News Roundup July 2023

Below is a run-down of significant (United) Methodist stories from the past month.

Bishop Bickerton Invites United Methodists to “Reclaim, Revive, and Renew”: Bishop Thomas Bickerton, chair of the Council of Bishops, issued a video inviting United Methodists to “reclaim, revive, and renew” their identity and mission as United Methodists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVXM7j_aL6c.

Global Ministries and GBHEM Call for "A Season for Renewal": Global Ministries and GBHEM issued a joint statement promising "to work together to support our worldwide connection" during "a season for renewal" in the church: https://www.gbhem.org/news/a-season-for-renewal-and-a-joint-commitment-to-our-worldwide-connection/.

Estonian Methodists Leave UMC: Methodist churches in Estonia have finalized a process for leaving The United Methodist Church to become their own autonomous Methodist denomination: https://www.umnews.org/en/news/estonian-churches-leave-united-methodist-fold.

United Women in Faith Selects New Leader: United Women in Faith announced Sally Vonner as their new General Secretary and CEO: https://uwfaith.org/press/2023/united-women-in-faith-board-elects-sally-vonner-general-secretary-ceo/. Meanwhile, UMNS profiled retired UWF leader Harriett Olson: https://www.umnews.org/en/news/from-girlhood-activist-to-denominational-leader.

Methodists Celebrate International Partnerships: Methodists in several countries reaffirmed international partnerships, including Methodists in the following places:

• Uruguay and Great Britain (http://www.imu.org.uy/hermandad-lancashire/)
• Zimbabwe and Ireland (https://vimeo.com/834677792)
• Poland and Ireland (https://vimeo.com/834775172 and https://irishmethodist.org/world-mission-news/mci-formation-student-visits-umc-poland)
• Fiji and California (https://twitter.com/cnumc/status/1669758050259939347)
• Tanzania and New Jersey (https://www.gnjumc.org/news/greater-new-jersey-rekindles-cross-and-flame-connection-with-tanzania-united-methodists/)
• Liberia and North Carolina (https://www.umnews.org/en/news/butchery-plant-empowers-pig-farmers-in-liberia)
• Angola and Florida (https://express.adobe.com/page/OL1W56vQE3sRU/)

European Methodists Promote Sustainability: The Austria Annual Conference passed a resolution at their June meeting calling upon the Austrian government to advance the cause of environmental sustainability: https://www.emk.de/meldung/mut-machen-trotz-sorgen-angesichts-der-klimakrise, English translation: https://www-emk-de.translate.goog/meldung/mut-machen-trotz-sorgen-angesichts-der-klimakrise?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp. The Switzerland-France-North Africa Annual Conference voted to create a Creation Care group: https://emk-schweiz.ch/2023/06/16/arbeitsgruppe-fuer-umweltgerechtes-handeln-eingesetzt/, English translation: https://emk--schweiz-ch.translate.goog/2023/06/16/arbeitsgruppe-fuer-umweltgerechtes-handeln-eingesetzt/?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp.

2 Churches in Louisiana Become Solar-Powered Relief Centers: Two New-Orleans area churches have partnered with others to install solar electricity generation so that they can serve as community relief centers in the case of catastrophic loss of power: https://la-umc.org/newsdetail/new-orleans-umc-churches-to-serve-as-true-neighborhood-lighthouses-17041165.

Reports on IAMSCU Meeting: International Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges and Universities (IAMSCU) met in England in April. UMNS reported on that meeting: https://www.umnews.org/en/news/wesleys-vision-of-education-alive-and-well-today, and Adriana Murriello, newly elected president of the body, also offered reflections: https://www.umnews.org/en/news/knitting-bonds-of-love-and-hope-all-over-the-world.

Africa University Graduates Largest Class Yet: Africa University graduated over 950 students on June 10^th, including the first deaf student with a theology degree in Ghana (https://aunews.africau.edu/?p=2807) and the first PhD graduates in Business, Peace, Leadership and Governance: https://aunews.africau.edu/?p=2787 and https://www.umnews.org/en/news/africa-university-graduates-its-largest-class.

Czech United Methodists Support Hospital in Ukraine: As part of their response to the war in Ukraine, Czech United Methodists have been supporting a volunteer surgical hospital in Western Ukraine: https://emk-schweiz.ch/2023/06/06/16-betten-der-heilung-und-der-hoffnung/, English translation: https://emk--schweiz-ch.translate.goog/2023/06/06/16-betten-der-heilung-und-der-hoffnung/?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp.

Swiss Methodist Retirement Center Wins Mediation Prize: Haus Tabea has won the 2023 Swiss Mediation Prize for its work with elder mediation: https://emk-schweiz.ch/2023/06/07/haus-tabea-in-horgen-erhaelt-mediationspreis/, English translation: https://emk--schweiz-ch.translate.goog/2023/06/07/haus-tabea-in-horgen-erhaelt-mediationspreis/?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp.

Michigan United Methodists Welcome Refugees: The Michigan Annual Conference and the Immigration Law & Justice Network have shared stories of Michiganders welcoming refugees from Haiti (https://michiganumc.org/make-their-dreams-take-flight/) and Ukraine (https://iljnetwork.org/no-road-too-long/). In related news, applications for Global Ministries’ Mustard Seed Migration Grants are open until Oct. 1^st: https://umcmission.org/impact-story/mustard-seed-migration-grants/.

Woman Leaves Sanctuary at UMC Church: After receiving a Stay of Removal, Maria Chavalan Sut has left sanctuary at Wesley Memorial UMC in Charlottesville, VA: https://www.umnews.org/en/news/woman-builds-new-life-after-3-years-in-sanctuary.

Bishop Dyck Chosen as WCC Committee Head: Bishop Sally Dyck, the ecumenical officer of the UMC, has been selected as co-moderator of the Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration (PCCC) of the World Council of Churches: https://www.oikoumene.org/news/wcc-central-committee-appoints-youth-advisors-commissions-and-working-groups.

Hawxhurst Elected President of Churches Uniting in Christ: Rev. Jean Hawxhurst, Ecumenical Staff Officer for the UMC Council of Bishops, has been elected as president of the multidenominational ecumenical group Churches Uniting in Christ: https://www.unitedmethodistbishops.org/newsdetail/cob-staffer-rev-dr-hawxhurst-to-lead-churches-uniting-in-christ-17455827.

Avitia Legarda Mourned: Longtime Global Ministries staff person Rev. Edgar Avitia Legarda, known for his work with Latin America, was mourned after his sudden passing on June 27. Global Ministries statement: https://umcmission.org/news-statements/global-ministries-grieves-at-the-death-of-rev-edgar-avitia-legarda/, UMNews story: https://www.umnews.org/en/news/global-ministries-staffer-mourned-near-and-far.

Commission on General Conference Meets: The Commission on General Conference, which is responsible for planning that meeting, met to continue to make preparations for the 2024 General Conference: https://www.umnews.org/en/news/what-to-expect-at-the-next-general-conference. They referred a question about petitions submitted by those who are no longer United Methodist to its Rules Committee: https://www.umnews.org/en/news/tackling-a-petitions-conundrum.

News Roundup - May 1, 2023

Below is a run-down of significant (United) Methodist stories from the past month. Notable this month are the many stories from the continent of Africa.

United Methodist mission organized in Madagascar: Bishop Joaquina Nhanala of Mozambique traveled to Madagascar to officially inaugurate a United Methodist congregation in the capital city of Antananarivo. UMNews covered the occasion with a story and photo essay: https://www.umnews.org/en/news/bishop-makes-historic-visit-to-madagascar and https://express.adobe.com/page/X8DUHKwa4rkkx/

United Methodist mission organized in the Republic of Congo: Bishop Daniel Lunge and other leaders of the Central Congo Episcopal Area traveled to the Republic of Congo (across the river from the Democratic Republic of Congo) to organize United Methodist mission efforts there: https://www.umnews.org/en/news/the-united-methodist-church-moves-across-congo-river

Global Ministries holds series of meetings in Africa: Global Ministries held a series of meetings in Maputo, Mozambique, including an Africa Mission Partners Consultation on April 17-19, a board of directors meeting on April 20-22, and two missionary-related events. Global Ministries and UMNews both covered the events: https://umcmission.org/news-statements/global-ministries-to-hold-series-of-meetings-in-maputo-mozambique-focusing-on-mission/, https://www.umnews.org/en/news/global-ministries-meetings-focus-on-mission-in-africa, and https://umcmission.org/news-statements/a-global-community-of-love-and-good-deeds-is-mission-goal/.

Africa Forum holds inaugural meeting: The United Methodist Africa Forum meet April 21-22 in South Africa to organize the new group and set out a vision for the UMC in Africa: https://um-insight.net/in-the-church/umc-global-nature/united-methodist-africa-forum-sets-priorities-names-leaders/.

United Methodists seek to grow agriculture in Africa: Global Ministries shared positive outcomes around Africa from a series of trainings for African United Methodists at the Songhai Center in Benin: https://umcmission.org/april-2023/songhai-training-ignites-new-drive-in-yambasu-agriculture-initiative-farmers/. The organization also approved additional funding for the Yambasu Agricultural Initiative: https://umcmission.org/april-2023/yai-transforms-lives-and-gives-hope-to-farming-communities-in-africa/. And Bishop Quire of Liberia talked about the hope for agriculture in his country: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLsyUda1x2M.

Liberia plans and partnerships for Gbason Town university campus and mission station: The United Methodist University of Liberia announced plans for new academic programs including in agriculture at its Gbason Town campus, the site of the from Gbason Town Mission Station: https://www.westafricanwriters.org/umu-president-dr-yar-donlah-gonway-gono-visits-umu-gbason-town-campus/. The Liberia and Norway Annual Conferences also renewed a partnership with roots in Norwegian missionary service in at the Gbason Town Mission Station: https://um-insight.net/in-the-church/umc-global-nature/liberia-and-norway-united-methodists/.

UMC health boards combat malaria in Africa: World Malaria Day was in April. Health boards of UMC episcopal areas in Africa are dedicated to fighting malaria, working in cooperation with Global Ministries: https://umcmission.org/april-2023/zero-malaria-theme-of-world-malaria-day-is-the-goal-for-umc-health-work/.

Bishop Paul Boafo elected president of the Africa Methodist Council: Bishop Paul Boafo, presiding bishop of the independent Methodist Church of Ghana, has been elected president of the Africa Methodist Council, a regional pan-Methodist body affiliated with the World Methodist Council: https://irishmethodist.org/world-mission-news/new-president-of-the-africa-methodist-council.

Romania decides to stay in the UMC: United Methodists in Romania have decided to remain in the denomination, a reversal from their joint decision with Bulgarian Methodists last year to leave. The UMC churches in Romania will now be linked to those in Hungary: https://www.emk.de/meldung/hoffnungsvolle-signale.

European United Methodists continue to respond to the war in Ukraine: United Methodists in various European countries continue to assist refugees and others impacted by the on-going war in Ukraine. The Central and Southern Europe Central Conference provides an update: https://www.umnews.org/-/media/umc-media/2023/04/26/21/58/united-methodist-church-europe-ukraine-refugees-4-25-2023.

Swiss Methodists host ecumenical conference on online church content: Swiss United Methodists organized and hosted the first-ever Swiss conference for Christian internet content creators. The conference garnered strong ecumenical participation across Protestant and Catholic groups: https://emk-schweiz.ch/2023/04/12/erstes-schweizer-netzwerktreffen-fuer-digital-content-creators/.

Rev. Izzy Alvaran discusses inclusion from a global perspective: Rev. Izzy Alvaran of the Philippines Central Conference and Reconciling Ministries Network discussed the intersectional nature of justice, the current state of the Philippines UMC, and the promise of regionalization on an episode of the Bar of the Conference podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ttmYLOGcAzp7CzBUMtdlg.

Filipino UMC grows in Canada: The Greater Northwest Episcopal Area profiled a growing congregation of Filipino United Methodists in British Columbia, Canada. The congregation exists in partnership with the Greater Northwest Episcopal Area, the United Church of Canada, and Global Ministries: https://greaternw.org/news/first-umc-canada-grows-through-filipino-leadership-immigrant-community-connections/.

Recommended Reading: Global Visa Inequality

When the Commission on General Conference announced the further postponement of General Conference to 2024, access to visas was a major reason they cited for the postponement. This United Methodist experience with visa troubles makes a recent NPR article about the challenges of obtaining visas for global health experts from the Global South to attend professional conferences therefore relevant. Read in light of the UMC's experiences, the article highlights several lessons that the UMC would do well to consider long-term:

First, issues with visas are a constant challenge from people from developing countries, not just during the pandemic.

Second, issues with visas are systematic, not just limited to The United Methodist Church. While the UMC can do a better or worse job of supporting visa-seekers, obtaining visas to the United States will always be hard.

Third, issues with visas for people from developing countries apply not only to entry into the United States but to entry into most wealthy nations. 

Fourth, having conference outside of rich countries can be a real route to better representation.

The article notes, "When [Dr. Ulrick Sidney] Kanmounye and a research team from Harvard University's Program in Global Surgery and Social Change looked at publicly available data, they found that conferences hosted in low- and middle-income countries were more likely to have diverse participants. In addition, 'hosting a conference in Latin America, Africa or Asia significantly increased participation of researchers from the region and minimally impacted high-income country attendance,' he says."

Organizers are already working on securing a spot for General Conference in 2024, and it may be too late to change that location. But this article is a reminder that the location of General Conference matters. Especially as the UMC becomes more internationally diverse, choosing a location that ensures the fullest participation of delegates from all countries will be increasingly important, even if that location is no longer in the United States.

Recommended Reading: Deacon Pioneers "Global Learning"

In a piece entitled "Deacon Pioneers 'Global Learning,'" the Michigan Annual Conference recently profiled the work of Rev. Alex Plum, a deacon who works in the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. Plum describes his work as a practice of "global learning," in which he and his team "identify promising models of care delivery in low- and middle-income countries, and we adapt those approaches for implementation in the US," especially with the intent of "reducing health inequities in historically marginalized populations in low-income US communities." It is interesting to see the intersection between Plum's theology and his work in medicine, and the practice of global learning is one the all in the church should make greater use of.

Emmanuel and Florence Mefor: The Practice of Health Mission

Today's post is by Dr. Emmanuel and Florence Mefor. They are health (Medical and Nurse/midwife) missionaries with Global Ministries. This is the first of a two-part series.

As we said in our last post, one must have passion as a Christian medical missionary. Passion for one’s profession and passion for the Christian mission are interdependent in order to achieve the desired effect (mission practice in relation to that particular profession), despite the difficulties of practicing medicine in mission settings.

A general example is to consider a situation where a sick or injured patient needs treatment and does not have enough funds for his or her treatment in a higher health centre. But a similar treatment can be rendered to that patient in a lower centre at a lower cost, based on several factors like the patient’s social status (poverty) and the missionary’s compassion (for the sake of Jesus Christ) and determination to do a good job professionally, even to the point of improvising equipment due to lack of adequate equipment (passion for profession).

Mission hospitals of the United Method Church are usually located in rural areas. A few may be found in the cities in some countries. In such situations, the rural area might have grown to become cities around the preexisting hospital. Medical missionaries should be ready not to reside in cities.

For us, we have never served in cities but in rural mission centers, so our patients are poor. Though the hospitals have to survive, medical charges have to be made, putting into consideration the social status of the community. In considering the poor social status of the patient, we end up offering free treatment and/or scheduling payment plans. Other sources of income for the hospital will be through donations, and in some countries, limited government support. Financial and material support for hospital supplies is very important to missionary to meet work needs.

With this poverty is the associated problem of neglect and hunger. There are patients who not only don’t have money for medical bills; they don’t have food to eat. They range from younger people to some who may be physically challenged and neglected, to the elderly who are neglected by their children and relatives.

We have had to get involved in social work, which includes provision of groceries to the underprivileged in the community. Like Christ, we not only have to treat; we have to provide food. This has led to what looks like a permanent feeding project for the pregnant women who come to wait for labor and delivery in our hospital’s pregnant women waiting home.

Basic medical equipment is not always available in mission hospitals. This situation should not deter one from getting things done and moving on. I have therefore learnt to be ready to improvise so long as it is safe for the patient at that point intime.

Some years ago, I had decided to assist a young man who sustained compound fracture of the leg (tibia and fibula are the long bones of the leg) following his inability to go to the next level of care where there could be an orthopedist or a General Surgeon and where he could be treated better. He said he did not have money to go there and would prefer to go home.

My idea was to do the normal traction for six to eight weeks.  Some days later, I found an “External Fixation set” for management of compound fractures in our Central Sterilization Department. I was excited I could use it for this patient, and I got ready to take him to the operating room. The surgery was going on well until I got to the final stage when our theatre nurse said there was nothing to tighten the nuts which holds the various parts of the External Fixation set together, thereby putting the bone fragments in place. Yet I couldn’t stop the surgery.

The only idea was to send for the hospital driver to get me the vehicle spanners sizes 12, 13, and 14 washed. We quickly got them sterilized by putting them in a metal kidney dish, poured methylated spirit (alcohol) and setting them on fire. After the alcohol burnt up, I was sure the spanners were sterile. the #13 spanner fitted perfectly with the nuts, and it was used to tighten them well. The patient was successfully sent home after 3 weeks when the wound healed, and the fixation set was removed at six weeks.

Medical missionaries must be ready to take up multiple tasks in the hospital/place of assignment. The same applies to the institution’s employees. This is due to frequent shortage of staff in such institutions. Though most medical missionaries each have their area of specialty in medicine, everyone works as a General Practitioner because the number of patients is overwhelming compared with the number of available doctors.

It must have originated from the fact that in early days of establishing a mission center, usually first by evangelism, the team may have one medical doctor (early or later) who would provide medical services. The services surely will start with consultations and treatment of simple ailments. As time goes on, the doctor is confronted with more complex ailments which this doctor is expected to treat. In order to assist the patients, the doctor may have to set aside his specialty, so to save life and considering that surrounding hospitals may not be able to handle the case.

The mission work system prepares the doctors to be versatile, being ready to solve the medical needs of at least 80% of the patient population. Besides, one never knows where he will find himself with a need to render medical assistance. Most patients treated get better, and a few will need specialist attention, which falls outside the scope of the specialty of the medical missionaries. In that situation, such patients are referred, followed by possible financial assistance.

Within our family, we don’t have any challenges. This is because my wife and I are both missionaries and both in the health profession. It may not be easy for professionally discordant couples, but God has blessed us with a strong partnership in serving God.

Recommended Reading: The Pandemic's Impact on Short-Term Medical Missions

Short-term medical missions, in which teams of medical professionals travel from the West to a developing nation to provide services for a week or two, are a common model of both church and secular mission. However, like many aspects of mission work, such trips have been disrupted by the pandemic over the past two years. While there are negative outcomes to such disruptions, they also provide a space for rethinking mission practice. A recent post on NPR's Goats and Soda blog titled "COVID is changing medical fly-in missions — and it might be for the better" shares examples of how that rethinking of short-term medical missions is happening. In brief, the pandemic has accelerated pre-existing trends towards focusing on developing local medical expertise and capacity, rather than focusing on provision of services by Western experts. New communication technologies have made such capacity-building work possible even without Western travel, though the article notes that travel can still play a role in the work of building relationships across contexts. Focusing on the growth of local expertise and capacity provides for a more sustainable and equitable long-term approach to the provision of medical services. While the article's main examples come from secular work, those involved in church-related short-term medical mission projects would do well to consider the implications for their own work.

Emmanuel and Florence Mefor: Our Calling to Medical Mission

Today's post is by Dr. Emmanuel and Florence Mefor. They are health (Medical and Nurse/midwife) missionaries with Global Ministries. This is the first of a two-part series.

A missionary is a person who is sent to promote Christianity, usually in a foreign land. The organization which sends the missionary expects the missionary to imitate Jesus Christ in all aspects. During his ministry on earth, Jesus Christ preached love and forgiveness to his followers, he showed them mercy and compassion, he fed them when they were hungry, and he healed the sick of their infirmity.

A person practicing mission in relation to health, or permit us to use the term “a medical missionary,” is a medically- or health-trained person who is sent to promote Christianity by providing health services. Mission programs in churches or organizations are viewed as incomplete if the provision of health services is lacking. It is an important aspect of Christian mission, just as the spiritual aspect is. Put it another way, just as Jesus Christ did, Christian mission becomes meaningful when both the physical and spiritual needs of the community involved are met.

Being a missionary is a calling. One must have passion first for his or her original profession, then there must be passion for Christian mission. Passion for something is the driving force to surmount difficulties within the limits of what one can do regarding that thing.

How did we become missionaries? It all started in the first hospital we worked in, immediately after my (Emmanuel’s) training. It was a Church-related hospital belonging to the ECWA Evangel Hospital system. The then Medical Superintendent, who happened to be a missionary, was busy in the operating room. He spoke to me in between his cases and asked me to come to work the next day, including the documentation of my job offer. There were three more missionaries working in the hospital whose ways of practicing medicine and attitudes, shaped or molded me towards hoping to be like them. We worked together, and I learnt a lot from them as a junior doctor.

I (Emmanuel) became a missionary eighteen years later. Initially I became a Person-In-Mission (PIM) for the General Board of Global Ministries. This happened in Mozambique. I had gone for a government program in Mozambique and was assigned to work in a rural part of the country. As God would have it, the hospital I was assigned to work in belonged to the United Methodist Church in Mozambique, but in collaboration with the government. The missionary working there had left for hip replacement surgery back home in the USA; and I was to sit-in for him.

At the end of the program, the Resident Bishop offered to retain me as a PIM. Though I never knew what it would lead me to, I was happy to work with the mission just as I was in Nigeria. There was a need to move my family from Nigeria (an English-speaking country) to Mozambique (a Portuguese-speaking country). It was four years later I became a missionary while still in Mozambique.

A general problem which confronts missionaries is the decision to move the family. When kids are under 18, the mission board will always support the non-separation of families. My family moved to Mozambique. It was difficult for them to adjust to the situation. Our children had the problems of moving from a city school to a rural school, the problem of language, especially the uphill task of transiting from English to Portuguese. Missionary kids are usually academically disadvantaged if they continue to move with their missionary parents. We agreed with our kids for them to stop moving with us.

Missionary work is always thought of as being exclusively for the clergy. Besides the United Methodist Church and the related church Institutions, it is difficult to understand the missionary work in relation to other professions. This can lead to misunderstandings of our work.

A good example and personal experience was when we went for an interview for a visiting visa at the America Embassy. After some questioning and answers, the interviewer said if you are a missionary and going to the USA for missionary work (itineration, which is visiting supporting churches to tell them stories about missionary work in place of assignment), you need to apply for clergy/religious visa and not visiting visa. They also questioned why the GBGM should sponsor our flight to the US and pay our salaries while we are in the USA. That meant we were going the USA to work with visiting visa. The conclusion was that we were denied a visa. It was interesting to note that prior to this incident, we had been to the USA several times to visit our supporting churches. It can be concluded that this time around, the devil was at work at the Embassy. It was difficult to understand that.

Yet despite the difficulties in our work, God has given us the passion to surmount them through God’s grace.

Lester Dornon: Reflection on my (Medical) Mission in Nepal

Today’s piece is by Lester Dornon, M.D. Dornon is a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries, assigned as senior physician at the Tansen Hospital in western Nepal in Asia.

My path towards medical missions started when I was growing up as a missionary’s kid (MK) in Japan. Seeing the hours that my father was away from home counseling young people rather than coming home to play with me, I proclaimed to my mother with as much conviction as a pre-school boy can muster, “I’m never going to be a missionary!” But there is no doubt, when I look back, that the seed of my desire to serve others, to make my life matter, was planted while watching how my parents lived, worked, and served for 45 years in Japan.

My enjoyment of the sciences led naturally to medical school, and a desire to serve took me through family medicine training. God’s call was to serve those who had no one else to care for their medical needs. So, in July of 1990, I found myself in Kathmandu, starting into language studies, in preparation for a term of service in the mission hospital at Tansen in rural Western Nepal. My wife and I even had our two young children in tow! A three-year commitment has now extended into 21 years of service over these past 31 years. It is a good thing that we were not given the long-term plan at the beginning, which would surely have scared us away!

We are sometimes asked how many people we have converted over all these years in Nepal. We don’t think we have “converted” anyone. (It is actually illegal in Nepal.) We have had people say how they appreciated something we did or said that helped them during a difficult time. Often, we don’t even remember doing what they are remembering. This reminds us that even though we speak about our faith when we can, it is God who brings someone to saving faith in Jesus. Our mission is of course to proclaim the Gospel, using words when necessary. Our lives are our message. The incarnational lives we live, by being among those we minister to, living with them and alongside them through their ups and downs, allows God to show seekers what their life might be like as a Christian, and what difference it might make to choose to follow this Jesus.

I believe that just as faith without action is dead (James 2:26), proclamation without service is at best unproductive, and at worst counterproductive, because it hardens the hearts of those who hear us. (“How can we believe in this God of love they speak about, if they don’t even care enough about us to help us in our need?”)

Others might similarly argue that service without proclamation is pointless, since it doesn’t bring anyone to faith if they don’t hear about Jesus (Romans 10:14). But our experience is not so. This hospital, which has served the poor for 67 years, is known as the mission hospital, where help is available for all. The initial missionaries, who were also forbidden to proselytize, left behind a congregation of believers who came to faith in Jesus through the healing ministry in the hospital and through seeing the lives of the Christians.

John Stott wrote, “We are sent into the world, like Jesus, to serve. For this is the natural expression of our love for our neighbors. We live. We go. We serve. And in this we have (or should have) no ulterior motive. True, the gospel lacks visibility if we merely preach it, and lacks credibility if we who preach it are interested only in souls and have no concern about the welfare of people’s bodies, situation, and communities. Yet the reason for our acceptance of social responsibility is not primarily in order to give the gospel either a visibility or a credibility it would otherwise lack, but rather simple uncomplicated compassion. Love has no need to justify itself. It merely expresses itself in service whenever it sees need.”[1]

All service to neighbors can be and is used by God to advance His Kingdom. Yet there is something unique about medical missions. Physical illness or injury causes an immediate and deeply internal anguish, which the healthcare provider can assuage with compassion. And the death, either of oneself or of a family member, is so universally feared, that we all need help in facing it, whatever our nationality or faith. Being there during those times when life is hanging in the balance, doing whatever can be done to help, we have a chance to minister to the deepest needs of a person’s soul. I have truly been blessed to have the opportunity to work in this field.

Yet the longer we are in Nepal, the more I have come to realize that what I do impacts others much less than who I am and how I live. We often complain about the “fishbowl” living that happens here. Nepal is traditionally a very community-based society: every detail of everyone’s life is known to everyone else. It is considered normal conversation to ask what we would consider highly personal questions about income, child rearing, marriage, and personal habits. Those of us from Western countries long to be invisible in the crowd or left alone inside our houses at times, but even what we do at home is often watched, questions asked, and talked about in the community. Even more than how I treat patients and visitors at the hospital, people notice how I treat my family at home, or those who come to our door.

We talk about how all our works will be judged and rewarded at the end times (1 Corinthians 3, Revelations), but in Nepal at least, all our works are scrutinized each day, sometimes every minute of the day, by the people around us who are watching. Some are just curious at seeing a life that is different and novel, but others are looking for a different kind of life, to see if we have something worth listening to our not. Our prayer is often for our actions and words to not get in the way of someone seeing Jesus.

And what better place to show God’s love than in the family? There were four of us when we came, and we added one more while we were here. Now the children are grown and on their own. Some people might say that my family responsibilities took me away from the “real ministry” that was happening in the hospital or in the local church. But I would reply that the priority that I gave to my family, and how I treated my wife and children, especially in dealing with difficulties like discipline, illness or injury, disappointments, or failures, was a much more important ministry than anything else that happened here. Do they want to know about a God who loves them and forgives them? They will be able to believe in him when they see how we forgive each other and love each other even in our failings.

---

[1] John Stott, Christian Mission in the Modern World (London: Falcon, 1975), 30.

Recommended Reading: Would Wesley Get a COVID-19 Vaccine?

United Methodist Professor of Mission and past UM & Global contributor Rev. Dr. Peter J. Bellini wrote an article for Firebrand magazine last spring entitled "Would Wesley Get a COVID-19 Vaccine?" With the delta variant driving a current surge in coronavirus cases, especially among the unvaccinated, Bellini's piece is well worth revisiting.

Bellini frames the question in terms of the relationship between science and theology. He writes, "I believe, in some quarters of the church, we are facing ... a suspicion of the discoveries of science." Bellini explains that an exclusive reliance on divine healing coupled with a distrust of science causes some to reject medical approaches to healing.

Yet Bellini argues that, while divine healing is a possibility, that does not preclude the use of medical healing as well. He asserts, "As the grace of God in creation causes the sun to shine on the just and unjust, so also does the grace-filled created order of God allow for healing in creation through the internal healing mechanisms of our body, medical advancement, and the gifts of care in the health professions. Healing can occur through supernatural, natural, and even artificial means, all under the providence of God."

To further bolster his argument, Bellini turns to John Wesley's approach to the issue of healing. Bellini notes, "Wesley considered both spiritual and natural factors that cause and treat health problems. Rarely did he take a single approach, but often integrated a variety of treatments that were available, including prayer, medicine, natural remedies, and other therapies."

Bellini adds, "The theological point is that Wesley did not find science and religion strictly incompatible. In fact, he believed their partnership could contribute to the overall well-being of the human person. To this end, Wesley meticulously attended to every dimension of health and wholeness found in the eighteenth century. Wesley believed the sick should first consult a physician. Methodist leaders, when visiting the sick, were trained to support and supplement the care that was already provided for by medical professionals."

These investigations into Wesley's attitudes towards science and scientific medicine lead Bellini to conclude, "Would Wesley get a COVID-19 vaccine if he were around today? I speculate that as Wesley trusted the advancements of science and the medical profession of his day, so would he today as well. I venture that he would receive the vaccine. More so, when I think of his innovative use of the electric machine, I think he might have been one of the first in line!"

If Wesley would have gotten a COVID-19 vaccine, then we, the followers of Wesley, should too!

Recommended Reading: How COVID Reveals the Hypocrisy of the Global Health "Experience"

NPR recently published a thoughtful piece by Abraar Karan, a physician who has worked in global health for his career. The piece reflected on what the coronavirus pandemic had revealed about the sorts of partnerships that characterize global health work between the West and the global South. While the piece is about secular global health work, the moral issues that Karan raises are worth considering as United Methodists and other Christians re-think mission partnerships in a pandemic altered-world. Karan's critique is best captured in the following passage:

"The work that we [Americans and Europeans] do in global health is often done at our convenience – if for any reason we opt not to go, impoverished countries and communities must continue the work either way. The work that to some of us is more academic is a matter of survival for residents of those communities. ...

"Ultimately, some part of the U.S. and European participation in global health is just that: participation rather than equal partnership. Yet the power dynamics have for centuries leaned heavily and falsely toward the Western entity as the commanding leader— or more accurately, the brutal colonizer."

Substitute the term "mission" for "global health" in the above passages and contemplate what the import of this insight is for international mission partnerships.

Recommended Reading: International Mission from the Global South

All too often, United Methodists from around the world think of international mission as something that flows from the West to the global South. I have heard even missionary candidates from Africa say that they thought of missionaries as being Westerners until they applied to be one. Increasingly, though, this West-to-the-Rest model is an outmoded way of thinking about mission. Global Ministries' practice of sending missionaries "from everywhere to everywhere" is one example of international mission from the global South. African annual conferences sending evangelists to nearby countries is another.

There are also increasing instances of health, education, and other development institutions from the global South engaging in international South-to-South mission. Mary Johnston Hospital in the Philippines has previously trained doctors from Africa in C-section techniques. And just recently, another example of South-to-South international mission within The United Methodist Church has been reported: The UMC in Cote d'Ivoire, which maintains an excellent school system, has entered into an agreement with the government of the Central African Republic (CAR) to build a system of schools in that country.

These trends are likely to only increase in the future as United Methodists in the global South continue to assert their agency in mission.

Health Mission and Learning Across Contexts

Today's post is by UM & Global blogmaster Dr. David W. Scott, Mission Theologian at the General Board of Global Ministries. It is an adaptation of remarks made to the All People's Conference hosted by United Methodist Church and Community Development for All People. The opinions and analysis expressed here are Dr. Scott's own and do not reflect in any way the official position of Global Ministries.

In reflecting on my understandings of biblical and Wesleyan theologies of health and healing, I think about a number of insights offered up by those theologies—that health is multifaceted and not confined to physical health, that individual health is connected to communal and national health, that there is a connection between health and sin including injustice, and that healing involves healing relationships.

Yet, such theology is not my area of expertise, so when asked to reflect publicly on the practice of health mission, I want to talk about something that does directly connect to my expertise: the importance of learning cross-culturally and across contexts, including learning about health and healing around the world.

Some quick definitions first:

A context is the setting where people live, work, and go about their lives. It can be a neighborhood, city, region, etc. Contexts are characterized by unique socio-economic, cultural, ethno-racial, political, historical, and other traits. So, each context in unique in some way, even as it also shares some things with other contexts.

A culture is a way of thinking about the world shared by a group of people. There can be local, regional, and national cultures; cultures shared by different ethnic or racial groups; cultures for groups defined by common interests; etc. A culture is characterized by a common set of beliefs, assumptions, and values. Cultures are an important part, but not the only part, of what makes a context unique.

First, I want to argue that learning across cultures and contexts is intrinsic to the practice of Christian mission. My definition of mission, which I lay out in my book Crossing Boundaries, is that mission is “cultivating relationships across boundaries for the sake of fostering conversations in word and deed about the nature of God’s good news.”

This definition mentions “relationships across boundaries,” and that means connecting to others across contexts and cultures. There are many types of boundaries—cultural, linguistic, geographic, political, socioeconomic, etc. But whatever type of boundary is involved, mission involves interacting with people who are different from us.

This definition of mission also mentions “conversations in word and deed about the nature of God’s good news,” and that means that mission involves talking and working with those who are different from us and learning from them in the process, just as we hope to share something with them at the same time. This learning goes both ways, as a good conversation does, and cannot be one-sided in which we only talk but do not listen and learn as well.

This process of learning through mission helps us better understand God and God’s good news because others will have different experiences of God than we do, different ways of thinking theologically, different conclusions that they reach from reading the Bible, and different senses of what would be good or new or life-giving within their own lives. Thus, when we engage in mission, we encounter these other ways of thinking and we thereby gain new insights into the ways in which God loves and redeems the world.

And while our ultimate goal in mission might be mutually learning more about God, along the way we are certain to learn about other things as well—we are going to learn about our mission partners’ lives and the ways in which they think about and experience the world around them. Learning about those other aspects of our mission partners’ lives and ministries is essential to being able to really understand what they can teach us about God.

Learning from those who are different than us can happen in a variety of settings. There are differences in cultures and contexts within the United States—southern Louisiana is different than rural Maine is different than metro San Francisco—and I’m sure that you’ve encountered and hopefully discussed some of those differences among contexts already during the conference. Cultures and contexts also differ internationally, often to a greater degree than they do within a single country such as the United States. So, while it is good to learn across contexts within the United States, it is also good to learn across contexts internationally.

The importance of learning across contexts applies to the field of health, both as a form of mission and ministry, and as an important aspect of health work itself. In fact, there is probably more learning across contexts in health than in many other fields. “Global health” is a field of study in prestigious medical schools that examines what we can learn about health and healing across countries, contexts, and cultures. For instance, the United States spends twice as much as on health care than other affluent nations and yet has the lowest life expectancy and highest suicide rate of any affluent country. Why do we spend more and end up less healthy? That sort of question can only be answered by learning across contexts.

But the United States can also learn from less affluent countries. Many think of health as being “better” in developed countries, and it’s true that there is a correlation between the relative income of a country and some of its health outcomes, especially as they relate to maternal and child health and certain infectious diseases.

But wealth is not the only indicator of health outcomes, and even to the extent it is, that does not mean that those in affluent countries have nothing to learn from those in developing countries. Education and women’s rights are also important indicators of a country’s health outcomes, and these vary within income brackets. Countries with better educational and women’s rights outcomes should be models for others. And affluent countries have more of certain types of diseases, especially mental health issues and chronic diseases related to diet or a sedentary lifestyle. Thus, the question, “Why is there more depression in the United States than in Mozambique?” is just as fair to ask as the question, “Why is there more malaria in Mozambique than in the United States?”

Moreover, there are many different models for arranging a health system, and developing countries often take innovative approaches to their health systems in ways that affluent countries can learn from. Remote access to health services is one such area. For example, the Gates Foundation has partnered with health providers in Malawi and Ghana to expand access to health care information and advice via cell phones, especially in rural, hard-to-reach areas. The challenge of providing health services in rural, hard-to-reach areas applies in the United States just as it does in Malawi.

Public health is another area in which developing countries can serve as models. Many countries in West Africa learned significantly from their experience with the Ebola epidemic in 2014. Experts cite African nations’ long experience with confronting public health epidemics such as Ebola and AIDS as a primary reason why Africa has been one of the regions of the world least affected by the coronavirus pandemic. In a Washington Post opinion piece about African success in combatting coronavirus, Karen Attiah says, “This pandemic has coincided with a global movement challenging anti-Black racism and white supremacy. This should have been a moment for media outlets to challenge corrosive narratives about Africa and the idea that Africans are not capable of effective policy-making. We could be learning from the experiences that Africans and their governments have had with pandemics and viral diseases, including Ebola and AIDS.”

Beyond outcomes, there are a wealth of different ways of thinking about health and healing in cultures across the world, and these various views also represent resources for learning, sharing, and developing our own perspectives on disease and healing. For instance, in many cultures outside of the West, the psychosomatic nature of disease is much better understood—that disease and healing are not only about what happens in the body, but about the ways in which the body, spirit, emotions, and social setting are out of harmony or in harmony.

And while people in the United States have been recently focused on the connection between diet and health, there are literally millennia of thinking about this issue in other cultures around the world that can offer potential insights.

For all these reasons, there are a variety of things we can learn from others around the world about health and healing.

And when these others are mission partners or are fellow Christians or even fellow United Methodists who are confronting the same sorts of challenges in their mission work and ministry that we are in ours, the potential for learning is that much greater, and it extends not only to health per se but about our shared faith and how health intersects with our faith and our practices of mission and ministry. There is much to be learned, even as we ourselves have things to offer and teach in return.

Recommended Viewing: Mission Beyond COVID-19 Webinar on COVID-19 and the Health of Communities

Video of the fifth and final episode of Global Ministries' monthly webinar series, "Mission Beyond COVID-19," which examines aspects of mission theology in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, is now available online. This webinar occurred last week, with Dr. David W. Scott facilitating a conversation with Tatenda Mujeni of Global Ministries, Dr. Tendai Manyeza of Kissy United Methodist Hospital, and Dr. Katelin Hansen of United Methodist Church & Community Development for All People on "COVID-19 and the Health of Communities." The video is just over a half hour.

Viewers who find this discussion interesting may also be interested in the upcoming All People Conference, Oct. 24-26, hosted by United Methodist Church & Community Development for All People of Columbus, OH. The theme of this year's conference is "Abundant Health for All." The conference will feature keynote speakers and workshops on topics related to health and asset-based approaches to mission and ministry. UM & Global blogmaster David Scott will present and host a discussion in a plenary session on Monday, Oct. 26. The conference can be attended virtually or in person. A paid registration is required for either option.

Recommended Viewing: Mission Beyond COVID-19 Webinar on Asian Americans, COVID-19, and Race

Video of the fourth episode of Global Ministries' monthly webinar series, "Mission Beyond COVID-19," which examines aspects of mission theology in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, is now available online. This webinar occurred last month, with Dr. David W. Scott facilitating a conversation between Rev. Dr. Grace Pak, Rev. Dr. Eleazar Fernandez, and Rev. Dr. Roger S. Nam about "Asian Americans, COVID-19, and Race." The video is just over a half hour.

The fifth and final (for now) episode of this series, featuring Dr. David W. Scott facilitating a conversation with Tatenda Mujeni, Dr. Tendai Manyeza, and Dr. Katelin Hansen, on "COVID-19 and the Health of Communities" will happen at 10:00am EDT next Thursday, October 15th. Those interested may register in advance for the webinar. A fuller description is below:

COVID-19 and the Health of Communities

We often think about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of individuals with the disease, but the pandemic affects the health of communities in a variety of ways—physical, social, economic, etc. How, in this time, can the church support the health of the broader communities in which it is located? What are the main threats and challenges to the health of our communities posed by the pandemic? How can the church share its resources and talents with the resources and talents of other partners to promote the health and flourishing of local communities, despite and in the midst of these challenges?

Thursday, October 15, 2020 at 10:00 am EDT

Panelists:
Tatenda Mujeni, Imagine No Malaria Program Manager, Global Ministries
Dr. Tendai Manyeza, Missionary Doctor, The United Methodist Church Hospital in Kissy, Sierra Leone
Dr. Katelin Hansen, Director of Operations, Community Development for All People
Moderator:
Dr. David W. Scott, mission theologian, Global Ministries

Recommended Reading on Differing Cultural Understandings of Disease

Rev. Esther Inuwa, an intern for Church and Society, has written a post on Church and Society's website entitled "A United Methodist Reflections on COVID-19 in Nigeria." While the post can be read for its connection to the current pandemic, it is most insightful as a window into the ways in which disease is understood differently and therefore produces different responses in a non-Western culture than in Western culture. Rev. Inuwa, a native of Nigeria currently studying in the US, is to be commended for her informed and accessible depiction of Nigerian cultural understandings of disease, understandings that differ significantly from those common in the United States. Last week, I recommended the work of Hofstede and Meyer on differing cultural values. Rev. Inuwa adds a significant element to that discussion of cultural differences. They are not just about values but about the mental schemas that people use to make sense of the world around them. Rev. Inuwa's piece therefore further shows the challenge of being an international, intercultural church.

Rolf Wischnath on the Coronavirus Pandemic: The Questioners Are Questioned

Today’s post is by Rev. Dr. Rolf Wischnath. Rev. Wischnath is an honorary professor at Bielefeld University. He was a reformed pastor in Soest and Berlin. From 1995 to 2004 he was general superintendent for eastern Brandenburg. This article is taken, with permission, from the biweekly magazine "unterwegs" of die Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche (The United Methodist Church in Germany) - number 07/2020 of March 29, 2020. It first appeared online on the EmK’s website. The translation is by UM & Global’s David W. Scott.

In the history of Jewish and Christian religion, epidemics were signs that intolerable things were happening in the people of God's way of life. That is why God, with a fatal illness, executed a punitive judgment against sinners and non-sinners. There is an old word for it: "the scourge of God."

So is the corona pandemic a scourge of God?

If that were true, incomparably worse epidemics in the southern half of the world would be drastic forms of the scourge of God. The Deutsche Welthungerhilfe (German World Hunger Relief) recently sent a letter with a message that everyone could understand: "About every ten seconds a child under five years of age dies from the consequences of malnutrition. Over sixty million children in India suffer from malnutrition."

There is no scourge of God
Jesus gives an example and explains: “Do you think that the eighteen people whom the tower at the pool of Siloam fell upon and killed were more guilty than all the other inhabitants of Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but if you do not repent, you will all perish as well” (Luke 13: 4-5). He ties this to an accident: a tower collapsed at the pool of Siloam in Jerusalem and buried eighteen people under it. According to the understanding of the time, this could not be a coincidence: Such a misfortune could not happen without the will of God. This is so because God determines a man's hour of death. The slain must have done something unforgivable.

"Do you think that the eighteen people were more guilty than all the other residents of Jerusalem?" With only one question, Jesus cuts down the dogma that special guilt leads to special misfortune. There is no scourge of God. God in Christ does not torture and kill. Humans should not question God. Rather, God questions the questioners: "If you do not repent, you will all perish as well."

An unsolvable question
Jesus dares to remove the differences in the question of guilt and set out of bounds accountability for sin among the victims of the Siloam accident. We won't solve the agonizing question of why Almighty God allows Siloam and Corona and so many other mass diseases and mass harms. It cannot be answered. It has never been solved philosophically and theologically.

Jesus also does not answer the question of why the tower collapsed. Therefore, we should definitely decide similarly not to know and to say where the misfortune gets its deadly potency from and why it is able to come into God's world. Given our inability to reconcile God who in Christ loves us unconditionally with the experience of limitless suffering, we should admit that we cannot settle it. We can only ask that God's love carries us and others through guilt and misfortune, through epidemics and death. However, we information-less people longingly expect more: nothing less than the new heaven and the new earth and with them God's answer to so many questions.

About face to engage the world
This hope "for the end" is not a consolation. It is a promise. And it is also an invitation to human care. Christ who came and who is coming gives present strengthening and instruction. Only then does hope prove true. Only after Corona, only one day will Christ's return and the new creation come. That is why the question of why no longer relates primarily to one's own suffering but becomes a question of solidarity with the suffering of others. You are by no means the victim of a scourge of God.

"If you do not repent, you will all perish as well," Jesus warns. Where does repentance happen? First in the turn of humans to God. The penitent begins to trust and obey God in Christ. After that, it consists of turning to others. The penitent begins anew to do his/her part for a world in which the sick will be comforted and illnesses will be treated with sense and understanding. And many, many sufferers - no matter where they come from - need to be better received and nourished, respected and protected by us. And in the foreseeable future, justice and power, wealth and poverty must come to a better balance.

Recommended Readings: United Methodist Around the World Respond to Coronavirus

Cancelations and closures in response to coronavirus have been extensive among United Methodists in the United States, but the virus has been affecting United Methodists around the world. Here's a quick rundown of some of the responses.

The Philippines Central Conference has suspended all upcoming annual conference meetings - 17 of them. Other large gatherings, such as the United Methodist Young Adults Fellowship, have also been postponed, and local churches have been given permission to suspend worship and are being encouraged to have worship online.

United Methodists in several European countries have canceled church services and all other church meetings. These include the following, with links to the respective announcements:
 * Germany, including the North Germany Annual Conference meeting
 * Austria
 * Switzerland
 * Norway, including a recommendation that all small groups cease meeting as well
 * Denmark
 * Poland
 * Latvia
 * Estonia
 * Bulgaria
 * Hungary
 * Slovakia
 * Macedonia
As of last Friday, Swedish-speaking United Methodists in Finland had issued a set of recommendations that stopped short of canceling all church services.

In Cote d'Ivoire, Bishop Benjamin Boni has postponed annual conference, closed all local churches, and prohibited other church meetings, following advice from the national government.

In Liberia, the United Methodist University of Liberia (UMUL) has suspended classes for two weeks.

A review of Facebook pages from other branches of The United Methodist Church in Africa shows that several are sharing information about handwashing and other precautions, but there have not yet been major cancelations of church events. There have been fewer cases of COVID-19 in Africa thus far in the outbreak.

The information above may not be a comprehensive list of global United Methodist responses to coronavirus, and as has been seen in the past several weeks, the situation is rapidly changing. Thus, additional closures, cancelations, and postponements may be happening around the world.

* Updated 2:00pm CDT, 3/18/2020. *

New Mission Area: Mental Health

Today's post is by UM & Global blogmaster Dr. David W. Scott, Director of Mission Theology at the General Board of Global Ministries. The opinions and analysis expressed here are Dr. Scott's own and do not reflect in any way the official position of Global Ministries.

Three weeks ago, I raised the question of what features of the world and its various contexts in the 21st century might constitute new areas of mission, in the same way that features of the world 50, 100, or 150 years ago led to areas of mission work that we now consider central: education, poverty relief, healthcare, etc.

This week, I suggest a third new area of mission work: mental health.

The church has long been involved in health and healing work as a form of mission. In various times and places, this sort of mission work has ranged from faith healing to patient nursing of the sick to the spread of Western medicine. But it has usually focused on physical aliments: sickness, disability, injury.

Mental health has only relatively recently (within the past century or so) been understood as a category of human ailment. And there has often been a good deal of disbelief or shame involved in using the framework of mental health to describe human ailing.

Yet mental health problems are quite common, more so than many diseases. Estimates of the overall incidence of mental health disorders is about 15% globally, and 4% each for depression and anxiety. Overall incidence of cancer, by comparison, is about .2%. Women and people living in Western countries are more likely to experience mental health disorders. In the US, overall prevalence is just over 18%.

Despite the prevalence of mental health disorders, churches have often struggled to know how to respond to mental health, perhaps because of discomfort or difficulty in discerning the line between the cognitive/emotional and the spiritual.

Yet the church has a great potential to treat mental health in holistic ways that include cognitive, emotional, and spiritual components without reducing any of these elements to the others. Indeed, we don't see prayer and medication as mutually exclusive approaches to treating physical disease. Why should we see prayer and counseling (and perhaps medication) as mutually exclusive approaches to mental health?

Since the church proclaims freedom from our burdens, it would seem that mental health care could be a promising new form of mission work. Indeed, since Christianity proclaims joy and peace as among the fruits of the Spirit, it would seem a failure if the church did not address mental health issues that can rob people of these elements of a healthy, holy life.

Moreover, mental health is an area that the church is already engaged in, at least in places. Drawing on his experience of church work with mental health, Peter Bellini wrote a fine three-part series for UM & Global a few years ago on "Global Mental Health and the Church." For those looking to explore this topic further, I commend it to you:

Global Mental Health and the Church, Part I
Global Mental Health and the Church, Part II
Global Mental Health and the Church, Part III

Recommended Reading: Philippines Quadrennial Plan

United Methodists may be familiar with the plans and priorities of their annual conference or perhaps an agency or two that they may be particularly invested in. But how can United Methodists find out what it really is that their religious compatriots around the world really care about and where they are focusing their efforts?

Here is an opportunity to do just that for the Philippines. The Philippines Central Conference has made its 2017-2020 Quadrennial Plan available through Google Docs.

While few may want to read the entire 54-page program spreadsheet, this document offers good insight into the priorities of fellow United Methodists around the world. The document details efforts that the Philippines Central Conference will make over the next four years in the following categories: develop[ing] vital congregations; developing principled Christian leaders; certified coaches; financial support to UMC theology students; happy, health, holy clergy and deaconesses, financial independence; performance evaluation system; ministry with the poor; stamp out killer diseases; caring for the environment; preparedness for catastrophes; and respect for human rights.

Recommended Readings: The Church and World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day is December 1st every year. Below is a somewhat belated rundown of the work that a variety of United Methodist agencies and groups are conducting related to AIDS.

From UMW, a cover story from response Magazine on "Faith Meets AIDS"

From the Global Health unit of Global Ministries, an article entitled "World AIDS Day: Working Toward an AIDS-Free World"

From the United Methodist Global AIDS Fund, a video message on World AIDS Day by Bishop Julius Trimble

From UMNS, an article "Philippines United Methodists raise awareness on HIV/AIDS"