Lexington United Methodist Church
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Reaching Others for Christ's Kingdom
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Mozambique Initiative 9-2-10 Mozambique Experiences Civil Disturbance Due to High Prices
Civil unrest in Mozambique over the rising cost of food and water has resulted in seven deaths. A spokesman for the police ministry, told The Associated Press Thursday two of his officers were beaten by mobs. The death toll includes two people who were shot by police, and two school children. President Guebuza said his government would try to meet demands to bring down prices, but that would not be easy. Mozambicans have seen the price of a loaf of bread rise by 25 percent, from four to five meticais (from about 11 cents to about 13 U.S. cents) in the past year. New tariffs for water and electricity started yesterday, with electricity prices rising up to 13.4 per cent. Water prices have risenabout 11.7 per cent 9-2-10 Missouri Team En Route to Mozambique A team from Platte Woods UMC is currently traveling through Botswana and Zimbabwe, and was scheduled to fly to Maputo, Mozambique on Saturday. The team is working with Missouri VIM coordinator Audrey Phelps to re-route their trip and potentially fly into a different Mozambique airport. Three volunteer teams from Missouri Conference churches have served in Mozambique this year. There are already 12 teams planned for 2011. Missouri Conference Mozambique Initiative Coordinator Carol Kreamer is in communication with Mozambique Initiative Representative Ezequiel Nhantumbo. He is safe, but can not travel due to roads being closed, and is at home with his family, in an area that is near where the violence erupted. 2010 May Mozambique Initiative Newsletter
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2:4 (NRSV) Vision of Mozambique Area: · A church that is equipped for holistic ministries to the community · A church that is renewed spiritually to build the Kingdom of God · A church with competent leadership that is committed to Christ · A church that is transparent and accountable at all levels · A church that is self-sustainable Making a Difference Story of the Month – Rev. Amelia Micas MacDonnell reports to Chongoene UMC partner, Bethel UMC in Wildwood, Missouri. “Thank you for being part of our dream and supporting our children, and the community around. Thanks for your prayers and thoughts. Thanks for the special visit to our project of our brother and sisters of the Missouri Conference.” You see, with a special contribution from their Missouri partner, Chongoene UMC began “Source of Life” – a ministry to orphans in the Bunguane area. Pastor Amelia go on, “We have started with the Poultry project. Chicken houses were built and 100 day-old chicks purchased, including feeds and raised. Mortality rate was very low, and we are happy for that. Today we are starting selling them to the surrounding community. Some will be slaughtered to feed the children. The plan is to increase the size of the flock to 300 this time, and we will introduce some layers as planed in the project. Unfortunately we could not purchase layers because the supplier did not have at the time. Pictures and additional information on the Project will be soon sent to you. “ Read the full story below to find out how Bethel UMC and Chongoene UMC have partnered in the Chongoene Source of Life project and are working toward sustainability! ************************** - Mozambique Initiative at the Missouri Annual Conference – Mozambique Initiative Breakfast Sign up for the Saturday Morning Mozambique Initiative breakfast at University Plaza at Annual Conference on June 5th (7-8 am). Learn about the transformation of covenant partnerships and see the latest video of our missionary and representative at work as the Bridge on behalf of the Missouri and Mozambique conferences. Visit personally with Missouri’s guest, Education and Evangelization Director, Rev. Salvador Bacar from Mozambique. Meet other partners, Missouri staff and MI Team members. Register online when you register for Annual Conference or for an additional meal, or contact Mike Harrison at mharrison@moumethodist.org to register. Cost is $16. Wear Your Native Dress If you have been to Mozambique and have native dress, please contact me or just wear your native clothes on Saturday. We would like to see as many in native dress as possible under the tree Saturday morning! Offerings at Annual Conference – Please be prepared to give generously to the Mozambique offerings during Annual Conference 2010 session! The Bridge Between Missouri and Mozambique (Sunday Morning Worship and Memorial Service) Carol Kreamer (Mozambique Initiative Coordinator) and Ezequiel Nhantumbo (Mozambique Initiative Representative in Mozambique) form an important bridge between our congregations in Missouri and those in Mozambique. Early most every morning (which in Mozambique is late afternoon) Carol and Ezequiel visit by Skype working out the details of the many relationships and partnerships between our congregations. Ninety percent of the support that makes this possible comes from donations rather than apportionments. This offering will be used to support this important bridge between our conferences. A short promotional video showing Carol and Ezequiel communicating with each other is available for download at www.momissioncast.com click on #161. Bulletin inserts are available for download at www.moumethodist.org/mibridgeoffering. Mozambique Retired Pastor Fund – CCPI Offering (Saturday Morning Celebration of Retirement, Commissioning and Recognition) The Missouri Mozambique Initiative continues to provide assistance by participating in this permanent endowment called CCPI. Give generously and provide these faithful servants with a measure of financial security in retirement as a matter of justice. Education/Evangelization Director – Rev. Salvador Bacar from Mozambique Rev. Salvador Bacar, an ordained elder and graduate of Africa University and now on staff with the United Methodist Church in Mozambique will be our guest at the 2010 Missouri Annual Conference. He will lead a workshop at 3:15 on Saturday afternoon and says, “In the last century UMC missionaries not only helped communities to know and worship God through Jesus Christ, but also widened horizons of an otherwise hopeless community, implementing teachings in agriculture, carpentry, mechanics, etc. I was a product of that mission. Foundations for church and community were strengthened to face the challenges of the time without fear or shame. We are brought to a new century in a new millennium with new challenges. Partnership still plays a key role: training leadership, helping the creation and strengthening of new church communities, building chapels, parsonages... but there is “still more to be done’’. Spiritual depth is critical in both Mozambique and America. What are the challenges? We are the church in partnership; the fall of one side means the end of all.” Be sure to attend! Worship under the tree It’s not an ordinary display! Stop in for worship or prayer under the tree at Annual Conference in Springfield. Sit on a tree-trunk “pew” and visit with friends. Hear dynamic singer and preacher Salvador Bacar. Experience the hospitality and spirituality of worship in Mozambique (at the upstairs lobby at Annual Conference!). Visit the hut! We don't want to fully spoil the surprise, but keep alert if you are attending Annual Conference. The MI "Booth" is on the upper (ground level) lobby. And it is not your ordinary booth. Don't miss it! Church Covenant Partnership Transformation MI is working with the UMC to take covenant partner into a different future…a self-sustaining future. Details will be revealed during the Saturday morning MI breakfast and Sunday afternoon in the plenary of the 2010 Annual Conference session! *********************** New Postal Address for UMC in Mozambique Igreja Metodista Unida Em Mocambique C.P. 2640 Rua Kibiriti Duwane (D. Francisco Barreto)*, 229 Maputo, Mozambique *Note – the street name for deliveries has changed. We are asked to include the original street name in parenthesis on all shipments. *********************** Three more seminary student covenants needed Imagine receiving this letter from your student partner in three years saying, “I can not forget the challenges I went through, by God’s Grace ‘I won.’ Thank you for being part of my dreams of becoming a pastor.” That is what Merim Francisco Aloi sent to the Upper Room Sunday school class at Lee’s Summit. Become a seminary student partner by making a 3-year commitment to support with your prayers, letters, $55/month ($660/year – tax deductible contribution) and photo exchange through the Missouri Conference Mozambique Initiative. Commit online at www.moumethodist.org/mi/leaderdev or download and mail. Contact Carol Kreamer cpkreamer@hughes.net 636-271-4455. ********************** Project Patricia – providing for women in Mozambique Women and girls in Mozambique are held captive by an act of nature that those of us in the developed world take for granted. Feminine products are not available or affordable to the general population in countries like Mozambique. Women and girls are relegated to staying at home during their menstrual cycle – home from school, home from work, home - out of the public. Help might be as simple as sewing washable pads or donating a package of women’s underwear. If you would like to find out how you can help, contact MI coordinator, Carol Kreamer at cpkreamer@hughes.net and visit www.projectpatricia.org. *********************** Making a Difference -- Call for Volunteers The Mozambique Initiative has many working parts. For 2010, we are working on change and development in our programs on many fronts. This work goes beyond what one Coordinator and a Team of 10 people can do. To execute on these initiatives, I am calling for volunteers to work on specific programs. We have job descriptions for this work, and we have subdivided the work so that a volunteer's tasks are well defined and doable with reasonable effort. You can make a real difference. Without additional help, some of these programs will not get done, or will be significantly delayed. Here are open slots we have right now: Coordinating and implementing campaigns for support of our Coordinator, Carol Kreamer and Representative, Ezekiel Nhantumbo Development, coordination and record-keeping for Missouri participation in profit-generating projects by congregations in Mozambique (similar to micro-credit projects, but for congregations instead of individuals) These will be interesting, meaningful and appropriate sizes jobs. Contact Tom Mitchell (TomM8132@aol.com) or Carol Kreamer (cpkreamer@hughes.net) for more information and specifics. ********************* Story of the Month – Bethel UMC Wildwood, MO partners with Chongoene UMC in Mozambique to create “Chongoene Source of Life” project serving the orphans of the Bunguane area in Mozambique. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. James 1:27 Source of Life! Several years ago, after hearing the plight especially around the issue of healthcare in Mozambique, a member of Bethel UMC in Wildwood, Missouri contributed a significant sum for their partner, Chongoene UMC in the Gaza district of Mozambique. The only stipulation was that it should provide for healthcare in some way. The people of Chongoene considered and planned for the best use of those funds. They assisted their pastor, then Rev. Vicente Mauaela who had a heart condition. And they planned a long-term project to care for the orphans in the Bunguane area where they are located. Knowing that the gift would not necessarily be repeated, they began planning for sustainability. Rev. Amelia Micas Madonela of Chongoene UMC recently reported to the Mozambique Initiative, progress of the Chongoene Source of Life Project. The children are doing alright and still receiving medical attention, although sometimes some fall with high fever and malaria; The children are getting some food and malnutrition is reduced; Some children had some wounds on the head, because of the intense heat in the area; Children at school age have performed well last year and there are some that will begin going to school this year; The fruit trees planted at the caring families are beginning to bear fruits. Not enough to feed all the children though; We have started with the Poultry project. Chicken houses were built and 100 day old chicks purchased, including feeds and raised. Mortality rate was very low, and we are happy for that. Today we are starting selling them to the surrounding community. Some will be slaughtered to feed the children; The plan is to increase the size of the flock to 300 this time, and we will introduce some layers as planed in the project. Unfortunately we could not purchase layers because the supplier did not have at the time; Pictures and additional information on the Project will be soon sent to you. Thank you for being part of our dream and supporting our children, and the community around. Thanks for your prayers and thoughts. Thanks for the special visit to our project of our brother and sisters of the Missouri Conference (2009 Missouri Leadership Delegation). We still remember you in our prayers as we develop this project and ministry through acts of serving, and supporting initiatives towards poverty relief and sustainability. Happy New Year to our potential donor of our Project, to the Bethel UMC congregation, and to your Pastor. Rev Amelia Micas Madonela, and the Chongoene UMC congregation Toward Sustainability The transformation of church covenant partnerships will encourage more sustainability projects like the poultry project at Chongoene. Learn more at the 2010 Missouri Annual Conference. Read about the transformation in the April 30th issue of the Missouri Review newspaper – online at http://moumethodist.org/enewsletterarchives/detail/1092. This transformation is at the request of the United Methodist Church in Mozambique and in keeping with the vision of the church. You can help! Please continue to covenant with your partner and help them move from dependability to sustainability. Make or renew your covenant partnership today at www.moumethodist.org/mi/partnership. Contact MI coordinator, Carol Kreamer, 636-271-4455, cpkreamer@hughes.net to learn more. May, 2010 Shared to the glory of God for the people of God at Pentecost! Carol Kreamer – your MI coordinator Please pray for all those affected by HIV/AIDS and other afflictions which take their families. Pray for the orphaned children in Mozambique and for covenant partnership in Missouri! Romans 1:11-12 (NJB For I am longing to see you so that …we may be strengthened together through our mutual faith, yours and mine. "Leading Congregations to Lead People to Actively Follow Jesus Christ" Just $10 saves a life by supplying a bed-net to protect against malaria. Click the link to donate: Donate here. Little Children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. 1 John 3:18 Missouri Review The latest issue of the Missouri Conference Review is now available on the Conference Web site. Read it at www.moumethodist.org/Review. Stay Connected Subscribe to Missouri Conference mission news by visiting www.moumethodist.org/StayConnected. Carol - peace and hope for the journey! Carol P. Kreamer - Coordinator The Mozambique Initiative Missouri Conference Missionary Fund #7400 The United Methodist Church P O Box 754 Eureka, MO 63025 Phone: 636-271-4455 Email: cpkreamer@hughes.net Website: www.moumethodist.org/mi Ezequiel Marcos Nhantumbo - Representative The Mozambique Initiative Ao c/ Igreja Metodista Unida Em Moçambique C.P. 2640 Rua Kibiriti Duwane (D. Francisco Barreto)*, 229 Maputo, Mozambique Tel: 258-1-485742 E-mail: enhantumbo@tvcabo.co.mz In the December Annual Conference session in Mozambique a new pastor was appointed for 2010 to Quelimane UMC, our covenant partner. The pastor’s name is Rev. Nelson Viriato Bene Capitão.
 Rev. Nelson Viriato Bene Capitão
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