Boats tossed onto dry land in Chile as a result of the earthquake. Courtesy, UMCOR.org.
MEDICAL VOLUNTEERS NEEDED IN HONDURAS
The Friends of Barnabas Foundation is looking to fill several medical professional openings on its July 17 - 25, 2010 medical team to the mountains of central Honduras. Medical doctors, physician's assistants and nurse practitioners are all eligible for the few remaining slots. The team leaves and returns to Norfolk, VA. The team will visit five remote villages providing medical care to the poorest of the poor of Honduras. The team stays each night in the Foundation's facilities at Pena Blanca and travels using the Foundation's vehicles each day. Air travel, in country transportation, lodging and food are all included in the $1900 cost per team member. Contact Dr. Carlos Liceaga for more information (carlosliceaga@cox.net / 757.593.8266). See the scope of the Foundation's work over the last 10 years on its web site at www.fobf.org
CHILE EARTHQUAKE UPDATE
Following a Holy Week tour of earthquake disaster sites in Chile, executives of UMCOR and GBGM’s Mission Relationships are working on a “model” recovery plan with the Methodist Church of Chile (IMECH).
The plan was discussed Holy Saturday in Santiago after the executives, Rev. Tom Hazelwood for UMCOR and Dakin Cook for Mission Relationships, traveled with IMECH Bishop Mario Martínez Tapia and Emergency Relief Coordinator Juan Salazar to 14 cities and towns in four days. They were accompanied by United Methodist missionary John Elmore, a builder, who has lived in Chile for 13 years.
Under the plan, Annual Conferences and churches in the US would develop covenant relationships with individual congregations in Chile, and recovery efforts would be jointly coordinated by UMCOR, Mission Relationships, United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, and IMECH.
Under the plan, Annual Conferences and churches in the US would develop covenant relationships with individual congregations in Chile, and recovery efforts would be jointly coordinated by UMCOR, Mission Relationships, United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, and IMECH.
While the plan needs donations to support recovery efforts, it gives US congregations the opportunity to see themselves “not as donors only but as engaged in ministry,” said Hazelwood.
The earthquake in Chile registered a powerful 8.8 and was followed by a series of tsunamis. More than 500 were killed or disappeared and 1.5 million were displaced from their homes in Santiago and locations south of the capital.
Bishop Martínez called the effects of the earthquake “deceptive,” as many buildings that remained standing in its wake suffered irreparable structural damage, including numerous Methodist churches. Read the full story here.
Bishop Martínez called the effects of the earthquake “deceptive,” as many buildings that remained standing in its wake suffered irreparable structural damage, including numerous Methodist churches. Read the full story here.
You can support recovery efforts in Chile with your donation to UMCOR’s Chile Emergency, UMCOR Advance #3021178
UMCOR HAITI UPDATE
A high-ranking General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) delegation spent the first days of Holy Week in Haiti with The Reverend Gesner Paul, head of the Methodist Church of Haiti (EMH), to express the US church’s solidarity and strengthen the relationship between GBGM and EMH for the long term.
Bishop Bruce Ough, president of GBGM, and Rev. Jorge Domingues, deputy general secretary for Mission and Evangelism, were accompanied by Melissa Hinnen, director of communications of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).
The delegation toured EMH offices in Petionville and visited Grace Children’s Hospital, where the young patients are currently being cared for in tents because of damages to the hospital’s buildings during the January 12 earthquake.
The delegation toured EMH offices in Petionville and visited Grace Children’s Hospital, where the young patients are currently being cared for in tents because of damages to the hospital’s buildings during the January 12 earthquake.
“We thank you for all you have done for us in Haiti. We thank you for UMCOR’s return to Haiti for the medium and long term,” said Rev. Paul. “As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, we remember the journey has just begun.”
UMCOR is developing a bridge between EMH-identified needs and the relief and development work of UMCOR’s field office in Haiti, Bishop Ough said. GBGM’s Mission and Evangelism office will partner with EMH to build the church’s capacity “to be a beacon for Haiti,” he added. An April 20 roundtable in the Dominican Republic will further flesh out needs and responses.
UMCOR is developing a bridge between EMH-identified needs and the relief and development work of UMCOR’s field office in Haiti, Bishop Ough said. GBGM’s Mission and Evangelism office will partner with EMH to build the church’s capacity “to be a beacon for Haiti,” he added. An April 20 roundtable in the Dominican Republic will further flesh out needs and responses.
Read the full story here.
Gifts to support UMCOR’s Haiti relief and recovery work can be made to Haiti Emergency, UMCOR Advance #418325.One hundred percent of gifts made to this advance will help the people of Haiti
Gifts to support UMCOR’s Haiti relief and recovery work can be made to Haiti Emergency, UMCOR Advance #418325.One hundred percent of gifts made to this advance will help the people of Haiti
