January 26, 2010
Iowa Conference News
The B-I-B-L-E
How many Bibles are in your home? Are these read on a daily basis? For Nigerians who have completed the Lit-Lit Program sponsored by the United Methodist Church of Nigeria in their church or community, Bibles in Hausa are a prized commodity. The majority of students in the Lit-Lit classes are mainly village women whose parents didn’t feel it was worth paying the tuition fees for them to attend school. Through the program they learn to do simple arithmetic, read and write and for some, come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. It is never too late for education and when you educate a woman you are educating the family and village. At graduation they must pay to receive the Hausa Bible which some can’t afford. The ability to read the Bible and the lack of funds to provide one for them is agonizing. How can we help remedy that situation? For $7 a Hausa Bible can be purchased. For $25 a student can attend Lit-Lit classes. Your contribution may be made through your local church and sent to the Conference Treasurer designated INP #230, Hausa Bible or Lit Lit. The next time you pick up your Bible to read or to study, count yourself blessed.
A Conversation with Carol Howard Merritt
A Conversation with Carol Howard Merritt, author of Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation and the upcoming Reframing Hope: Looking at Vital Ministry in a New Generation, will be held on February 19, 2010 from 6:00-8:00 pm and on February 20. 2010 from 9:30-11:30 am at 1st United Methodist Church in Des Moines, Iowa (1001 Pleasant Street). A $10 registration fee for each conversation can be paid at the door before each event. These conversations are sponsored by First United Methodist Church in Des Moines; Martha Hill DiSilvestro, Central District Field Outreach Minister; and The Young Adult Ministries Office of the United Methodist Church in Iowa.
Carol Howard Merritt is a minister in her thirties, who has served congregations in Louisiana and Rhode Island. Currently, she is a pastor at Western Presbyterian Church, an innovative, intergenerational congregation in Washington, D.C. Western is the home of Miriam’s Kitchen, a feeding program that serves a hot, nutritious breakfast to over 200 homeless men and women every weekday morning. Carol has written for several magazines and journals, and is the award-winning author of Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation (The Alban Institute, 2007). Her next book, Reframing Hope: Vital Ministry in a New Generation will be out in February. She blogs at TribalChurch.org and co-hosts God Complex Radio, an Internet radio show with Bruce Reyes-Chow, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
‘a conversation with...’ is an occasional conversation series focusing on the theological groundings of, and the practical implications for ministry with young adults.
For more information contact:
Eric Guy, Leadership Development Minister
Young Adult and Generational Ministry
The United Methodist Church in Iowa
eric.guy@iaumc.org * 515.874.8944
Free Youth Ministry Training Opportunity!
Youth Strike for Christ is again this year sponsoring a FREE training opportunity for adults who work in youth ministry – volunteer or paid staff - in the Iowa Conference. Youth Strike is inviting church youth workers to come as our guests on Saturday afternoon, February 6, 2010 to join us for lunch or dinner, experience something of what Youth Strike is about, and participate in some great training opportunities. All events will be held at the Polk County Convention Center in Des Moines (501 Grand Ave). All parts of the afternoon and evening are FREE, but spaces are limited. In order to register for these opportunities contact DeeDee Sobotka at deedee.sobotka@iaumc.org or 515.974.8912 before January 20. Spaces will be filled as registrations are received. You do NOT need to attend Youth Strike for Christ in order to participate in this opportunity. Register today!
Click to see a full description of YSFC Adult Training Opportunities.
Be prepared to identify workshop choices when you register and indicate what meals you will be participating in. Workshops will include:
App 1: Youth Ministry and Camping & Retreats
App 2: Youth Ministry and Missions, Service, & Social Justice
App 3: Youth Ministry and Higher Education & College Ministries
App 4: Youth Ministry and Spiritual Formation & Discipleship
App 5: Youth Ministry and Vocational Discernment
United Methodist and Other News
Open Your Home and Heart to a YFU International Teenager...
Would you like to experience the world and learn about a new culture from the comfort of your own home? Are you open-minded, flexible, loving, willing to try new things and share your culture with a mature teenager from another country? YFU USA can help match your family with one of the international students coming from over 60 different countries to discover America and share their own culture. Together you will learn, grow, share and discover new ideas and form a friendship strong enough to overcome distance, time and cultural differences.
For more information and to fill out a host family Application visit www.YFU-USA.org, call 1.800.872.0200 or e-mail admissions@yfu.org.
Do you have a friend, neighbor, relative or co-worker who would like to welcome a student into their family? Please forward this message on to them!
2010 classes for the Academy for Vital Christianity at United Theological Seminary
Please see the attached brochure for more information on Spring 2010 Classes.
mid-week update is a ministry of the Communications Ministry Team
of the Iowa Annual Conference
