Children in Mexico, courtesy z.about.com. Read more about volunteering in Mexico below....
* PRAYER REQUESTS FOR FUTURE TEAMS
Care-A-Vaners construction team works in Mt. Shasta, CA: August 30 – Sept. 8
Rod and Gloria Castor head up yet another group of nomadic volunteers who will go in mission, living out of their RVs while working on light construction and repair projects throughout the California-Nevada Conference. The Care-A-Vaners have worked this year at Laton UMC, The East Salinas Family Center. Mt Shasta and other locations this year—give us a call if you want to join them in this work.
Korean UMC of Santa Clara Valley Team to Chonbury, Thailand: Sept. 6 – 13
Davis will lead a team to 5 to Chonbury Thailand. He will be joined by, Benson Choi, Jonathan Shin, Angela Shin and Su Song Won of Korean UMC of Santa Clara Valley.
Davis will lead a team to 5 to Chonbury Thailand. He will be joined by, Benson Choi, Jonathan Shin, Angela Shin and Su Song Won of Korean UMC of Santa Clara Valley.
Multi-Church Flood Recovery Team to Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Sept. 13-26
Diane Jackson will lead a team of 23 to do flood recovery work. She will be joined by Connie Bergquist, Greg Bergquist, Andrea Davis, Paul Desideri, William Dornbush, Jennifer Dornbush, Brian Garrison, Brian Gebhart, Karen Hardin, Norm Hardin, Charles Rhodes, Larry Thompson, Wilma Thompson, Don Walton and Nancy Zanolini of Santa Rosa - First UMC Brent Beazur of Forestville UMC Gary Bunas of Santa Rosa - Christ Church UMC Bill Walker and Kay Walker of Novato UMC Kaye Juhler, Melvyn Juhler and Jack Rexroad of Woodland UMC.
Diane Jackson will lead a team of 23 to do flood recovery work. She will be joined by Connie Bergquist, Greg Bergquist, Andrea Davis, Paul Desideri, William Dornbush, Jennifer Dornbush, Brian Garrison, Brian Gebhart, Karen Hardin, Norm Hardin, Charles Rhodes, Larry Thompson, Wilma Thompson, Don Walton and Nancy Zanolini of Santa Rosa - First UMC Brent Beazur of Forestville UMC Gary Bunas of Santa Rosa - Christ Church UMC Bill Walker and Kay Walker of Novato UMC Kaye Juhler, Melvyn Juhler and Jack Rexroad of Woodland UMC.
Elk Grove UMC Team to the NEW UMCOR West Supply Depot, SLC, Utah: Sept. 28 – October 2
Pastor Kathy LaPoint-Collup will lead the first Cal-Nev Conference UMVIM team to the new UMCOR West Supply Depot! They will be taking relief kits from local churches with them.(See the UMVIM website for details) She will be joined by Giles Popish, Mary Popish, Glenda Groff, Bob Fossgreen, Deb Rowland-Bird, Suzanne Ward and Owen Mosburg of Elk Grove - Elk Grove UMC.
Pastor Kathy LaPoint-Collup will lead the first Cal-Nev Conference UMVIM team to the new UMCOR West Supply Depot! They will be taking relief kits from local churches with them.(See the UMVIM website for details) She will be joined by Giles Popish, Mary Popish, Glenda Groff, Bob Fossgreen, Deb Rowland-Bird, Suzanne Ward and Owen Mosburg of Elk Grove - Elk Grove UMC.
We also lift up in prayer those affected by the recent ice flooding in Alaska near the Yukon River. We pray for the inspiration of volunteers to serve and the safety for all in their recovery effort.
*URGENT NEEDS
CASPER, WYOMING - (08/21/09)Volunteers are URGENTLY needed to help homeowners recover from flash floods that occurred in July. Over 930 homes and 70 businesses experienced flooding from 1 feet to 9 feet! Work includes removing drywall and insulation and doing mold abatement. Housing provided by First UMC Casper. They will also provide access to their kitchen and showers. There is also a campground nearby that has some 30 amp RV hookups for free. To schedule yourself or your team please contact Joy Clark, 307-234-9386, fumccpr@tribcsp.com.
ALASKA - ( 08/21/09) - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2009Volunteers needed NOW to help people recover from ice-flooding. Fly into Fairbanks or Dawson City, Yukon, Canada (passport required). Transportation from these locations can be pre-arranged. Housing is in tents - sleeping bags rated to 0 degrees needed. Food and showers provided. Bring hand tools. For more information see http://www.umvimwj.blogspot.com/ or contact Lori Staats, UMVIM Coordinator, staatslori@gmail.com
GUATEMALA ( 08/21/09) - October 30-November 8, 2009 - Medical mission trip. Urgent need for 1-2 DENTISTS! Location is Lake Panajacha area for medical/construction team from Father Dyer Church in Breckenridge. Very experienced leadership. Contact Theresa Ashton, lravenhouse@gmail.com
Are you from the Cal-Nevada Conference and want to form a Disaster Recovery team to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Florida or Kansas?
View the Disaster Recovery Contact List Here you will find the phone numbers, websites and email addresses you will need to get started. Give a call to the area you are curious about and find out more about the specific needs they currently have! It just might be the perfect match for your team. If you settle on a location and date with them, call the Cal/Nev UMVIM office so we can help you with recruiting and preparation. (916) 374-1582
View the Disaster Recovery Contact List Here you will find the phone numbers, websites and email addresses you will need to get started. Give a call to the area you are curious about and find out more about the specific needs they currently have! It just might be the perfect match for your team. If you settle on a location and date with them, call the Cal/Nev UMVIM office so we can help you with recruiting and preparation. (916) 374-1582
* UMCOR SUPPLY KITS FOR UMCOR DEPOT WEST - WHAT IS NEEDED?
Bedding Kit These supplies provide an important source of comfort for displaced persons. ( 6 items: $50 per kit.)
Birthing Kit Birthing kits provide the essential items to promote a safe, clean delivery and to encourage good aftercare. ( 9 items: $8 per kit.)
Cleaning Bucket (formerly called flood bucket); These supplies enable people to begin the overwhelming job of cleaning up after a flood or hurricane. ( 17 items: $55 per kit.)
Health Kit Health kits provide basic necessities to people who have been forced to leave their homes because of human conflict or natural disaster. They are also used as learning ( 8 items: $12 per kit.)
Layette Kit Layette kits provide basic supplies for their baby's needs. ( 17 items: $35 per kit.)
School Kit In some countries, children don't have books or school supplies. Many have no schoolrooms; classes are held in inadequate buildings or in the open air. School kits provided essential educational resources. ( 14 items: $11 per kit.)
Sewing Kit Sewing kits foster independence rather than dependence. Women can make clothing in their own size and in the style of their culture and foster valuable income-generating skills. ( 5 items: $18 per kit.)
Bulk Materials The material resources program is always happy to receive kits and buckets fully assembled with all required items. However, the UMCOR Sager Brown Depot can also use large quantities of bulk items.
To create a kit first download the specific instructions at the UMCOR website here:
http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/getconnected/supplies/
* BRICK MASON VOLUNTEER NEEDED
Brick mason is needed to oversee the work of putting a brick façade on the new entry at the Red Bird Clinic. Red Bird can provide extra help with volunteers, but a mason is needed to oversee the project and ensure that it looks good when completed. The work would be a couple weeks, lodging is provided, and spending a couple weeks this fall in the magnificent mountains of Southeast Kentucky would be a wonderful thing! Interested persons should contact Harris Jones at hjones@rbmission.org or by phone at 606-598-5133.
* SOUTHEAST ASIAN CONSULTATION
The SE Asian Consultation will take place at Providence United Methodist Church in Charlotte on Oct 1-3, 2009. Rooms are being held at the Comfort Inn Executive Park until August 31st. Reservations until the 31st may be made by calling 1-866-476.8771 ext 5116 to receive the special rate. Please give the reservation group name: PUMC/CHARLOTTE/10-1. On August 31st the rooms not reserved and special rate of $76.46 will be released. After that time, please contact the Comfort Inn Executive Park directly to make reservations – 704.525.2626.”
* THE HONDURAS SUMMIT
Honduras Summit – Sept. 10-12, 2009
Hosted by Christ United Methodist Church in Louisville, KY
The Honduras Summit – the international conference on The United Methodist Church in Honduras – will take place September 10-12, 2009, at Christ United Methodist Church in Louisville, KY. Highlights of the summit include: hearing from leaders (bishop, district superintendents, and pastors) of the Honduras Mission church about the mission and vision of the church; learning about strategies for leadership and congregational development and sustainability for the Honduran church and helping plan for future connections in Honduras; learning how to send effective and successful mission teams; and hearing about the growth of medical mission teams and learning how your team can best participate. For more information and to register, please visit www.ccum.net/HondurasSummit.
Hosted by Christ United Methodist Church in Louisville, KY
The Honduras Summit – the international conference on The United Methodist Church in Honduras – will take place September 10-12, 2009, at Christ United Methodist Church in Louisville, KY. Highlights of the summit include: hearing from leaders (bishop, district superintendents, and pastors) of the Honduras Mission church about the mission and vision of the church; learning about strategies for leadership and congregational development and sustainability for the Honduran church and helping plan for future connections in Honduras; learning how to send effective and successful mission teams; and hearing about the growth of medical mission teams and learning how your team can best participate. For more information and to register, please visit www.ccum.net/HondurasSummit.
* THE CAMBODIA CONSULTATION
Hosted by St. Matthews United Methodist Church in Metairie, LA
The Cambodia Consultation aims to enable United Methodists and others to:
grow in understanding Methodist mission and ministries in Cambodia,
share experiences of Cambodia;
strengthen one another in Christian faith, witness and service,
and encourage new partnerships in mission with the growing church in Cambodia.
Register online at <https://www.signup4.net/Public/ap.aspx?EID=CAMC10E>
The Cambodia Consultation aims to enable United Methodists and others to:
grow in understanding Methodist mission and ministries in Cambodia,
share experiences of Cambodia;
strengthen one another in Christian faith, witness and service,
and encourage new partnerships in mission with the growing church in Cambodia.
Register online at <https://www.signup4.net/Public/ap.aspx?EID=CAMC10E>
* Eastern Europe & Balkan Consultation – Nov. 5-7, 2009
Hosted by West Market Street United Methodist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The November 5-7 event is sponsored by the In Mission Together program of the General Board of Global Ministries. An early November consultation will bring together those who are or want to become involved in United Methodist mission partnerships in Eastern European and Balkan countries.
< http://gbgm-mc.org/global_news/pr.cfm?articleid=5497&CFID=21875984&CFTOKEN=23445338>
Hosted by West Market Street United Methodist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The November 5-7 event is sponsored by the In Mission Together program of the General Board of Global Ministries. An early November consultation will bring together those who are or want to become involved in United Methodist mission partnerships in Eastern European and Balkan countries.
< http://gbgm-mc.org/global_news/pr.cfm?articleid=5497&CFID=21875984&CFTOKEN=23445338>
* Russia Initiative Consultation XV - April 7-9, 2011
In Oklahoma City, OK.
Dr. W. James AthearnCoordinator, Russia InitiativeGENERAL BOARD OF GLOBAL MINISTRIESThe United Methodist Church
116 Frasher Drive, Clear Brook, VA 22624Tel: 540-662-2066 Fax: 540-662-6998jimathearn@gmail.comhttp://new.gbgm-umc.org/work/initiatives/russia/
Dr. W. James AthearnCoordinator, Russia InitiativeGENERAL BOARD OF GLOBAL MINISTRIESThe United Methodist Church
116 Frasher Drive, Clear Brook, VA 22624Tel: 540-662-2066 Fax: 540-662-6998jimathearn@gmail.comhttp://new.gbgm-umc.org/work/initiatives/russia/
* A STORY FROM A VOLUNTEER TO MEXICO - BY MURRAY HAWKINS
After wrestling most of the summer with group cancellations and lack of funds, we were finally able to put together groups for two weeks of service in Jaramillo. The bottom line is that it was one of our best summers yet. Because of the generosity of two congregations and the revenue from participant fees, we were able to roof six houses, purchase materials for the seventh (they will install it themselves), fix another roof, make major structural repairs to yet another roof, install a bathroom for an eighty year old man who was having to trek 200 feet to an outhouse in the dark and over rough terrain, do wiring on a couple of houses and one of our churches, plumb and wire a sandwich/taco shop that a woman (sort of like helping someone with a microloan) was building, replace a water pump, repair the plumbing to another pump, fix church plumbing, and some other smaller jobs.
Perhaps the most fruitful of our activities was a Vacation Bible School that had an average attendance of 35 every day for the two weeks. At the end, families were invited to church to hear about what their children had learned, see them dance and sing, and see their art work. They also heard a short message from the pastor. It was the largest turnout that the pastor had seen since he came to the church a few years ago. He was particularly gratified that so many people felt comfortable entering a protestant church when they had, in the past, been reluctant to do so. Some people told him that they would be returning for worship.
We’re planning to go back again either late this summer or early in the fall. Jaramillo is a town of somewhere over 150 houses, most of which need roofs to keep them dry this coming winter. Incomes are low so people can’t afford the cost of repairs or take the time off of work to do the job themselves, even if they have the skills. We aren’t, obviously, able to roof all the houses. But, slowly but surely, we are addressing those with the greatest need. We have the material to complete one house and need a team to do the work which should take around 2-1/2 days. There are two other houses where we have to start from scratch. Then, there are the other 140 plus houses . . .
The work is rewarding and the families are grateful. One family of lobster fishermen invited their work team to an all-you-can-eat lobster dinner! I’ve never seen so many lobsters. It was truly amazing.
Perhaps the most fruitful of our activities was a Vacation Bible School that had an average attendance of 35 every day for the two weeks. At the end, families were invited to church to hear about what their children had learned, see them dance and sing, and see their art work. They also heard a short message from the pastor. It was the largest turnout that the pastor had seen since he came to the church a few years ago. He was particularly gratified that so many people felt comfortable entering a protestant church when they had, in the past, been reluctant to do so. Some people told him that they would be returning for worship.
We’re planning to go back again either late this summer or early in the fall. Jaramillo is a town of somewhere over 150 houses, most of which need roofs to keep them dry this coming winter. Incomes are low so people can’t afford the cost of repairs or take the time off of work to do the job themselves, even if they have the skills. We aren’t, obviously, able to roof all the houses. But, slowly but surely, we are addressing those with the greatest need. We have the material to complete one house and need a team to do the work which should take around 2-1/2 days. There are two other houses where we have to start from scratch. Then, there are the other 140 plus houses . . .
The work is rewarding and the families are grateful. One family of lobster fishermen invited their work team to an all-you-can-eat lobster dinner! I’ve never seen so many lobsters. It was truly amazing.
-Murray Hawkins, President of the Joint Commission in Cal-Pac Conference
