United Methodists support initial relief in China

Residents of Chengdu, China, erect a tent city on the campus of Sichuan University following a massive earthquake that struck the region on May 12. A UMNS Web-only photo by Connie Wieck.

A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*

A United Methodist-supported relief team has been assessing the needs of earthquake survivors in several Chinese villages and distributing emergency supplies.

On May 21, the Amity Foundation team distributed 6.8 tons of oil and 1,700 quilts in the villages of Penghua and Wolong. According to a report from She Hongyu, Amity's overseas liaison, other materials such as waterproof cloths and rice were being purchased.

"Villagers were quite surprised at the speedy action as the need assessment was only done yesterday in these two villages," She wrote. "Villagers took active part in the distribution by helping unloading the goods and putting up the Amity banner."

Ten days after a massive earthquake struck China's Sichuan Province on May 12, the death toll stood at 51,151, according to the Chinese government, with 288,431 injured and another 29,328 missing. The estimate of those left homeless by the quake is a staggering 5 million.

The United Nations announced on May 21 that, at the request of the Chinese government, it will supply 11,000 tents to provide emergency shelter for 55,000 people. The U.N. World Food Program is sending a second round of relief food supplies--a 463-ton shipment of enough rice, wheat flour and cooking oil to feed 100,000 people for three weeks.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief is supporting the relief efforts of the Amity Foundation, a voluntary Chinese Christian organization and longtime partner of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, UMCOR's parent agency.

Amity and UMCOR are both part of Action by Churches Together International. UMCOR is sending $50,000 to Amity through the ACT International partnership, according to the Rev. Sam Dixon, UMCOR's chief executive.

Overseas donations
Amity is receiving a number of overseas donations for its earthquake response, according to Diane Allen, head of the Board of Global Ministries' China Program. "They're coming in from all over the world," she told United Methodist News Service in a May 21 phone interview.

The United Methodist Advance, a voluntary giving program, has given Amity $10,000 from one of its Chinese projects to begin assistance to children orphaned by the earthquake. "They (Amity) are just in the process of evaluating what that would mean," Allen said.

Many mothers responded as Amity joined with "xici.net," a famous Web company in China, to appeal for baby supplies. As a result, 42 boxes of powdered milk, 18 boxes of napkins and 57 boxes of diapers were transported to Chengdu on May 21 for further distribution.

Amity is centering its relief efforts on rural areas, which have not received as much attention as urban centers. On May 19, Amity staff assessed needs in three villages in Mianzhu County and found a shortage of food and plastic sheets for tents. "Many families share one small tent," She's report said. "Oil and equipment for lighting is also very insufficient."

Some 5,600 earthquake survivors remained housed in the temporary shelter at Mianzhu Sport Center. The Amity team visited the center and went to the General Coordinating Office for Earthquake Relief at Mianzhu City, where they discussed potential projects with local government officials.

In Renhe Village of Yinghua Township, Shifang City, the team found an extreme shortage of food. "It was not until three days ago that the elderly and children could have a bowl of rice each day, and no one else," She wrote. "Only this afternoon, on the 8th day, was each victim here given 2 kilos of rice."

In both Mianzhu and Shifang, Amity will distribute quilts, plastic sheets and oil and provide a month's supply of food for all residents. Amity also distributed quilts and met with more than 70 earthquake survivors in Bolin Township on May 18.

A specialized counseling team--six professors from Nanjing University and Nanjing Normal University and two Amity staff--were scheduled to depart for Mianzhu via Chengdu on May 23.

Hongyu noted that Amity has been "deeply moved" by such volunteer efforts and those offering other assistance, ranging from helping Amity receive a free shipment of underwear donated by a company in Shanghai to raising money at subway stations for relief work.

Response by Chinese
Allen believes that compassion and China's sense of national pride have combined to bolster the internal response to the earthquake. "My understanding is the outpouring has been absolutely phenomenal," she said.

The Chinese response to the earthquake will be aided by strong government organizations on every level--national, provincial, city, township and village. "You have an organization and system pretty well in place already to begin to initiate various kinds of ideas," Allen said.

In addition to Amity, she expects the China Christian Council eventually to put out an overseas earthquake appeal. The Rev. Yuan Shiguo, who leads the Sichuan Christian Council, is trying to do an assessment. "They're just now getting in reports from churches in that area," she said.

Nationally, China has undergone three days of mourning for earthquake victims. But Connie Wieck, a United Methodist missionary studying in Chengdu, reported in her blog on May 21 that anxiety over aftershocks had diverted some of the attention.

"Our second day of mourning yesterday was to blanket the city with concern and loving support of our earthquake-hit Sichuanese brothers and sisters," she wrote. "Instead, it turned residents inward. The panic of strong aftershocks left everyone forgetting about those up-province and concentrating more on themselves. My apartment compound's outdoor community doubled. The number of open-sky squatters at Sichuan University exploded. Grocery stores, family-run snack shops and outdoor equipment businesses quickly emptied their shelves.

"Despite seismologists' public news conferences yesterday assuring us that tremors most likely would not cause great harm to the city, it was too late. Panic prevailed. The damage was done.

"Today's final day of national mourning finds Chengdu with cool temperatures, overcast skies and a sizable feeling of relief," Wieck wrote. "In my apartment complex, late morning still had my neighbors sleeping soundly upon their bedding. Most are now in their apartments, going about their daily chores. Shoppers leisurely cruise the streets, but the tent communities remain. No one seems willing to call it quits quite yet."

Donations to UMCOR's relief efforts in China can be made to International Disaster Response, China Earthquake, UMCOR Advance #982450. Checks can be dropped in church offering plates or mailed directly to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY. 10087-9068. Write the Advance number and name on the memo line of the check. Credit-card donations are accepted online at http://www.givetomission.org/ or by phone at (800) 554-8583.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

‘Recipe for Hope’ campaign targets hunger

By United Methodist News Service

Bread for the World has created its own recipe to help address the growing global food crisis.
The "Recipe for Hope" Campaign began on Mother’s Day and runs through Father’s Day on June 15. Bread for the World is a partner with the United Methodist Committee on Relief and the United Methodist Board of Church and Society in the fight against hunger.

United Methodists also will be among those gathering June 17 in Washington D.C. to take part in Bread for the World’s lobby day. After morning worship and a briefing on hunger/poverty issues, participants will speak with members of the U.S. Congress and their staffs on current legislation for hungry and poor people around the world.

The Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, said there are "simple but critical actions" that people can take to end hunger now as part of the Recipe for Hope campaign.

Those actions range from the personal commitment of prayer and fasting to practical actions such as stocking food pantries, educating others on the hunger crisis and raising funds for Christian anti-hunger programs––to advocating for change by writing letters and calling members of Congress to enact long-term solutions to hunger.

When drought, greed and inaction by world leaders are mixed with misguided government policies, "a recipe for despair" is the result. But, Bread for the World suggests, prayer and food for the hungry can be mixed with "policies that help people to feed themselves and their families" to "stir one another to love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24) and create a recipe for hope.

The Recipe for Hope Web site provides weekly "ingredients" for action and resources for churches, including a bulletin insert, pastoral "prayer nuggets" and a litany and prayer "for a time of hunger."

Global food prices have nearly doubled in the last three years, particularly for basic grains like rice, wheat and corn, according to Bread for the World. The World Bank estimates that as many as 100 million people will join the ranks of 854 million poor and hungry people who currently do not have enough to eat each day. Hardest hit are the children––16,000 of whom die daily due to hunger-related causes, or one child every five seconds. "

As Jesus reminds us, when we share our bread with those who are hungry, God blesses even our smallest efforts," said Beckmann. "Feeding the hungry is itself an act of worship."

More information on the Recipe for Hope campaign can be found at www.bread.org/recipeforhope

Church gives out prayer bears to struggling people

By Heidi Robinson*

Cancer survivor Wayne Johnson holds a prayer bear given to him by members of Mount Zion United Methodist Church in Elk Creek, Va. UMNS photos by Heidi Robinson.

ELK CREEK, Va. (UMNS)--Wayne Johnson recalls the day his doctor told him to go home and get his affairs in order. The 52-year-old was not expected to survive surgery to remove his tumor-filled kidney, particularly on the heels of an earlier heart surgery.

"My two kids were sitting right there with me," he recalls. "Can you imagine what that was like? A doctor tells you to figure out things like wills and where you want to be buried."

Waiting for the surgery proved to be the hardest on Johnson and his family. Too sick to work at his coal company and too weak to leave the house, "I just prayed to God to let me live to raise Nick and Ashley," he says.

Hope came from an unexpected source: a stuffed teddy bear from a local United Methodist church--and the prayers it symbolized.

"I was literally sitting there dying," says Johnson. "My daughter's friend Taylor came in to the house after she'd been at church. I was so sick I didn't even get off the couch. And she handed me this bear."

Around its neck was a tag with this message:
"This bear has been among the congregation of Mount Zion United Methodist. It has heard the Word read and taught, prayers prayed, and songs of praise sung. It now comes to you, with prayers for your comfort, strength and healing. May the Lord bless you and keep you in His care."

Johnson and his family were not members of Mount Zion but, but the church was his first stop when he was able to walk on his own following his surgery.

"I knew the people of that church, and I knew the strength of their prayers," he says. "I wanted to thank them … for this bear. It's the anointing of the bear. There is a lot of love in this bear. There is a lot of healing."

Sharing hugs and prayers
Johnson is one of hundreds of people who have been touched by the Mount Zion "prayer bears" ministry. While the church averages between 50 and 60 people in Sunday worship, the congregation has given out more than 300 teddy bears in the last two years to people in need. Each comes with a message of encouragement.

Nestled in the rolling hills near Elk Creek, the small white church is one of five congregations that Pastor Bill Shupe serves. Mount Zion's prayer bear ministry has inspired other churches on his circuit to launch similar ministries.

"It is not always the big things people do that touch lives and inspire hearts," says Shupe. "It is in fact often the small things … given when someone needs them most. A phone call to check on a friend, a hug, and yes, a teddy bear that remind people who are hurting that we, the church, are praying for them in their pain."

The ministry began when Pam Southerland, a lay leader and administrative assistant to the pastor, was experiencing painful symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Her sister, a United Methodist pastor, gave her a teddy bear from her church to remind her that she was receiving prayer and support. Out of her own personal experience came Mount Zion's prayer bear ministry.

"I bought a few bears and brought them into the church and put the tags on them," she says. "I asked the congregation if they would take them to the people on our church prayer list. Then, I invited folks to bring in other bears to be tagged and sent out to anyone who was sick, homebound, hospitalized or just needed encouragement."

The ministry took off. Families would donate stuffed animals and others would take them out in armloads to distribute throughout the community. As the ministry approaches its third year, church member Sherry Hale talks about the ripple effect and the joy of seeing others "pay it forward."

"Folks who have received the bears and come through their hard time are now giving their bears away … to bring hope to other people who need it," she says.

Shupe loves the congregation's enthusiasm. "It's something everyone can do … no matter the age. The bears give everyone a chance to reach out to people in need," he says.

Cuddly ambassadors
On any given Sunday, visitors to the church will find more than people in the pews. Teddy bears perch next to 94-year-old Miss Ester and are also clutched in the arms of children listening to the sermon. As the final hymn ends, people thoughtfully select a furry ambassador of hope for a friend, neighbor or family member.

"I'm getting one for my math teacher," says 11-year-old Micah Pike. "She has breast cancer, and I want her to know we are praying and pulling for her."

His 9-year-old sister, Dara, has selected a bear, too. "My neighbor's wife died. He is really sad. I don't want him to feel lonely," says the fourth-grader.

On the back of each bear's tag are the church address and an invitation to share how the bear helps.

"People write us cards, and letters," says Southerland. "… Folks say that knowing we were praying for them during their time of trouble helped them heal. Of course, it's not just us…. It's God. That's what is great."

*Robinson is a freelance producer based in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Basketball scores big win in anti-malaria campaign

Bishop Thomas Bickerton holds an autographed basketball that was auctioned off during the 2008 United Methodist General Conference, raising almost $430,000 to fight malaria through the Nothing But Nets campaign. UMNS photos by Mike DuBose.

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS)--Delegates to the top legislative body of The United Methodist Church saved the lives of more than 50,000 children while deciding church policy for the next four years.

It all began when Bishop Thomas Bickerton challenged the 992 delegates to General Conference to give up their lunch money on April 25, World Malaria Day, and donate $10 to the Nothing But Nets anti-malaria campaign.

That challenge netted $15,000 and launched a bidding war for a basketball signed by United Methodist bishops. The auction ended in an additional offering of $429,270. At $10 a net, close to 50,000 families will be covered by insecticide-treated sleeping nets in Africa as a result of the donations.

"Who knew one basketball could save so many lives!" declared Elizabeth McKee Gore of the United Nations Foundation, adding that the foundation was "overwhelmed" by the delegates' support of Nothing But Nets.

Along with the foundation, The United Methodist Church is a founding partner of Nothing But Nets, which fights malaria by purchasing and distributing nets to Africa. A donation of $10 covers the cost of delivering one net and teaching a family how to protect themselves from malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

Nothing But Nets is part of the church's Global Health Initiative to fight diseases of poverty and promote congregational health and wholeness.

"Who would have thought that a spontaneous plea for sensitivity in response to World Malaria Day would result in a one-time offering of nearly $15,000 and an auction that has raised nearly $450,000 in pledges!" said Bickerton, president of United Methodist Communications and spokesperson for Nothing But Nets.

"I think we can and should learn some valuable lessons from the whole campaign. It is a spontaneous, grassroots response to a stated need to make the world a better place."

Bidding war
The West Ohio Annual (regional) Conference made the slam-dunk bid of $80,000 to score the basketball. Other bidding conferences were encouraged to pay the amount of their bids as well, even if they were outbid.

"Dear friends, don't you love being part of a church that is becoming a global movement for the making of disciples for the transformation of the world?" asked Bishop Bruce R. Ough of West Ohio, as he took the pass from Bickerton and dribbled the autographed ball to the podium.

Bickerton prepares to present the basketball to Bishop Bruce Ough, whose West Ohio Area scored the winning.

"I often get asked in West Ohio what does it mean to be part of a church that is a movement rather than institution. My standard response is a movement is driven and empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit to reflect the justice and compassion we just sung about. And you have been a part of the movement at this General Conference. We did not vote to do this, did you notice that?"

The bidding among annual conferences began at $1,000, but the action heated up when the Holston Conference offered $32,000 and Central Texas matched that bid. Western Pennsylvania upped the ante to $40,000, and Greater New Jersey came in at $75,000 before West Ohio's offer of $80,000.

"Do I hear a bid of $80,001?" asked Bickerton, before announcing the winning bid.

West Ohio's offering was matched by William H. Gates Sr., co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who had addressed the conference on May 1 and pledged to match the top bid.
Gates praised The United Methodist Church for its work to wipe out malaria. "We are proud to be your partner in this campaign to end the world's worst killer of children. We believe the campaign cannot succeed without you," Gates said.

Global health
The United Methodist Church has "ramped up" its commitment to fight malaria by agreeing to enter into a capital campaign to raise $75 million to $100 million for global health.

"This is a milestone in the church's long history of caring for the poor and the whole person," said Bishop Janice Riggle Huie as General Conference approved the Global Health Initiative on May 1.

Agencies and boards of the church will join with the U.N. Foundation and other organizations to combat the diseases of poverty: HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

To help launch its capital campaign, the church will use a $5 million grant from the U.N. Foundation with support from the Gates Foundation.

The action will mean a four-month planning phase for the Global Health Initiative involving the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, Board of Higher Education and Ministry, Board of Church and Society and United Methodist Communications, said the Rev. Larry Hollon, top executive of United Methodist Communications.

This collaboration of resources "allows us to be more effective," Hollon said.

Hollon said fighting malaria and other diseases of poverty requires a "seismic shift … that we move toward each other in partnership. What I sense is that there is a great yearning. I believe we are at the dawn of a new day."

Bickerton said the church's involvement in addressing global health with secular partners is critical.

"Our unprecedented partnership with the secular world only continues to grow. But as it grows, we find out more and more that our partners are looking for the church to be the glue that will give purpose and meaning to this important endeavor to bring life to a dying world.

"We all need to continue to pray and work for the fulfillment of the goal to make malaria a word we only use when we talk about history."

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

Missionary recounts aftermath in Chengdu

Survivors of an earthquake that struck the Sichuan Province of China on May 12 are afraid to return to their homes in Chengdu due to continuing aftershocks. A UMNS photo by Yue Yaomeng.

CHENGDU, China (UMNS) - Aftershocks of the May 12 earthquake in China continue to make people there uneasy, according to a United Methodist missionary living in Chengdu.

Connie Wieck, a missionary with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, has recounted a few of her experiences on her blog at http://chinawieck.spaces.live.com/. Wieck, who teaches English in China through the Amity Foundation, is on sabbatical doing language study in Chengdu.

On May 14, the aftershocks brought people back to the streets. Wieck, who lives in an off-campus apartment across from the West Gate of Sichuan University, and her dog, Little Flower, resumed their normal walking route around the campus. An earthquake information center had been erected at the head administration building.

Connie Wieck

"Throughout the campus, students had set up their bedding outside, either on the grass or under classroom building overpasses that would protect them from the sun and rain," she wrote. "Well-tended lawns that once were forbidden territory to students now became speckled with squatters. Hundreds of makeshift bedsheet tents, created by ropes attached to trees, were found in the woodsy areas.

"Around the sports stadium, huge plastic canvas sheets had been draped over outdoor exercise equipment, providing quite a cozy corner for the 100 or so students who managed to claim that space. The sports field had also been opened. I calculated 400 or more crashed on the asphalt."

Just outside the campus, university students had set up a booth and were accepting donations for the earthquake victims. Near the gate into her apartment compound, a high school student was collecting clothes for survivors and already had four plastic bags full.

Wieck happened to be at home when the earthquake hit, forcing her to leave her first-floor apartment with her dog and Little Ghost, an abandoned kitten she had rescued a month earlier.

Others there in the early afternoon - the elderly, young mothers or those in private business with flexible working hours - gathered on the grounds of her apartment complex. "Everyone has a cell phone in China, so many were busily text-messaging friends and family members or calling to make sure they were safe," she wrote. "The atmosphere quickly lifted from one of fright to one of a pleasant outing together with friends and family."

It wasn't until she returned to her apartment that evening that Wieck discovered, by surfing the Internet and watching local television stations, the magnitude of the earthquake. The quake registered 7.9 on the Richter scale, and the death toll could reach 50,000, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency.

While about 60 of the complex's residents chose to spend the night outside, some spent "a restless sleep in our own beds," Wieck wrote. "Every quiver of the building had us wondering if it would suddenly become as strong as the first."

United Methodists respond to China earthquake

Yue Yaomeng (left) oversees the loading of tarps that will be distributed by Amity Foundation to survivors of an earthquake that struck the Sichuan Province of China on May 12. A UMNS photo courtesy of Yue Yaomeng.

A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*

United Methodists are working with a longtime partner in China to provide immediate relief to those affected by the massive earthquake in Sichuan Province.

On May 15, China's state-run media announced that the death toll from the May 12 earthquake, which registered 7.9 on the Richter scale, could reach as high as 50,000. The earthquake's epicenter was in Wenchuan county, about 60 miles from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province.

Both the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, including the United Methodist Committee on Relief, and Church World Service are responding to the earthquake through the Amity Foundation.

Diane Allen, who heads the board's China Program, said Amity "has been very swift" in both providing initial aid and giving ongoing reports to its overseas partners. The Amity Foundation is an independent Chinese voluntary organization created in 1985 by Chinese Christians to promote education, social services, health and rural development.

Amity's project officer for disaster programs, Yue Yaomeng, had arrived in Chengdu less than five hours after the earthquake, which occurred around 2:30 p.m. local time May 12.

Allen said that Amity immediately released 1 million yuan, about $145,000, to purchase 6,000 bottle cases of drinking water, 2,400 cases of dried instant noodles and 1,700 plastic tarps for temporary shelter.

Three trucks were sent to Dujiangyan, where hundreds of students were trapped when several schools collapsed during the earthquake.

Distribution of water, rice, tarps
"Amity's relief efforts will concentrate in Sichuan Province, as well as neighboring Gansu and Sha'anxi provinces that have also been affected by the quake," Allen said. Those efforts will include the immediate distribution of drinking water, rice, quilts and plastic tarps.

Allen has visited Sichuan Province in the past, and she described it as a mountainous region that is "spectacularly beautiful." But the mountainous terrain, she added, makes it hard to get vehicles there, particularly after the rain. Three days after the earthquake, rescuers were still cut off from some of the affected villages.

For long-term relief, Amity has drawn up plans for a post-crisis phase that includes the reconstruction of houses, collapsed schools, township hospitals and village medical clinics, as well as of drinking water and irrigation systems.

According to Amity's official appeal, its relief work, administered through its local partners, will concentrate on families whose homes are uninhabitable because of structural damage and collapse, those who have lost more than two-thirds of their possessions, and the extremely impoverished in the affected regions.

Overseas relief is critical for the earthquake victims, Allen pointed out, because despite its economy, China "has one of the largest gaps between the rich and poor of any nation on earth."

"China's singular focus on the economy in the last 20 years has created a litany of social ills," she explained. "There is a great disparity between those who live in the poor remote western provinces of China (where the earthquake occurred) and the relatively rich urban east, which showcases Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, all large and prosperous cities."

Poverty-stricken region
According to World Bank estimates, about 45 percent of China's population live on $2 a day, with much of that population in the earthquake region. Migrant workers have flocked to the cities, sometimes leaving their children with grandparents in rural villages.

"Consequently, there are villages where adults of working age are clearly in the minority, as they have had to make the hard choice to go elsewhere for work, in hopes of returning in a few years, a little better off," Allen said. "When an earthquake like this one hits a village where the majority of residents are the very young and the very old, it is doubly tragic."

Ken Guest, a United Methodist and an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Baruch College in New York, agreed that the earthquake has made a bad economic situation worse in what is a beautiful and fertile but basically rural region. "Sichuan Province is one of the poorest provinces in the country," he said. "A lot of the young people from these areas leave to find work."

Guest, who has studied immigration patterns from China's Fuzhou Province to New York, noted that when Chinese from Fuzhou go to the New York area in search of restaurant jobs, they rent their fields to internal migrants from Sichuan.

Sichuan also is a "hot spot" because it borders Tibet on the southwest end. "It's an area of concern for the government in general in terms of political stability," he said.

Donations to UMCOR's relief efforts in China can be made to International Disaster Response, China Earthquake, UMCOR Advance #982450. Checks can be dropped in church offering plates or mailed directly to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, N.Y. 10087-9068. Write the Advance number and name on the memo line of the check. Credit-card donations are accepted online at http://www.givetomission.org/ or by phone at (800) 554-8583.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

Churches help families left behind after raids

Mariela, 18, is the primary caregiver for her three young sisters since their mother was arrested during an April 16 immigration raid at a Chattanooga, Tenn., poultry plant. UMNS video images.

By Heidi Robinson*

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (UMNS)--Textbook open, Mariela studies environmental science while her three younger sisters watch TV before bed.

In a few minutes, she will help them brush their teeth and say their bedtime prayers. But the 18-year-old is not babysitting. Mariela is the primary caregiver for her sisters ages 2, 4 and 7 now that their mother is gone--arrested in an immigration raid at her workplace.

"She was not supposed to be at work on that morning," Mariela says. "My stepfather told her not to go … but she wanted to make some overtime to send more money to (family in) Guatemala."

U.S. immigration officers arrested Mariela's mother on April 16 at the Pilgrim's Pride poultry processing plant in Chattanooga during a crackdown on an alleged scam to provide fake IDs for illegal immigrant workers. Poultry plants in four other states were also raided.

"I waited for her to get home from work, but she never came," Mariela recalls. "I was waiting and waiting. A neighbor called us the next morning to say my mom had been taken. My sisters think she is on vacation in North Carolina. … I cannot tell them she is gone. There is nothing we can do."

Mariela's sisters, all born in the United States, are ages 2, 4 and 7.

Her mother is being held in Louisiana and awaits likely deportation to Guatemala. Mariela's stepfather works a shift job and depends on Mariela to care for the children when she's not in school.

The dilemma is all too common for families broken apart when a family member who is an illegal immigrant is taken into custody. They often leave behind children still in need of parental care. Many of the children are U.S. citizens, born in the United States.

"These are resilient families … but this is simply traumatic," says the Rev. Mike Feely, pastor of East Lake United Methodist Church and director of the Saint Andrews Center, an outreach of The United Methodist Church.

Feely compares the after-effects of the immigration raid to the aftermath of a natural disaster.
"If you lost a loved one all of a sudden, and now they're in another country, and the only way you can communicate is by phone … that's like a death," he says.

The United Methodist Church has long advocated for comprehensive immigration reform in the United States. At its recent General Conference, the church's top legislative body adopted a resolution calling for "full protection of all workers, which includes the opportunity to gain legal status for all migrants." The resolution also urges U.S. lawmakers to ensure that immigration laws do not rip apart families.

Chaos in the aftermath
Approximately 100 Chattanooga workers were among 280 immigrants arrested following an investigation of employees at Pittsburg, Texas-based Pilgrim's Pride, one of the nation's largest chicken-processing companies. The other plants raided were in Mount Pleasant, Texas; Live Oak, Fla.; Moorefield, W.Va.; and Batesville, Ark. According to news reports, those determined to be in the country illegally but not engaged in identity theft may be deported or given the option to leave.

The raids left family advocates such as Feely and the Rev. Sam Gutierrez scrambling to tend to the needs of families such as Mariela's. Gutierrez leads a Spanish-speaking service at East Lake United Methodist Church, where Mariela has attended the youth group.

"This is the side people don't see," Feely says. "For example, we have one single mom we're helping. She has three kids, but she picked up four more from her neighbor's house … because otherwise she knew the kids would be waiting and there would be no one at home. Both parents were picked up. We're helping with these situations … where someone is now feeding eight at dinner, and they're used to feeding two."

The raids created complex issues made more difficult by language barriers. The staff and partners at the Saint Andrews Center responded as quickly as possible.

Family support
On a Thursday evening following the raids, more than 300 people, including children, packed the center's basement for a special informational session where eight volunteer attorneys helped the families sort out their legal issues.

"I'm here tonight because I am an immigrant myself," says manufacturing executive Ed Canler, serving as a translator. "… We cannot just take a knife and cut these families apart. We do not want to see a group of people and their problems marginalized, but that has happened to the Hispanic community."

Canler immigrated to the United States from Cuba as a boy and speaks fluent Spanish. Several members of his church, Christ United Methodist, also came to help.

There were many questions--questions about housing, legal aid and child custody.

Feely said other families face more basic questions--such as how to feed themselves and pay the rent if the breadwinner is now gone from the house.

"I would like these families to be seen as working individuals who have the same dreams and aspirations as the first pilgrims who came to this country," Canler says.

For Mariela, she still dreams of having her family together again, finishing high school and building a future.

"My dream job? I want to help people … especially older people. I would like to be a nurse for the elderly," she said. "They really need help, and many young people don't understand how to help them. God tells us to help others."

For more information about the Saint Andrews Center and how to help, visit http://www.st-andrewscenter.org/.

*Robinson is a freelance producer based in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Faith groups work toward Myanmar relief

NEW YORK (UMNS)-As aid trickles in to cyclone survivors in Myanmar, United Methodists and other faith-based groups are cooperating on relief efforts.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief is working with partners in the Action by Churches Together network, including Church World Service. Local partners have distributed water purification tablets, food and materials for shelter reconstruction, according to the Rev. Sam Dixon, UMCOR's top executive.

About 1.5 million people are thought to be at risk following the May 3 cyclone in the Southeast Asian nation, formerly known as Burma. The Myanmar government now puts the official death toll at 34,273, but the United Nations believes that 62,000 to 100,000 may have died.

Government restrictions in Myanmar have hampered efforts by other nations and relief organizations to rush aid to the cyclone survivors. The military has ruled the country since 1962.
"The United Methodist Committee on Relief is persistently pursuing all avenues to provide relief in Myanmar," Dixon said. "The faith-based disaster response community is working closely together to bring relief to those suffering following Cyclone Nargis, and it's working."

He added that recovery from the cyclone--the worst to hit the region since 1991--will require both immediate and long-term response.

ACT has established a rapid-support team in Yangon and Bangkok, according to John Nduna, international director. The team is assisting with coordination and communication for ACT members and supporting local organizations.

A preliminary response in the coming days aims to assist at least 10,000 families through water, shelter and cash for work programs, he said.

Frustration at pace of relief
During a May 12 press conference in New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed "immense frustration" with the pace of cyclone relief efforts. Citing the risk of an outbreak of infectious disease, he called upon Myanmar's government to prevent the disaster from becoming even more serious.

An ACT member-supported local organization reported that in the Irwaddy delta region, "many townships are totally destroyed with much loss of life and infrastructure. Electricity supplies are cut off, while diesel, natural gas and petrol are unavailable."

An ACT member representative expressed shock at the overwhelming devastation in the delta region. "During the three hours we sailed in the delta, I saw around 30 bodies including children," said the representative, adding that they also witnessed two mass burials.

"Just next to the corpses, women are standing, washing clothes in the river and fetching water," the representative reported, expressing concern about cholera and other waterborne diseases.

ACT members are concerned about food shortages, increasing food costs and the fear that many communities might miss the next planting season. They are coordinating efforts with the U.N. World Food Program. Sixty to 70 percent of Myanmar's rice production is grown in areas affected by the cyclone.

The World Food Program estimates that the amount of food assistance allowed into the country so far is less than one-tenth of what is needed, according to a U.N. report.

Contributions
Dixon said financial gifts will allow UMCOR to respond immediately and generously when the appropriate structures are in place to provide further assistance.

Donations to UMCOR Advance No. 3019674, Myanmar emergency, can be made online at www.givetomission.org. Checks also can be dropped in church offering plates or mailed directly to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. Write the Advance number and name on the memo line of the check. Credit card donations are accepted by phone at (800) 554-8583.

*UMCOR and ACT contributed to this report.

UMCOR, conferences respond to U.S. storms

An EF4 tornado cut a swath across southwest Missouri on May 10, damaging and destroying dozens of homes in Newtonia as a series of deadly storms also hit areas of Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama. A UMNS photo by Michael Raphael/FEMA.

A UMNS Report

By Susan J. Meister*

In an unusually active U.S. tornado and spring storm season, the United Methodist Committee on Relief is working with United Methodist annual (regional) conferences that are establishing recovery ministries.

Tornadoes and severe storms that erupted on May 10 raced across parts of the Plains and the Southeast, battering towns and killing at least 27 people in Oklahoma, Missouri, Georgia and Alabama, according to news reports.

"We've had one after another down here!" said Karen Benson of the Missouri Conference disaster response team.

As of May 12, the conference had eight separate recoveries under way--from two ice storms, three flood events and three tornado systems. The latest storms affected three counties--Jasper, Berry and Newton--in southwest Missouri.

UMCOR has been assisting the conference and is issuing an emergency grant. Additionally, UMCOR consultant Mary Gaudreau will assist with long-term recovery plans.

"We are part of the statewide larger response," said Benson, co-chairperson of the government, faith-based and community partnership. "We are also active with state VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) and MIDRO (Missouri Interfaith Disaster Response Organization). Of course, United Methodists will be training long-term response organization case managers."

Benson said several out-of-state teams are ready to assist with debris removal.

Assessments in Oklahoma and Georgia
Tornado damage in Oklahoma was in the northeast part of the state, near the town of Picher, where seven people died in the storms. UMCOR is in close communication with the Oklahoma Conference and is issuing an emergency grant to help launch the recovery. Gaudreau and Karen Distefano, Bartlesville District disaster coordinator, toured the affected areas on May 13 to begin assessments.

"We are really in an emergency stage at this time," said Richard Norman, disaster response coordinator for Oklahoma Domestic Missions. Any response must take into account that Picher is a Superfund site, the location of former lead and zinc mines.

Oklahoma emergency management officials invited state VOAD partners on May 13 to begin sending in early response teams to the area, and Norman said the conference is organizing teams.

The Rev. Brad Brady, superintendent of the Macon District, South Georgia Conference, reported that damage in his area is widespread over many communities. "We're assessing the damage at this point," he said. "We know that there are lots of trees down on houses and roads, and business areas are destroyed."

The May 10-11 tornadoes were the latest in a busy tornado season. Deadly storms damaged or destroyed homes and knocked out electrical power in Arkansas, Mississippi and Virginia on May 1-2, injuring an estimated 200 people in Virginia and killing seven in Arkansas.

How to help
UMCOR is working with affected annual conferences to meet emergency needs, assess damage and help with the long-term recovery plans.

Donations can be made to Domestic Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #901670. Checks can be dropped in church offering plates or mailed directly to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087. Write the Advance number and name on the memo line of the check. Credit card donations can be made by calling (800) 554-8583 or online at http://www.givetomission.org/.

*Meister is domestic disaster response correspondent for UMCOR.

Teens help homeless with fashion show

By John Gordon*

Chloe Phelps (left), a member of Centenary United Methodist Church, and Anna Marie Carr model for a fashion show that raises money to help the homeless in Winston-Salem, N.C. UMNS photos by John Gordon.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (UMNS)-At first glance, they appear to have little in common-students modeling the latest fashions and, just a few miles away, dozens of homeless men and women walking the streets.

But the high school and college students walking down the runway are more than friends of fashion. The youth group from Centenary United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem is raising money for the Love Thy Neighbor ministry, which holds block parties for the homeless.

"We began calling it Love Thy Neighbor out of the Matthew passage that says, 'love your neighbor as yourself,'" explains Lisa Waugh, 18, a high school senior in charge of the second annual Friends for Fashion show held at a local country club.

The shows raise about $10,000 a year for the outreach.

Waugh and two friends from the Centenary youth group started Love Thy Neighbor after a life-changing mission trip to San Francisco. They worked alongside volunteers from Glide Memorial United Methodist Church to help the homeless-and they brought the vision back home.

"Most of the kids were from very affluent families, middle- to upper-class white families, and we were used to going to school with people who were very much like us," Waugh says.

"After Glide, we came back and were like, there is actually a serious problem and it's literally right outside our door. We have to do something," she says.

Developing relationships
The students came up with the idea of holding block parties on the church grounds to serve meals to the homeless. They also play games, hand out socks and toiletries, and get to know their neighbors.

"We have developed relationships with them," says Lindsay Rothrock, 18, a college student who helped start Love Thy Neighbor. "A couple of them have actually joined our church now. There's one man who comes and helps us set up; he helps us to run the block parties."

Lindsay Rothrock (left to right), Lisa Waugh and Ann Bennett Thomas started the homeless ministry after a mission trip to San Francisco.

About 80 people attended the first monthly block party, and attendance has since grown to around 200. The program is being expanded to twice a month.

"It touches my heart," says Robert Wooten, a homeless person. "I'm not a bad person. I've had difficulties in my life. But it really touches my heart that young people care enough about people to try to help."

Wooten says he owned a car-detailing business in Florida that closed due to an economic downtown. He moved to Winston-Salem to be closer to his hometown but has not been able to find a job.

Looking through a new lens
Ann Bennett Thomas, the third teen who started Love Thy Neighbor, says the ministry also tries to address misperceptions about the homeless.

"People get the wrong idea about homeless people, and they think that they're just bums that have nothing to do, (nothing) good to do with their lives," she says. "But a lot of them have just hit one spot in the road that just tears apart their whole life. And they're just trying to slowly build it back."

Those attending the fashion show also applaud the youth group's efforts.

"I think it's phenomenal," says Winston-Salem resident Dana Hite. "I give credit to these young children to be thinking so deeply about the needs of people."

Reaching out to the homeless is also shaping the future plans for the ministry's founders.

Rothrock is a freshman at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. She is majoring in human and organizational development and hopes to work for a nonprofit organization after she graduates.

Thomas is attending Clemson University in South Carolina and volunteers at a community center that serves the homeless.

Waugh plans to sign up for as many mission programs as she can while attending college, and wants to join the Peace Corps.

"Honest to God, it has been better for me than it has for anyone that we've ever served," Waugh says. "It showed me my passion and it has showed me what I need to do with my life, and now I know. And it feels good knowing that you have a purpose."

*Gordon is a freelance writer and producer based in Marshall, Texas.

Relief efforts for Myanmar continue (REVISED)

Cyclone Nargis’ deadly swath through Myanmar’s low-lying delta area is illustrated in this topographic map. A UMNS illustration courtesy of Robert A. Rohde, Wikipedia.

NEW YORK (UMNS)-Working from its Thailand office, Church World Service has begun preparations for cyclone relief to Myanmar.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief is partnering with CWS on emergency relief for nearly 1 million people that the United Nations estimates were left homeless after Cyclone Nargis struck the Southeast Asia nation on May 3. Up to 100,000 people may have died, and tens of thousands are missing.

According to news reports, the first seven tons of U.N. relief supplies arrived in Myanmar by air on May 8, and U.S. officials said they appeared to be close to an agreement with the military government there to send in aid. Priority needs are identified as food, plastic sheeting, water purification tablets, basic medical kits and sleeping nets.

UMCOR has contributed to the CWS fundraising appeal, which raised more than $50,000 in less than a day and has been expanded. "We anticipate that Myanmar's officials will now be more responsive in granting visas to aid workers, in view of the enormity of their country's situation," said Donna Derr, CWS emergency response program director in Washington D.C.

In response to the emergency, the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License No. 14, which authorizes certain financial transactions to support humanitarian or religious activities by nongovernmental organizations in Burma (Myanmar).

Food crisis
The initial focus for CWS will be on food aid, followed by shelter needs. According to its coordinator for the Myanmar effort, the agency is particularly conscious of organizing food aid in a manner that "doesn't adversely affect local markets, in light of the current food crisis," which was further inflamed in Myanmar just after the cyclone.

On May 9, the CWS regional office in Bangkok will host a coordination meeting of members of the international ACT (Action By Churches Together) Alliance that intend to work in Myanmar. UMCOR also is a part of ACT.

ACT members with staff or partners present in the city of Yangon have reported that water and electricity supplies have been cut. They say that, while the greatest needs are for food and shelter, the prices of food and other essential items are skyrocketing.

CWS will promote adherence to international aid standards by the aid community in Yangon "to help ensure the best quality of response and coordination by all of us, at all levels, in this particularly difficult situation."

Contributions
Contributions to UMCOR's response to the cyclone should be earmarked for UMCOR Advance No. 3019674, Myanmar emergency, and can be made online at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/. Checks also can be dropped in church offering plates or mailed directly to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. Credit card donations are accepted by phone at (800) 554-8583.

A Sunday bulletin insert from UMCOR for local churches can be found at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/work/emergencies/ongoing/myanmar/

*Church World Service contributed to this report.

UMCOR starts response to Myanmar cyclone

A satellite image shows the path of Cyclone Nargis as it strikes the coast of Myanmar on May 3. A UMNS photo courtesy of NASA.

By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS)-As the death toll rises in Myanmar, the United Methodist Committee on Relief is planning its response to the devastating cyclone in Southeast Asia.

As of May 7, more than 22,000 were presumed dead from the cyclone, which struck May 3 and wiped out entire villages. Another 41,000 people are missing, according to Myanmar's state-run media. A U.S. diplomat based in Myanmar later told CNN that the death toll could exceed 100,000, with another 70,000 missing.

The path of Cyclone Nargis included Hsing Gyi Island, through the rice-producing Irrawaddy Delta and the main city of Yangon (formerly Rangoon) and finally into the Pegu region.

UMCOR is working on relief efforts with its partner Church World Service and has established UMCOR Advance No. 3019674, Myanmar emergency, for donations.

Methodism has had a small but longtime presence in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Bishop Zothan Mawia of the Methodist Church of the Union of Myanmar was a delegate to the April 23-May 2 United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas.

His church was founded by U.S. missionaries in the late 1800s, split in 1994, but reunited in 2000 when the bishop was elected. The Methodist Church of Upper Myanmar was founded in Mandalay in 1887 by several British Methodist pastors and later became the Burma district of the British Methodist Conference. Both churches became autonomous when Burma gained independence in 1964.

The Rev. Sam Dixon, UMCOR's chief executive, has been in contact with Mawia, who had stayed in the United States to attend his daughter's college graduation ceremony. "He's tried to find ways to get back but has not been successful," Dixon said in a May 7 interview.

Dixon expressed concern to the bishop about the loss of life and destruction of property caused by the cyclone, along with its leaving many in Myanmar without a way to produce income. Of particular concern, he added, is "the long-term consequences of the inability to produce rice, not only for their own consumption but for export to Sri Lanka and India."

UMCOR wants to support the Burmese community in the United States as well as cyclone survivors in Myanmar. "We are somewhat limited in our ability to do so," Dixon acknowledged. "Our only active partner there is Church World Service."

UMCOR has responded to the $5,000 initial request from Church World Service, and Dixon was scheduled to take part in a telephone call with Action by Churches Together, which could offer the opportunity to connect with additional partners for emergency response.

The agency would consider becoming operational itself in Myanmar "if the circumstances would permit us to do so," he said.

U.S. aid
"Because they (Myanmar's government) are on the watch list for the (U.S.) federal government, it's difficult to get money into the country legally," Dixon explained.

On May 6, U.S. President George W. Bush signed a bill, passed by leaders of Congress, honoring Daw Aung San Suu Kyi with the Congressional Gold Medal. She has been under house arrest by Myanmar's military government for 12 of the last 18 years.

"Burma has been hit by a terrible natural disaster," Bush said after the signing. "Laura and I and members of the Senate and House here express our heartfelt sympathy to the people of Burma. The United States has made an initial aid contribution, but we want to do a lot more. We're prepared to move U.S. Navy assets to help find those who've lost their lives, to help find the missing, to help stabilize the situation. But in order to do so, the military junta must allow our disaster assessment teams into the country.

"So our message is to the military rulers: Let the United States come to help you, help the people. Our hearts go out to the people of Burma. We want to help them deal with this terrible disaster. At the same time, of course, we want them to live in a free society."

Donations to UMCOR for UMCOR Advance No. 3019674, Myanmar emergency, can be made online at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/. Checks also can be dropped in church offering plates or mailed directly to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. Credit card donations are accepted by phone at (800) 554-8583.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

Easter Seals Tennessee is seeking camp staff for its Camping & Recreation Program

May 1, 2008

Dear Potential Camp Staffer,

We invite you to join the Easter Seals team in be a member of our 2008 Camp staff. Easter Seals Tennessee (EST) Camping & Recreation Program offers a variety of activities such as swimming, canoeing, arts and crafts, fishing, tennis, and much, much more. Each camper is assessed at the beginning of camp and a program is designed to work on skills that will benefit that individual based on the nature of the disability. Some examples of skills addressed for each person include: fine motor, gross motor, sensory, and social. Camp is a supportive environment that stimulates children and adults living with disabilities to be self-reliant, independent and motivated.

In addition to the week-long summer camping sessions offered, we host respite weekends throughout the year as well as one week of respite care during the December holidays. These camping and respite sessions offer families the opportunity to take a break from the strenuous responsibility of caring for an individual living with disabilities.

At this time we need camp staff for several summer events:
· Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Weekend: May 31 – June 1, 2008 (4H Camp - Crossville, TN)
· Respite Weekend: June 6 - 8, 2008 (4H Camp - Columbia, TN)
· Children’s Camp sessions June 29 – July 4, 2008 (4H Camp – Crossville, TN)
· Performing Arts Camp session July 27 – August 2, 2008 (4H Camp – Crossville, TN)
· Adults’ Camp sessions August 3 – 8, 2008 (4H Camp – Crossville, TN)
· TBI Camp August 10 – 15, 2008 (YMCA Camp - Antioch, TN)

Staff training week will be May 18 – 23, 2008 at the Boy Scouts of America camp in Lebanon, TN.

This year brings a new camp schedule for us along with new locations. We know, however, that our camps will still make a huge difference in the lives of our campers and their families. I hope you will join us as we take this exciting journey this summer! To obtain an application or to inquire further please contact Rusty Parrish; 615-292-6640 x 107 or rparrish@eastersealstn.com or Michell Morse 615-292-6640 x 121 or mmorse@eastersealstn.com .

Thank you, in advance, for your interest and application! We look forward to working with you!

Sincerely,

Rusty Parrish, PHR
Director of Human Resources,
Easter Seals Tennessee



2008 Easter Seals Camp Staff Pay Rates

New Staff with no experience: $180.00 per week

Staff new to Easter Seals but previous camp counselor experience: $200.00 per week

Staff in 2nd year at ES Camp: $220.00 per week

Staff in 3rd+ year at ES Camp: $240.00 per week

Head Counselor: $255.00 per week

Gates thanks United Methodists for partnership

William H. Gates Sr. addresses delegates and visitors to the 2008 United Methodist General Conference. Gates, the father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and a co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke on the need to eradicate malaria worldwide. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS)—United Methodists have decided to wipe out malaria because “brothers and sisters don’t sit back and let each other die,” said William H. Gates Sr., co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“I am here today to thank you,” he told the 2008 United Methodist General Conference on May 1, during its worldwide legislative meeting.

“We are proud to be your partner in this campaign to end the world’s worst killer of children. We believe the campaign cannot succeed without you.”

The United Methodist Church is a founding partner of the Nothing But Nets anti-malaria campaign, which fights the disease by purchasing and distributing insecticide-treated sleeping nets in Africa. More than $20 million has been raised since the campaign began in 2006.

The church also recently received a $5 million grant from the U.N. Foundation, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to fight malaria and other diseases of poverty. The money will support a fund-raising and educational campaign to help prevent deaths related to malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

‘Mutual responsibility’

Gates addressed the General Conference during its 10-day meeting to decide church policy for the next four years. Working to achieve global health is one of the denomination’s four newly named areas of focus.

“Almost 300 years ago, your founder, John Wesley, explained the moral implications of what is now fashionably called globalization,” he said. “Wesley’s statement ‘I look on all the world as my parish,’ describes our mutual responsibility.”

Gates, founding partner of a Seattle law firm and the father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, asked the nearly 1,000 delegates to make a personal commitment to help The United Methodist Church end malaria. He said the fight is going to take billions of dollars, more health clinics in more countries and politicians who make the goal a priority.

“But more than anything, the fight against malaria is going to take a firm commitment to John Wesley’s idea,” he said. “You are 12 million people armed with the conviction that all the world is your parish. That makes you the most powerful weapon there is against malaria.”

Bishop Eben Nhiwatiwa, of the church’s Zimbabwe Area, offered thanks to Gates and the church for all the bed nets that have and will be distributed in Africa. Nhiwatiwa said he had participated in distributing nets in a small village in Zimbabwe.

“That village is very far away, but your helping hand has reached there,” he said. Nets that save “tender children are the future of Africa and all of us.”

*Gilbert is a news writer for United Methodist News Service.