MISSION LETTER FEBRUARY 2008 From Rev. John K. Yambasu (pdf)
The Rev. John Yambasu is a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church serving as a Regional Missionary with women, children and youth in Africa. The office of Africa Youth Network is in Ghana, West Africa, but his work takes him to a dozen or so African countries, working with young people and young adults who have been affected by war. He himself came from war-torn Sierra Leone. Our church supports his ministry.
Mission and Social Responsibilities Commission
Commission for Mission and Social Responsibilities brings mission needs of the church and community to the attention of the congregation to act on.
There are many projects in mission the group is currently working on.
Going Green
Whether you look at it as a mission or social responsibility, we would like to step up our efforts to take care of the earth and our children's futures by becoming a "green" church. The Missions and Social Responsibility Commission would like input from the congregation on ways you feel we could become green. Ways to save energy? Ways to "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle"? Suggestions can range from inexpensive, simple, easily implemented ideas to more complex (and, possibly, initially expensive) ideas. For those of you with email, you may send your ideas to John Moore at MooreJohn1@juno.com, Susie Calyer at susiecalyer@yahoo.com, or Lorraine Barde at Rainey1b@verizon.net. For those of you without email, please leave your ideas in the Missions mailbox in the church office.
Global warming
On November 17, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon released the final report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which describes the evidence for human-induced climate change as "unequivocal." The rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere thus far will result in an average rise in sea levels of up to 4.6 feet, or 1.4 meters, it concluded. This report's summary was the first to acknowledge that the melting of the Greenland ice sheet could result in a substantive sea level rise over centuries rather than millennia.
The IPCC chairman, Rajendra Pachauri, an engineer and economist from India, acknowledged the new, steeper trajectory of worsening data. If there's no action before 2012, that's too late," Pachauri said. "What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment."
For more information: Alarming UN report on climate change too rosy, many say
A Little Education / A Little Giving
How do education and giving go together? This introduction before an answer. According to the web site, www.poverty.com, "About 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, according to the United Nations. This is one person every three and a half seconds. . . Unfortunately, it is children who die most often. Yet there is plenty of food in the world for everyone.
The problem is that hungry people are trapped in severe poverty. They lack the money to buy enough food to nourish themselves. Being constantly malnourished, they become weaker and often sick. This makes them increasingly less able to work, which then makes them even poorer and hungrier. This downward spiral often continues until death for them and their families." You can help beat this spiral, and get a little bit of education for yourself at the same time. Check out the web site, www.freerice.com and you will find out how. It doesn't cost you anything but your time. What a great way to do some giving during this winter season.
Other Missions and Social Responsibility Projects
- "The Little Red Bookshelf", which is part of the Bishops Incentive as an outreach project to the community. Gently used children's books are collected and distributed to local areas so children can have a variety of books to read.
- A global project has been the "Refugee Resettlement Program" through Church World Services www.churchworldservice.org. The church has sponsored political refugees from Mynmar (Burma) two families with children and an individual to this area.
- The Commission has supported AUMS (Albany United Methodist Society) and their programs, Conserns-U, the Anchor, CROP -Walk for hunger and the AIDS -Walk.
- Services at Rosewood Gardens Rehabilitation Center in North Greenbush lead by the Pastor and Members of the church.
As a group or as individuals, the Commission for Mission and Social Responsibilities has encouraged and supported mission involvement throughout church and community.