Disciples and UCC... together in God's global mission

Please download the MONTHLY MISSION STORY for your church bulletin/newsletter:
April 2008:  pdf or  text only or  espanol

To download the WEEKLY PRAYER for Sunday worship, click here:  Angola

Calming the Storm: Register now for  Churches for Middle East Peace Advocacy conference, April 20-22.

Hope is Global: Join Darfur activists around the world in a Day of Action on Darfur, Sunday, April 13.  Visit  Save Darfur to join an event in your area. Plan a  Tent of Hope event with your congregation, school or community.

Global Ministries Provides Ideas for Including Global Mission in Your Summer Church Plans
Summer Camp Programs, Vacation Bible School, and other special summer activities are exciting times in the life of the church, and can be a wonderful opportunity to introduce children, youth, young adults, and people of all ages to the global mission of the church. There are a number of curricula that churches are choosing from for these programs, and Global Ministries is glad to assist congregations in finding projects that supplement these different curriculums with a global perspective. We can help link you to vital ministries carried out by Global Ministries and its partners. For concrete ideas, click here:  Summer Ideas or contact Sarah Riester at sriester@dom.disciples.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

GM Co-Executives Invite Disciples and UCC to Pray for the People of Tibet
"We are disturbed by the violence concerning the region of Tibet that has overflowed onto the streets of Lhasa and into neighboring provinces of China. We honor our relationship with our Chinese church partners-the China Christian Council, and stand with them in denouncing the violence and killings.  We call for calm and reconciliation and prayers for those who were injured and families who lost their loved ones. We welcome the action of inviting international media groups to visit Lhasa to share the truth to the world and we encourage the same to happen in the neighboring provinces of China..." To read the entire story, click here:  Tibet

The Sudanese Churches Face "Tremendous Tasks and Challenges"
Amid ongoing fighting and humanitarian crises in several regions of Sudan, and risks of failure in implementing the 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of civil war between north and south, the Sudanese people and churches face "tremendous tasks and challenges", an international ecumenical team of church representatives was told at the beginning of an eight-day solidarity visit to the country. Representatives of the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) met the delegation led by the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia in Khartoum on Wednesday, March 26th. Four WCC teams participated in the ecumenical solidarity visit from March 26 to April 2. To read the entire story, click here:  Sudan

GM Missionary to Chile, Elena Huegel, Celebrates Camp Season
Elena writes: "I celebrate new friendships forged in the midst of cultural and language differences!  I celebrate the ties of faith, spiritual bonds that are stronger than the powers of destruction, physical or ideological distances, the chaos of violence or the ruin of injustice! I celebrate the work of many hands, voices, minds and hearts creating, singing, analyzing, loving!  I celebrate churches represented in the "gathering place" around the peace pole where diversity is manifested in unity! I celebrate the birth of the "Fundación Centro Shalom" after six years of work and prayer.  This is the first no-profit foundation under the umbrella of the Pentecostal Church of Chile. I celebrate and shout, "¡Gloria a Dios!," with my feet firmly planted on the earth and my hands stretched towards heaven!" To read more, click here:  Celebrating

Church of Bangladesh Social Development Program Shares Success Stories
Sareswait Baroi and her husband were day laborers and were in very poor economic condition when she gave birth to three children. In 2004 she joined a Church of Bangladesh Social Development Program development group, and took part in development activities for her family.  During a four year period, she took out two micro-credit loans from the Community Development Project. Her first loan was for 2,000 taka* and later for 4,000 taka. These funds were used for income-generating activities like goat rearing and share cropping.  She initially purchased two goats with 1100 taka.  Now she has six goats and earned 1200 taka by selling one goat. Sareswati and her husband have worked very hard together to be able to repay the loans and have been a great example of gender equality in practice. They now have a secure income; their children are healthy and studying in school, and face the future with confidence, no longer feeling downtrodden and victims of poverty. *$1.00 U.S. = approximately 69 taka. To read other stories of families and individuals who have been helped by GM partner, the Church of Bangladesh Social Development Program, click here:  CBSDP

If you would like to receive directly to your inbox these weekly Global Ministries updates, please send your name, e-mail address, physical address, phone number, and home church to: bshebeck@dom.disciples.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Find a Missionary Visit in your State: (new visit added this week!)
Penn NE:  April 6 to 30, 2008, Jeffrey Mensendiek (Council on Cooperative Mission, assigned to the Emmaus Center in Sendai, Japan) Contact: Alan Miller alanm@pnec.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
Penn SE: April 6 to May 31, 2008, Dale and Bethsaba Nafziger (National Churches Fellowship of Nepal) Contact: Geneva Butz butz@psec.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
IA: May 1 to June 30, 2008, Linda and Bruce Hanson (The Christian Development Commission (CCD) and The Theological Community of Honduras (CTEH) Contact: Selva Lehman selvarl@mchsi.com This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
Southern CA: May 1 to June 30, 2008, Jeffrey Mensendiek (Council on Cooperative Mission, assigned to the Emmaus Center in Sendai, Japan) Contact: Virginia Arroyo arroyo@scncucc.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
WV: May 1-31, 2008, Krista Johnson (Sabeel in Jerusalem) Contact: Thad Allen tallen@wvdisciples.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
NC: May 1 to June 30, 2008, Tim Rose (Reformed Church of France) Contact: Janelle Bunn janellebunn@soc-ucc.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
WA: May 10 to June 30, 2008, Ana and Tod Gobledale (Churches of Christ Theological College in Melbourne, Australia) Contact: Marvin Eckfeldt marveck@comcast.net This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
TN: June 8-30 and July 13-20, 2008, Krista Johnson (Sabeel in Jerusalem) Contact: Glen Stewart glenjstewart@bellsouth.net This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
IN: July 6-10, July 14-22 and July 28 - August 10, 2008, Alex Morse (Caminantes in the Dominican Republic) Contact: Cheryl Cloar: cheryl@ccindiana.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
CT: September 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009, Tim Rose (Reformed Church of France) Contact: Cecile Gilson cecileg@ctucc.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it