{"id":13125,"date":"2016-05-19T19:51:58","date_gmt":"2016-05-20T02:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=13125"},"modified":"2016-05-19T19:51:58","modified_gmt":"2016-05-20T02:51:58","slug":"29-new-missionaries-commissioned-at-general-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/29-new-missionaries-commissioned-at-general-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"29 new missionaries commissioned at General Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Elliott Wright<\/strong>
\nMay 19, 2016 | PORTLAND, Ore. (UMNS)<\/h4>\n

\u201cWe commission you to take the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ into all the world.\u201d Twenty-nine times the ancient phrase was intoned as The United Methodist Church sent new missionaries from 11 countries to serve in 16 lands.<\/p>\n

The liturgy of commissioning, both solemn and joyful at the Oregon Convention Center, was believed to be the first as part of a United Methodist General Conference, the church\u2019s policy-making assembly that meets every four years.<\/p>\n

The new missionaries will serve as church developers, chaplains, teachers, health practitioners or administrators, agricultural specialists and youth workers. Six of the 29 will work in the health field. Four will engage in ministries with migrants.<\/p>\n

Twenty-five are \u201cglobal missionaries;\u201d four are Church and Community Worker missionaries who will work in economically marginalized urban and rural communities in the United States. They serve through the denomination\u2019s United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, which currently has some 350 missionaries in 60 countries, and projects and partners in 60 more.<\/p>\n

The act of commissioning, including the laying on of hands, was conducted by a trio of bishops who serve as officers of Global Ministries. They were Bishop Hope Morgan Ward of North Carolina, president of the agency; Bishop John Yambasu of Sierra Leone, vice president, and Bishop Hee-Soo Jung of Wisconsin, president of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), a unit of Global Ministries.<\/p>\n

\"Missionaries<\/a>
Missionaries process in during the May 19 worship service at the 2016 United Methodist General Conference in Portland, Ore. Photo by Maile Bradfield, UMNS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Going beyond walls<\/h4>\n

Yambasu preached during the service of commissioning. Reflecting the 2016 General Conference theme, \u201cTherefore, Go \u2026\u201d he urged United Methodists to \u201cgo out\u201d beyond the walls of sanctuaries to serve the poor, the marginalized and neglected. \u201cWe have become too comfortable,\u201d Yambasu said.<\/p>\n

As part of his sermon time, Yambasu arranged to show \u201cBeyond Bethlehem,\u201d a short documentary on the plight of 3.5 million Syrian refugees. He called attention to the 6 million children who die each year from preventable diseases. He also said:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Asia, thousands of migrants are enslaved, misused and sexually abused each year in an effort to find a living and support their families back home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Palestine, it is estimated that about 750,000 people have been forcefully uprooted from their ancestral homes since 1948, not counting the thousands who continue to be decimated by horrific Israeli weapons \u2014 bombs, missiles and shells that blow up men, women and children \u2014 with a quarter of the fatalities being children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elizabeth and David McCormick from Louisiana will serve in Mozambique, two of the half-dozen new missionaries who will be working in health ministries. Both are assigned to the Chicuque Rural Hospital \u2014 Elizabeth as a pharmacist, and David as hospital administrator.<\/p>\n

In a brief interview, David McCormick said his greatest expectation as a missionary is to \u201cbe a part of God\u2019s mission and to build authentic relationships in grace, love and peace.\u201d The McCormicks have two small girls.<\/p>\n

A. Broncano is going from the Philippines to work with young people in Southeast Asia. She is excited \u201cabout sharing the lives of those with whom I will work in education and community development,\u201d she said after being commissioned.<\/p>\n

John Nday from the North Katanga Conference in the Democratic Republic of Congo is also going to Mozambique to the historic Cambine Mission, where he will work as agricultural coordinator. He looks forward to helping people increase food \u201cproduction so they can take care of themselves.\u201d Cambine has land used to grow food for a school and orphanage. Nday will also assist in the training of pastors for community outreach.<\/p>\n

Missionaries for Global Mission<\/h4>\n

The service of commissioning emphasized the church\u2019s global mission by readings of scripture in French, English, Kiswahili and Portuguese. Providing special music were the Cherokee Choir of the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference and the Choral Bethel dos Coqueiros of Bethel United Methodist Church in Luanda, Angola.<\/p>\n

Global Missionaries<\/h4>\n
    \n
  • Patrick Abro from C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire Conference will serve as assistant health board coordinator, North Katanga Episcopal Area, Democratic Republic of Congo<\/li>\n
  • Michael Arteen, House of Bread Church, Palestine, chaplain and director of spiritual life at Bethlehem Bible College<\/li>\n
  • A. Broncano, Philippines East Conference, coordinator for English language program for the United Methodist Mission, Southeast Asia<\/li>\n
  • Douglas Childress, Upper New York Conference (U.S.), pastor of international ministry and teacher, Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary, Tallinn, Estonia<\/li>\n
  • Eden Fletcher, Methodist Church in Britain, coordinator of education, resources and administration for the United Methodist Mission, Southeast Asia<\/li>\n
  • Leo Garcia, Methodist Church in Cuba, professor at Qu\u00e9ssua School of Theology, East Angola<\/li>\n
  • Florence Kaying, North Katanga Conference, Democratic Republic of Congo, maternity and child health nurse practitioner, Mozambique Episcopal Area, Mozambique<\/li>\n
  • Hector N. Laporta, Methodist Church of Peru, professor at Dr. Gonzalo Baez Camargo Methodist Seminary, Mexico City, Mexico.<\/li>\n
  • David McCormick, Louisiana Conference (U.S.), administrator, Chicuque Rural Hospital, Mozambique<\/li>\n
  • Elizabeth McCormick, Louisiana Conference (U.S.), pharmacist, \u00a0Chicuque Rural Hospital, Mozambique<\/li>\n
  • Jennifer Moore, Church of the Nazarene, Maryland (U.S.), Christian education, Serbia-Montenegro-Macedonia Provisional Conference, Macedonia<\/li>\n
  • Jean Mwenze, North Katanga Conference, professor, Banyam Theological Seminary, Nigeria<\/li>\n
  • John Nday, North Katanga Conference, agricultural coordinator, Cambine Mission, Mozambique<\/li>\n
  • Jim Perdue, Iowa Conference (U.S.), missionary for global migration, Central America and Mexico, Central American University, El Salvador<\/li>\n
  • Marcel Sachou, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire Conference, church planter and pastoral mentor, \u00a0Central African Republic<\/li>\n
  • Desiree Segura-April, Pacific Northwest Conference (U.S.), resource person for children at-risk ministries, Nicaragua<\/li>\n
  • K\u00fclli T\u00f5niste, Upper New York Conference (U.S.), assistant professor, Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary, Tallinn, Estonia<\/li>\n
  • Josh Van, California-Nevada Conference (U.S.), ministry with Vietnamese migrant workers for the Methodist Church in Malaysia<\/li>\n
  • Aaron Vandersommers, East Ohio Conference (U.S.), chief operations officer for the Church of Christ in the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo<\/li>\n
  • Mary Vandersommers, East Ohio Conference (U.S.), community development consultant for the Church of Christ in the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo<\/li>\n
  • Ryan Williams, Watermark Community Church, Dallas, Texas (U.S.), teacher, United Methodist English-speaking School of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo<\/li>\n
  • Stacey Williams, Watermark Community Church, Dallas, Texas (U.S.), teacher, United Methodist English-speaking School of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo<\/li>\n
  • D. Yang, Minnesota Conference (U.S.), congregational development specialist, United Methodist Mission, Southeast Asia<\/li>\n
  • Mike Zdorow, Florida Conference (U.S.), pastor of Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy, Moscow, Russia<\/li>\n
  • Henri Zombil, North Katanga Conference\/Florida Conference (U.S.), health services administrator, Sierra Leone Conference<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Church and Community Worker Missionaries<\/h4>\n
      \n
    • Jennifer Henneman, New Mexico Conference (U.S.), program director, Faith Community Health Connection, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.<\/li>\n
    • Amy Purdom, Virginia Conference (U.S.), mentoring program coordinator, House of the Carpenter, Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S.<\/li>\n
    • Linda Stransky, Holston Conference (U.S.), executive director, Jubilee Project Inc., Sneedville, Tennessee, U.S.<\/li>\n
    • Anna Troy, Rio Texas Conference (U.S.), outreach coordinator for Partners in Ministry, Youth Empowered to Succeed, Laurinburg, North Carolina, U.S.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Elliott Wright, a veteran reporter who has covered six general conferences, is a consultant with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      By Elliott Wright May 19, 2016 | PORTLAND, Ore. (UMNS) \u201cWe commission you to take the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ into all the world.\u201d Twenty-nine times the ancient phrase was intoned as The United Methodist Church sent new missionaries from 11 countries to serve in 16 lands. The liturgy of commissioning, both solemn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":13132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[449,3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-conference","8":"category-umns"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/missionaries-1.jpg?fit=1300%2C678&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-3pH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13125"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13129,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13125\/revisions\/13129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}