I am a long-distance runner who dabbles in the marathon and ultramarathon distances (26.2 miles or longer). Mind you; I am not one who competes to race and win. I am a “middle of the pack” runner who aims to finish and hopefully improve on my time from the last race.
I was not always a runner. In fact, I grew up as a kid with exercise-induced asthma who could barely run 100 feet without running out of breath and chest wheezing. But I always had a fascination with running and have long wanted to be a runner. And for most of my youth and young adult life, it remained that—a dream that seemed to go farther and farther from grasp the older I got.
When my family and I moved to Chugiak, Alaska more than a decade ago, I watched a local 5K race that rekindled my dream of being a runner. I thought to myself, “5K isn’t that long. I can probably do that next year.”
So I set it as my goal, and I signed up. And I ran it. Without training. Without running a single mile to practice. Without any knowledge of pacing or hydration or technique. I ran only with the resolve that I wanted to be a runner, and I paid the price for it. Heavily. I did finish the race, but I think I may have walked half of it. And my legs revolted against me for a week.
Lesson learned? To run a 5K, one needs to train and start with a shorter distance. 100 feet. Then 200. Then 400. Half a mile. A mile. It takes time to build up to a 5K. The body needs time to adjust. Your muscles need to learn the new action they are being made to do over and over again until it is encoded in their memory.
Before I was running ultras, I ran marathons. Before I was running marathons, I ran half-marathons. Before those, 10Ks. Before 10Ks, 5Ks. And it’s the shorter daily, regular runs that allow me to run any of these longer distances. Running, for me, has become a lifestyle.
My point? When we go about transforming the world for Jesus Christ, we don’t suddenly decide to do that in one major, earth-shaking act. We do so in smaller acts of kindness, justice, grace, love, and mercy.
In this week’s chapter of We Make the Road By Walking, Brian McLaren reminds us that if we are serious about our faith in God and desire to take part in God’s movement of transformation, we need to start with smaller acts that the Holy Spirit inspires us to do in our various circles of influence.
I believe, though, that this is more than doing “random acts of kindness” as many espouse. While I agree that doing random acts of kindness is a start, it isn’t the goal. Lifestyle change is. McLaren says that the Holy Spirit is inviting us on a mission of transformation by living a lifestyle of mercy. Regular, instinctive, and intentional acts of kindness and mercy are the goal.
I can’t run ultras on random runs here and there. We can’t transform the world with random acts either. What McLaren is saying is that acts of kindness, mercy, justice, grace, peace, and love need to be encoded into our very beings through repetition in our daily circles so that they become our natural, automatic response to whatever circumstance life throws our way. We exercise that muscle over and over again until it is encoded in our muscle memory. Think of the Holy Spirit as a trainer, pushing us to a lifestyle of spiritual fitness for the race called life.
Rev. Carlo Rapanut serves as Conference Superintendent for the Alaska Conference of The United Methodist Church.
A small group of us, clergy and laity, talked about chapter 46 of Brian McLaren’s book We Make the Road by Walking. The Spirit of Service, what does that mean? The author draws our attention to a concept of verticality. Up is better than down.
Our culture promotes the idea that it is good to climb to the top or die trying. We assign both power and privilege to those at the top with high salaries, deference, corner windows, and close parking spots. We believe they have a broader vision, more wisdom and must be smarter than the rest of us. We assume they deserve the privilege they have.
Some of our religious teachings share that same view. As children, we think of God as being up in the clouds. Heaven is above us. We are climbing Jacob’s ladder. Up is better than where we are now. Then the New Testament throws us a curve ball by encouraging those who are ‘up’ to be in service to those who are ‘down.’ Jesus modeled that by washing the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper. In that sense, I understand McLaren’s point. He tells us that the Spirit draws us down, to serve those who have less and need more. We engage in service because we can, because we have the resources to do so, because God calls us to be in service humbly. The way up is by going down.
Our group examined this concept; we struggled with it. How can we avoid the sense of superiority when we feel we are going down? We still come home every night to our very ‘up’ and comfortable homes. The concept of going down as the path to salvation (but only for a humble visit), was not working for us.
Instead, we saw a horizontal plane. When we are in service to one another, we are moving out and across divisions into difference. We are called to the edges and to the marginalized. We try to widen the circle, so no one is left out. We are all children of God. It is not God who puts us on different vertical planes, but our culture relying on status and class to make the system work. It reminds me of those old song lyrics from God Bless the Child; “Them that’s got shall get, Them that’s not shall lose, So the Bible said…”
Many years ago, I managed a community center in the poorest section of the county, the catchment area outside Ft. Lewis which was never designed for year-round living. The houses were old cabins on the east side of American Lake. Many of the people who lived there were the unofficial wives and children of the lower-ranking military who could not get access to base housing or any military services. Too many times, the active duty person eventually forgot they had families there at all.
I was not raised in the church and I also had very disparaging views of Christmas. Ironically one of my responsibilities was to organize the Christmas basket-giving. We filled the community room with rows of tables holding food, a variety of gift items and Christmas decorations. Volunteers arrived, formed teams of three, gathered their assignments (i.e. single-parent family of 4, boy 2, girl 5, boy 6), and set about preparing the “baskets” for them.
I remember one seemingly unlikely team. Pardon my language but this is also how the individuals described themselves. This team was comprised of the town drunk, the retired (aged out) prostitute and the town rich lady complete with diamond-studded rings. This was a small community, nearly everyone knew everyone and the roles they served. This team worked for hours, filling many baskets. I would peek in to see how things were going and they were having fun. Lots of laughter, lots of careful consideration and huddling. At the end of the day, they sat together on a side bench, exhausted, still laughing and hugging one another in a sense of accomplishment. Good work was done that day—together.
They were not going down to serve, they were reaching out, going out to the edges of the community to make sure everyone had a holiday. A couple of those team members were probably qualified to receive a basket. But that day, it was not about them. It was all about what they could do for others. Yes, they would go home that night, but their thoughts were with the families that received baskets and what fun it was to work together for the community. They also received that day.
A sub–theme of this story is about me. That day was the beginning of my turn-around about Christmas. I began to get it.
Finally, McLaren speaks of falling through the trap door. When you go down, far enough, you reach and fall through the trap door… into God. What does it mean to fall into God? Our small group spoke of images of death, loss of ego, trust, and faith. Soon our group was drawn to a similar phrase; falling into love. Twenty-five years earlier, four people in that Community Center fell in love that day. Some with the idea of meaningful work together, some with a deep love for their community. And for me… I fell into God that day. I fell into love, into hope, and into God.
Nancy Tam Davis serves as the Conference Lay Leader for the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.
Rich men using and trafficking vulnerable girls and women as instruments of sexual gratification.
Suicide and drug overdose rates soaring, especially among rural white men.
Children continue to be separated from their parents and held at the border, sometimes without adequate food, water, medical care or a place to sleep.
Growing numbers of people sleeping under bridges, in green belts and their cars due to gentrification and a crisis in affordable housing in many urban centers.
Nationalism and racism have found a public voice in America again and anew. “Go back where you came from” is a taunt that comes of un-addressed white privilege and supremacy.
These are not merely partisan political issues. These are signs of spiritual and identity disease in the human family. Jesus never heard of Republicans or Democrats. But he was a careful observer of people and human communities, and an unfailing teacher of what healthy community life looks like.
This week, let’s remember Jesus teaching and example. The Bible offers more than 60 passages about widows, orphans, aliens, the poor and the outcast (you can google that). They remind the reader that God’s love extends especially to people who live under duress, who are overlooked, taken advantage of, kept on the outskirts of civil society.
Jesus calls people like you and me to live in ways that invite people into “beloved community.” People of faith should encourage just public policy that heals the dis-eases that cast shadows on people on the margins.
Pray this Sunday, and during the week ahead, that out of the neglect, abuse, blame and hate that seems to run rampant in our world right now, God will work through us, and in spite of us, to cultivate “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and yes, self-control”(Galatians 5: 22).
Educate yourself and resource others by visiting the websites of our United Methodist general agencies who help us put Jesus principles into practice:
The Board of Church and Society to learn how our UMC is addressing issues of social justice. https://www.umcjustice.org/
Ask yourself how you are helping God give life to the people around you. Make a plan to intentionally cultivate God’s kin-dom. Keep a list of the actions you take. to build God’s kin-dom.
Read the newspaper, social media or watch TV prayerfully.
Speak kind words to people you encounter day by day.
Write your elected official.
Write a letter to your local newspaper.
Post a good word on social media.
Join (or organize) a public witness.
Initiate or sponsor a public forum to promote deeper understanding and engagement in solutions.
The best remedy I know of to all of this bad news is hope grounded in prayer, discernment and deliberate action with others. When we respond to injustice, especially as we do so in community, we can break free from the shackles of despair and find new life where once there was only fear and death. This, my friends, is the good news!
I am sharing the following Call to Action to relieve conditions for migrants on the U.S. southern border from our United Methodist Immigration Task Force.
No matter what your politics, Jesus teaches us to turn strangers into neighbors and to love those neighbors as ourselves. As you see men, women, and children being held in standing room only cells, without showers, soap or toothbrushes, without medical care or sufficient nourishing food, I know you want to reach out and speak out with tender mercy to relieve the suffering.
Please read and respond with love. In addition to the actions suggested below, you can find a list of organizations working to offer hospitality to our neighbors on the Greater Northwest Area website. Consider how you might partner with one. If you have others to suggest, email them to communications@greaternw.org.
Elaine JW Stanovsky Resident Bishop
A Call to Action for United Methodists in Response to the Plight of Migrants
Grace and peace to you in the name of Christ Jesus. On behalf of the United Methodist Immigration Task Force we share with you a deep concern for migrants. You have seen the deplorable conditions under which migrant children and families are being detained in the US right now. We cannot be silent in this hour. The voice and actions of The United Methodist Church must be heard and experienced in this moment.
We give God thanks for United Methodists who are providing compassionate care to migrants at the border. Border Conferences have established relief centers for migrants. United Methodists from other regions of the country continue to support migrants seeking asylum with their time, talent and treasures. United Methodist congregations across the country have opened their doors to provide sanctuary for those immigrants whose lives would be endangered if they were to be deported to their home countries. UMCOR has been a partner in assisting this connectional work. The General Board of Church and Society has led us faithfully in our advocacy work in support of justice for the migrant and the immigrant. United Methodist Women have also been a strong voice in advocating for the rights of immigrant children and families.
Let’s continue to do this good and faithful work. Join us in these actions:
Give to the Advance # 3022144 for Migration. Go to UMCOR – Global Migration for further information.
We ask that you also speak up in support of persons in Sanctuary and the churches supporting them. In the past week, we have become aware of the Trump Administration’s most recent attack on immigrants who are living in Sanctuary in congregations, among them United Methodist congregations, as they seek to fight for justice in their deportation cases. The federal government is issuing fines of up to $500,000 to these immigrants in Sanctuary. This is an egregiously punitive tactic causing great fear and anxiety to immigrant brothers and sisters who are already deeply burdened by the stress of their circumstances.
Support United Methodist Sanctuary congregations and the immigrants in Sanctuary by praying for them and by sending them a postcard expressing such support. At the end of this letter is the list of multiple United Methodist Sanctuary churches and those immigrant friends whom they are hosting.
Take this moment to act. It will make a difference in these challenging times in the lives of suffering immigrants and the brave churches who are ministering to them. May the words of Paul to Timothy strengthen us all……
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. II Timothy 2:7
Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño, Chair UM Immigration Task Force
Susan Henry-Crowe, General Secretary General Board of Church and Society
Thomas Kemper, General Secretary General Board of Global Ministries
Harriett J. Olson, General Secretary/CEO United Methodist Women
You’ve likely heard of the playground experiment. A team put a fence up around a playground. Children ran all over the playground and felt free to explore. When the fence was removed, researchers noticed children gathered around their teacher and were reluctant to explore.
Rules (and fences) can be helpful. They make us feel safe. They give us boundaries. Someone determined the rule was helpful and needed. This works. Until it doesn’t. We grow, change, ask new questions and the rules that previously gave us freedom now keep us trapped.
We’re ready for wisdom.
My dad recently retired as a United Methodist pastor and I appreciated his comment that at first it felt like his life was getting smaller. Less responsibility, fewer keys, less contact with colleagues and friends from church. But then his brother texted him two words: expansive sabbath. At the very moment that life feels like it is getting smaller, it, in fact, is opening up in a spacious wide-open way.
Eugene Petersen puts it like this in 2 Corinthians 6:11-13 in The Message: “I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life…The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living in a small way…Live openly and expansively!”
It’s worth asking in stuck, tight, anxious, scarcity moments: What rules am I living by that are slowly taking my life? Am I open to some new wisdom? To receive it, I have to first believe I don’t actually know everything. And isn’t it surprising how often we find ourselves thinking we do?
McLaren puts it this way: “When we’re ready, the Spirit leads us to graduate from rule-oriented primary school to secondary school with its new emphasis: wisdom.” Wisdom is more than rule-following. It’s Spirit-leading.
To graduate from rules to wisdom, we’re invited to not simply follow a different plan. We’re invited to move in an entirely different way. We need this as individuals. We need it especially as faith communities.
A spacious community living from wisdom instead of rules asks different questions. They address their fear and dig underneath it. They resist scarcity. They practice trusting abundance.
Are there rules your community follows that don’t feel life-giving anymore? It’s helpful to name them aloud in safe group conversation spaces. You can help your faith community dig into good conversations and do courageous work to discern and name where God may be inviting you next.
Spacious communities trust God’s wisdom is gloriously sufficient to hold us as old rules fall away. Spacious communities know grace and love will birth new ways of being beloved community together. Spacious communities do the work to grieve what is shifting. It is a kind of death. And they prepare for the resurrection!
I offer this reflection as a prayer for your local church family:
A Spacious Community
There’s room to breathe In a spacious community
There’s space to bring Who you are
There’s margin to explore A new perspective
There’s questions to ask That could change everything
A spacious community Doesn’t feel narrow Exclusive Restrictive Confining or Suffocating
A spacious community Breathes freedom into the Tight Anxious Confusing Painful Knots of our souls
In spacious community There is Life Movement Gift Joy Sorrow Doubt Peace Love
Because a spacious community Is fully alive Showing up with courage Paying attention to pain Cooperating with Love Releasing the assumed outcome So that Love gets a wide-open playground To skip, climb, slide and giggle Its way through us all
Amen!
Rev. Jenny Smith serves as pastor to Marysville United Methodist Church in the Pacific Northwest Conference. You can find more of her writing on her blog.
Let’s be in joyful prayer for the ten United Methodists from across the Greater Northwest Area who are at Claremont School of Theology this summer receiving theological training and leadership skills through the Western Jurisdiction’s Course of Study (COS) or Licensing School programs. Licensing School completes on July 4th, and the second session of Course of Study concludes on July 6th.
Lord, Let me never be so conceited to believe that you love me More than the person standing next to me Or the person living a continent away from me. Keep me humble So that I may know That every person born is your favorite, Beautifully and uniquely created by your loving hands. Amen
McLaren writes: “Our neighbor is anyone and everyone—like us or different from us, friend or stranger—even enemy.” And, “We must find a new approach, make a new road, pioneer a new way of living as neighbors in one human community, as brothers and sisters in one family of creation.” McLaren asks us to “see our differences as gifts, not threats, to one another.”
In every family, there are a variety of personalities, a variety of gifts, and a plethora of opinions. This is true in every church family and every domestic family unit. My sister was a cheeky tom-boy and I was a practical, perfectionist. And we often clashed.
One evening we were squabbling over something (so long ago that neither of us remember the ‘what’ or ‘why’). Penny looked at me and burst out with intense attitude, “Well, I am Dad’s favorite.” Dad’s frame filled the doorway as he came to investigate what all the fuss was about. I look up asking, “Dad, just who is your favorite?” (Sounds a little bit like two disciples, you know the one that Jesus loved and that other one).
Shaking his head with a grin appearing across his face, Dad calmly replied, “You’re my favorite Linda.” Before I can snap back at my sister, he interjects, “You’re my favorite Penny and your sister is my favorite Carla.” Dad went on to explain that each of his daughters were his favorites for different reasons.
Dad told us what kept us high on his favorite list was when we showed each other kindness, consideration of the others feelings, thoughtfulness and respect for each other. He shared that when we generously shared what we had with others, were honest and truthful, and didn’t squabble–we were his favorites.
Reflecting on Christ’s commandment to “Love thy neighbor”, I can say that I am God’s favorite me just as you are God’s favorite you. We are different yet God favors each of us as His own with immeasurable, equal love. We are called to show kindness and consideration placing others needs above our own wants. We are called to love our neighbor, respecting our differences in what we believe. We are commanded to share our resources, gifts, and talents with one another. We are to love those that are different. Loving our neighbor is giving all that we have to meet another one‘s physical, mental and spiritual needs. Loving one another is sacrificial.
Our neighbors are everyone! Believers, non-believers, churched or unchurched, male or female, even those of different faith are our neighbors. In Christ’s church, “we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.” (Romans 12:5 NRSV) We belong to each other. We are all part of the one body and interdependent upon each other making us responsible for each other in God’s Holy Name.
As McLaren writes love is “practical, specific, concrete, down- to- earth action.” He concludes, “In the movement of the Spirit, to love is to live.”
God may be speaking to me in a way that conflicts with what He is speaking to you. I may be right. I may be wrong. You may be right. You may be wrong. I am called to love. Loving you as my neighbor requires me to treat you with grace and dignity; honoring you as God’s favorite you!
As I sign my cards to my dad,
Your favorite Linda
Linda Haynes is a child of God, mother of four blessings, grandmother of three blessings and a certified lay servant and member of Christ First UMC in Wasilla, Alaska. She serves the Alaska United Methodist Conference as a volunteer in the roles of Conference Statistician and Lay Servant Trainer. Linda was a Reserve Delegate to the 2016 and 2019 General Conferences.
This year the Greater NW Area Innovation Vitality team has expanded its summer internship program to different cities throughout the region.
Young leaders of color are getting the chance to develop leadership skills while exploring the intersection of faith and social justice in various community settings.
This summer, instead of being based in the Portland area, the group will expand to Boise, Salem, Tacoma, and Seattle.
Read the profiles written by the individuals chosen to be leaders and learners this summer through a joint venture with the IV team and The Voices Project:
Portland Coordinator: Nicholle Ortiz is an incoming co-pastor at Tabor Heights United Methodist Church. She is originally from Tacoma, Washington but now calls Portland her home. Nicholle graduated from Warner Pacific University where she began to actualize her dreams of community development, ministry, and artistic expression. Nicholle is a connector, an includer, a performer, an artist, a spouse, an advocate, and a friend. Nicholle wears many hats but all in the name of justice, inclusion, and love. She chooses to enter spaces that are uncomfortable because she believes in sharing her voice so that other people may feel inspired to share theirs. Nicholle is a Black, Puerto Rican, Plus-Sized Woman who enjoys wearing funky glasses, laughing loudly, talking about recycling and telling jokes that don’t make sense.
Portland Coordinator: Forrest Nameniuk is the incoming co-pastor at Tabor Heights United Methodist Church. He is a graduate of Warner Pacific University where he served as student chaplain. He has been with the UMC for the last year, serving in different capacities under the Innovation Vitality Team, and he is currently pursuing his candidacy for ministry. Forrest’s two greatest passions are the church and theatre. He believes that the church should be the greatest instigator for justice and healing in our world. He sees his call as creating spaces where weirdos, misfits, and wanderers can be their true selves and encounter the gospel in new and creative ways. On his time off, Forrest can usually be found at his stolen desk writing stories, with his cat and a cup of coffee close by.
Salem Coordinator: Jess Bielman is the Associate Director of Innovation for the Greater Northwest UMC. He has spent the past two decades investing in the lives of young folks and empowering them spiritually and academically. For 17 years he served as a professor and the campus pastor at Warner Pacific University. He loves the Pacific Northwest, having lived along I-5 his whole life. Jess loves baseball, sushi, 90’s era music, and John Wesley. He is married 17 years to Candi with two daughters.
Boise Intern: Destiny Miteg is a Portland native who now resides in Salem, Oregon. Destiny is excited to be a part of UMC’s the Voices Project because of its intent to help young people of color see how the church can become more tangibly present in their communities. She is eager to see how faith and community intertwine together in people’s lives outside of just the spiritual. Destiny is studying Ministry and Community Engagement at Warner Pacific University. After graduating, she hopes to do work at a non-profit that centers around serving those in need. When not in the classroom, Destiny can be found eating Top Ramen or spending time in the library.
Tacoma Intern:Rachel Taylor is originally from Tacoma, WA. She is studying for a BA in Christian Ministries in Portland with the goal of working with nonprofits. Rachel chose this internship because she is passionate about equity and wants to learn how she can best help others. She enjoys writing and experimenting with makeup while drinking large amounts of coffee in her spare time. Rachel’s favorite part of the summer is spending time with the kids in her life.
Portland Intern:Monivoi Vataiki is of Pacific Islander and Caucasian descent. She is from Vancouver, BC, Canada. Monivoi recently graduated from Warner Pacific University with a Bachelor’s degree in Music and Ministry. She chose this internship because she wanted to be apart of making room at the table and to be apart of the change she hopes to see in the church/world. Monivoi sees this internship as a way to create space for those like her, especially as a woman of color. Monivoi’s hope is to continue to help in the rebuilding, redefining, and redirecting the church. Fun facts: Monivoi sings and writes music. She also plays soccer, rugby and loves to travel.
Tacoma Intern:Akéylah Giles is from Tacoma Washington. Akeylah attends Warner Pacific University and is a Criminal Justice major. She also serves as a Spiritual Life Coordinator on the Campus Ministry team where she is a worship leader and a leader among her peers on campus. Akeylah chose this internship because she wants to be involved in work that is meaningful for herself and others. For fun, she enjoys singing, worship flag dancing, and swimming.
Portland Intern:Asia Austin is from Portland Oregon. She is a Music Performance major at Warner Pacific University. Asia is the Vice President of B.S.O (Black Student Organization), a proud HOLLA Mentor, and a Spiritual Life Coordinator on her school’s Campus Ministry team. Asia applied for this internship to help further her education, and to empower her voice so she can prevent injustices in her city. In her free time, Asia loves to play guitar and watch Netflix.
Portland Intern:Chidozie Kenneth Urom (“Chi” for short) is currently enrolled at Concordia University and is majoring in Psychology. Chi grew up in Nigeria with his grandparents before moving to Portland. Chidozie looks forward to working with fellow interns and further identifying his leadership abilities. In his free time, Chi loves to cook and write music. He even has a Youtube channel where he shares his musical creations.
Salem Intern:Juan Pedro Nicanor Moreno Olmeda is a proud first generation Mexican American. He was born in Hillsboro Oregon, and his family comes from Guadalajara Jalisco Mexico. Juan is a current student at Warner Pacific University studying Business Administration with an emphasis on Sports Management. Juan has always been passionate about sports, and in his free time, he likes being active outdoors or at the gym. If you give him a soccer ball he could have fun for hours! Juan also enjoys music; whether it’s listening to it, making it, or even dancing to it. Juan also loves video games, whether they are retro or new, he’s always looking for a nice challenge. Juan chose this internship because he believes that it can help him obtain and polish his abilities and help shape and form a career he is passionate about. Juan would also like to amplify and learn more about spirituality, and how he can use those skills and apply them to life. Juan believes that if we put our heads together, we have a real chance of making a difference.
Boise Intern:Eveline Okonda-Kapinga is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is currently attending and pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Theology with a concentration on Christian mission, youth ministry and a minor in business administration at Seattle Pacific University. Eveline is currently a Senior and is set to graduate in the fall of 2019. After graduation, Eveline plans to start grad school at SPU but is still deciding on her major. Eveline’s goal is to attain a career where she can use her specialized theology skills combined with a strong business background to help churches, as well as business organizations, implement information that will help communities achieve their goals and help them become more efficient and effective. Eveline has a calling in ministry and is currently serving at her local church, Open Door Church Ministries, as an interpreter, a singer, and as a youth leader. As a youth leader, Eveline guides students in their faith journey and imparts teachings of faith through prayer, events, activities and mission trips that appeal to youth while encouraging them to be faithful followers of Christ. Eveline believes the knowledge that she will acquire in this internship program will enable her to become a better leader.
Seattle Intern: Nyob zoo, kuvlubnpeyog Dawci Herr. Dawci Herr (She/her/hers) is Hmong and a first generation student at PCC (Portland Community College) working towards her AAOT (Associates of Arts Oregon Transfer). In Dawci’s spare time (when she’s not studying or working), she likes to go out to try out new foods and restaurants with her family and friends. At the moment, Dawci’s favorite restaurant is Taste of Sichuan. To satisfy her sweet tooth craving, Dawci likes to get a bubble tea drink in Beaverton or Portland. When the weather is great, Dawci also enjoys hiking trails in the Pacific Northwest. Dawci chose this internship to further her college learning and to find ways that the church and community can connect.
Salem Intern:Josiah Mendoza was born in Salem, Oregon. He currently attends Warner Pacific University where she is majoring in recreational sports medicine. Josiah chose this internship to develop and identify leadership skills within himself. He also seeks to find more ways to help his community.
Tacoma Intern:Eunice Langbata is from Washington State. She loves to take risks, go on random adventures, go hiking, spend time with her family, and just chill and watch “Friends”. Eunice can be shy and quiet but is actually an outgoing person and sometimes can’t stop talking! Eunice chose this internship because she wants to learn different leadership skills. She understands the difficulty that comes with being a leader but she wants to gain new experiences and learn things that might be outside of her comfort zone. Eunice is currently a student at Warner Pacific University, and over this past year, she has learned to be patient with life, listen to herself more, and to pay attention to what is visible around her. She realizes that things are placed in her life for a reason. Eunice knows that the more she is open to learning new things, the more she learns about herself. She is excited for the opportunities this internship will create for her to try something new.
Children separated from families, held at overcrowded detention centers without food, soap or medical care…
Parents and children fleeing danger, denied safe entry, dying as they cross the border…
Who can read the stories and see the images from the US border with Mexico this week and not be moved to compassion and action?
Courageous journalists and advocates tell the stories of inhumanity and tragedy. If you haven’t read them, I encourage you to do so, with the compassionate heart of Jesus. Here are a few examples:
People fleeing violence in their homelands, meet violence at the border of the United States: rejection, separation, incarceration, neglect and death. It’s easy to feel the revulsion when it’s innocent children. Our faith reminds us that every migrant arriving at the southern border is a beloved child in God’s eyes, equally worthy of the care, dignity, and respect that we would afford to our children or grandchildren.
I am asking each local church and faith community in the Greater Northwest Area to prayerfully join me and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) in observing a ‘Sunday of Solidarity for Suffering Children’ on Sunday, June 30.
Below you’ll find UMCOR’s encouragement toward prayer, action, and generosity on behalf of all of God’s Children. Let’s take action to respond with open hearts and minds this week to embody God’s love and make a difference.
Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. And your neighbor as yourself. Do this and you will live.
Elaine JW Stanovsky Resident Bishop
UMCOR: A Sunday of Solidarity for Suffering Children | Sunday, June 30
In light of the recent news about children in U.S. government holding facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border, the United Methodist Committee on Relief has received numerous requests to respond. We have heard the plea for action from the church. Unfortunately, the facilities in question are managed in such a way that precludes even UMCOR’s assistance. Access to these government facilities is extremely limited.
As the arm of The United Methodist Church mandated to cultivate and promote mission, the General Board of Global Ministries seeks to equip your church with tools to use as you confront the frustration and helplessness that this situation evokes. While this particular case is in the U.S., we recognize that migration is a global issue and the breadth and depth of our Global Migration programming at UMCOR and Global Ministries reflects that fact.
As a church that is united on the need to care for children, we can be in mission together.
This Sunday, June 30, Global Ministries encourages you to take part in A Sunday of Solidarity for Suffering Children in three ways:
PRAY – We encourage you to pray for children. Below, you will find a prayer to use this Sunday. You might choose to dedicate a service to suffering children everywhere or conduct a prayer vigil in your community for the children suffering along the border.
ACT – We encourage you to act on behalf of children. While we cannot take UMCOR hygiene kits to the U.S. government holding centers, we are distributing UMCOR hygiene kits at transitional shelters all along the US-Mexico border. In the last three months, UMCOR delivered 46,128 hygiene kits to six church-run transitional shelters. Instructions on how to make and send these kits are available here.
You can also act by calling your U.S. elected officials. This link to the General Board of Church and Society, our sister United Methodist agency responsible for advocacy, will give you some suggestions on issues to raise with these officials.
GIVE – Finally, we encourage you to give on behalf of children. Through the Global Migration Advance, UMCOR provides grants to organizations along the U.S. border and elsewhere around the world that are working to fill gaps in the needs and rights of migrants.
Jesus implored his disciples to welcome the children. This is our mission: to make sure the children are welcomed. Thank you for your prayers, your actions and your gifts.
For media information, contact Marcy Heinz. For program information, contact Mia Nieves.
A Prayer for Suffering Children
God of All Children Everywhere, Our hearts are bruised when we see children suffering alone Our hearts are torn when we are unable to help. Our hearts are broken when we have some complicity in the matter. For all the times we were too busy and shooed a curious child away, forgive us, oh God. For all the times we failed to get down on their level and look eye to eye with a child, forgive us, oh God. For all the times we did not share when we saw a hungry child somewhere in the world, forgive us, oh God. For all the times we thought about calling elected officials to demand change, but did not, forgive us, oh God. For all the times we thought that caring for the children of this world was someone else’s responsibility, forgive us, oh God. With Your grace, heal our hearts. With Your grace, unite us in action. With Your grace, repair our government. With Your grace, help us to find a way to welcome all children everywhere, That they may know that Jesus loves them, Not just because “the Bible tells them so,” But because they have known Your love in real and tangible ways, And they know that nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate them from Your love. Amen.
Brian McLaren’s chapter this week (42 – Spirit of Love: Loving God) starts with a reminder of how church people can often be a barrier to our neighbors who might need God’s love the most.
McLaren writes: “Hot-headed religious extremists, lukewarm religious bureaucrats, and cold-hearted religious critics alike have turned the word God into a name for something ugly, small, boring, elitist, wacky, corrupt, or violent—the very opposite of what it should mean.”
McLaren’s words reminded me of a book I read a few years ago called UnChristian by David Kinnamon which included a list of the various negative impressions that younger people had of Christianity. While the book had its flaws, its naming of these negative impressions—hypocritical, too focused on conversions, homophobic, sheltered, too political, judgmental—resonated for many.
At this moment in the life of The United Methodist Church, we are not making great strides in convincing young people that these impressions are all that wrong. As a leader or member of a local church, you may be having a better go of it—I hope that is the case—but I have little doubt that these barriers to God’s love remain in far too many places.
As I was reflecting on this chapter, I was drawn to think that we sometimes neglect to consider our personal responsibility to share God’s love especially because of our denominational conflict. It’s easy to act as if this task is external to us; to imagine that if we just resolved what should or should not be in the Book of Discipline, everything else would sort itself out.
Such a perspective fails to give agency where it is due. We, you and me, are called to take the love of Christ out into the world even if there is no church to support (or hinder) those efforts. Indeed, we are often best positioned for that task.
Every day, we interact with, bump into, and otherwise impact dozens, if not hundreds, of other people. Some of these interactions are intentional, significant, and lengthy. Others are less significant, at least to us. Many of these people have no regular interaction with a functional (or dysfunctional) church.
Each of these interactions is important. Each is an opportunity to share God’s love.
Now I’m not suggesting that we turn these interactions into some grand evangelistic moment. Quite the contrary, doing so might sound exactly the wrong message in many situations (see “too focused on conversions” from Kinnamon’s list). But each interaction is an opportunity to pay forward the love, generosity, and grace we have received, even before we knew we needed them, and certainly before we earned them.
Imagine with me for a moment. That person bagging your groceries may have just lost a someone cherished by them; or maybe they are struggling with addiction. The smile, thank you, and acknowledgment of their presence might be just the thing that helps them to get through that day.
That jerk that just cut me off in traffic? That same person might be a single parent heading to their second job unsure how they are going to pay all of their bills this month. Did my obscene gesture express God’s love adequately?
I don’t mean to suggest that the big things don’t matter; they do. Just don’t wait for your denomination, or local church, to perfect its witness before you tend to your own. And thank God that you don’t need to form a committee, or a majority, before you can respond to God’s calling to share your belovedness with the world!
Patrick Scriven is a husband who married well, a father of three amazing girls, and a seminary educated layperson working professionally in the church. Scriven serves the Pacific Northwest Conference as Director of Communications and Young People’s Ministries.
