December 11 – Third Sunday of Advent/World Service Fund (General Board of Global Ministries)
A Moment for Mission
“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.” — Isaiah 35:5-6a, NRSV
Every day, we celebrate the life-changing work of the General Board of Global Ministries. Anchoring its worldwide outreach are four missional priorities: missionaries, evangelism and church revitalization, humanitarian relief and recovery, and global health.
Training, commissioning, assigning and supporting missionaries in the United States and around the world has been at the heart of mission since the founding of the first denominational Methodist missionary society in 1819. Today, United Methodist missionaries serve in about 70 countries in many professions.
Founding and nurturing new faith communities and supporting existing congregations, which seek to increase membership and expand ministries into local communities, has historic roots and contemporary implications for Global Ministries.
Although humanitarian and disaster-response ministries have been part of Methodist mission since Global Ministries’ founding, the creation of the Methodist Committee for Overseas Relief helped to focus the church’s humanitarian response to meet the needs of refugees and displaced people during and after World War II. Over time, the United Methodist Committee on Relief added disaster response, with both international and U.S.-based programs and partners.
Methodism’s focus on health as a part of mission dates back to the 19th and 20th centuries when missionaries expanded the options for health care in underserved communities. Through United Methodist conferences and health boards, Global Ministries strengthens networks of health responses by revitalizing facilities, training staff, building better water sources and improving sanitation and nutrition.
Through our World Service Fund support of Global Ministries, we share God’s profound love.
Children’s Message
Claire is excited. Her United Methodist church in Pennsylvania is sponsoring three refugee families from a country called Afghanistan. When people leave their country to seek refuge, or protection, in another country, they are called “refugees.”
Although Claire has visited her grandparents in another state, she cannot imagine moving to another country, going to a new school and seeing a world vastly different from the one she knows, but she loves making new friends.
Thanks to one congregation’s work with Church World Service, a partner of UMCOR, three refugee families have a place to live. Kind people show them where to buy groceries and school clothes, learn a new language and get settled in their new town.
We follow Jesus when we reach out to newcomers. Isn’t that wonderful?
Offertory Prayer
Loving God, thank you for the opportunities to share your love around the world. Thank you for the amazing work of the General Board of Global Ministries. We love you. Amen.
From Discipleship Ministries: Third Sunday of Advent — Generous God, as we bring our gifts to you this day, we acknowledge that we have been given so much by your goodness, but we have been tight-fisted and slow in giving to help others. In this Advent season of preparation, we ask you to help us live in a new way, to walk a new highway, to set ourselves on the path that leads to a closer walk with Jesus, our example and redeemer. May this be the season when he finds the highways to our hearts prepared for his coming. In the name that is above all others. Amen. (Isaiah 35:1-10)
Newsletter Nugget
Did you know that United Methodist missionaries serve as pastors, evangelists, church coordinators, teachers, health workers, agriculturists, development specialists, community organizers and peacebuilders?
Did you know that Global Ministries’ commitment to evangelism and church revitalization includes starting new churches, providing scholarships for new church leaders and furnishing resources for racial and ethnic faith communities across the United States?
Did you know that UMCOR continues to respond to the needs of refugees and displaced populations, accomplishing disaster response and recovery through U.S. and international offices and networks? Or that Global Ministries’ Environmental Sustainability emphasis strives toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing environmentally sustainable practices throughout the ministries of The UMC?
Did you know that Global Health continues to concentrate on eradicating preventable diseases, such as malaria and HIV and AIDS, and to reach the most vulnerable populations, including mothers, newborns and children?
It’s all true! Your World Service Fund support is essential to Global Ministries’ far-reaching missions. Thank you!