{#GivingTuesday 2016} The Local Church

November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016 is here! The UMVIM, SEJ Staff and Board have come together and pledged $12,000 that will be matched, dollar for dollar, for every generous donation that is given today. We believe our mission is big, and we also believe that we can't send trained, equipped volunteers into the field to show Christian Love in Action without the support of our community. 

This year, learn more from those who have personally experienced the impact of all UMVIM has to offer. Hollis Crowder, Team Leader and Mississippi Conference UMVIM Coordinator, shares about UMVIM and the ways his team served in Zimbabwe. 

How do volunteers help you carry out God’s mission in Zimbabwe?

As team leader, God has connected me with the volunteers who served the people in Zimbabwe through dentistry, medical care, construction, Bible School, water well drilling, clothing for orphans, and the gospel of Christ. I often say that I am the appointed team leader for God's mission trip but really HE is.  From five different states, the volunteers on the team to Zimbabwe provided the services and worked alongside our country partners, who are a vital part of our team ministry. Advance travel to Zimbabwe was made to assess the needs of the hospital and surrounding communities. The team members brought the needed identified resources for this and future trips.  Additionally, individuals and various church small groups prayed daily for the team and the ministry with which they were engaged. With a relationship established with our Zimbabwe partners by the team leader and all the other support behind us, the team went to serve with confidence in me as the team leader and trust in God to do the work that only they could do. It takes a team to minister to a village and they did.

What differences do you see in teams whose leaders have been trained by UMVIM, SEJ?

Team leader training provides valuable information to prepare team leaders about how to, whom to and where to go to. It included needed documents that help the team get insurance and valuable travel tips. Most of the training helps the team leader prepare team members for a mission trip with standard operating procedures and practices that are applicable on most missions. The training handbook has helpful checklist of things to remember as well as “do's and don’ts.” The training is an opportunity to connect with other persons in missions and to learn from some of their practical experiences but mainly to keep God first in all we do. Valuable resources are shared to help support missions. As a Vietnam veteran, I refer sometimes to our team headquarters as UMVIM, SEJ, the Mississippi Conference and our local church. All of these supports made the team’s mission to Zimbabwe possible.

Share a brief story about the impact of volunteers

Serving God through missions can be fun and a special bond develops with the team members. Our well team was a little nervous about finding water and hoping that we would have enough money to cover the cost if we had to drill very deep. A pre-drilling report estimated a 69% chance of finding water at the hospital. Water surfaced at a far less depth than expected, and the existing water tank was usable which left enough money to drill a second water well for the orphanage. We had set a small goal; but God multiplied what we asked making us realize how much greater God’s plan is. Each team member wrote reflections about the mission in Zimbabwe. Dr. Valda Crowder shared in her reflection, “I felt with the structure of Methodist missions, there was a foundation to build upon that allowed us to go in and create lasting change.”

#GivingTuesday 2016 - today donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000. Please give generously to Advance #901875.

{#GivingTuesday 2016} The Local Church

This year, the UMVIM, SEJ Staff and Board have come together and pledged $12,000 that will be matched, dollar for dollar, for every generous donation that is given on November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016. We believe our mission is big, and we also believe that we can't send trained, equipped volunteers into the field to show Christian Love in Action without the support of our community. 

This year, learn more from those who have personally experienced the impact of all UMVIM has to offer. Rachel Estes, Canterbury UMC Director of Mission and Outreach, was asked to share what UMVIM means to her.

How do volunteers help you carry out God’s mission?

Taking teams to Panamá is one of the blessings of my job. Starting with taking care of logistics and details so that families can focus on each other and this journey ahead, a mission week is time to explore a brand new path together in faith as a family. What a gift! As a team leader, I am able to witness children teaching parents, Panamanians teaching Alabamians, young asking old, stranger helping stranger…and that is why I came into this work…to see boundaries blur and lines erased.

What differences do you see in teams whose leaders have been trained by UMVIM, SEJ?

The team leader training is critical for the success of a team.  Making sure that a team knows that they are traveling TOGETHER…that we are there to step gently on holy ground…that we are there to serve an institution, the Methodist Church, which was there so long before us and will continue to be there long after us. Team training reiterates the need for preparation before, reflection during and connection afterwards…that the time spent on those three can’t be too much or too long…it can only strengthen God’s work in front of all of us.

Share a brief story about the impact of volunteers.

Three Impacts of an UMVIM team: On the community where the teams serve I have seen houses built, food disseminated, immunizations given and prayers shared. The impact on the team member I see shoulders come down in rest, I see connections between scripture read and hands on ministry, and I see a shift in understanding the world from perspectives dramatically different from their own. The impact on me by an UMVIM team Every single team I’ve travelled with has shown me the strength of community, of letting go of judgement, of watching a team connect with each other and others and feel empowered. The impact of a team on me is watching each person’s gifts blossom into near fullness as they become immersed in faith and heart work.

On November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016, donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000. Please give generously to Advance #901875.

{#GivingTuesday 2016} UMVIM, SEJ Board Member

This year, the UMVIM, SEJ Staff and Board has come together and pledged $12,000 of funds that will be matched, dollar for dollar, for every generous donation that is given on November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016. We believe our mission is big, and we also believe that we can't send trained, equipped volunteers into the field to show Christian Love in Action without the support of our community. 

This year, learn more from those who have personally experienced the impact of all UMVIM has to offer. Jane Dunn, UMVIM, SEJ Board of Directors Medical Chair was asked to share what UMVIM means to her. 

What challenges do volunteers have serving in Panama?

Coming from a culture with material wealth and many education opportunities, it is often a challenge for UMVIM Volunteers to listen and learn from those living in poor societies.  One such place exists in the jungle society of the primitive Ngabe people of Panama.

What differences do you see in teams whose leaders have been trained by UMVIM, SEJ?

As a trained UMVIM Team Leader that had been taught about cultural diversity and collaboration and returning to Panama for several consecutive years to partner with the Ngabe people, my first inclination was to decide on OUR plan for them and only provide short-term clinic services.  We soon learned through the input of our missionary host, Rev. Rhett Thompson, and local leaders that a partnership where Ngabe goals and needs were identified worked best. 

Share a brief story about the impact of volunteers

A three-part health promoter curriculum was developed to address issues of sanitation, disease transmission and maternal/sexual health.  Students volunteered or were selected by their communities to pariticipate.  Most of the students had marginal reading skills from either zero to up to 3^rd grade level.  None had successfully completed a formal education program until they “graduated” from this 3 week course.

Through the formation of friendships and collaboration, over 22 Ngabe students have completed the course, of which over half continue to serve in their communities.  One trained health promoter who was explaining the program to visitors said, “Most people in our country just think we are dirty and ignorant, but…you (UMVIM Team) believed in us!”   What a blessing for our UMVIM group to be partners in a successful program that has blossomed under the direction of our Panama brothers and sisters.  God is Good…. All the Time!

On November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016, donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000. Please give generously to Advance #901875.

{#GivingTuesday 2016} UMVIM, SEJ Board Member

Since The Advance will not be offering any matching funds for Giving Tuesday this year, the UMVIM, SEJ Staff and Board has come together and pledged $12,000 to be used as matching fund. So, on November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016, donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000. We believe our mission is big, and we also believe that we can't send trained, equipped volunteers into the field to show Christian Love in Action without the support of our community. 

This year, learn more from those who have personally experienced the impact of all UMVIM has to offer. Rev. Matt Lacey, UMVIM, SEJ Board Communication Committee Chair and North Alabama Conference UMVIM Coordinator, shares about what UMVIM means to him. 

How do volunteers help you carry out God’s mission?

My first mission experience was, and is, a fundamental experience in my faith journey. I saw new things, and asked many new questions about myself, the world, and God. One of the blessings of helping coordinate mission teams is to see that faith transformation in volunteers that you have helped train and connect them to the mission field.

What differences do you see in teams whose leaders have been trained by UMVIM, SEJ?

The team leader training is an important part of that--it helps cultivate that spiritual growth in each team leader, and then to the whole team as they prepare, serve, and process their work in helping to build God's kingdom.

Share a brief story about the impact of volunteers.

The impact that UMVIM teams make is incredible. Not just the physical work, but the time spent entertaining kids on the job site, or the connections and friendships that are made which last for years and years. When I first started training team leaders, I helped a team coordinate a trip to Haiti for a congregation who hadn't been engaged in the mission field in a while. Since that initial trip at least one team each year goes--sometimes two--to strengthen that partnership and to be a part of the body of Christ. It's an incredibly moving thing to see how God works.

On November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016, donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000. Please give generously to Advance #901875.

{#GivingTuesday 2016} International Leaders

Since The Advance will not be offering any matching funds for Giving Tuesday this year, the UMVIM, SEJ Staff and Board has come together and pledged $12,000 to be used as matching fund. So, on November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016, donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000. We believe our mission is big, and we also believe that we can't send trained, equipped volunteers into the field to show Christian Love in Action without the support of our community. 

This year, learn more from those who have personally experienced the impact of all UMVIM has to offer. Lisa Williams, Global Ministries missionary serving in Belize, shares the impact of UMVIM volunteers.

How do volunteers help you carry out your mission as a missionary?

In Belize, there are great needs for teams in repairing, adding on to and building Methodist Schools. The government depends on the churches to provide most of the school buildings in the country. Volunteers bring resources and encouragement; however, the relational part of our ministry is the most important impact. But what is most needed is spiritual understanding, renewal and growth.

What differences do you see in teams whose leaders have been trained by UMVIM, SEJ?

I see more cultural awareness and a better understanding of “do’s and dont's” in the teams with UMVIM trained team leaders. There is also less straying off the “path” of what they are supposed to be doing. I want to think that there seems to be more team cohesiveness in teams that come with trained leaders. We always want to encourage teams to meet, bond and study cultural differences in advance of when they come. That doesn’t always happen, especially with conference teams where the team members may not even see each other until the actual trip. Thankfully, the Belizeans are very familiar with US culture and are most forgiving of our various cultural "faux pas". During our (Belize/Honduras District of the MCCA) annual conference in January of 2016, we discussed UMVIM team leader training, and it was decided that we will no longer accept teams without a properly trained UMVIM team leader.

Share a brief story about the impact of volunteers.

One example of seeing the long term impact is a group from Lost Creek UMC in Oklahoma. This church group has been coming to Corozal, Belize every year for 14 years now. They bring a huge group (not what we usually recommend) and divide up into 3 subgroups. They run two very high quality Bible Schools at two of our schools and also a youth sports camp. Largely because of this team and the impact they have left, we have children and youth that seem to really understand the love of Christ. For the same reason, Corozal Methodist Church has a youth group that meets year around. 

On November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016, donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000. Please give generously to Advance #901875.

{#GivingTuesday 2016} International Leaders

Since The Advance will not be offering any matching funds for Giving Tuesday this year, the UMVIM, SEJ Staff and Board has come together and pledged $12,000 to be used as matching fund. So, on November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016, donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000. We believe our mission is big, and we also believe that we can't send trained, equipped volunteers into the field to show Christian Love in Action without the support of our community. 

This year, learn more from those who have personally experienced the impact that UMVIM has made. The National Coordinator for UMVIM-Cuba, Aldo Gonzalez, shares how UMVIM volunteers have built relationships with the church and people of Cuba. 

How do volunteers help you carry out your mission with the Cuban Methodist Church?

25 years ago, a group of UMVIM representatives went to Cuba and established a relationship between the Church in Cuba, the government in Cuba and UMVIM whereby groups of volunteers could go and assist the church in Cuba to rebuild their churches and parsonages.

Ever since that time, every month groups of United Methodist Volunteers in Mission have traveled to Cuba and have participated in rebuilding the infrastructure of the church there.  They assisted in the building of Camp Canaan, a place large enough where the church in Cuba can meet for their annual conferences and educational opportunities.  We have assisted in building a Methodist Seminary in Havana that has offered the opportunity for 100s of pastors to get their credentials and degrees to better do the work of the church.  Hundreds of churches have been refurbished and many more have been built.  Volunteers have not only traveled and worked alongside our Cuban Methodists brothers and sisters, but have also assisted the church with needed funds to be able to do their work.

What differences do you see in teams whose leaders have been trained by UMVIM, SEJ?

The work in Cuba is different than many others places where UMVIM works.  So it has been extremely important that one of the prerequisites of leading a team to Cuba is to be trained through UMVIM training programs.  It is through this program that many leaders learn, among other things, how to establish relationships with our hosts, and how to deal with the cultural differences we encounter.

Share a brief story about the impact of volunteers.

The true impact of our volunteer teams is often seen in the pure simple gifts a team member offers.  Let me tell you a story about one of our volunteers during a trip to Cuba.  We were helping to build a new church and parsonage in a town where there had never been a Methodist church before. The new church had been meeting under a tree and enjoying very lively and upbeat worship.  Strained relations had developed with their neighbors who weren’t happy to have a church built next door or with the noise from their very lively services.  All of this was unknown to our volunteer friend, who every morning when we arrived at the worksite, proceeded to greet the neighbors and to share with them her affections. She would join them on their porch for coffee and conversation, even though she did not speak Spanish!  Eventually the whole team joined her every morning for this ritual.  By the end of the week we had made new friends, the pastor of the church was able to talk directly with the neighbors, hear their complaints, mitigate some of their concerns and invite them to church!  This is just one of many surprising ways that grace manifests itself in our volunteer teams, through each person with their particular gifts offered for the healing of the world.

On November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016, donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000. Please give generously to Advance #901875.

{#GivingTuesday 2016} Disaster Response

Since The Advance will not be offering any matching funds for Giving Tuesday this year, the UMVIM, SEJ Staff and Board has come together and pledged $12,000 to be used as matching fund. So, on November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016, donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000. We believe our mission is big, and we also believe that we can't send trained, equipped volunteers into the field to show Christian Love in Action without the support of our community. 

This year, learn more from those who have personally experienced the impact of all UMVIM has to offer. We asked South Carolina Early Response Team Coordinator, Billy Robinson to share about his experience.

How do volunteers help you carry out your mission as the coordinator of Early Response Teams in South Carolina? 

We in South Carolina, like most everywhere, are all volunteers. Without volunteers we would have no Early Response Teams, and we would miss out on so many dire needs and opportunities to allow God's love to flow through us in our actions, care, love and concern for others. Coordinating disaster response is chaotic, especially in the early stages of any disaster such as our October 2015 floods and recent tropical storm Hermine. It is the same in emergency response like my paid profession as a Fire Officer/Paramedic. It is vital to have people who will fill in leadership positions and coordinate responses in regional locations, especially in large scale disasters. Without them and all the other wonderful volunteers and support across UMVIM and the United Methodist Church, it would be impossible. Volunteers are the backbone of all we do: helping with training (we have eight UMCOR Trainers); preparing and maintaining our seven ERT Trailers; providing leadership as team leaders  and regional coordinators and participating on our state ERT Board; Of course, volunteers are the hard working dedicated people who put tarps on roofs, run chainsaws and muck out while always being listeners across South Carolina, the southeast, and the entire United States. A South Carolina ERT team recently came back from Louisiana.

What differences do you see in teams whose leaders have been trained by UMVIM, SEJ? 

We require our leaders to be trained through UMVIM & ERT. This gives them a firm foundation of expectations and quality management that we expect out of them and their teams. It instills in them the true Christian values and attitudes that we expect them and their team members to put forth at all times.

Share a brief story about the impact of volunteers. 

During our South Carolina "1 in 1000-year flood" of October 2015, we quickly became overwhelmed especially across the midlands to the coast. One of the hardest hit areas was the Charleston/Summerville area. I immediately called out to Troy Thomas, who is our Low Country ERT Coordinator (our state is divided in four regions, and we have an ERT Coordinator and two Assistants in each). He already had volunteers out helping people on day one and continued coordinating ERT efforts for three months among various agencies and organizations plus teams coming in to South Carolina from other states. His wife, Renee, was instrumental in helping get teams housed and taken care of. Troy also performed his paid job as an officer with Mount Pleasant Fire Department on the days he was not doing muck outs, and he let his secondary construction business lapse for the three-month period.

Many times we do not see the impact or fruits of our labor, but Troy saw it first hand in a man named Peter. Peter was a big man that was angered that his home was flooded and no one had made it out to help him. He also had very little to do with the church or Christians. He flagged Troy down in the street and told him that he needed help. Troy turned to see Peter's flooded home with water still up to the windows. As soon as the floodwaters subsided Troy was able to send a team of 32 people in to help Peter. Peter began to see the love, care and compassion of Jesus Christ through the ERT volunteers' witness of "Christian Love In Action" including their intensive labor to muck out his home. At the end of the day, they all gathered together in a circle in the street in front of Peter's home to pray. During the prayer, Peter broke down to his knees and with the ERT gathered around him, he gave his life to Jesus Christ!

We even saw volunteers cross state, district and conference lines to help. In the Pee Dee Region (Georgetown to Myrtle Beach) of our state, the ERT Coordinator, Rev. Ken Phelps, was land locked for three days due to roadways and bridges being washed out. So, Rev. George Olive of Surfside Beach helped coordinate ERT efforts and provide assessments along with Ann Huffman and others from North Carolina ERT until Ken could get freed. They continued to assist Ken for months due to the widespread damage. 

On November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016, donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000. Please give generously to Advance #901875.

{#GivingTuesday 2016} Disaster Response

Since The Advance will not be offering any matching funds for Giving Tuesday this year, the UMVIM, SEJ Staff and Board has come together and pledged $12,000 to be used as matching fund. So, on November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016, donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000. We believe our mission is big, and we also believe that we can't send trained, equipped volunteers into the field to show Christian Love in Action without the support of our community. 

This year, learn more from those who have personally experienced the impact of all UMVIM has to offer. We asked Virginia Long-Term Recovery Manager & UMVIM Coordinator Forrest White to share what UMVIM has meant to him:

How do volunteers help you carry out your mission with Virginia Disaster Recovery?

At the end of my e-mails I often include these words: Our challenge is big. But God is bigger! We’re in this together and, best of all, God is with us. It’s true. We are in this together. There is no small part to play on our team. Since Long-Term Recovery began in the Virginia Conference in June, we have seen Christian love in action (1 John 3:18) from the people who occupy the back row of the local church and those who occupy the highest positions in the Conference and every person in between. Who could forget the high school students from North Carolina who wanted to plant flowers in a survivor's yard, a symbol of hope, a reminder of God's love? Who could forget the children of from a Richmond UMC who traveled an hour one way to provide lunch for two work teams and took leftovers to survivors? Who could forget the young at heart folks from a half dozen James River District churches who say they're too old to climb up on a roof but lovingly prepared a feast to feed 100 on a July afternoon? Who could forget Bishop Cho, so close to retirement, scurrying up a ladder to encourage a roofing team, as those on the ground held our breath?                   

What differences do you see in teams whose leaders have been trained by UMVIM, SEJ?

There simply is no comparison. Simply put, trained team leaders see the big picture. They understand that Christian Love in Action doesn't begin when a team walks on the work site and it doesn't end when a team walks off the work site. They understand that it's always about the people first, the project second. They understand the importance of good communication before, during, and after the actual mission experience. On a personal note, I had led about two dozen mission teams before I had the UMVIM TLT in 2007. I was a far more effective leader on the two dozen mission teams I led after the training.

Share a brief story about the impact of volunteers – we really like the one about Miss Patty.

I wish I’d never met Patty Bryant. I told her so, too. We met only because of her great loss. The tornado that ripped through Evergreen, Virginia, on February 24, somewhere around 3:30 p.m., took her home and her greenhouse. But it took so much more. Her daddy died in the storm. They didn’t find his body until after nightfall, three football fields away from where he sat watching an old TV Western as the storm jumped the railroad tracks and engulfed his home.

I asked Ms. Patty how she was doing, five months after her life changed forever. “I’m tired,” she said. “I’ve been trying to keep it together because of mama.” Her mama survived the storm, only because she wasn’t home. She was turning off of Highway 460, only a couple miles away, when the mighty winds uprooted a tree and slammed it into her car. The impact fractured her back. The rescue team cut her free from the wreckage. As for Ms. Patty? She wonders if she would still be alive if she hadn’t left for work about an hour earlier than usual that dark February day, about an hour before the storm hit.                                                     

Hope is rising on the ground the storm swept clean.                                                                        

In the final days of summer, volunteers from two Virginia United Methodist Churches dug the footers on the land where her house once stood. In the first days of fall, volunteers four Greensboro, N.C., churches put the concrete block foundation on the land where her house once stood. And so it has been, one team at a time, one day at a time, and so it will be until we turn the keys to a new house over to Ms. Patty. That day will come because ordinary people stepped up when our extraordinary God called and said, “Here I am, send me.”

On November 29: #GivingTuesday 2016, donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000. Please give generously to Advance #901875.