mid week update

March 9, 2010

Iowa Conference News

Thank You Note

Click here to read this week’s Thank You Note about One Great Hour Of Sharing

2010 School for Ministry Set for April 6-8
The 2010 School for Ministry will be held April 6-8. The gathering, entitled, “Back Preaching When You May Not Really want to Preach,” features Thomas Long, Steve Kraftchick and Luke Powery.

Faculty members will address the issues of Death and tragedy that can overwhelm human beings emotionally. Clergy are no exception. Yet, whether the tragedy is a natural disaster, or the death of a close friend, or the suicide of a church member or the death of a member who has not been in worship for years, clergy must proclaim God’s word of hope. In the midst of their own pain and anguish and even when they don’t know the deceased at all, clergy have to preach the word to those in their care.

Dr. Thomas G. Long is Bandy Professor of Preaching at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. A gifted preacher and world-renowned teacher of preaching, he has published fourteen books on preaching and worship, including his two most recent: Preaching from Memory to Hope, and Accompany Them With Singing-The Christian Funeral.

Dr. Steven J. Kraftchick is Director of General and Advanced Programs and Associate Professor of the Practice of New Testament Interpretation at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He is the author of the Abingdon New Testament Commentary on Jude and 2 Peter.

Dr. Luke A. Powery is the Perry and Georgia Engle Assistant Professor of Homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary where his courses include an exploration of the relationship between the Holy Spirit and preaching, and the connection between corporate worship practices and social witness in the world. In the fall of 2009, his book Spirit Speech: Lament and Celebration in Preaching was published.

The School once again will be held at the Downtown Marriott, Des Moines. More information about the event and links to registration information are available here.

FREED-UP FINANCIAL LIVING COURSE

FACILIATORS’ TRAINING

On Saturday, April 10^th, Good$ense Ministries’ Freed-Up Financial Living curriculum will be offered for those wishing to serve as facilitators for the course in their church or community. This is a resource that will equip you in offering your people a Biblical approach to earning, giving, spending and debt.

Kevin Gowdy from the Iowa United Methodist Foundation will provide the training. He received his training in December of 2009 from the Willow Creek Association’s Good$ense Ministry Team.

You will be trained to lead this six-week course through personal involvement with the process and walking through the DVD and course book lessons.

The class will be held at First United Methodist Church of Cedar Falls, IA, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Foundation is charging only for the materials (which includes the six session DVD teaching tool and a participant’s guide) and the lunch. The cost is $45. For each additional participant from your church or parish the cost is $20 for the lunch and participant’s guide.

Register by e-mailing foundationadmin@iaumc.org . Just put “Freed-Up” in the subject line and in the e-mail include your name, address, church and e-mail. If registering more than one person from your church or parish, you may add everyone’s name in one e-mail. You’ll receive pre-course materials with your confirmation and instructions on payment options.

Registrations must be in by April 3, 2010.

The Freed-Up course that you will be learning to facilitate, has helped thousands of people in discovering effective tools and developing skills that help control personal finances. After completing the course, participants walk away with:

• A clear understanding of biblical financial principles
• Simple steps to apply those principles in day-to-day decision making
• A personalized spending plan in hand, knowledge on how to implement it and motivation to follow through

THE JOURNEY (of the kits) BEGINS!

It starts in a local church where a “mission” minded individual decides to select a “hands on” project. A kit from the InGathering Booklet is chosen with the kit items lovingly gathered, packaged and taken to an InGathering site. From there the Nigeria bound kits are collected and stored in two 40 x 8 x 8 foot trailers in Altoona, IA.

On March 4, thirteen workers gathered to load 842 boxes of kits, two solar refrigerators, solar panels, batteries and hardware to install them, three large wooden boxes with tools for the village well program, paraments, two metal beds and an examination table, medical equipment/supplies, nails, screws and bolts. Did I say nails? Yes, lots of them thanks to you who cleaned out your basement or barn! Two hours later, the 40 foot container was filled to the door which was shut, locked and a seal placed on it. The container begins the journey to New York where it is loaded on a vessel bound for Nigeria with the approximate arrival of May 1.

If you would like a 5 minute presentation about the “Journey of the Kit”, check with your district office that has two copies to loan your church or group. Thanks to every person who lent a hand to make the journey, from Iowa to Nigeria, possible. Your Christian love is sent in a kit!

United Methodist and Other News

Chile: UMCOR Responds to 8.8 Magnitude Earthquake
After the strongest earthquake in the region in half a century struck central Chile early Saturday, February 27, UMCOR responded with an initial emergency grant to its partners in Chile to help them bring relief to survivors.

The $10,000 grant will help the Methodist Church of Chile (IMECH) and its relief arm, the Methodist Humanitarian Action Team (EMAH), conduct needs assessments and bring water and food to survivors.

Last October, UMCOR dispatched an international disaster response team to Chile to help the Methodist Church there prepare for natural and human-made catastrophes.

Bishop Joel Martinez, interim general secretary of the General Board of Global Ministries, called on “our generous United Methodist constituents to join in the response to the Chile Emergency Advance to strengthen UMCOR’s ability to be fully present with resources.”

Please send your contribution and mark Chile Emergency, UMCOR Advance #3021178 on the memo line. One hundred percent of gifts made to this advance will help the people of Chile.

UMCOR Statement of Commitment in Haiti

Three United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) jurisdictional coordinators set their sites on Haiti, representing UMCOR and UMVIM to reinforce connections with the Methodist Church of Haiti (EMH), following the January 12 earthquake in that Caribbean nation.

The jurisdictional coordinators attended EMH’s annual conference in Le Cayes, where they met with circuit superintendents to identify areas of greatest need and discuss how UMVIM and UMCOR might collaborate with them to meet the priorities the superintendents have defined.

Methodist minister and UMCOR consultant Rev. Jim Gulley, a survivor of the earthquake, also was present at the annual conference and delivered a statement and words of encouragement to the conference on behalf of UMCOR. The commitment of time, fiscal and human resources to the people of Haiti was central to Gulley’s presentation. He underscored the importance of a renewed commitment by both UMCOR and EMH as the guarantee of a successful relief effort.

Gulley and the UMVIM team will meet with church leaders throughout their visit, as they determine the most effective ways to deploy volunteers to the region.

Haitian Artisans Offer Help to the Homeless

When the women of the cooperative Haitian Artisans for Peace International (HAPI) set out to build their Peace Park and Playground in Mizak, a village 50 miles south of Port-au-Prince, they meant it to be a safe haven for the community’s children. They never imagined it would become a haven for whole families and their distant relatives left homeless by a massive earthquake.

More than 550 homes in Mizak were damaged or destroyed during the January 12 quake. Like other survivors of the disaster, the people of this small village sought the safety of open fields. As they occupied the Peace Park, they were joined by extended family from the Haitian capital and other affected cities. Soon the women of HAPI found themselves at the center of an emergency relief effort.

“The food we prepared for 500 families was far, far from meeting the need…. We had at least double the families show up. There was no threat of violence, only overwhelming community presence and need,” wrote Valerie Mossman-Celestin, US executive director of HAPI, in an email that underscored the need for continued and coordinated assistance to Haiti.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is helping the artists’ cooperative shore up Peace Park infrastructure, build clean water and sanitation facilities, construct a security wall for access control, and purchase tents for short-term shelter. Read more about HAPI and support UMCOR’s emergency relief and recovery work in Haiti through Haiti Emergency, UMCOR Advance #418325.