FLOODING IN ATLANTA AREA; US RESPONSE TO FLOODING; VOLUNTEERS WANTED FOR TEAM TO NEW ORLEANS; UMCOR WEST GETS A "LIFT"; BIRCHWOOD CAMP ADDING NEW SPAC

Photo: Flooding in Atlanta causes bridge and road collapse, courtesy examiner.com.

* FLOODING IN ATLANTA AREA

In response to this week's flooding in the Atlanta area, the North Georgia Conference is setting up a call center at the conference headquarters at Simpsonwood in Norcross, GA to match cleanup and repair needs with volunteer teams. The call center will operate Monday to Friday, 7am-7pm. Volunteers are needed to help staff this call center.
To volunteer to staff the call center, please contact Dr. Julia Crim, North Georgia UMVIM Coordinator, at 678-462-4335.

Please note: UMVIM teams are not being accepted at this time. This is currently ONLY an appeal for volunteers to staff the call center. When the Conference is ready to accept volunteer teams for cleanup and repair, the UMVIM, SEJ office will make this announcement via UMVIM priority email and will have more information at that time.

*US: GEORGIA FLOOD RESPONSE

On Monday, Sept 21, 17 counties in the state of Georgia were hit hard by massive flooding from severe storms moving northeast from the Gulf of Mexico. About five people are dead after Georgia creeks and rivers burst from days of torrential rain.
UMCOR is in contact with the North Georgia Annual Conference to assist with recovery efforts, as disaster response personnel assess the situation. Cleaning buckets from UMCOR’s Relief Supply Depots are ready to be dispatched to areas in need.
Support the North Georgia Annual Conference during this initial phase of recovery with your gifts to US Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #901670

* VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: NEW ORLEANS, LA

I am Elinor Edmunds Miller (former Yellowstone Conference Missions Coordinator and now at Faith UMC, Troutdale, OR) and I am the team leader for a UMVIM trip to New Orleans from November 14-21, 2009. If you would like to be a team member or know of someone who might be interested in going, please email me, Elinor Miller, at elinorfromkabul@hotmail.com or call me at 406.465.8799. I have lead UMVIM teams to New Orleans in 2008 and 2009. We would welcome inquiries from those interested in knowing more about the trip. There's room for new team members!

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to call me at 406.465.8799. I'd be delighted to answer your questions and am excited to be returning to New Orleans.

Grace and peace,

Elinor
Elinor W. Edmunds Miller
UMVIM Hurricane Katrina Team Leader: November 14-21, 2009
former Missions Coordinator for the Yellowstone Conference of the United Methodist Church
Member, Covenant United Methodist Church, Helena, Montana
Attending Faith United Methodist Church, Troutdale OR
Elinor's contact information:
2980 NE Division Street, Unit T2
Gresham OR 97030
406.465.8799

*US: UMCOR WEST GETS A “LIFT”

When UMCOR West Office and Depot opened its doors on May 30 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the people of the western jurisdiction responded with generous support.
Recently, Park City UMC in Park City, Utah gave UMCOR West the “lift” it needed to operate more efficiently. The church raised over $12,000 for the purchase of a forklift to use in the processing and storing of relief supply kits at the 22,000 square foot depot.

"We are so excited to be able to provide UMCOR with the means to help reach so many people around the world,” said the Rev. Bob Kaylor of Park City UMC. “It is so exciting to have a general church presence like UMCOR here in Utah.”

Christ UMC in Salt Lake City also raised money during their annual 5K run to purchase a much-needed pallet scale for weighing shipping materials to people in need around the world.
Support UMCOR West Depot with your gifts to Material Resources, UMCOR Advance #901440.

* BIRCHWOOD CAMP IN ALASKA ADDING NEW SPACE

Have you heard? Birchwood camp is creating a great new space!
The new building is an Alaska Log structure with a full basement.
The upstairs meeting area will be an open space of about 1500 square feet.
The back deck area will be partially covered and looks out onto Psalm Lake.
We are hoping to have this building finished by fall of 2010. The exterior is almost complete,
thanks to the hard work of many volunteers.

Matching Grant –
Judy and Al Kline have generously offered a 50 percent matching grant, matching up to $20,000 for our new building!
If we can meet this goal by the end of this month, we will be able to finish funding phase one of the new meeting space.
Call us, or reply to this e-mail if you would like to donate. Every dollar you give will be multiplied.

Annual Dinner & Silent Auction
Celebrate old and new connections with Birchwood Camp, and be a part of this exciting new expansion!
When: Sunday, October 18, 2009. Open house and silent auction will begin at 6:00pm, followed by the meal and program.
Where: Birchwood Camp’s Main Lodge.

Tickets: $25/ person, $200/ table of 8... Seating is limited! Call 688-2734 for tickets.
The silent auction will include framed photos by Walt Hays, Miniture Totems by David Fison, and original Alaska Native Crafts.
All proceed will be used to complete the New Meeting Space Project.

Grace and Peace,

Adam Muhr

URGENT NEED FOR VOLUNTEERS & SUPPLIES IN MEXICO

Photo: Hurricane Jimena hits Mexico, courtesy scientificamerican.com.

* URGENT NEEDS IN MEXICO DUE TO HURRICANE JIMENA The Joint Commission and Desert Southwest Annual Conference have just responded with money to repair two parsonages and churches. That ended up being small potatoes in light of the overall devastation which has not been reported either in Mexico or in the USA. Hurricane Jimena hit the coast near Guaymas and left flood waters that reached two meters deep in some areas. This area was severely damaged according to Bishop Vasquez of the Northwest Annual Conference. Communications are down, roads are washed out, water supplies are ruined, and homes severely damaged. In Santa Clara, the damages were greatest. Entire communities were washed out and many families lost everything. The farms where they worked were destroyed and unemployment is extremely high. Many of those left homeless are members of our church. Bishop Vasquez is asking for help as follows: Food (or money to purchase food in Mexico) Clothing – used - all kinds and sizes Drinking Water School materials and supplies Construction Materials Support for medical assistance Financial assistance If your church could help out, the Joint Commission will deliver the items and help get any funds to the right place in Mexico. Please see if an announcement can be made at this Sunday’s service. Also, could you give this information to your Missions Committee? Any help would be most appreciated. Time is of the essence. Blessings, Murray Hawkins, President United Methodist Joint Commission murray@mexicomissionproject.org (909)793-5171 1594 Elizabeth St. Redlands, CA 92373

YELLOWSTONE CONFERENCE GIVE TO UMCOR WEST; VOLUNTEERS NEEDED; UMCOR CASE MANAGEMENT TRAINING; UMCOR & DISASTER RESPONSE; NEEDS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Photo: Youth from Bozeman Montana unload gifts of health kit supplies at UMCOR West. courtesy of Yellowstone Annual Conference. Read more below.....

*YELLOWSTONE CONFERENCE GIVES TO UMCOR DEPOT WEST

The Yellowstone Conference collected thousands of health kit contents at their annual conference in June. They received nearly 400 cubic feet of supplies and the youth mission team from Bozeman, Montana personally delivered them to UMCOR West in Salt Lake City, Utah.

They helped assemble kits at UMCOR West and painted the warehouse. Says Sally McConnell who coordinated the mission, “By collecting the supplies and working at the depot we made a difference and were sharing the love of Christ with persons in need whom we will never meet.”
Donating kit supplies or financial gifts to purchase the supplies, makes a direct and tangible difference in sustaining people's lives.

The types of kits UMCOR West is collecting include: health, sewing, school, layette, bedding and cleaning buckets in addition to the new birthing kit. Detailed information about assembling kits can be found here. You can give toward the purchase of supplies instead of buying and shipping them. Please consider giving to Material Resource Ministry, UMCOR Advance #901440.

* TEAM GOING TO NICARAGUA IN FEB 2010 IN NEED OF MEDICAL PROVIDER VOLUNTEERS

A mission team from Bloomington, IL that goes to Nicaragua in Feb. 2010 is in need of providers ( Dr., PA, NP) As of today they only have two providers that are signed up to go. Last year they had six and were able to see about 1700 patients. If anybody is interested they can contact Kristie Gamble and she will put you in touch with the team leader. You can contact Krisite at 270-885-4365 home or 270-498-6296 cell.

* UMCOR CASE MANAGEMENT TRAINING IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST CONFERENCE

This two-day training prepares disaster case managers to support disaster survivors as they make their way through the recovery process. The training is being delivered by nationally recognized trainers and provided by the Citizen Corps Council of Pierce County in cooperation with the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management.

Training includes Case management skills, building trust with clients, confidentiality, privacy, and cultural diversity. Unique needs of disaster case management including developing individual recovery plans and accessing federal aid for clients.
Helping disaster survivors cope with change. Attendees: Disaster Survivors Advocacy Team (DSAT) members, potential disaster case managers and partners to the DSAT team.

Date: Wednesday, Oct 7 and Thursday, Oct. 8
No cost; funded by a Homeland Security grant.
Time: 08:30 AM —4:30 PM
Lunch is provided—see instructions on attached lunch order sheet

Location: Oct. 7 will be at 9850 64th St. W. University Place, 98467
Pierce County Environmental Services Building
Oct. 8 will be at 2501 S. 35th St., Tacoma, 98409
Tacoma/Pierce County Emergency Operations Center

To Register: Pierce County participants have priority until Sept 25, 2009 to register by sending an e-mail to PCDEMTraining@co.pierce.wa.us with your name, e-mail address, and organization affiliation.

Out-of-county partners may register at any time and will be notified after Sept. 25 if seats are still available for participation.

Questions? Contact Barbara Nelson, Pierce County Citizen Corps Liaison, bnelso1@co.pierce.wa.us or 253-798-2168 or Paul Shukovsky, Pierce County Emergency Management, pshukov@co.pierce.wa.us or 253-798-2219.

* REAL DISASTER RESPONSE - SERVANTS FOR THE MINISTRY: BY TOM HAZELWOOD, ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY, UMCOR

In the recent Batman Dark Knight movie there is a scene where the Joker uses a quip we have all heard many times, he says, “I'm like a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught one.” To some extent, I feel like that is analogous to the situation we find ourselves in today in U.S. Disaster Response.

For years, we in the voluntary sector and especially the faith-based disaster response organizations have chased after government dollars to help pay for the work that we do as partners in disaster mitigation, response, and recovery.In the four years following Hurricane Katrina, we finally got some of what we have been chasing. What have we caught? The U.S. Government now funds a variety of programs that are intended to help the disaster survivor following disasters. Whether the money comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) or some other source, it has created a dilemma for the faith community.

At UMCOR, we are clear that our mission and ministry are to provide humanitarian assistance “without regard” to a person’s status. Yet, if we as an organization decide to receive money to implement one of the programs being funded by the government, we suddenly have to abide by the parameters that are set by the government as to who can be served. Therein lies the problem. Do we accept money from the government and the inherent restrictions and reporting mechanisms that go with it? Or do we simply ignore the opportunity for government funds and just stick with doing what we can with the funds that are donated by those who support the ministry of UMCOR?What are the options?

Okay, so one solution would be for UMCOR to expand its current non-governmental program, which works internationally, to include a domestic program. Thus UMCOR would create parallel programs, one that uses our private donor funds and one that is funded by the government. Oh, except there is a problem with that model. UMCOR believes fundamentally that all disasters are local. Therefore, the actual implementing of ministry programming (the REAL response and recovery) takes place at the annual conference and community level.

Well then, UMCOR could implement government-funded programs locally, and we could simply continue to provide the private United Methodist funding to annual conferences so they can implement their own response and recovery as they have in the past. We actually tried something similar to this approach after Hurricane Katrina when UMCOR created Katrina Aid Today (KAT) with a grant from FEMA, and while KAT itself was a very successful project, and the annual conference response and recovery, which is still ongoing today, was/is also successful, it did not make for good relationships between UMCOR and our annual conferences. There was always tension between the goals of the government-sponsored program and the UMC funded program. It felt like we were competing with ourselves.

Today, it appears that most government funding for response and recovery is going to be channeled through the states. What this means practically is that any application for government funds will have to be made by the annual conference. I openly ask the question, how many of our annual conferences have both the capacity and the desire and willingness to create parallel operations for disaster response and recovery if they have a disaster? My assessment is: “Not many.”All this brings me back to my first metaphor. We, like the dog, have chased down the proverbial car.

Now what?I think we must remember who we are. We are called to be ministers for Jesus Christ. And for UMCOR, as a part of the general agency of the UMC called to serve Global Ministries, we have the charge to equip willing servants for the ministry of disaster response. I think we have to choose. Do we want to enable the ministry of the church, enable volunteers to participate in risk-taking mission and service, or do we want to implement government programs?

Now don’t get me wrong here, I fully understand that BOTH are means of helping those who have survived disaster move toward wholeness and the new normal that comes following disaster. BOTH are well intentioned and serve a great purpose. But having observed UMCOR oversee one government grant I believe UMCOR’s place is to be the enabler of ministry. Like the pooch that chased down the car and got hit by the tire, I think it is better to stay home and be the friend and companion to our annual conferences and not chase cars any more. But perhaps you have an even better idea we have not considered.

Send us a line. Let us know what you think! http://media.gbgm-umc.org/umcorblog

Tom Hazelwood
Assistant General Secretary
UMCOR Disaster Response U.S., Caribbean, Latin America
100 Maryland Ave. NE Suite 315
Washington, DC 20002
Phone: 202.548.4002
Fax: 202.544.4116
Cell: 703.624.3224
http://www.umcor.org/

* NEEDS IN THE PHILIPPINES IN THE WAKE OF TWO TYPHOONS

UMCOR Philippines is at work in Botolan after two typhoons hit the area. According to Ciony Eduarte who manages UMCOR’s office in the Philippines, people have been relocated to safer areas as flash flooding resulting from a damaged dam and overfilled rice fields continue to create hazardous conditions.

UMCOR is assisting with emergency response, distributing food in the affected areas in coordination with the district superintendent and KKFI,. They are working together to develop a plan for a longer term response as the needs are assessed.
Your gift to UMCOR Philippines will help those affected by the most recent typhoons. Please give to Philippines Emergency, UMCOR Advance #240235.

NEW UMVIM CONFERENCE COORDINATOR FOR YELLOWSTONE; GIVING TO VICTIMS OF FIRES IN SO. CAL.; VOLUNTEERS NEEDED IN N. DAKOTA; PAUP RESIGNS POST & MORE

Photo: Debbie Irby, new UMVIM Coordinator for Yellowstone Conference in Mozambique, courtesy Debbie Irby. Read more about her below.....

* YELLOWSTONE ANNUAL CONFERENCE HAS NEW UMVIM CONFERENCE COORDINATOR

Debbie Irby is the new UMVIM Conference Coordinator for the Yellowstone Annual Conference and we welcome her! Debbie lives in Helena, MT and comes with lots of experience in leading UMIM teams and working as an UMVIM volunteer! We here in the Western Jursidiction are happy to have her on board. If you live in the Yellowstone Annual Conference, you can connect with Debbie at dirby@stpauls-helena.org

* HOW TO CONTRIBUTE TO VICTIMS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

The wildfires in Southern California have devastated many structures, homes, and beautiful mountain terrain. The California-Pacific Conference has a continual fund set up to help victims of fires in Southern California. Checks can be made payable to the California-Pacific Annual Conference with the notation “Southern California Fires” noted and mailed to Attn: Treasurer’s Office, P.O. Box 6006, Pasadena, CA 91102-6006. For more information go to http://www.cal-pac.org/.

* VOLUNTEERS NEEDED IN NORTH DAKOTA

Are you interested in getting a taste of the great open spaces and western hospitality of North Dakota this year? They would love to put you to work while you stay with them. Volunteers are needed! They have started the rebuild process in Jamestown and surrounding area (flooding), some in Dickinson (tornado) and need folks to put in miles and miles of fencing (flooding) from the south central to southwestern part of the state. Besides the fencing, rebuild projects include installing sheetrock and mudding, electrical, some plumbing, step repair – i.e., general carpentry. If you can help, please contact Joan Buchhop, Volunteer Hotline 1-800-366-9841, LDRvolunteer@lssnd.org.

* SAFETY OFFICER TRAINING IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST CONFERENCE

Designated Safety Officer Trainings

We have 3 Designated Safety Officer trainings scheduled for September and October. The DSO training lasts about 2-1/2 to 3 hours and is full of information on making your church a "safe place".

Opportunities for training are:

September 12:
Orchards UMC (Vancouver), 1pm - 3pm
Snoqualmie UMC, 12:30pm - 3pm

October 3; Clarkston UMC, 9am - Noon

The cost for any of these events is $10 per person. Pre-registration is very helpful, but you may register at the door.

The registration form may be found on the conference website.

If you have questions, please feel free to call Sharon Meeds (206-870-6805 or 800-755-7710) or email camping@pnwumc.org.

* GENERAL SECRETARY FOR GLOBAL MINISTRIES RESIGNS DUE TO HEALTH REASONS

The Rev. Edward W. Paup has resigned as general secretary of The United Methodist Church's mission agency in order to attend to a serious health issue. He has been on leave for medical reasons since August 10.

Bishop Bruce Ough of West Ohio, president of the General Board of Global Ministries, announced the resignation, effective immediately, on behalf of the agency's executive and personnel committees.
"The results of examinations indicate the presence of a brain tumor that will require close and constant monitoring in the days ahead," Bishop Ough said. "Treatment and prognosis are unclear at this time. We understand that no one can both tend to serious health matters and conduct the demanding day-to-day business of Global Ministries."
Rev. Paup was elected general secretary in March 2008, and came to work at Global Ministries on September 1, 2008. He resigned from the episcopacy, having served in the Pacific Northwest region, to accept the executive leadership post at the mission organization.
Bishop Ough asked the directors, staff, and the church at large to join him in prayer for Rev. Paup and his family. "As people of faith, we believe in the healing love of God through Jesus Christ and the ministries of the church," he said, continuing:Ed came to us a year ago and has helped Global Ministries to face and address the related challenges of organizational restructure and economic downsizing, or "rightsizing," to use his term. The operational audit we have experienced has set us on a course that will enable the agency to define and conduct its future work with enthusiasm and energy, and within the economic means provided by the church. Ed's vision of our potential will be his legacy.
The agency president said that an interim general secretary will be named in the near future to provide leadership until a successor to Rev. Paup can be selected.