principal founder of two annual conferences far removed from his home—the Pacific Conference and the Rio Grande Mission Conference. And all the while he labored under the handicap of being a preacher named “boring.”
His dynamic fire-and-brimstone preaching had its desired effect. “So awful was his description of the ‘Last Day,’ and the separation of the good from the bad,” wrote one witness, “that women in the congregation screamed, many men fell on their knees, numbers cried out for mercy, others fled the house, some hurried down the streets praying aloud, the people of the town thought the church was on fire, the altar was filled with mourners, and many were converted.” He was never dull.
Bishop Robert Paine dispatched Boring to San Francisco in 1850 to be superintendent of a Methodist mission in the booming new state, which had been part of Mexico only four years before. He built churches in San Francisco, San Jose and Stockton before taking the job of editor of the church’s west coast newspaper. He was one of the Pacific Conference’s delegates to the General Conference in 1854 but chose to remain in Georgia after the conference adjourned. He attended medical school while recovering his health, emerging as a qualified physician.
In 1858, another bishop asked him to undertake another mission, this time to the wilds of West Texas. Bishop George Pierce, who was overseeing all the Texas work, recruited Boring to pastor the Methodist church in San Antonio, then on Soledad Street.
Boring served a very successful one-year term at San Antonio. A mid-year revival resulted in a doubling of church membership. Bishop Pierce noted on a visit in May 1859 that “Dr. Boring is well received in his new field of labor. He has attracted a large and deeply interested audience and has cheering prospects of extensive usefulness.”
The congregation included 50 white and 15 “colored” members, plus 19 white and 18 “colored” probationers. Doubtless there were many others who attended regularly.
In November 1859, when the Rio Grande Mission met as agreed in Goliad for its first ever assembly, Bishop Pierce was not present. The conference elected their most distinguished member, Jesse Boring, to preside. Pierce, who was just completing a long and difficult overland stage journey from California, arrived in time to make the appointments on the last day of the conference session. He appointed Boring as “agent for Alamo College and San Antonio Female College” while continuing his pastorate. When the Civil War erupted less than two years later, Boring, an ardent secessionist, volunteered his services as a military surgeon, serving in Texas and Arkansas. Boring took a leave from the army in 1864 long enough to attend the conference meeting at Helena, Texas.
Since no bishop could reach the state on account of the war, the conference elected one of its own to preside – Dr. Jesse Boring. This time, he got to make the appointments! After the war, he engaged in medical and college work at Soule University, Chappell Hill College (both forerunners of Southwestern University), and the state medical school in Galveston. Boring returned to his native soil to serve as presiding elder and pastor before his life-long bad health forced him to superannuate. He died in 1890.
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From now on, I’m coming to Annual Conference ready to be energized
I feel like I just returned from summer camp, or an Emmaus Walk but I didn’t! It was Annual Conference! The business of the Church became the business of renewal, redemption and dare I say revival?! I don’t know about you, but this is the most invigorated I have felt!
It’s almost hard to contain my excitement! I heard three remarkable sermons all focused on the power of Christ in our midst. I heard three remarkable sermons, which not only challenged my spirit but also renewed my soul.
From the inspiring word of Bishop Raul Garcia de Ochoa from Mexico (a living prophet!) and the Rev. Meredith Wende (a young and fiery pastor in the Texas Conference with roots in our own) to Bishop Jim Dorff (our very own spiritual leader!) I was blown out of the water! My soul was filled to over flowing!
And then there was the worship by the Mark Swayze Band from University UMC, San Antonio. And when they lead worship, I can’t help but jump, lift my hands, move my feet and praise the Lord. Again, I feel like I was at summer camp.
Isn’t this the true business of the church, like Bishop Dorff so named? Isn’t this why we exist, why we work so hard, why we strive to be the Church?!
This is why I propose that it is for such as time as this that Annual Conference becomes our Annual Revival! When we invite the Holy Spirit of God in out midst in a power-filled way. When we take care of business by falling on our knees and confessing our sins to one another and to the Lord. And when we find hope, strength and renewal along the way. This is the true business of the Church.
And although my body is tired, my spirit is still alive and soaring because of how God came near in Corpus Christi. You see, my friends, the key to growing churches isn’t strategy—it’s synergy in the Spirit of God. It’s not methodical planning that will increase worship attendance—it’s a manifestation of God’s power and a trust in Jesus Christ to save us—to flood our churches with his power.
From now on, I am coming to Annual Conference ready, expectant and energized to worship. I am showing up ready for my Annual Revival! Ready to see the Spirit of God move us in deeper and more significant ways so that we might be about the true business of the Church.
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Clergy, lay delegates vote on 32 constitutinal amendments in June
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
Clergy and lay delegates to the Southwest Texas annual conference session June 3-6 voted against a constitutional amendment that would amend the Church’s inclusiveness statement and for an amendment that would allow pastors, even if they aren’t elders in full connection, to elect delegates to the General and Jurisdictional Conferences.
Amendment 19, which saw extensive discussion during the session, would allow local pastors, who have not completed The United Methodist Church’s ordination process, to vote on delegates. It passed with 362 votes for and 340 against.
The Rev. Ryan Barnett, an associate pastor at University UMC, San Antonio, who became an elder in full connection during last year’s annual conference session, said he spent one-third of his life—10 years—completing the requirements for becoming an elder in the church.
“With all due respect, this is the last and the least of the duties to which Christ called me—casting ballots,” Barnett said. “It is a duty and responsibility that I will take seriously as being connected to The United Methodist Church, but I can’t help but to sit and watch as people with purple nametags (local pastors) are trusted to count the ballots that will determine the outcome but are not trusted to cast their own.
“Those who have encountered Jesus, who believe in the truth of God, in his holy word, are given a sacred trust by you to hold the body and the blood of our Lord, the water of baptism to cast upon people who would enter. Surely if we can trust them with the kingdom of God, they can make a good choice on who might represent them and the populations of the rural churches they serve.”
John Wright, pastor of Grace UMC, Corpus Christi, spoke against the amendment because he said it would not only bring more confusion to an already confusing ordination process but it would also lessen the importance of ordination.
“I rise to speak reluctantly,” Wright said. “I’m reluctant because no one wants to appear to exclude people from the decision making process. This may appear to be a justice issue, but ministry is not about rights. It’s about responsibility. We’re all called into the ministry of making disciples of Jesus Christ. Pastors are called to help all of us into making disciples. Some are called to share in the governance of the church at large.
“Those persons called in the governance submit themselves to the process of supervision similar to that of a doctor or a teacher. Then the call is confirmed by the general church in ordination. Though well intentioned, this amendment has the unintentional effect of saying that all that fanfare isn’t really all that important. The act of ordination itself is not all that important. We’ll be saying we don’t really need to go through all of that.”
Delegates voted against Amendment 1, which would change the church’s inclusiveness statement to include “all persons” instead of a specific list of the people served.
Tara Thronson, a young adult delegate to the General Conference who was in favor of the amendment, said that when she invites her friends to come to church, she wouldn’t want them to be discouraged “because of a policy we have on our books.”
“This amendment does not change a pastor’s authority,” she said. “It does not change existing membership requirements. We are already in ministry with other people who are not on that list. All this does is change a list of categories.
“We need to be clear about who we are as a church. We clearly are a church that is a ministry to all.”
Jay Brim, conference lay leader who chaired the delegation to the General Conference, said that Amendment 1 was particularly pressed by the delegates of Africa.
“They said we, as Americans, have a way of making lists and being wordy,” he said. “It was their request to us that we pare down this amendment. This is the only one we’re considering that actually shortens our constitution. It’s not going to change anything about the way the constitution is interpreted. It’s going to make it clear that we have open hearts, open minds and open doors.”
But Raquel Feagins, who was born in Bolivia and grew up in the Valley, said that a statement of inclusivity that omits and does not include a list of things that have historically been used to discriminate people is not a good thing.
“Eliminating this list gives an inclusiveness statement no force,” Feagins said. “The history of our country is one of slavery, segregation and discrimination. By eliminating this list, we are glossing over the sins of those before us. The Declaration says all men are created equal, but it took almost 100 years to eliminate slavery from this country. All did not always mean all.
“We have to keep the list. We cannot close over the history of our country, without the list of the people who have been historically discriminated.”
The amendment was defeated with 370 voting against it and 333 voting for it.
Delegates also voted against amendment 2, which would require all boards and groups meeting in churches to develop an ethics and conflict of interest policy.
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Trinity UMC, San Antonio, celebrates 130 years of ministry
By Mary Hale
More than 170 people celebrated the 130th birthday of Trinity UMC, San Antonio May 31 with a BBQ luncheon and lots and lots of cakes. The day was made even more special because it was Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the church world wide.
Many old and new clergy and lay members spoke about what Trinity UMC has meant to them over the years. Pastor Jeanne Devine read letters received from pastors who could not attend. Two daughters of former pastor Gustave A. Schulze (1935-1940) were introduced.
The day began with worship. Many former choir members came back to sing with the present day choir. The music, under the direction of Kathy Settles-Horesji and Stacie Brown, was a powerful tribute to God, leaders said.
During children’s time, Devine talked about the three cornerstones on the outside of Trinity’s present building. They came from the three church buildings that make up Trinity’s history, she said.
Trinity UMC was located on Broadway and Pecan from 1879-1919 and on Grant and Huisache from 1920-1961. After 40 years, the congregation moved to its present location at Wurzbach and Newcome.
The first service was held at Glenoaks Elementary School on Newcome in December, 1961. In 1964, a fellowship hall was built, followed by an education wing in 1966.
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Reaching ‘unchurched’ not just limited to new places
By Byrd Bonner
The United States alone has more than 180 million unchurched people, making it the third largest mission field in the English-speaking world and the fifth largest worldwide. The United Methodist Church has committed itself at all levels, local to global, to planting new worshipping communities to meet the unchurched where they are found. No longer can we ask them to cross the barriers of intimidating facades, neighborhood street-signed mazes, or church-houses in places that used to be growth centers. New efforts, such as Path I, are training and deploying clergy leadership for these new ministry sites.
But reaching the unchurched cannot be limited to ‘new places.’ We, all of us who follow Christ, must rise to usher ‘new people’ into our regular places of worship and ministry. That means that we must prepare our own hearts and the hearts of all with whom we serve to worship, pray, witness and commune with persons who do not look, speak or live as we do.
Existing congregations must be made ready to be renewed into vital, vibrant churches energized with a passion for living out the Good News of Jesus Christ. The focus must be ever the more on professions of faith and away from any recognition of mere exchange or attraction of members from neighboring parishes or congregations of other traditions.
What can a congregation do to reach new people?
- Office of New Church Development and Transformation—Dr. Kim Cape leads a strategic effort within the Southwest Texas Conference to locate and resource new ministry sites. Existing congregations can be partners in planting these new congregations through this office. Partner congregations may be located nearby or at a distance from the new church plant.
- Texas Methodist Foundation—Resources for capital campaigns, church loans, long term endowment management, planned and endowment giving programs, as well as its new Institute for Clergy and Congregational Excellence. www.tmf-fdn.org.
- Southwest Texas Conference Web site for resources in the areas of stewardship, small membership resourcing, Hispanic ministries, “Church In A Box,” worship and Christian education resources for opening hearts, minds and doors. www.umcswtx.org.
- Rethink Church—This new campaign has been launched to assist congregations to begin a process of thinking of “church” as something we do rather than a place we go. It seeks to open doors of congregations not only to new people but also to mission and ministry worldwide.
‘…You’re gonna want all these tools to evangelize,
Watch exponential new growth right before your eyes,
Members and dollars are sure to materialize.
Welcome, New Places, New People for your church and you!’
-Lyrics from2009 Southwest Texas Conference Laity Session
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Remember whose you are this summer
In a recent church newsletter, the pastor wrote about the fact that in spite of the economic problems the world is facing, a good number of folks from his church are taking long vacations. This got me thinking… I hope that they are not taking a vacation on their commitment to God and the church. Salaries are being paid while some folks are on vacation. Ministry is still happening while folks are on vacation.Worship services are still being held while folks are on vacation. Needs are being met while folks are on vacation. God is blessing people while folks are on vacation.
The same pastor wrote that attendance and offerings usually go down during the summer. I hope and pray that all of us consider the commitment we made when we joined the church about upholding it with our prayers, presence, our gifts, our service and our witness. Obviously, when someone is on vacation, and they have left town, they cannot be present. But we can mail our tithe or catch up when we get back.
I am so grateful for all those folks who have made it their habit to keep up with their commitment to the church. Most of them do it because they are grateful, happy Christians, not because they have to do it. Are you going on a vacation? Have a blessed time during that time. Remember whose you are and how God has blessed you. Remember who you are.
Acacia and I will be taking some time off. I will try to dive as much as I can during that time. We will enjoy the sea and the sea creatures. We plan to keep up with our commitments to God, not because I have to but because God is good and I am grateful.
Have a blessed summer!
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29 Lay Speakers took basic training June 20
 San Antonio District’s Basic Lay
Speaker training June 20 is deemed a
success.
Certification as a Lay Speaker begins with the recommendation of your church and your pastor. Completion of the Basic Lay Speaker training qualifies you as Lay Speaker within your congregation; however, certification requires the completion of at least one advanced training class. The Southwest Texas Conference Lay Speaking Ministries will be offering an advanced training class in March of 2010, at Mt. Wesley. Please check the Conference Web site for details as we get closer to March. The San Antonio District Lay Speaking Ministries will offer a Lay Speaker training event in September 2009 that will include both a basic class and an advanced training class. There are plans to include a basic class designed specifically for youth at the September event. Location and registration information for the district event will be sent to all district churches by mid-July. Please contact the San Antonio District Program Office for additional information.
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United Methodist Night at Missions to be Aug. 15 at 7:05 p.m.
The San Antonio District of The United Methodist Church, Southwest Texas Conference, and the Central District of the UMC, Rio Grande Conference, are joining together with the San Antonio Missions baseball team to celebrate our United Methodist heritage.
The San Antonio Missions are hosting a United Methodist Night at the Missions Aug 15.
Join your fellow United Methodists at the ball park as the San Antonio Missions take on the Arkansas Travelers at Wolff Stadium for a great evening of baseball, fellowship, and fireworks – and service to others.
Through the generosity of the San Antonio Missions, a portion of each ticket sold will be donated to The United Methodist Church for the “Nothing but Nets” campaign.
SO--get a group together from your church and come to the ball park Aug. 15 at 7:05 p.m. and show your support for The United Methodist Church and for the “Nothing but Nets” mission outreach campaign.
Flyers with ticket information will be mailed to all UM churches within our area by mid-July.
For additional information or to purchase tickets, please contact the San Antonio District office.
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Ignite fires of spiritual passion, intentional faith
development in post-modern churches
Christian education, spiritual formation and/or intentional faith development--no matter what you call it, growing in faith is an on-going journey that lasts our entire lives. Join us for an exciting “Sacred Saturday,” Sept. 19 from 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. at Windcrest UMC as the Rev. Linda Gwathmey and the Rev. Nancy McDougall, two deacons from the Southwest Texas Conference, offer “fuel” for our journeys.
Learn how to be more aware of and responsive to the cultural influences affecting your church. Learn how to think outside of the box when it comes to the practical side of Christian education as you involve both established members and those new to the Christian community. This workshop will provide time for you to take what you’ve learned and adapt it to use in your own congregation and community.
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I Just Don’t have that Movie Star “Look”
By the Rev. Terrence Hayes
Victoria District Superintendent
Where there is love, there is God!
In the broader culture, the socio-meter looks at and measures everything human. We say, “A person’s looks are not everything.” Nevertheless, our competence, intelligence, our performances are rewarded or punished by how we look. Even as United Methodist clergy members, our potential for movement is measured or thwarted by how we look. It is the human condition. I am well aware of my own looks. Not having a boyish charm or deadly magnetism, it is not always to my advantage to show my image. I just don’t have a Brad Pitt “look.”
I am not envious. I am grateful for what I have. I often wonder how people who are severely burned are measured by the social meter. I watched my mother’s look diminish when she developed bone marrow cancer. Her optimism seemed to return when she began to lose weight, even though the weight loss was due to her cancer. Even in her last days, her image was defined by popular culture.
If a clergy person does not “look” humble he or she may be seen as arrogant, self centered or even Hubris (/hjuːbrɪs/). Hubris means having exaggerated pride, superciliousness, or arrogance.
Without apology, I like America’s Next Top Model. At 56, I like the statuesque lines of a woman’s body and the beauty of a fit, well turned form.
The “meat” of the issue is clergy member self-esteem. Do looks determine how a person feels about themselves? The question is should one be judged by one’s looks? Secondly, as a body of Christ, how do we uphold one another and our clergy members to enhance self-esteem? Self-esteem is a person’s overall self-evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Some feel worthless. United Methodist clergy members are some of our nation’s brightest minds. If clergy members can feel affirmed, they will empower others to grow our church.
You have to be tough to be clergy members! And you have to be open to people helping you with your looks. Why? Because you will be judged by your looks.
A friend of mine in a northeastern annual conference is statuesque and lovely. Michelangelo would have seen her as a work of art! However, she is a clergywoman who feels that she must wear dark masculine suits and wrinkled blouses.
Jake is an older minister with one black suit that is usually stained and wrinkled. He does not believe in putting money into clothes and he wants to appear humble to his congregation. What he does not know is that his congregation cannot wait to put him aside and find a new and better-dressed clergy person to represent them.
All churches should have as their first priority to bring people to Christ. However clergy members must dress to assist the Kingdom and not detract from the Kingdom (WARNING these statements have nothing to do with gender or gender preference).
Be cheerful. Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.
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First UMC, Edna, youths and adults work at Methodist Mission Home for Mission Possible
Thirty-three youth and adults, ranging from 12 to 70+ years old, worked on the Methodist Mission Home grounds from June 10 to June 13. The group completed a five-station ropes course and revitalized the outdoor chapel with the construction of a 12-by-24 foot stage and a seating area covered by a lattice roof. Beatification projects were also completed, including the construction of handicap accessible planter boxes for the future home of vegetables, flowers, and herbs. Then the team worked to bring new life to the maternity center with fresh flowers and potted plants. The First UMC mission team worked tirelessly in 100-degree heat and concluded the project with a praise and worship concert on Friday evening. Despite the long hours of work, the church’s five-member band shared their music with the Methodist Mission Home residents and staff for a one-hour celebration concert.
Victoria District happenings
First UMC, Austwell gets makeover, courtesy of NOMADS
Three NOMADS (NOMADS On a Mission Active in Divine Service) projects since 2007 have transformed First UMC, Austwell, into a shining, sparkling church.
The United Methodist NOMADS are retirees with RVs who volunteer to spend three weeks at a UM agency doing renovations, repairs and tasks needed by the agency or church. NOMAD couples and singles can participate in one or many projects each year in different states or close to home. If you would like more information, see www.nomadsumc.org.
First UMC, Austwell, is a small community church with several senior members. Three NOMAD teams have redecorated the Education wing, built ramps at both front and side doors, extended and repaired the sidewalks, stripped and refinished the hardwood floor in the Sanctuary and the pulpit as well as the chairs, replaced the screens in the windows, repainted the exterior walls and done many other improvements. This gift of the NOMADS is just in time to host the Austwell/ Tivoli Kids Community Choir concert, as well as helping us begin to prepare for our 100th birthday in a couple years.
Schulenburg UMC dedicates new playground June 7
Members and visitors of First UMC, Schulenburg, gathered at its new playground to dedicate it during worship June 7. The dedication began with Holy Communion in the sanctuary, after which everyone moved to the playground to bless it with Holy Water and offer prayers. The celebration concluded with the church coming together for lunch in the fellowship hall.
“This is a great day in the life of our church family,” said Billie Graem, church lay leader. “We want this place to be well used.”
Construction began May 12 and was completed two days later.
“It’s a safe place for all children to play and have fun,” said Mrs. Jackie Shaller, playground committee chair and church treasurer. Church members raised money for the playground, and a grant from the Isensee Trust also assisted in the playground’s completion.
“This is a welcomed addition to our church’s mission,” said the Rev. Mark Adams, pastor of Schulenburg UMC.
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Rethinking superintendency, rethinking me
By the Rev. Bobbi Kaye Jones
Austin District Superintendent
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43.19
I’ll be getting up close to the whole ‘Rethink Church’ idea this month. I’m planning on staring it in the eye, looking it in the face, getting in its personal space. I’ve been wearing the button for months now, but in a couple of weeks I am going to pin that button right into my skin. Not really, but really.
We are rethinking almost everything in the district office-–how we do our business, what our business is. Rethinking our training, resourcing and supporting activities for churches, pastors, and leaders. We are rethinking how to get our message out and what our message is. We are rethinking how we organize our time and how we know if our time is being well spent. I am rethinking the location of my desk (I have already rethought how many cupcakes a sane person can eat in one long day of meetings).
We are rethinking almost everything in the Austin District--what I will rethink this month is who I am in this job. Rethink Bobbi Kaye. This will be my first opportunity since taking the plunge last October to stop “sink or swim dog paddling” in this fast moving river.
I picked up some unsustainable habits in the past eight months I want to shed, along with more than just a few pounds that were my consequence for lots and lots of sitting while driving to sit in meetings. I have been challenged out of my expectations for my ministry and asked to take a role I had not thought much about. The future I imagined no longer exists. So I better get thinking, and rethinking – as I asked the Saint John’s congregation every Sunday – how to use who I am and what I have for what God needs done in the world, and in the Austin District.
I will think, I will pray, I will walk, I will journal. I will dream, I will imagine, I will listen. Please have a safe and satisfying summer. Eat ice cream and watermelon, and read a book that is not about church. If I happen to cross your mind, send me an encouraging thought. I will be thinking of you often, I mean rethinking of you and what new thing God is doing in us.
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Austin District partners with health clinic in Guinea
 UMCOR workers Shannon Trilli,
Nyamah Dunbar meet with staff and
community members in Guinea.
Dieke currently provides HIV/AIDS outreach, malaria prevention and treatment, maternal/child healthcare, and minor abdominal surgery—all without the benefit of running water.
While there are thousands of clinics like Dieke across the African continent, the Austin District has been given a unique opportunity to pilot a new, innovative kind of partnership with this clinic. We have been tasked with building a real relationship with the people who serve and are served by Dieke.
UMCOR and GBGM are currently working to scale up healthcare across the African continent by empowering local leaders to manage their health systems better and by training indigenous health workers. Dieke will certainly need the Austin District to provide supplies, but as our relationship grows, Dieke will need business and engineering savvy, the tools to be accountable for those supplies received and a sense that the people of the Austin District want the very best for Dieke—a chance to grow away from a relationship of dependence into a relationship of mutual trust.
In the coming months, you and your congregation will hear more about the Dieke clinic, the Austin District’s fledgling partnership and how you might help. If you would like more information now, contact Rachel at (512) 444-1983.
Austin District sets goal to buy 10,000 malaria nets by April 25, 2010
Raising $100,000 for Nothing But Nets, an organization that works to prevent the spread of malaria in Africa, is just one way that the Austin District is contributing to global health in the coming year. This goal would buy 10,000 bed nets, enough to save at least 10,000 lives.
In Africa, malaria is a leading cause of death for children younger than 5. Nothing But Nets is a cooperative effort on the part of The United Methodist Church, the United Nations, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation,and the NBA to combat this killer disease with education and prevention.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is using new methods of community organizing to make sure that nets are delivered and used effectively, even in rural and remote areas.
The Austin District can contribute to this effort by answering the call of The United Methodist Church to prevent the diseases of poverty. This includes education for all ages, as well as a series of fundraising events that will culminate in a city-wide basketball tournament next spring.
By World Malaria Day April 25, 2010, the Austin District plans to reach its life-saving goal.
In the process, we believe that the 65 churches in this district may also find new vitality through connection and community.While we hope for wide participation among United Methodists, we also hope that this tournament will be an opportunity to reach out to young people in the greater Austin community. We believe that one of the great strengths of our church is the connection—between Methodists in Austin and around the world—that allows us to do far greater things than any one congregation can accomplish alone.
If you would like to volunteer to help the Austin District meet its goal, contact Rachel at (512) 444-1983 or rachel@umcad.org.
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