United Women in Faith: response

La oración siempre ha sido un sello distintivo de Mujeres Metodistas Unidas --oraciones por las misioneras y misioneros, oraciones por quienes sufren, oraciones por unos y por otros. Publicamos un Calendario de Oración -- no sólo para compartir información sobre el trabajo misional de Mujeres Metodistas Unidas y de la iglesia, sino para invitarnos mutuamente a orar. Enviamos tarjetas de cumpleaños...

선교사를 위한 기도, 고통받는 사람들을 위한 기도, 서로를 위한 기도 등, 기도는 언제나 연합감리교회 여선교회의 트레이드마크였습니다. 우리는 연합감리교회 여선교회 및 교회의 사역에 관한 정보를 공유할 뿐만 아니라 서로에게 기도를 권하기 위해 기도 달력을 발행합니다. 우리는 선교 사역에 삶을 바치는 사람들이 서로 연계되어 있는 것은 물론이고 우리가 그들을 위해 기도한다는 것을 상기시키기 위해 선교사와 디코네스...

When the news of Jefferson’s killing reached Susan Torpy, social action coordinator for Central Texas Conference United Methodist Women, she reached out to her sisters in Christ to see how they might respond to what she felt was a tragic and senseless death. “The Central Texas Conference United Methodist Women want to speak out, and we are ready to stand up for racial justice,” Torpy told me just...

Emma Cantor, a regional missionary for United Methodist Women, has accompanied the women of the Methodist Church in India for years, offering encouragement and leading workshops aimed at empowering the women. “Deaconesses are a neglected tradition in the Indian church. In many ways the church was founded by deaconesses, yet its leaders say they can’t find the money to pay their salaries today. Tha...

Deaconess Melba McCallum knows the power of caring Christians working together. Troubled by the issues of poverty in her community of Laurinburg, North Carolina, and the need to prepare young people for a bright future, McCallum was called to action. She began to build partnerships with local clergy, laypeople and community leaders. In 2007, Partners in Ministry was born in her living room and is...

In 1888, five women were elected delegates to General Conference, including active members of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society and Woman’s Home Missionary Society. The conference spent most of the first day debating whether these five women qualified as a “layman” who were eligible for election. The conference decided that the women would be seated in the balcony, able to observe the confere...

En 1888 (mil ochocientos ochenta y ocho), cinco mujeres fueron elegidas delegadas a la Conferencia General, incluyendo mujeres activas que pertenecían a la Sociedad Misionera Extranjera de la Mujer y a la Sociedad Misionera Local de la Mujer. La conferencia pasó la mayor parte del primer día debatiendo si estas cinco mujeres calificaban como "laicas" elegibles y decidió que estas delegadas se sent...

In 2019, United Methodist Women celebrated its 150th anniversary. If the past 150 years have taught us anything, it’s that women organized for mission are essential for the church to be the church God calls it to be. God is still looking for women committed to improving lives of women, children, youth and neighbors finding hard times and being pushed aside. As United Methodist delegates from aroun...

After decades of conflict and over 3,500 deaths, the Troubles, the name given to the conflict in Northern Ireland between Protestant Loyalist and Catholic Nationalist groups, made a major move toward peace in 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement. Weapons from both sides were turned in and destroyed, and the two sides started trying to live together peacefully. The East Belfast Mission was establish...

One hundred and forty million Americans are poor. That is 43.5 percent of the U.S. population. Their income is less than twice the poverty level. As reported in The Nation, nearly 40 percent of Americans couldn’t afford an unexpected $400 expense. The Poor People’s Campaign, a national faith partner of United Methodist Women, works to address systemic injustices that push people into poverty and k...

Gratitude is in vogue at the moment. Writers across the spiritual spectrum write about it in books, blogs and memes. They point out the importance of receiving life and calling as a gift. Gratitude changes us. It changes how we approach our serving, advocating, sisterhood and giving. - - - This episode originally appeared in the November/December 2019 issue of response, the award winning magazine...

지금 감사의 바람이 불고 있습니다. 영적, 정신적 분야의 글을 쓰는 작가들은 책, 블로그, 밈(memes)에 이에 대해 적고 있습니다. 그들은 삶을 받아들이고 선물이라 부르는 것의 중요성을 지적합니다. 감사는 우리를 변화시킵니다. 감사는 우리가 섬기고, 옹호 활동을 하며, 자매애를 맺고, 헌금하는 것에 대한 접근 방식을 변화시킵니다. - - - This episode originally appeared in the November/December 2019 issue of respons...

La gratitud está de moda en este momento. Escritores de todo el espectro espiritual escriben sobre este tema en libros, blogs y memes. Señalan la importancia de recibir la vida y reconocerla como un regalo. La gratitud nos cambia. Cambia la forma en que enfocamos nuestro servicio, nuestra abogacía, nuestras relaciones con nuestras hermanas y la manera en que ofrendamos. - - - This episode original...

Every four years The United Methodist Church holds its General Conference, the top policymaking body for the denomination. From May 5-15, 2020, 862 delegates from around the world will gather in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to set denominational policy, revise church law, approve budgets for churchwide programs and adopt resolutions on current moral, social, public policy and economic issues. Delegates...

When the police arrived at the tangle of small shacks that compose Kimberly Jugadora’s neighborhood in Manila, they were all wearing masks. Her father and brother were working on a motorcycle in the small street in front of their home when the heavily armed men ordered them to lay face down. Her mother went outside to see what was happening. Soon the police placed both her mother and father on the...

United Methodist Women, the needs of immigrants and refugees today call us to pray, act, serve and advocate with care for “the least of these,” with Jesus’ love for children deeply etched in our hearts. It is a critical time for outreach in our own communities, for support of our national mission institutions, for vigils, phone calls and legislative visits and educational forums on family separati...

- - - This episode originally appeared in the September/October 2019 issue of response magazine. Visit UnitedMethodistWomen.org to find out more.

A United Methodist Women A Call to Prayer and Self-Denial grant helped University for Girls build an online platform, website and mobile app to help the young women stay connected to one another and the world. “I think it’s important for young women to have opportunities to mobilize, learn and improve themselves,” said Zhao, who plans to go back to her village and teach music. An, who is studying...

In addition to United Methodist Women’s historic and ongoing work for racial justice, The United Methodist Church’s strong stance against gun violence can be read in Resolution 3428, “Our Call to End Gun Violence,” in The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church 2016, in which congregations are encouraged to, among other actions, make preventing gun violence part of their conversations a...

What if each of us connected our own stories with our unnamed predecessors as we tell the story? Just as we see ourselves in the unnamed women in the Bible, we can see ourselves in the unnamed women in our history. We stand on their shoulders as we press on in our own ways of working together: loving, serving, speaking up for women, children and youth and generous giving. Like them we can invite o...

¿Qué pasaría si cada una de nosotras relatara sus propias historias conectando con las de nuestras antecesoras sin nombre? Así como nos vemos nosotras mismas en las mujeres anónimas de la Biblia, también podemos vernos como las mujeres sin nombre de nuestra historia. Nos apoyamos en la experiencia de nuestras antecesoras mientras seguimos adelante con nuestras propias formas de trabajar juntas al:...

만약 우리가 이야기를 할 때 각자의 이야기를 이름 없는 전임자들과 연결시킨다면 어떨까요? 성경에 나오는 이름 없는 여성들 속에서 우리 자신을 보는 것처럼, 우리 역사 속 이름 없는 여성들에게서 우리 자신을 볼 수 있습니다. 함께 일하는 우리의 방식, 즉 여성, 어린이, 청소년을 위해 사랑하고, 봉사하며, 연설하고, 아낌없이 기부하는 방식으로 매진할 때, 우리는 그들의 도움을 받습니다. 그들처럼 우리는 다른 사람에게...

When an artillery shell fell on her home in northern Sri Lanka in 2009, Sathiyaruban Tharskika’s world changed. Her husband was killed in the explosion. She and her two children were injured. A decade later, she still walks with a limp on a badly scarred leg. Pieces of ordnance remain embedded in her skull; doctors say it’s too dangerous to try to remove them. As the sole breadwinner for herself a...

Despite much adversity and marginalization, the Portuguese Methodist Women’s Federation is making a substantial difference in the lives of the people that come to know them. Its members have touched each generation with their hard work and giving spirit. It is strengthening individuals, training women to be leaders and inspiring their communities so the next generation of women will be brave, well...

As I look at United Methodist Women’s history, I have been noticing some common threads that tell us something about our DNA. May the needs of our day, the persistence of our sisters in prayer, presence and power and the call of God move us into the next 150 years of mission service. - - - This episode originally appeared in the May/June 2019 issue of response magazine. Visit UnitedMethodistWomen....