Invest in Mission Opportunities

"How can I help?"  It's a question that, as Christians, we ask quite often. At UMVIM, SEJ, the answer comes in the form of Mission Opportunities. Your help can be in the form of time, money, learning, and prayers.  Hopefully, the answers below will answer your questions about UMVIM Mission opportunities:

Q: How do I find out about mission projects? A: UMVIM, SEJ maintains the International Mission Opportunity List for the United Methodist Church. Take a look at this list, and you will quickly see how UMVIM teams can answer needs all over the world. When you donate funds, you are helping UMVIM create and provide training resources so that mission teams can work effectively and safely.

Q: What are medical missions? A: Medical-based mission trips - which make up a large percentage of the UMVIM effort - deliver the expertise of doctors, nurses, dentists, and others from the medical field to underserved areas across the globe. If you are a healthcare provider, we encourage you to volunteer your time. Or, if you are not a medical professional, but are concerned about the health of others, please donate.

Q: What about disaster response?  A: Flooding, earthquakes, drought, fires, hurricanes. There will, unfortunately, always be a next disaster. UMVIM, SEJ works with the United Methodist Committee on Relief and Annual Conferences to send volunteer teams to disaster-affected areas. We now have a Disaster Response Liaison on our staff to help communicate the need for volunteers and to connect them to the appropriate response. Contact our Disaster Response Liaison, Gray Miller, to discuss how to best use your resources in disaster response.

Q: What's available for youth and young adults?  A: We have opportunities just for you! Those on our Young People Mission Opportunity List have expertise and experience in providing age-appropriate mission opportunities. UMVIM, SEJ also offers a Summer Internship Programfor a college-aged student. They serve in both domestic and international placements in hopes of discerning a call to mission or ministry. Consider giving to the Internship Program.

Please give generously to Advance #901875 at www.umcmission.org/give, or mail a check to: UMVIM, SEJ, 100 Centerview Drive, Suite 210, Birmingham, AL 35216 We hope that you are moved to give this summer.  Thank you for your continued prayers and generosity! Grace and peace, Paulette S. West Executive Director

Why Should You Invest in UMVIM Leader Training?

What is your first reaction when you see TV news footage of communities in need in the US or around the world? Unfortunately, you see this quite often. You want to help. Before you gather your clothing donations, rush to someone's aid, or try to engage others in responding, the first step is to learn how to help. That starts with training, and training is a major part of what UMVIM, SEJ offers to you. Whether you are leading a team on a short-term mission journey, or are part of a long-term recovery team after a disaster, UMVIM, SEJ offers training that ensures you--and your faith community--are prepared to help intentionally and effectively. Why support UMVIM training? Training helps disaster survivors and vulnerable communities. Ignoring training doesn't just leave the volunteer ill-equipped; even the most well-meaning people can cause harm if they don't know how to respond in the proper way. UMVIM, SEJ training is a national model of excellence. We have trained thousands of short-term mission team leaders on how to effectively lead their teams in the field. We developed our UMVIM Team Leader training classesand wrote the UMVIM Team Leader Handbook based on our 40+ years of experience in the short-term mission field. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the countless tornadoes and many hurricanes that our region is vulnerable to, we have been able to sharpen our best practices in the aftermath of disaster. We may have more disasters, but we have more knowledge as well.

The best ideas are exchanged. UMVIM training allows a free exchange of ideas from one conference to another. Our workshops provide fellowship and a rich learning experience. The results are clear: better coordination and enhanced skills for responders. If you can't attend training at this time in your life, won't you help someone who can? UMVIM needs your presence, your prayers, and your funding support to help sustain and update its vibrant training programs. Your contribution to UMVIM training will ultimately have a ripple effect that allow thousands of people in need get the best kind of help from our volunteers. Please help ensure our training goes on for years to come. Please give generously to Advance number 901875 at www.umcmission.org/give or mail your check to: UMVIM, SEJ, 100 Centerview Drive, Suite 210, Birmingham, AL 35216. Thank you for your continued prayers and generosity!  Grace and peace, Paulette West UMVIM, SEJ Executive Director

A Summertime Stretch for Your UMVIM Dollar

For many of us, midsummer is a time for relaxation, travel, and reflection. Will you take a few minutes to travel with us in your imagination to just two places, and, in these minutes, reflect on your contribution to UMVIM?  First Stop: Belize Belize, on the eastern coast of Central America, is bordered on the north by Mexico, on the south and west by Guatemala, and on the east by the Caribbean Sea. Lisa Williams, who was first engaged in mission work while living in the Kentucky Conference - is now the UMVIM coordinator for Belize. Would you believe that, with your contribution, Lisa - an amazing "mission multi-tasker" - does all of the following? - Gets to know the needs of local communities.These needs are ever-changing. Belize has the lowest population density in Central America, but the country's population growth rate is the second highest in the region. - Places volunteer teams into the types of jobs that best utilize their skills. - Meets with local village children to have Sunday School on Saturday mornings. - Facilitates a weekly women's Bible Study. Lisa's husband, Jamie, is the presbyter of the Corozal Methodist Circuit. He has three churches, and serves as chaplain for two primary schools with more than 700 children in attendance. Before we leave Belize, take a moment to reflect on how many lives there will be touched by your contribution. Second Stop: Florida, USA A popular U.S. vacation state with theme parks and beautiful beaches, Florida is also in the throes of flood recovery. Did you know that 15,000 families in the state registered for federal assistance when floods struck in spring 2014?  "These communities have a good roster of volunteers for the fall, but often struggle during the summer", said Amelia Fletcher, Disaster Response Coordinator for the United Methodist Alabama-West Florida Conference. Part of the reason is the high cost of staying on site, she said. "Unless people stay in a church setting, hotels are very high during the peak vacation season. Even campgrounds charge the most during the summer." Your contribution to UMVIM helps people learn about the “less visible” disaster recoveries happening in Florida and around the world, as well as the need for long- and short-term volunteer teams to assist in disaster response.

UMVIM stretches your dollar by placing teams in local church settings - and training both teams and church leaders to accommodate each other's needs. Take a moment to reflect on the less visible disasters around you. Then consider a contribution to UMVIM to help keep people informed about the needs. You can help keep our teams going, no matter the location or the time of year. Please prayerfully consider a generous donation to Advance #901875, or mail your check to: UMVIM, SEJ, 100 Centerview Drive, Suite 210, Birmingham, AL 35216. Grace and peace, Paulette West UMVIM, SEJ Executive Director

Summer of Service

As the fall season begins, many volunteers are taking time to reflect on their summer of service.

Bill Seib, a resident of Virginia Beach, traveled to the small Alaskan village of Galena with an UMVIM team. He lived in a military-style tent for two weeks while he helped residents rebuild their homes, which were damaged when the Yukon River spilled over its banks last year. Accessible only by airplane, the remoteness of Galena made Seib and the other volunteers – many of them retired construction contractors – think about how sometimes, making do with “less” can result in more time to build one's relationship with God. “The hardest part is being away from your family for two weeks,” said Seib. 

Seib has been on many UMVIM mission trips, and each one has brought vastly different experiences and reflections. “Whatever my summer holds, UMVIM gives me a chance to go out and be a blessing.”

With your gift to support United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, you empower thousands of volunteers and help to transform lives through God’s love and grace.

While some volunteers can reflect on many different mission trips, some young people are just beginning their foray into a world of service with UMVIM. This past summer, mission trips changed the views of many young people – their stance on God, their career path and their philosophy of life.

Glenn Miller, youth pastor at Northside United Methodist Church in Jackson, Mississippi, traveled with a group of 16 youth and young adults to work at the Bahamas Methodist Habitat, a non-profit outreach ministry of the Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church that focuses on being a catalyst through disaster response and the promotion of community within the Bahamas. Miller strongly encourages the young people around him to take a mission trip before the age of 20, either internationally or to a place within the U.S. that is vastly different from where they live. “Over the years, I have taken kids on mission trips, and many of them now have interesting careers, or they live abroad and they have served other people in great ways. It's cool when they call and thank me for taking them on their first mission trip.”

The voices of youth are full of passion when they reflect on what their UMVIM-related summer activities mean to them. Laura Kigweba was 19 when she first heard about UMVIM. “I sensed then I was seeing an organization that is committed to making change in the world.”

Another young person, Kylie Foley, plans to be doing some kind of mission service for the rest of her life. Yet her mission trips also made her think about her daily life as a Christian. “...I also found out what I want to do for each day, which is to be a Christian. This is perhaps the most overwhelming and simplest realization I’ve ever had in my life, and has overhauled my limited view on what it meant to be involved with missions.”

Photos courtesy of ODIM, Genna Mansperger, Harold Powers, and Susan Kim

For thousands of volunteers, the summer offered an experience that was life-changing, spirit-changing and God-driven. Help even more volunteers embark on that journey of life and spirit by considering a donation to the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, Southeast Jurisdiction. 

 A donation can be made online through the Advance to #901875 at umcmission.org/give, or by mailing a check to UMVIM, SEJ, 100 Centerview Drive, Suite 210, Birmingham, AL 35216.

We are so grateful for your continued prayers and support, without which this ministry simply wouldn’t be possible.


Grace and peace,

Paulette West
Executive Director
UMVIM, SEJ

Invest: The UMVIM Internship Program

by: Susan Kim

A Gradual Call

As 24-year-old Laura Kigweba begins her final year at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., she reflects on her call to ministry: “It wasn't one moment in which I was suddenly called,” she said, “rather, it was a gradual call.”

This summer Laura served as the intern for UMVIM, SEJ, where she put her energies into mission and working with other young people. She ended her summer more determined than ever to pursue social justice, through the local church and other mission opportunities.

“I want to communicate, and at the same time, be compassionate. I want to desire justice, and at the same time, give mercy,” she said. “I think, in my call, I recognize that it is truly about the journey rather than the destination. Even after being ordained, there is still the journey that needs to be encountered.”

Lasting Commitment to UMVIM

As part of her UMVIM internship, Laura worked in downtown Birmingham, Alabama with Community Church Without Walls and Urban Ministry, where she helped implement tutoring programs and summer camps for kids, as well as assist in providing other community services. She also spent eight days in the Philippines at the Global Young People's Convocation and Legislative Assembly. There, she and her peers tackled issues, celebrated oneness in Christ, learned from each other and experienced the United Methodist Church and its connectional system.

Laura is just one of an entire generation of young people who believe UMVIM's work will continue to have a significant impact in the world and believes in the organization’s holistic approach to justice. “I see an organization that is committed to making change in the world,” she said. “UMVIM provides a ready outlet for both information and action that engages local churches in global development and leadership.”

“This has been a phenomenal summer of learning,” she added in closing. “After this, I see myself entering into the local church to cultivate that environment of social justice. I have a vision of myself being an advocate for justice in all places.”

The UMVIM Summer Internship Program

UMVIM, SEJ recognizes the importance of developing today’s young people to be the leaders and justice-seekers of tomorrow. Your generous donation to the UMVIM Internship Program gives a young person the opportunity to spend their summer understanding mission at its core, and engaging in outreach from a holistic, educational perspective. For more information regarding this program, please contact Paulette West, Executive Director, or visit the Youth and Young Adults page on the UMVIM website. To make a donation specifically to the internship program, please contact Landon Taylor, Church Relations or visit the Donate page.

Check out the this post for a more in-depth look into Laura’s summer.

Invest: SEJ Disaster Academy

Disaster Academy Offers “Priceless” Knowledge and Encouragement
By: Susan Kim

“We're ready to go.”

That's how Jim Watson describes his Early Response Team (ERT), a team more than 50 people strong and the largest ERT in the state of Florida. At least part of this high state of readiness, Watson said, is due to the knowledge and inspiration he and other ERT members have gathered at the Southeastern Jurisdiction (SEJ) Disaster Academy, a training event that draws hundreds of people from across the region.

“I make connections with people all over the Southeastern Jurisdiction, and I get a lot of ideas about what they're dong and why they're doing it,” he said. “Within the disaster response arena, things are always changing. At the academy, we learn from each other and also from FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] people who attend and talk to us.”

People who attend the SEJ Disaster Academy carry their knowledge and their relationships forward as they respond to disasters across the region.

Bill Robinson, who coordinates ERTs for the South Carolina Conference, is nearly finished overseeing the response to February ice storms that damaged hundreds of homes. “We did chainsaw work for 93 homes, and helped another 10 residents with roof damage,” he said. “We removed debris from the yards of more than 200 homes.”

When Robinson attends the SEJ Academy, he said he establishes relationships with leaders from across the Southeastern United States. “Those relationships are absolutely priceless. We share our stories about what works and what doesn't. We get to critique ourselves. You can see what disasters people are struggling with, and it gives you encouragement to go through it when it's your time.”

Catherine Earl, UMCOR Executive Secretary of U.S., Caribbean, and Central America, leads a session with Conference Disaster Response Coordinators at the SEJ Disaster Academy.

Learning Through Listening

David Newton, Mississippi Conference United Methodist Volunteers In Mission (UMVIM) Coordinator, agreed with Robinson that the SEJ Disaster Academy instills knowledge in an environment that gives people the confidence to critique themselves honestly.

“Disasters such as Hurricane Katrina have taught me the value of listening to and valuing the experience of those affected by catastrophic events,” said Newton.

Ultimately, the SEJ Disaster Academy – and UMVIM's work in responding to disasters – is about seeking to bear the presence of the love of Christ, offering hope to many who have lost everything, reflected Newton.

“Treating the recipient of aid as a person of worth created in the image of God shapes our response,” he said. “We attempt to minister to the whole person as we partner with the affected person or family, and as we stabilize or repair houses, clear debris and deliver requested supplies.”

Donate Now! Your gift to United Methodist Volunteers In Mission, Southeastern Jurisdiction, Advance 901875, helps to empower, coordinate and train short-term mission service opportunities domestically and internationally.