Volunteers Needed to Serve in Cuba; New UMCOR Depot in Salt Lake City; & UMCOR/UMVIM Gathering in Mexico City

Photos: Rev. Willie Berman at UMCOR/UMVIM Gathering in Mexico City (top) & Rev. Brian Diggs new head of UMCOR Depot in Salt Lake City, UT (bottom).

CALLED TO SERVE IN CUBA? UMVIM TRIP: SPEND YOUR 4TH OF JULY HELPING OTHERS!

Team of 12 from all over the USA will work on the Methodist Seminary in Havana, Cuba. 3 spaces remain! Trip is scheduled for July 2-13, 2009. Cost is approximately $2100 plus cost of trip to Miami. Deadline for Visa Application and deposit of $300 is due April 15. For additional information, contact Rev. Vicki Walker at vwalker@hydeparkumc.org or (813) 253-5388 and your UMVIM Conference Coordinator.

UMCOR NOW ALSO LOCATED IN THE WESTERN JURISDICTION

Most United Methodists have heard of Sager Brown. Sager Brown is the UMCOR depot in Baldwin, LA. Whenever you and/or your church puts together health kits, layette kits, school kits, Flood Bucket/Clean-Up kits, etc. they get sent to Sager Brown. This is where they are held until they are shipped out all over the country and the world as needed.

Now, UMCOR has a new depot in the Western Jurisdiction located in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is headed by Rev. Brian Diggs (pictured above, second photo from the top) and will serve in expanding UMCOR's kit ministry.

Want to go and volunteer? The Western Jurisdiction Office is ready to put volunteers to work painting and cleaning as they prepare the 25,000 square foot warehouse for business. Those interested in volunteering can contact Rev. Diggs by phone or email. Phone: 801-973-7250Phone/Fax: 801-973-7290Email: WestDepot@UMCOR.org

Latin American, Caribbean and US Churches Explore New Ways of Being in Mission Together
by UMCOR

More than 100 Methodist leaders from Latin America, Caribbean and the United States gathered in Mexico City, March 24-27, to strengthen relationships through sending and receiving volunteers and when responding to local disasters. The four-day gathering, brought together by Global Ministries' Mission Contexts and Relationships, was marked by honest dialog across borders and cultures to strengthen understanding and partnership when engaging in mission together.

"We need to extend our hands to each other," said Rev. Juan de Dios Peña, from El Salvador regarding the need for Latin American and Caribbean countries to be senders as well as receivers of volunteer missionaries. Rev. De Dios acknowledged the economic challenges faced by many Council of Evangelical Methodist Churches in Latin America and the Caribbean (CIEMAL) and Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA) churches and also gave examples of how these have been overcome in his own and other countries in the region..
Sharing of models for volunteer sending and disaster response within the United States was part of the consultation that was led by United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). Ways to adapt these models for the various cultural contexts were invited.

"United we can achieve much more," said Bishop Moisés Valderrama Gómez of Mexico, and president of CIEMAL. "We can do what God wants to do through our hands not just as volunteers working in Latin America, but all of us as part of the same church."
The idea for the consultation was born out of a pre-General Conference meeting in Panama when the need to develop volunteer coordinators and leaders within Latin American was raised.
Bishop Valderrama was one of the driving forces behind the consultation, "This is not the result of one individual," said Bishop Valderama of the consultation. "God is calling all of us together."
The meeting brought together volunteer coordinators and bishops from the entire region to explore new ways of doing mission. "This is especially important because Latin America suffers many disasters," said Joyce Torres Placa, general secretary of CIEMAL regarding the disaster response training that was led by UMCOR and Mission Volunteers and resourced by Mission Contexts and Relationships.

In addition to the goal of building the capacity of Latin American and Caribbean churches to respond to disaster was providing assistance for them to send as well as receive volunteer teams, "This event is bringing us together and I trust our future work together will produce good fruits-to not only receive volunteers, but to send them as well," commented Bishop Valderrama.