May 15, 2024 Weekly Update
Greetings church!
Last Sunday we celebrated the ascension of Jesus after his resurrection. We remembered that sometimes we live in “in-between” moments, moments where we are waiting for the Spirit’s nudge and guidance to help our future unfold with God’s direction. Waiting is hard, but we can still look for signs of Christ’s presence with us – like Christ’s footprints in the ground after he ascended – reminding us there is still good work to do while we wait for the Spirit.
I heard news this week that reminded me of this very message. In 2016, our denomination expanded our health ministries by moving from the Imagine No Malaria campaign to Abundant Health for All. During a contentious “in-between” moment of waiting for the Spirit to nudge our denomination in a more inclusive direction, our denomination pledged to provide life-saving interventions that would support 1 million children by 2020.
With the help of our Global Ministries, the UMC achieved that goal in 2020! As the pandemic struck, Global Ministries decided to keep the ball rolling and make even more progress. During and after the pandemic, the Global Health unit and its partners, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, have continued working on closely aligned or integrated programming: Health Systems Strengthening to support United Methodist health facility networks; Maternal and Newborn Child Health services, including HIV and AIDS; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services, both at health facilities and in communities; and Imagine No Malaria, which has promoted malaria awareness, prevention, diagnosis and treatment in areas drastically affected by this infection.
Global Ministries reported that since 2020, they have positively impacted 5 million women, youth, and children! As a denomination, we followed the footprints and fingerprints of Jesus to be a part of healing ministries for our neighbors. This is one of many reasons I’m proud to be a United Methodist – I hope it makes you proud to support he ministries – local and global – of our church.
You can read the full article here. There is also a 2 minute video capturing a testimony of global health.
Sunday is Pentecost Sunday – the birthday of the church! Wear red if you can and join us for worship – in person or online!
Blessings,
Pastor Jared