WPAUMC e-news for July 21, 2010
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Here's your weekly e-news! Haiti Update: If you were a donor to Haiti relief and wondered what those gifts are doing, it’s easy to track your gift. An animated Flash Video presentation explains how it is done. Zimbabwe Connection: Dr. K. Tshiani, the medical director at the Nyadire UM Mission Hospital in Zimbabwe, was selected to attend the International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria this week. Learn more about some of the promising research and other reports given at the conference at aidsmap.com.
Mission Teams in Zimbabwe: A mission team from The Nyadire Connection has arrived at the United Methodist mission in rural Zimbabwe and is reporting from the new Internet Café set up by the group. Intern Ben Dempe of Allegheny College has launched a micro-loan program and some of the group attended a Zimbabwe pastors school last weekend. Read Ben’s blog or check for updates of The Nyadire Connection Facebook page. See
mission photos.
Donate Seeds of Hope: Vegetable gardens are a vital food source at the Nyadire Mission in Zimbabwe, but seeds are expensive. The past few years, our Nyadire Connection (TNC) mission teams took seed packets donated by businesses here to the mission. These seeds provide food for the Home of Hope orphanage, as well as other families and individuals at the mission. The growing season is opposite from ours, so seeds that are removed from shelves in stores here can be used there. If you know a local business that has unsold vegetable seeds they’d like to donate, bring or send to Jackie Campbell at the UM Center in Cranberry Twp. ASAP. TNC can provide a donation receipt for tax purposes.
Bug Juice Energizes Anti-Malaria Fight:See how bug juice, broomball and “insurance” sales helped kids and adults double the 70-in-7 fund-raising goal for Imagine No Malaria at the School of Mission.
Imagine No Malaria Tip of the Week: Tiny Muhleman Chapel, with about 12 people who regularly attend, raised $1250 to fight malaria. See how.
500,000-year-old Fever That Won’t Die: Learn more about malaria by reading or listening to this piece from Fresh Air, a public radio show from WHYY in Philadelphia.
School of Congregational Development Online: Whether or not your church sends people to the School of Congregational Development from July 29 to August 2, you can participate by watching online. Go to gbgm-umc.org/scd10 to check out the schedule and see the webcasts. There’s an UMCOR benefit for Haiti and Nashville with Tony Campolo Sunday evening, August 1.
Know Your Minimum Factor? If your church is involved in or considering the Natural Church Development program, you may be interested in new video in the Media Resource Center entitled The NCD Five-Step Church Health Process. This DVD assists church health teams stay focused on the important steps necessary to fully engage in the Natural Church Development process in their church.
BE CORR(ageous)!: The task of dismantling racism requires courage -- to talk in new ways about the sin of racism that separates us from each other and from God; to invite new people into the conversations about race; and to take action that transforms our lives and the church. To help your congregation get started, check out the resources offered by the General Commission on Religion and Race.
New Confirmation Program: Cokesbury has developed a new confirmation program that’s not your conventional classroom experience. Called Credo, it brings worship, Sunday school, Bible study, service, and church ministries into confirmation. It can be adapted to any schedule and includes dynamic Web content for leaders and confirmands Check it out at credoconfirmation.com
Should Staff Report to Committees? Dan Hotchkiss of the Alban Institute thinks it makes no sense. Find out why in this week’s Leading Ideas from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership.
Breaking Chains:
 There are at least 27 million slaves worldwide, and 14,000 to 17,500 people are trafficked into our country each year. We use the end products of slavery daily. To raise awareness of modern-day slavery, the Hot Metal Bridge faith community on Pittsburgh’s South Side will host an event at 6 p.m. July 31. There will be a bake sale to raise money for the non-profit organization
Free the Slaves. Struggling for Food: The White House has a goal to end childhood hunger by 2015. But recent figures show almost 17 million children living in households where getting enough food was a challenge. Learn about one Pennsylvania family whose story was told as part of NPR’s All Things Considered series on low-wage America.
Poverty and Obesity: Nutrition takes a back seat when money is scarce, contributing to childhood obesity. See why.
To Surf or Not to Surf? If you’re one of those who check Facebook as soon as you wake up or feel lost without your Smartphone, you’re not alone. Without even realizing it, many have signed up for a life in which we're all connected, all the time. Whether or not this is a good thing is the subject of Hamlet's Blackberry, a new book by William Powers. Read more or listen.
Hannah's Child: Michael G. Cartwright, former Allegheny College faculty member, writes that theologian Stanley Hauerwas’ new memoir can teach leaders in the academy and the church about patience, prayer and providence. Cartwright, a United Methodist elder and former student of Hauerwas, shares his thoughts on Hannah’s Child on Divinity School’s Faith and Leadership website.
Strange Alliance on Immigration: Monday’s New York Times offered a background piece on what it called the unlikely alliance between the Obama White House and evangelical Christians to support an overhaul of immigration laws. One leader explained his support by saying he was a Christian first, a conservative second, and a Republican third. Read story.
Deaths: Funeral services were held Tuesday at Eastbrook UMC for Karen E. Halladay, 30, of New Castle, daughter of Linda and Rev. Nelson Thayer and James and Carolyn Halladay of Erie, Pa. Read obituary.
Upcoming Events:
United Methodist Day at PNC Park, Pirates v. Reds, Aug. 4
Prepare/Enrich Training, UM Center, Aug. 10
Afterschool Ministry Info Session, UM Center, Aug. 17
Baseball and Theology Seminar, UM Center and PNC Park, Aug. 23
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