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News & Features Archives 2007

December 2007

• UMCOR is Still a Beacon of Hope for Tsunami Survivors
  Three years ago the waves of the Indian Ocean turned an incalculable number of lives inside-out.

November 2007

• Clean Water Saves Lives
  Over half of the people who live in Nicaragua’s rural communities do not have access to clean drinking water
• UMCOR’s Response to the Attempted Abduction of Children in Chad
  Alleged attempts of a French humanitarian organization to abduct children living along the Chad-Sudan border for adoption in Europe are deeply troubling to UMCOR
• UMCOR and Muslim Aid to Present at Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
  UMCOR and Muslim Aid are presenting their partnership during the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
• UMCOR is Committed to Help Cyclone Sidr Survivors
  Super Cyclone Sidr, a deadly category four storm, battered the already-struggling nation of Bangladesh on Nov. 16.
• UMC Clinic Gets New Outlook on HIV/AIDS
  When Schaunta James-Boyd of Saint Mark United Methodist Church, Wichita, Kan., saw the impact of HIV/AIDS in her community.
• Barbara Stone Named UMCOR Volunteer Consultant
  The United Methodist Committee on Relief welcomes Barbara Stone as the new volunteer consultant for UMCOR.
• Hope for Graduates of Magambe
  Dressed in formal caps and gowns and with their heads held up high, all 14 graduates of the Magambe Vocational School in Zimbabwe.
• Help in the Wake of Hurricane Noel
  Hurricane Noel’s drenching rains wreaked havoc across the Caribbean and Mexico as sustained rains caused severe flooding across the Caribbean and Mexico.
• A Donor’s Dream Comes True
  “I dreamed that I was a marrow donor. In my dream the walls of my recipient’s hospital room were covered with a rainbow of paper butterflies.”
• UMCOR Helps Flooded Midwest Communities Move Toward Long-Term Recovery
  UMCOR is helping communities in Minnesota and Wisconsin on the long road to recovery after severe flooding this summer.
• World AIDS Day 2007. Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.
  The worldwide statistics surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic has not changed for the better since last year.
• A Silent Shout About HIV/AIDS
  Over the past 26 years much has been reported about the rising cases of HIV/AIDS in the US and abroad.
• Helping Those Left Most Vulnerable by the Fires
  The United Methodist Committee on Relief is working in San Diego County to help thousands affected by the late October wildfires to recover their lives and livelihoods.

October 2007

• Agoyi erokamano: "I give you thanks."
  Because of United Methodist gifts, St. Paul’s Methodist Health Center in Ugunja, a rural community in Kenya, has provided comprehensive treatment and care to over 300 HIV/AIDS patients for the past year.
• Give Fair Trade Chocolate this Halloween
  This Halloween many trick-or-treaters will receive a new kind of treat, fair trade mini-chocolates. Candy buyers can have a clear conscience when buying and giving chocolates that are not derived from child labor.
• Continued Support for Wildfire Survivors
  United Methodist Committee on Relief continues to offer support to those affected by the wildfires in Southern California.
• “It’s More Than Rebuilding Homes”
  Northshore Disaster Recovery Inc. (NDRI) Director Dale Kimball believes that long term recovery is more than rebuilding homes. “We want to rebuild the whole community,” he said.
• World Health Leaders Share Updates at Malaria Forum
  United Methodist leaders in the fight against malaria are cautiously optimistic about a newly released report on the safe use of a vaccine that reduces malaria infection among infants in Mozambique.
• UMCOR Sager Brown Changes Kit Contents
  Changes to two United Methodist Committee on Relief kits have been made to improve the quality of the items received by people in need around the world.
• UMCOR Responds to California Wildfires
  Wildfires fueled by the hot Santa Ana winds continue to consume large portions of Southern California, particularly heavily-populated areas surrounding San Diego and Los Angeles.
• New Malaria Vaccine Offers Promise for Future
  The chief executives of two United Methodist agencies have welcomed with cautious optimism report of the safe use of a vaccine that reduced malaria infection among infants in Mozambique.
• UMCOR’s New Gift Catalog
  The new UMCOR Gift Catalog is now available. The Catalog highlights some of UMCOR's core programs around the world.
• The Church and Health Concerns Go Together
  "If you're really serious about serving the Lord, you'd better start taking care of yourself," Bishop Scott Jones told health ministry leaders at a national conference.
• World Food Day 2007—A Sweet Life
  Anush, is a little Armenian girl whose name means “sweet.” She is part of the 31% of Armenian children below average weight and height. Her family, part of the urban poor in Armenia, earns an average of $1.50 a day.
• $5 Million for Long-Term Recovery Approved by UMCOR Board
  The United Methodist Committee on Relief continued its commitment to long-term assistance in the wake of disaster at its Oct. 9 board of directors meeting in Stanford, Conn.
• The Rev. Sam Dixon to Lead United Methodist Relief Agency
  Recent major disasters - 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 Asian tsunami—have led The United Methodist Church's relief organization "to rethink how we do everything," according to its new chief executive.
• United Methodist Agency Increases Support For Zimbabweans Fleeing into South Africa
  The United Methodist Church is supporting a ministry that assists Zimbabweans who are fleeing into South Africa.
• World Food Day 2007— “The Right to Food”
  World Food Day is celebrated every year on Oct. 16 to commemorate the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1945.
• Improving Conditions for Children in Azerbaijan
  Deaf and speech-impaired children in Azerbaijan now have a better place to live and learn thanks to the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
• Securing a Future
  In the Wardak province of Afghanistan, temporary shelters for returning refugees usually means freezing in the winter months, bearing high temperatures in the summer heat and living among the flood waters when it rains.
• UMCOR, Muslim Aid Staff Meet in Cambodia
  United Methodist Committee on Relief staff and members of Muslim Aid's Cambodia and home offices met Sept. 6 in Phnom Penh to discuss the possibility of working jointly in the region.

September 2007

• Long-Term Recovery Leadership Provided By UMCOR-Funded Station
  After emergency response to a natural disaster, a community organizes to tackle the long-term rebuilding process.
• Cote D'Ivoire Annual Conference Develops a New Strategic Plan for Health
  The Côte d'Ivoire Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church is developing a new strategic plan in health ministries as part of a denomination-wide emphasis on global health.
• Côte d'Ivoire Church Youth Leaders Explore New Ways to Communicate About HIV/AIDS
  "Stand Firm and Immovable Facing HIV/AIDS" was the theme of a three-day workshop for youth leaders of The United Methodist Church of Côte d'Ivoire on September 18-21.
• Friendship, Hope on a Plane: Medical Airlift Arrives in Georgia
  The United Methodist Committee on Relief and Project Hope airlift with millions of dollars in donated medical supplies arrived Friday, Sept. 14, in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia.
• Centro Latino: “Doing Jesus’ Job” in the Immigrant Community
  A church within a church is thriving in Council Bluffs, Iowa. A pastor helps members of his Spanish-speaking flock overcome their sorrow of separation from their families.
• As Hurricane Felix Moves on, UMCOR Responds
  Hurricane Felix lashed the coastlines of Nicaragua and Honduras Sept. 4 with 160 mph winds and drenching rains.
• UMCOR Joins Project Hope in Medical Airlift to Benefit 90,000
  UMCOR and Project Hope are co-sponsoring an airlift of millions of dollars in donated medical supplies to the Republic of Georgia.

• A Place to Call Home
  Abdul Baqui, a 10-year-old Kuchi boy, supports his sick mother and three younger sisters, who are only eight, five, and four years old.
• UMCOR Responds to Midwest Floods
  United Methodist Committee on Relief officials are offering aid to regions across the Midwest inundated by recent severe floods.
• Hurricanes 2005: 60,000 Helped at Two-Year Mark
  Nearly 60,000 individuals have received United Methodist assistance during long-term recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast, according to a new report issued today by UMCOR.
• FEMA Extends Funding for Katrina Aid Today
  A grant supporting case management for Hurricane Katrina survivors will continue into 2008.
• UMCOR Responds to Hurricane Dean
  Jamaica and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula took the direct hit from Hurricane Dean after it had lashed the coastlines of Haiti, Belize and other Caribbean nations.
• UMCOR Offers Aid in Peru Earthquake
  UMCOR is responding to the massive earthquake that leveled several cities in Peru Aug. 15, with offers of aid to the Methodist Church of Peru and a planned grant to Action by Churches Together, the international relief alliance.
• What Happens When Malaria Strikes
  A recent malaria outbreak at the Humble School , a United Methodist primary school in Uganda , demonstrates how malaria disrupts lives, steals productivity, and is a drain on precious resources.
• Symbols of Hope and Recovery
  Two large trees of hope constantly encourage the volunteer staff in the Rita Recovery office in the Wesley United Methodist Church, in Beaumont, Texas.
• UMCOR Sager Brown Needs More Flood Buckets
  UMCOR Sager Brown Depot has nearly depleted its supply of flood buckets. The response effort to the recent Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma storm emergencies have severely taxed flood bucket stores.
• UMCOR Sager Brown Mission Experience to Be Enhanced
  An UMCOR Sager Brown mission experience is about to be enhanced for the better.
  
• A New Beginning for Former Soldiers
  At the end of July 2007 a group of former soldiers in Liberia's drawn out civil war will graduate with skills that have nothing to do with the guns of their youth. This class of 771 young men in Lofa County, Liberia will have completed nine months of training in marketable skills such as carpentry, masonry, tailoring, and auto mechanics.

July 2007

• South African Methodists Offer Hope to Refugees
  South African Methodists are offering a "ray of hope" to homeless asylum seekers, refugees and displaced people crowding into the capital city of Johannesburg.
• Action by Churches Together Releases Annual Report
  The 2006-2007 Annual Report of Action by Churches Together, the international aid alliance and UMCOR partner, details "an increasingly changing landscape of humanitarian response," according to John Nduna, the ACT director whose message introduces the report.
• Water Brings Life and Peace in Darfur
  "I used to walk three hours to get water," said one woman at the Um Rakhuba water point in South Darfur.
• Goats Help Families Recover
  The gift of goats is bringing hope to 650 vulnerable families in the Wardak and Kabul provinces of Afghanistan.
• Hundreds in the US Need Post-Disaster Help
  Over the last two months floodwaters have inundated significant areas of Texas and Kansas, leaving thousands of people wondering how they are going to recover.
• State of the Art School Built by UMCOR Dedicated in Banda Aceh
  One of the largest primary schools built in Banda Aceh since the tsunami in 2004 was dedicated June 30. Using United Methodist donations to the South Asia Advance, UMCOR constructed the state-of-the-art facility that is both earthquake- and flood-proof, and furnished it with school kits for students and school equipment, educational materials, and sports and playground equipment.

June 2007

• Peace, Development Go Together: UMCOR
  "Without peace, there can be no development," Marc S. Maxi, of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, told Sudan's Fourth Vice President Minni Minawi at a June 19 meeting in Khartoum, Sudan.
• State of the Art School Built by UMCOR Dedicated in Banda Aceh
  One of the largest primary schools built in Banda Aceh since the tsunami in 2004 was dedicated June 30. Using United Methodist donations to the South Asia Advance, UMCOR constructed the state-of-the-art facility that is both earthquake- and flood-proof, and furnished it with school kits for students and school equipment, educational materials, and sports and playground equipment.
• United Methodists, Muslims Join Forces to Alleviate Suffering
  Religious leaders, diplomats, British government ministers and members of Parliament are praising the new partnership between United Methodist and Muslim relief agencies as "bold," "significant" and one that "confounds stereotypes."
• Church Disaster Coordinators, Volunteers Form Covenant
  When a tornado struck Eagle Pass, Texas, in April, Susan Hellums found herself thrust into her new role as disaster response coordinator for the United Methodist Southwest Texas Annual Conference.
• UMCOR and Muslim Aid Will Alleviate Suffering Together
  United Methodist Committee on Relief and Muslim Aid, one of Britain's most influential Muslim charities are announcing a landmark partnership to relieve the suffering of millions of people across the globe.
• United Methodist Agencies and Organizations Promote "Genuine" Immigration Reform
  Arguing for "genuine reform," seven United Methodist agencies and organizations are opposing the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 before the US Senate unless significant changes are made in the draft law.
• Mission Leader Praises and Questions G8 Nations on Pledges to Combat AIDS
  The chief mission executive of The United Methodist Church has commended the major economic powers for their large pledges to overcome AIDS but wonders why they are so slow in making good on their promises.
• UMCOR and Muslim Aid Form Landmark Global Aid Partnership
  United Methodist Committee on Relief and Muslim Aid, one of Britain's most influential Muslim charities are announcing a landmark partnership to relieve the suffering of millions of people across the globe.
• Congregational Health Conference Registration is Under Way
  Learn how you can start or grow a health ministry in your congregation at this year's Congregational Health Ministries Conference.
  

May 2007

• "We've Seen a Lot of Ministry": Volunteers Reflect on UMCOR Sager Brown
  Dave and Joan Elton joined a mission trip to southern Louisiana in January 1993, just after Hurricane Andrew had devastated the Gulf Coast.
• A Place to Play
  It sounds like child's play, but constructing a playground is serious business. After UMCOR rehabilitated the Pathalai Elementary School that serves 900 students in eastern Sri Lanka, the school principal asked UMCOR if they could develop a playground that would serve as a safe place for children in Pathalai and surrounding villages to play.
• Building Capacity and Communities in DRC
  A groundbreaking conference between the episcopal areas of the United Methodist Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Methodist Committee on Relief forged the beginning of an ongoing relationship of learning and increased capacity for development.
• UMCOR Provides Support for Kansas Recovery
  A powerful tornado with winds at more than 200 mph left a swath of destruction 22 miles long and more than a mile wide in southwest Kansas the night of May 4.
• UMCOR-Katrina Aid Today Outreach to Katrina Survivors on Track
  Katrina Aid Today had served some 120,541 Katrina survivors as of the end of March, representing 46,903 households. The partnership of nine disaster response agencies issued its latest quarterly report on April 30.

April 2007

• "Love in the Midst of Tragedy" Program Comes to an End
  An appeal that upset all the record books at the time, Love in the Midst of Tragedy, has been closed out with the approval of a final grant of $177,868.
• UMCOR Sager Brown Celebrates 140 Years of Ministry
  A beautiful Louisiana spring day welcomed visitors and guests to the UMCOR Sager Brown Campus in Baldwin, La., to celebrate 140 years of ministry on April 21.
• $7.6 Million in Aid Approved by UMCOR Board
  Economically vulnerable Sri Lankans who are still finding their footing after the 2004 tsunami are among those to receive aid worth millions of dollars. The action was among several approved April 24 by the board of United Methodist Committee on Relief meeting in Stamford, Conn., and adding to more than $7.6 million
• A Message of Hope to the Virginia Tech Community
  United Methodists are responding with a message of hope for those affected by the tragedy at Virginia Polytechnic Institute earlier this week.
• Indonesia Tsunami: The Church in the Midst of Recovery
  The Methodist Church in Banda Aceh, with funds provided through a special tsunami church rebuilding fund, has completed its repairs to the church and accompanying school.
• United Methodists Join in Sudan Water Mission
  Water is a basic need everywhere and is particularly important for displaced people in camps in South Darfur, Sudan, and their host communities.
• Liberian Nursing School Struggles to Recover
  For many years, United Methodist-trained nurses staffed Liberia's clinics, hospitals and even the Ministry of Health.But the long-running civil war in that West African nation destroyed the nursing school's facilities and crippled its program.

March 2007

• Helping Aceh Communities to Help Themselves
  Tsunami survivors in Aceh are helping members of their own communities thanks to training, support and encouragement from the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
• UMCOR Sager Brown and the Women's Division: Working Together to Enhance Church's Mission
  Since the early 1900s the Women's Division had owned and operated the Sager Brown Home and Godman School in Baldwin, La.
• Malaria Treatment Saves Lives: One Family's Story
  It seemed that the Turay family of four-soon to be five-was always at the doorstep of local hospitals and clinics in and around Kissy, Sierra Leone.
• New Connections for UMCOR and UMVIM
  A new road for working together was paved at the Feb. 8-10 conference between two ministry networks of The United Methodist Church.
• Tornado Recovery Begins
  Dozens of tornadoes ripped though Missouri, Illinois, Alabama, Georgia and Florida over the last two days killing at least 20 people.
• Worship Resources Celebrate New Life in One Great Hour of Sharing
  A "Litany of New Life" is the centerpiece for worship resources provided by UMCOR to help local congregations celebrate the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering March 18.

February 2007

• One Great Hour of Sharing-A Response to God's Love
  Once a year you and your congregation can join other United Methodists worldwide by making a special offering to support humanitarian aid from UMCOR.
• UMCOR's NGO Unit Launches New Website
  The United Methodist Committee on Relief's Non-Governmental Organization (UMCOR NGO) launched a new website Feb. 15.
• UMCOR Responds to Florida Storms
  Central Florida was struck early on Feb. 2 by violent thunderstorms that spawned tornadoes causing sufficient damage for a state of emergency to be declared in four counties.

January 2007

• Message of Prevention, Message of Hope
  Mrs. Monica, of Kassa, Nigeria, got to work immediately after the week-long training. She asked her husband to cut down or trim trees growing around their home that could harbor mosquitoes.
• UMCOR Expands E-Newsletter Release
  Since the one-year anniversaries of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the fall of 2005, United Methodist Committee on Relief has published an e-newsletter to highlight ongoing stories of recovery and hope in the Gulf Coast. "Bright Spots" mails biweekly Thursdays to pastors, recovery ministry staffs in the Louisiana and Mississippi conferences, and early subscribers.
• Congregational Health Conference Registration is Under Way
  Learn how you can start or grow a health ministry in your congregation at this year's Congregational Health Ministries Conference.