Equipping Volunteers To Change the World

Dear VIM Leaders and Friends of Mission,
 
Last week was an incredible time of leadership development and networking for volunteer leaders in the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference.  What a blessing to be part of a connectional system!
 
Thursday evening I met Greg Forrester, NE Jurisdiction United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) coordinator, and his assistant Jim Underwood near Grove City at the site where we would build a handicap ramp on Friday.   They measured and double-checked Nelson Thayer’s ramp drawing.  As we were leaving, two ambulances arrived, bringing our “client” home from the hospital.  Two crews were needed to lift the gurney up all the steps of the split-level home.  67 years old, recovering from a heart attack and 4 leg infections while she was in the recovery facility, our client had weathered a lot of stress in the past decade – loss of her husband, her son, and a sister that she cared for as she battled cancer.  Her daughters live nearby and are hoping to nurse their mother back to independence.  The ramp will help that to happen.
 
After a quick supper (prepared by my husband’s cooking), Greg met with Jeff Bobin, Fred Watts, and Rick Nelson to focus on Early Response Training and Disaster Response in our conference.
 
On Friday, 20 volunteers from six districts completed the handicap ramp in about 4 ½ hours using ramp modules built by others last summer at the Mission Barn.  This is a rather remarkable fete - the ramp was 62 feet long!)  While building the ramp, those leaders received training from the person who had developed the plans – and all the “tricks of the trade” that come from years of experience building ramps with volunteers.   I hope this will evolve into ramp building as an option for volunteers in every district.  It’s a much-needed ministry.
 
Saturday, Greg Forrester facilitated VIM Leader Training at the Conference Center for 27 people from eight districts.  It was a comprehensive event covering leading volunteer teams locally, nationally, and internationally, with a lot of information provided about Haiti. Greg has been one of the key people setting up the process and procedures that will be used for United Methodist volunteers on United Methodist projects in Haiti.
 
We spread Greg pretty thin for the four days he was in our Conference.  After the training, he left Cranberry Township for Indiana Grace UMC where Larry Catlos hosted him for a church dinner/presentation Saturday evening, as well as church and Sunday School presentations on Sunday.  Many of those who participated on Friday and Saturday already had considerable experience building ramps or leading teams.  What they did was ratchet their knowledge and skills up to the next level – and continue to enhance the networking possibilities within our conference.  Even when teams are not connected to official VIM projects, we still urge training for leaders and reporting about teams!  There are many ways we can enhance the experience for the volunteers we lead, help each other as leaders, and make a powerful witness in our connectional system.
  
Keep me posted about your VIM activities ...
 
Diane Miller

Mission/VIM Coordinator 

By: Diane Miller On 4/28/2010