The Need Continues for VIM Teams--Information You May Need

Volunteers from around the country have continued to pour into the Gulf Coast. The Mississippi Annual Conference recently reported scheduling their 1,000th team and 10,000th volunteer. Despite this response, skilled and semi-skilled volunteer labor will be the greatest need for years to come. If you need help organizing a team or making contact to schedule a team, please contact me.

You can check the recently updated listing of teams that have been shared with my office at http://tnumc.org/index.cfm?PAGE_ID=1849. Those with contact information listed may be able to accept additional members or be willing to partner with your church.

If your team is not listed here, please let me know so I can add your group. If you would welcome folks from other districts or churches to join you, please also give me contact information to share.

Love and prayers

Rev. Jason Brock
Dir. Love and Justice,
Disaster Response Coordinator
TN Conference United Methodist Church
1110 19th Ave., S.
Nashville, TN 37212
615-329-1177 (office)
JBrock@tnumc.org

Sudan: Hope for Survival -- Harvest and Hope Mark UMCOR's First Year in Sudan

UMCOR will begin an online series on its work in the Darfur area of Sudan on January 27th. There will be two articles per week through February 9.

Long before the convoy of visitors arrived at El Ferdous, the sounds of drums, chants, and singing reached across the woodland savanna. These were the sounds of welcome in South Darfur, Sudan.

United Methodist Committee on Relief workers and representatives of Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church, Tipp City, Ohio*the congregation that has partnered with UMCOR to fund a tools and seeds program for camp residents and their hosts*were in South Darfur to meet camp and village leaders, see one of the 5,200 farms in production, and talk with residents about their experiences.

A Look-Back, One Year Later
From Jan. 26*Feb. 9, during the first anniversary of the program, UMCOR presents a series of stories about the work that United Methodists are funding in Sudan. Two stories will be featured each week.

You'll meet Jane Ohuma, head of mission; Saba, a woman who remembers life before the war; Angelina, one of the women farming at Julha. You'll see an innovation in camp hospitality and the bounty of the harvest.

UMCOR is working on assisting displaced people in Sudan to find their way home, to return to peaceful farming or work. United Methodists can get involved in these ministries through giving to UMCOR Advance #184385, Sudan Emergency. United Methodist Committee on Relief is a 501(c)(3) charity and all contributions are fully tax deductible. Checks may be mailed to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10187-9068. Donors using a credit card may call toll free 800-554-8583.

These stories will be available on the UMCOR Website at http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/

Young people will gather to explore call to ministry

The Rev. Telley Gadson says she will "come full circle" when she preaches at the opening worship service of "EXPLORATION 2006."





Jan. 23, 2006
By Vicki Brown*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - The Rev. Telley Gadson says she will "come full circle" when she preaches at the opening worship service of "EXPLORATION 2006."

Although Gadson, now pastor of Saint Mark United Methodist Church in Sumter, S.C., delivered her first sermon at age 14, she made her final commitment to full-time ministry at the 1994 EXPLORATION event.

"I wanted to be an attorney. I was comfortable with the call to preach, but I didn't want to do ministry full time. I was negotiating with God," the 31-year-old elder recalls. But then she heard the late Rev. Cornelius Henderson, who preached a sermon about the story of Jonah at EXPLORATION 1994.

"Clearly, from that message, I knew God was calling me to Nineveh. ... I went back to my hotel room, and I had a new Bible. I wrote my commitment to the call in that new Bible," Gadson says.

The Rev. Meg Lassiat, director of student ministries, vocation and enlistment at the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, says she's excited about the community that the event will bring together Nov. 17-19 at the Hyatt Regency in Jacksonville, Fla.

"I think there is great value in the number of young people who can be there," says Lassiat, who is organizing the event. "Oftentimes, when youth or young adults feel a call to ministry, they don't know other people who are considering the same thing. It's good for them to see that many people are exploring similar questions."

Cindy Heilman, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Kansas, agrees.

"When I was first called, I was kind of confused," she says. The 2000 event in Chicago provided her with a chance to meet others struggling with the same questions. "It helps you sort out what you are really called to do. Makes you feel you are not alone."

The three-day event is designed to help high school seniors to 24-year-olds respond to God's call to ministry, and to explore their gifts for ordained ministry as a deacon or elder in the United Methodist Church. It is sponsored by the Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

Participants pay travel expenses and a $150 registration fee, which includes two nights at the Hyatt Regency, meals and events.

A limited number of registration scholarships are available from the Board of Higher Education and Ministry for eligible participants.

The event comes at a time when many in the United Methodist Church are concerned about the small percentage of ordained clergy who are younger than 35 years old. According to the Pastoral Leadership Search Effort, less than 13 percent of United Methodist clergy in the United States are under age 40, while half are over age 50.

"We've got some younger speakers, we've got deacons and elders, we've got people like Phil Amerson (the president of Claremont School of Theology), who has a lot of experience and passion about engaging young people in leadership. We have two bishops coming," Lassiat says.

In addition to Gadson and Amerson, speakers include the Rev. Susan Wilhauck, assistant professor of Christian formation at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington; the Rev. John Miyahara, director of religious life and community services at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa.; and Bishops Michael Watson of the South Georgia Area and Minerva Carcaño of the Phoenix Area.

Workshops will address such topics as discerning God's call, the steps into ministry, how to balance family life with ministry, and more. Young people will also meet in small groups for discussion.

The workshops will provide participants with an opportunity for discernment, not only about entering the ministry, but about the ministerial path they will choose, Lassiat adds.

"It's not just a matter of asking the big questions of, 'Are you called to ministry?' It's the question of, 'In this time, in this society, in this culture, what gifts do I bring to ministry? In what capacity am I called?' "

For details on the event, go to http://www.gbhem.org/exploration/.

*Brown is an associate editor and writer in the Office of Interpretation at the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

Hurricane recovery stress causing domestic violence increase

Jan. 12, 2006
By John Gordon*

Damage from Hurricane Katrina destroyed two of New Orleans' largest shelters for battered women. The hurricane made landfall Aug. 29. A UMNS photo by John Gordon.


BATON ROUGE, La. (UMNS) - Much of the damage from Hurricane Katrina is obvious - homes, businesses and churches devastated by fierce winds and rising waters.

But the monster storm has also taken an often-unseen, emotional toll.

Counselors at the Capital Area Family Violence Intervention Center in Baton Rouge are dealing with an increasing number of calls to their crisis line. They believe the stress of dealing with the damage caused by Katrina will lead to more calls for help from domestic violence victims.

"Stress of this magnitude, and lasting this long a period of time, is incredibly hard to deal with," said United Methodist Vikki Peay, the center's program director. "And so people don't have healthy ways to cope with it."

United Methodist Vikki Peay is the program director at the Capital Area Family Violence Intervention Center, a shelter in Baton Rouge, La. Counselors at the center believe the stress of dealing with the damage caused by Katrina will lead to more calls for help from domestic violence victims. A UMNS photo by John Gordon. Photo #06027.

Making the problem worse is that the storm wiped out New Orleans' infrastructure for offering help to family violence victims. Two of the city's largest shelters for battered women remain closed.

The Capital Area intervention center's shelter in Baton Rouge, about an hour away from New Orleans, remains open. Peay, who worked as a crisis counselor after Hurricane Lilli battered the state in 2002, said she expects to see an even bigger increase in calls in the months to come.

"Following the storms, there was much more media coverage about pet shelters than about any domestic violence shelter," Peay said.

"Although it has been limited research, we do know that after Hurricane Andrew went through Miami, they had a 50 percent increase in the number of calls and the services that were needed in that area of domestic violence," she said.

One in three women in the U.S. will become victims of domestic violence, she said.

Her concerns are backed by the words of a victim her center has helped. Dawn, a domestic-violence victim who relocated to Baton Rouge after evacuating from a New Orleans shelter, called the ordeal "scary, frightening, overwhelming." Her real name is not being used because counselors said she would be in danger if her abuser knew her whereabouts.

"Unfortunately, tragedy causes a tremendous amount of stress," she said. "And the first area that stress surfaces is in the home."

Dawn said she left an abusive home to protect her children.

"We pray a whole, whole lot to make ends meet, we do. We go without a lot," she said. "But we're safe, we're safe. And that's what counts."

Mary Claire Landry, president of the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said the state's shelters are facing financial problems because of uncertainty over continued state funding. But the need for their services is growing, Landry said.

"Every single woman that we have talked with we've asked, 'Has the situation of domestic violence gotten worse after Katrina?'" Landry said. "And 100 percent of them say, 'Absolutely, it's gotten more stressful and more violent.'"

Landry is working with the New Orleans Police Department to re-establish a domestic-violence unit and crisis-intervention team. Counselors are also working at assistance centers operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to offer help to victims.

"Part of what's happened now is that the infrastructure has been so damaged that people don't know where to call for help," Landry said. "Phone numbers aren't working, phone numbers have changed, phones don't always work properly."

The Baton Rouge center operates a 24-hour crisis line. Besides shelter and counseling, the center has staff attorneys to help victims with restraining orders and other legal issues.

Peay said adults are not the only ones affected by family violence.

"We find that about 50 percent of the time, children in the homes where domestic violence occurs are sexually assaulted or abused," she said. "And so we work with moms to recognize signs and to talk with them about services and support for the children."

And despite the difficulties of starting over in an area ravaged by Katrina, Dawn has no doubts she made the right decision.

"I know I'm on the right road and things will work out," she said. "I'll continue to proceed in faith."

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

Africa University Partners with Chevron, Angolan University

Jan. 12, 2006
By Lara Langlois and Andra Stevens*

MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) - United Methodist-related Africa University is joining forces with Chevron Corp. in an initiative to help with the reconstruction and development of Angola.

The $1 million capacity-strengthening effort focuses on revitalizing a once-thriving agricultural zone, Huambo Province in Central Angola, by encouraging entrepreneurship to boost incomes and improve livelihoods. Its nucleus is Agostinho Neto University, Angola's oldest and largest higher-education institution, and that school's Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, based in Huambo.

Beginning in February or March, Africa University will offer professional training for students and staff of Agostinho Neto University's Faculty of Agricultural Science. Africa University will also help its Angolan counterpart establish English language instruction centers and livestock and crop production units in Angola.

"Each year, we see the dream of this institution coming into fuller realization," said Rukudzo Murapa, Africa University's vice chancellor. "This project is a huge challenge for Africa University. … It goes to the heart of what this institution is all about: looking for skills gaps wherever they are on the continent, offering relevant training, research and service, and equipping African communities to prosper. That's what we're set to do in Angola."

Chevron brought the two universities together. Officials exchanged visits last fall, and talks began around replicating successful Africa University programs and projects - including English as Second Language training as well as mushroom, dairy and poultry production - at the Huambo campus.

According to Mamadou Beye, project coordinator for Chevron's Angola Partnership Initiative, management from the Angolan school toured several universities in America and Europe before opting for Africa University.

"The decision to partner with Africa University was based on the quality of the university, the quality of its staff, the integrity, and the ingenuity the staff is using to make every dollar highly productive," Beye said.

Chevron is underwriting the collaboration between the two institutions. The effort is part of the company's ongoing Angola Partnership Initiative, launched in November 2002. It has raised more than US$50 million in public and private financing, with US$25 million from Chevron alone. The initiative aims to build Angola's human capacity so that communities enjoy greater economic stability and improved quality of life.

Three years after the end of a lengthy civil war, Angola is poised to exploit its rich potential, but it faces critical challenges. The revitalization effort centered at Agostinho Neto University represents much of the nation's struggle in microcosm.

The school's Faculty of Agricultural Sciences shut down operations in 1992 due to the ravages of war and only reopened in May 2003. Bullet-ridden and roofless buildings are still the norm. At night, students can be seen coming out of buildings to study by the light of street lamps.

A formerly prosperous 2,000-hectare university farm, with its impressive glass greenhouses, is significantly underused.

Nonetheless, the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences' potential for contributing to prosperity in Huambo is evident, says Ernest Muzorewa, who led an Africa University assessment team on a visit to the project site last November.

Arable land is abundant, and before Angola's 27-year civil war, the area was considered the country's breadbasket. The climate supports a range of commercial crops, and the people display "a spirit to achieve," according to members of the Africa University assessment team.

But war drove local farmers from the fields. Three-quarters of the province's population fled in search of refuge. The agriculture that once fed wealth in Huambo died because of landmines and displacement.

Africa University can provide what the school lacks: access to highly developed and successful agricultural operations, first-rate training of technical staff, as well as programs that will teach the most essential English skills to students.

A twofold approach is envisioned for the agriculture-related training. First, staff and students from operations in Huambo will get field exposure in Zimbabwe. Then they will "learn by doing" in new production units that Africa University will assist the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at Huambo in setting up and managing over the course of the next two years.

In a country where the main investors are Western, English-language skills enhance job opportunities. Africa University will begin offering English as a Second Language courses for Faculty of Agricultural Sciences graduates and others in February, first in Huambo and later in Angola's capital, Luanda.

"If this partnership succeeds, Angolan professionals will emerge from its various activities better equipped to meet the new and evolving needs of their nation," said Jennifer Muzamindo, coordinator of the English Unit in Africa University's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and a member of the assessment team that visited the Huambo university.

Expertise to deliver collaborative activities will be drawn from across Africa University's academic units. Crucial input will come from the agriculture faculty and Africa University's Entrepreneurial Business Development Centre, set up with assistance from Kalamazoo (Mich.) College in the United States. In addition, roles have been identified for the business school, peace and governance institute, and humanities faculty.

Chevron expects to see tangible improvement in the overall capacity and capability of Africa University and Agostinho Neto University as well as enhanced knowledge, skills and experience for students and staff through cross-cultural learning, research, exchange and attachment programs.

"I believe that this public private partnership can yield tremendous benefit and make the South-South cooperation even more meaningful and Africa Renaissance more tangible," Beye said.

United Methodist-related Africa University is a pan-African institution based in Mutare. It offers undergraduate and post-graduate training in agriculture, business, education, health sciences, humanities and social sciences, peace, leadership and governance and theology. Launched as the first private university in Zimbabwe in 1992, it has a student body of more than 1,200 students from 16 African countries.

*Langlois is volunteer staff and Stevens is director of the Information & Public Affairs Office at United Methodist-related Africa University.

United Methodists minister to families in mine tragedy

A memorial service for the 13 men who died in the Sago Mine accident will be held in Wesley Chapel at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon. The service will be Jan. 15. A UMNS photo courtesy of West Virginia Wesleyan College.


Jan. 11, 2006

by Kathy L. Gilbert*

When the community of Buckhannon, W. Va., gathers to remember the miners who died in the Sago Mine tragedy, it will probably be the voice of a 10-year-old boy they will never forget.

Ti (Thomas Issaic) Anderson, son of Tom Anderson, will read Psalm 91 at a community memorial service being organized by church leaders who were with the families throughout the ordeal. The service will be at 2 p.m., Jan. 15, at United Methodist-related West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon.

Psalm 91 was his father's favorite, Ti told the Rev. Mark Flynn, a United Methodist pastor, as they waited in the Sago Baptist Church for news about the miners.

Flynn, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Buckhannon, went to Sago Baptist Church early Jan. 4 after getting a phone call from his wife, who had heard news reports of a mining accident that had left 13 men trapped underground. The families were gathering at the Baptist church to await news about their loved ones.

Flynn, the Rev. Carol Duffield and the Rev. Clifford Schell were with the families when they received word first that the miners were alive and then later that 12 men - including Ti's father - had died.

"I am not sure I have the words for it yet," Duffield said of that night. "It was overwhelming." She is pastor of the Upshur Parish House, a United Methodist mission project in Buckhannon.

"I can't imagine this happening in a worse way," Flynn said of the erroneous reports that the miners were alive. "I was angry at how the coal company had handled the families, but these folks showed a lot of grace and a lot of faith and really ministered to me."

Schell, superintendent of the Wesleyan District of the West Virginia Annual (regional) Conference, said the news that the miners were alive went through the crowd like "a brush fire."

Then at 2:30 a.m., Jan. 3, after three hours of celebration, a coal company executive accompanied by West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III and state troopers, came into the church and told the families only one miner had survived.

"Immediately the joyful elation of the families turned to disbelief, indescribable grief, anger, accusations and an emotional spin down that hurt as they had never hurt before," Schell said. "After anticipating their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers would walk into the church, they now had to suddenly deal with their deaths."

The surviving miner remains in critical condition.

The long hours of waiting with the families in the sanctuary were punctuated with many wonderful moments of sharing with the families, Duffield said.

"Steadfast hope and faith" were the overriding emotions within the sanctuary, she said.

"I think the overall atmosphere within the sanctuary, which no news media really reported, was this oneness. You would see families moving around and trying to support each other. I think that unity was amazing to me. There were moments where anger prevailed, but that was not the norm; the norm was families sitting together or walking around and checking on other families."

Flynn is working with the college chaplain to plan the community memorial service. He said one of their biggest problems is so many people want to participate. For him, working with so many church leaders in the community has been a blessing that has arisen from the experience.

"Most of the pastors I worked with in this effort were from churches that are not part of the W. Va. Council of Churches, pastors who are not in our ministerial association - Baptist churches, Pentecostal churches, independent churches - and these folks were all so gracious, so good to work together.

"It occurred to me if the only other folks we talk with are mainline denominations, we are not as ecumenical as we need to be, and we are not as prepared as we need to be to handle a crisis like this. We really need to be talking with pastors and lay people in these other churches too."

Both Flynn and Duffield said Buckhannon is not a mining town and is different from the way it has been portrayed in the media. The main employer is the United Methodist college. Flynn said only 5 percent of the population makes a living in the mine fields.

At a visitation for one of the families, Flynn said the family shared with him the letter the miner wrote while trapped underground.

"After telling me some of what was in the letter, the widow's grandmother said, 'And he had perfect grammar!' One thing that says to me is that people's stereotypes about West Virginia miners need to be revised, need to be shattered. The other thing is that man had a deep and abiding faith, and he knew he was in God's hands. If he could say those things - and say them perfectly - he was composed. To me, that was something to rejoice about after all we had been through."

In addition to Anderson, Gov. Manchin will participate in the memorial service by escorting the families into the chapel. The governor spent many hours with the families during the ordeal. Flynn said a family member told a colleague, "Mr. Manchin stepped out of his role as governor and became part of our family."

One of the 12 miners who died was a member of Corley United Methodist Church. A memorial service for Jackie L. Weaver, Philippi, W.Va., was conducted Jan. 8 in Philippi led by the Rev. Destry Daniels, pastor at Corley, and the Rev. Arden Beck, retired.

Schell said many pastors and United Methodists helped minister to the families during those fateful hours. Several other United Methodist pastors stood watch with the miners' families during the ordeal, including the Rev. Mitch Griffin, retired; the Rev. Dan Lowther, Frenchton Charge; the Rev. Sue Lowther, Wilsontown Charge; and Tim Kelley, Burnsville Charge.

"Folks did what they could," Schell said. "God knows this, and the rest was in God's hands."

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

The Katrina Church Recovery Appeal #818-001

Katrina is not over. Please join the efforts to restore our congregations, parsonages and mission facilities.

We mourn with our brothers and sisters their great losses while we embrace this opportunity for United Methodists to show commitment to our faith and to one another. Together we can restore mission and ministry while moving into a strong future. Please open your hearts and your wallets to the Katrina Church Recovery Appeal (#818-001). All money you give will help to:

--Restore hurricane-damaged United Methodist facilities.
--Pay salaries for clergy while their congregations cannot do so or until pastors can be reappointed or relocated to another church.
--Establish new congregations or consolidate existing ones in storm-ravaged areas.
--Provide worship necessities—Bibles, hymnals, robes and so forth—to churches in need.

Gifts may be sent in two ways:
· To donate online go to the Tennessee Annual Conference website at http://www/tnumc.org. Near the picture at the center of the site you will see the words Katrina Recovery Bishop’s Appeal Video. Click on the word’s Bishop’s Appeal and you will go to information about The Katrina Church Recovery Appeal #818-001. To watch a video for further information click on the words Windows Media under the picture. When finished go to the bottom of the page and click on the words DONATE ONLINE . You will go to a secure site were you can make a donation using your credit card.

· Local church offerings—Send to conference treasurer. In the memo portion of the check, write Bishops’ Appeal #818-001.

In yearly letter to King, bishop remembers Rosa Parks' impact

Bishop Woodie White writes to the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. each year, in advance of the civil rights leader's Jan. 15 birthday. Now retired and serving as bishop-in-residence at United Methodist-related Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, White was the first top staff executive of the United Methodist Church's racial equality monitoring agency, the Commission on Religion and Race. A UMNS photo by Dan Gangler.





Jan. 6, 2006

By United Methodist News Service

Each year, United Methodist Bishop Woodie W. White writes a "birthday" letter to the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. about the progress of racial equality in the United States. Now retired and serving as bishop-in-residence at United Methodist-related Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, White was the first top staff executive of the denomination's racial equality monitoring agency, the Commission on Religion and Race. King's birthday is Jan. 15, and Americans honor his memory on the third Monday of the month.

Dear Martin:

This year I begin this letter with considerable sadness. Mrs. Rosa Parks' recent death has caused a deep sense of grief. It is surprising to observe how another's death impacts us. You really can never tell how you will respond to death. You simply have to wait.

When I learned Mrs. Parks had died, I was momentarily numbed. Shocked but not surprised. She had been ill for some time, and after all, she was 92. A long and good life. But as the days went on, I found myself falling into a pit of grief that seemed to have no bottom. It was a "silent and alone" mourning. Despite my efforts at self-control, tears came unpredictably. Martin, it was painful.

I was flooded with memories. It is still difficult to believe that it was 50 years ago on Dec. 1, 1955, that Mrs. Parks - quiet, and much admired and respected but unknown beyond her Montgomery, Ala., community - was catapulted into history. She refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man as custom and law required.





Rosa Parks, who died in October 2005, made history 50 years ago when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Ala. Her action spurred a boycott of the city’s bus system, and she became known as the “mother of the civil rights movement.” A UMNS photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.






I was attending a small Methodist college in the South at the time and tasting firsthand the oppressive nature of racism and bigotry in the region. Actually, it was not new to me, despite the fact that I was born and reared in New York City. As a boy, I spent my summer months in a border state with my grandparents and family. It was as rigidly segregated as any state in the Deep South. And of course, I would learn the meaning of racism Northern style!

You had just begun your pastorate at Montgomery's Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. The black community, outraged at the treatment and arrest of Mrs. Parks, knew something dramatic had to be done. Then E.D. Nixon, activist and courageous NAACP leader, and Ralph Abernathy came to you and asked that you lead a new organization, the Montgomery Improvement Association.

The historic Montgomery boycott, which continued for a year, changed not just Montgomery but the nation. There has not been anything comparable to it to this day.

Rosa Parks, now affectionately called the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement" for that simple yet dangerous act, accelerated the movement to end Jim Crow and legal segregation in this nation. She was and is so important to so many of us who remember what it meant to be a black American in 1955.

Martin, I think many younger people, and perhaps those not so young, did not understand our outrage and offense when Rosa Parks' action was made the butt of jokes in a popular movie a couple of years ago. We knew the significance of that act of saying "no" to a white person in the Deep South in 1955! We remember the daily humiliation experienced in many communities because your skin was black and not white.

It was a different America! Clearly we are not where we should be in this nation that prides itself as a model of democracy, but we are no longer where we were in those days of raw, vile prejudice, hatred and segregation. You remember. Not being able to use a public restroom or drink from a water fountain in many communities. Not being able to buy a house or rent an apartment where you had the means to do so. In some instances, not being able to try on clothes in a department store before you purchased them. And in some places, not being able to vote.

Many parents knew the heartbreak of telling a child he or she could not go to the park or romp in the playground, or swim in the community swimming pool. Black Americans experienced so many acts of racism, North and South. Martin, I remember! And it changed because of the courageous actions of those like Rosa Parks, and efforts of white and black people to create a new landscape of American life. Because of you!

In death, Rosa Parks was honored by this nation in a way she was not in life. Her body laid in state in the rotunda of the nation's Capitol, the first woman to be so honored. National leaders, including the president, came to pay their respects to this woman of genuine courage and humility. A statue of her likeness will be commissioned and placed in the Hall of Statues in the Capitol.

While these honors bestowed upon Mrs. Rosa Parks are cause for rejoicing, I have this overwhelming sadness. Perhaps it is so, Martin, because in this death I remember others. Those who touched my life and indeed made a difference in American life. I remember them today; their faces and voices are vivid and clear: Ella Baker, who mentored me when I was an officer in the New York NAACP Youth Council; Gloster Current, Channing H. Tobias and Anna Hedgeman, who encouraged and supported me when I went off to college; Walter White; Lester Granger; James Farmer; A. Phillip Randolph; Fannie Lou Hammer; Whitney Young; Roy Wilkins. And you.

And so many others. Gone. It is a heavy grief today, Martin.

This year, Martin, on your birthday, I remember. I simply remember. In sadness. In gratitude. In hope. Yet because I remember, I have not the slightest doubt that
WE SHALL OVERCOME.

Woodie
Atlanta, Georgia
January 2006

'Stop the killing' in Philippines, United Methodists say

Jan. 6, 2006

By Larry Hollon*
MANILA, Philippines (UMNS) - A United Methodist delegation on human rights in the Philippines called upon President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to take a more aggressive role to stop the killing of clergy, laity, journalists and human rights workers who work with the poor.
Noting that "extrajudicial" murders had increased in the past year in the country, Bishop John Hopkins, head of the delegation, told a Jan. 6 news conference in Manila, "The killing must stop."

Hopkins said the delegation heard deeply moving first-hand testimony from more than 20 victims and surviving family members from many parts of the Philippines, who described the pain and suffering exacted through murders targeting religious and community workers.

"Our people are not armed," said the bishop, who leads the denomination's Ohio East Area. "They teach, provide medical care, counsel and educate. We implore the government and military officials to recognize the important work of those who seek to minister with the poor and marginalized, and to distinguish their work as vital and important to the country and its people."

In hearings with victims, the delegation was told such work is often called "subversive," and individuals engaged in human rights education are falsely accused of supporting terrorism or holding membership in political groups advocating violent resistance to the Arroyo administration.

In an extended visit with Scott Douglas Bellard, acting deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy, the delegation sought the assistance of U.S. officials to press the Philippine government to distinguish between armed terrorists and church and community workers who are conducting their work peacefully.

Bellard is the highest-ranking U.S. official in the embassy. A nomination to fill the vacant post of ambassador to the Philippines was made while the delegation was en route to Manila.
Similarly, the delegation met with Maria Isabel Gonzales-Tobias, undersecretary for religious affairs of the Philippine government, and with several high-ranking members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Delegation members pressed for an end to the adverse labeling of human rights activists and religious workers. Military officials denied that lists known as "order of battle" exist at the national level, but conceded that commanders in local assignments might identify "known troublemakers."

Kristina Gonzalez, a member of the delegation and of the church's coordinating council known as the Connectional Table, told the news conference the security of the nation is being "inversely affected by its lack of commitment to human rights." "The more the government secures the rights of the people, the more secure the whole nation will be," she said. "Similarly, when human rights are violated, the country is less secure."

Jim Winkler, chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, reported that witnesses and survivors told the delegation of armed military personnel in full body armor appearing in neighborhoods and asking the whereabouts of clergy and other workers. Those people then disappear or are found murdered. "We heard patterns of systematic extrajudicial killing," he said.

He recalled other accounts of false public accusations against individuals who began to receive notes with death threats slipped under their doors, sent via text messages or through telephone calls. One priest reported a note threatening his death - accompanied by bullets - being placed in the offering plate of his parish during Sunday worship services.

Several families told of armed men, on motorcycles and wearing ski masks and helmets, ambushing individuals and killing them. The motorcycles lack license tags or carry counterfeit tags, making them untraceable.

The Rev. Larry Pickens, chief executive of the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Affairs and a lawyer, said even those accused of crime must be assured proper legal rights, including the right to face their accusers and to present evidence in their own defense.

Bishop Solito K. Toquero, resident bishop of the Manila Area, noted that the high-level delegation of United Methodist leaders is the second international church group to visit the country and to express deep concern regarding worsening human rights, especially the killings of activists and church workers. Toquero has been rumored to be among those targeted.

The delegation called for Arroyo to take the following actions:

1. "Begin an immediate and impartial investigation of all recent extrajudicial executions. "

2. Make a commitment not to impose martial rule or other limitations on civil liberties or human rights. "

3. Revise the government's military strategy for resolving the insurgency to ensure the safety of noncombatants and to avoid indiscriminate destruction of property.

4. "Cease the practice by the government and military of labeling those who work for justice and for the poor as subversive or communist.

5. "Conduct follow-up meetings with the three bishops of the United Methodist Church in the Philippines, including mission partners in other communions, to discuss progress on the investigations."

The delegation was invited to the Philippines by United Methodist leaders in the country.
Delegation members expressed solidarity with the church in the Philippines and stated support for "courageous ministry with the poor and marginalized."

Other delegation members included the Rev. R. Randy Day, chief executive, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries; the Rev. Larry Hollon, chief executive, United Methodist Communications; the Rev. Liberato Bautista, a Board of Church and Society executive; Ascencion "Inday" Day, executive director, National Federation of Asian-American United Methodists; and the Rev. Ruby-Nell Estrella, superintendent, Northwest Manila District in the Philippines.
*Hollon is chief executive of United Methodist Communications.

Red Bird Missionary Conference Meets Aids Fund Raising Challenge

NASHVILLE - The Red Bird Missionary Conference is leading the way in meeting the fund raising goal of a dollar for every U.S. member to support HIV and AIDS education, prevention and treatment. The 1,385-member conference donated $1,400 to the Global AIDS Fund, bringing the total amount collected to date to $51,800.

"The people in Red Bird Missionary Conference know what it means to struggle with issues that seem insurmountable and know from experience the blessing of being part of a connectional church. While we are often on the receiving side of the church's missional effort, we also have a deep passion for being in mission," said Bishop James R. King, Jr. of the Louisville Episcopal Area.

The 2004 General Conference established the United Methodist Global AIDS Fund to create global partnerships for HIV/AIDS ministry and provide support for such projects. The fund raising goal for this quadrennium is $8 million. Annual conferences have been asked to help in this effort by raising $1 for each of their members.

While Red Bird is the first annual conference to meet that mark, a number of other annual conferences passed resolutions supporting global AIDS awareness and fund raising this year, including Rocky Mountain, Dakotas, Wisconsin, South Indiana, North Georgia, Kansas East, and Iowa.

“The Red Bird Missionary Conference may be our smallest in terms of members, but they certainly have lots of heart,” said Bishop Fritz Mutti, Chairman of the Global AIDS Fund Committee. “They are a model of connectional responsibility. If we each do our part, we can have an impact in the worldwide battle against this devastating disease.”

The latest report on AIDS from the United Nations indicates that HIV infection rates have decreased in certain countries such as Kenya and Zimbabwe, but overall trends in HIV transmission are still increasing. There were more than five million new infections in 2005, bringing the estimated number of people living with HIV to 40.3 million. The report states that three million people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2005, including more than a half million children.