Last winter, First United Methodist Church received word that they would be beneficiaries of a generous bequest from the estate of Helene Tink, a long-time member of the church. Pastor Jane Eesley had heard from Pastor Lora Zink about how Disciples UMC in Mt. Morris had decided to tithe on a bequest (their money was given to fund Hispanic ministries in the DeKalb District). Inspired by the witness of Disciples UMC, the Church Council of DeKalb First decided to give a tithe (ten percent) of the funds for missions. The total bequest came to $167,461.50, therefore, a tithe would be 16,7461.15. Of that amount, $10,000 will go to Meru, Kenya, to build an addition to the health clinic at Kenya Methodist University.

First UMC has been Covenant Mission Partners with United Methodist missionaries Dr. Lahi and Yema Luhahi for two years. Dr. Lahi Luhahi is deputy chancellor of Kenya Methodist University, and Yema is chair of the Dept. of Nursing there. In addition to Yema’s teaching and administrative duties, she is a national leader in the work to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. Yema developed the vision of an addition to the existing health clinic, to create space for community education, counseling, and treatment around HIV/AIDS. Space will also be used to promote the prevention and early detection of breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers.

The church’s $10,000 gift, from the Tink monies, constitutes almost half of the $22,000 needed to build the addition. The church is happy to be partnering with Community UMC in Naperville, which has raised almost all of the remaining funds needed. Community UMC will send a team to Meru in January, with Pastor Tom Babler, and members Ed Burton, Laury Hartman, and Marty Schwab, to present the gifts from that congregation for this addition.

The remaining $6,746.15 of the tithe will be sent to William Taylor Foundation (Advance #15008A), the project determined in consultation with Bishop Gaspar Domingos, Episcopal leader of the West Angola Conference in West Africa. Bishop Domingos preached at the 2007 Annual Conference, and in July he toured a number of mission sites in the DeKalb District.