Become a Partner

The Mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Local churches provide the most significant arena through which discipleship-making occurs (United Methodist Book of Discipline).

The need to revitalize United Methodist church buildings is urgent. Local congregations in the world and U.S. are joining hands and hearts to meet this critical need. As partners, they covenant to be in mission together by:

• Listening to one another openly and without judgment.
• Understanding and becoming sensitive to each other's cultures.
• Exploring the "true connectionalism" of United Methodism.
• Sharing resources in response to spiritual and material needs.
• Sharing the love of Jesus Christ through ministry together.
• A number of partnership projects, are underway in Cambodia, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, Latvia, Laos, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Vietnam. With your help, we can do more.

How to Become a Partner Church

• Commit 3 years to a partner congregation
• Contribute each year in financial support (differs in each country, but typically ranges from $2400 to $4200).
• Send a team to visit and make friends.
• Learn about the culture of your partner church.
• Share stories of personal faith together.
• Work together on a mission project.

Possible Partnering Opportunities

• Evangelization: Provide aid for Bibles, hymnals, church literature, youth events, and speakers who visit hospitals, schools, prisons, and the armed forces to share a message of faith.
• Education: Provide assistance for seminary students, summer camps, vacation Bible schools, Sunday schools, and Disciple Bible Study classes.
• Social Outreach: Provide support for scouting, Teen Challenge (youth drug and alcohol rehabilitation program), centers that serve senior adults, services to help released prisoners transition back into society, community economic development projects, health-care services, and programs to address special needs among handicapped persons.
• Salary Support: Provide supplemental support for pastors' salaries.
• Building Support: Send Volunteers In Mission (VIM) to help with construction and renovation projects.
  

We provide each partner church with a partnership coordinator to facilitate any new partner relationship. We help congregations with planning, communications, and implementation of their In Mission Together partnerships.

Medical Missions

The Good Samaritan Clinic located in Batey 7, Dominican Republic celebrated its 6th anniversary on June 16, 2009. It was begun in partnership with the Western North Carolina Conference. Over 4,000 patients have officially registered and sought clinical help two-three times a year. Focus is on the most needed people in the community who may not have employment, a steady income or work seasonal jobs. Many are children and widows. We (WNCC) are responsible for a minimum of $26,000 a year towards this ministry. This pays the doctor, nurse and other needed personnel along with basic medicines. For more information, http://wnccumc.org/vim/mdm-MedicalMission.htm.

WORLD HUNGER

Info on these items may be found at http://www.wnccumc.org/mis/hunger.htm

“Meals for Learning” – packing meals especially for persons in Kenya. Cost is .25 per meal with a minimum of 10,000 meals per packing. The church can buy the meals and then have days to pack the meals. We used this organization at the two “Harvest of Blessings” events last year.

“Stop Hunger Now” – packing meals for throughout the world, as areas are identified. Cost is .25 per meal with a minimum of 10,000 meals per packing. The church can buy the meals and then schedule days to pack the meals, inviting local schools and others to be a part of the process. We used this organization at the WNC Annual Conference meeting in June and at Spiritus in August.

Child Sponsorship

“World of God” is a child partnership organization started following a mission team to Liberia in October 2007 – www.worldofGod.org. There were no Child Sponsorship programs for Liberian children. Attached to this is a similar program in Haiti working with children where several churches (especially in the Charlotte area) have been working.

Church-to-Child Sponsorships – During recent journeys with the D.R. Congo and to SE Asia, the Western North Carolina representatives shared the desire to have sponsorship programs with children. These sponsorships are just beginning. They will provide basic educational needs, foods and medicines. Cost is estimated at $15 a month per child.

Churches or sponsors will receive biographic information on child along with pictures. We will set these programs up similar to other partnership programs – providing development possibilities with the community working side-by-side with local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), educational scholarships and nutrition needs.

The Agent Orange Orphanage is soon-to-be Advance Special of the Church – The agent orange chemicals from the Vietnam War are still affecting new-borns. These new-borns are often then rejected by the parents. Bishop Goodpaster is very involved in activities in Vietnam, since he is the Bishop over SE Asia, as well. One place we will hear more about in the near future is an orphanage to be built outside Ho Chi Minh City for children victims of Agent Orange.

Church-to-Church Partnerships

Churches in many of our missions cannot afford to operate. Cost involved in paying for the pastor’s meager salaries and basic church needs in not available. Thus, one of the areas the Western North Carolina Conference is pushing is “Church-to-Church Partnerships.” Churches in the Western North Carolina Conference would agree to supply $100-200 per month towards the needs of the church overseas. The receiving mission would agree that a minimum of three (3) letters will be exchanged between the church receiving the support to the providing church (these letters would be translated through the Methodist Mission in the country and need to pass-through the mission. Beyond the funds, letters and prayers, the connection would be up to the individual churches.

Church Partnerships in SE Asia:
Cambodia – $200 a month would provide basic salary support for a pastor and basic needs for the church he/she pastors. It also provides opportunities for sharing short letters back and forth between the church memberships (through the mission interpretation services). There are 155 churches in Cambodia.

Many of these churches are house churches and do not have buildings. Pastors are looked upon by the membership of the churches for help in meeting medical needs or agricultural needs. The Community Health Agricultural Development (CHAD) committee of the Methodist Mission in Cambodia (MMC) is working side-by-side with these congregations to help membership meet their day-to-day needs and move away from Relief towards Development.

http://new.gbgm-umc.org/advance/projects/search/index.cfm?action=details&id=3012247&code=00230A

As a church in the Western North Carolina Conference builds a relationship with a church in Cambodia, it is possible to send team members to provide pastoral training, Vacation Bible School, and encouragement. It is also possible for a church in the conference to support the building of a structure in the country or meeting other needs, as demonstrated by the receiving church. Cost varies from $3,000-20,000 for building structures.

Vietnam – In the past seven years the Methodist Church in Cambodia has grown from underground groups meeting in small numbers to 120 churches. While not yet recognized, the government is fully aware of the work of the United Methodist Church in Vietnam. $100-200 a month would provide basic salary support for a pastor and the basic needs for the church he/she pastors. It also provides opportunities for sharing short letters back and forth between the church memberships (through the mission interpretation services).

Most churches are house churches. Emphasis has been placed on providing basic theological education for these pastors with help from seminaries in the Philippines and Singapore. The mission recently reached out (through our conference) to the mission in Cambodia to provide Christian Education resources.

http://new.gbgm-umc.org/advance/projects/search/index.cfm?action=details&id=3017024&code=14932A

As a church in the Western North Carolina Conference builds a relationship with a church in Vietnam, it is possible to send team members to provide pastoral training, Vacation Bible School, and encouragement. It is also possible for a church in the conference to support the building of a structure in the country, or meeting other needs, as demonstrated by the receiving church. Cost varies from $5-20,000 or more.

Laos – The Laotian church presently has 92 congregations meeting in homes in many provinces of the country. Not officially recognized by the government and not permitted to meet in large groups, the mission has worked to promote the education of pastors and to provide living skills for the membership (i.e. mushroom farming). $100-200 a month would provide basic salary support for a pastor and the basic needs for the church he/she pastors. Communication is more limited due to government controls.

http://new.gbgm-umc.org/advance/projects/search/index.cfm?action=details&id=3017019&code=14927A

As a church in the Western North Carolina Conference builds a relationship with a church in Laos, it is possible to send team members to provide pastoral training, Vacation Bible School, and encouragement. It is also possible for a church in the conference to support the building of a structure in the country, or meeting other needs, as demonstrated by the receiving church. Cost varies from $500-20,000 or more.

Church Partnerships in D.R. Congo:
The DRC is a war-torn country. The United Methodist Church has been active in the country for almost 100 years providing educational structures, hospitals and churches. These structures are still operating, though broken and battered. Many teachers are not getting their salaries in a timely manner and students are unable to afford school costs. Hospitals do not have electricity and basic items needed for medical care. Churches have been destroyed or operate without roofs and under tents. http://new.gbgm-umc.org/advance/projects/search/index.cfm?action=details&id=3018485&code=198400

As a church in the Western North Carolina Conference builds a relationship with a church in D.R. Congo, it is possible to send team members to provide pastoral training, Vacation Bible School, and encouragement. It is also possible for a church in the conference to support the building of a structure in the country, the rebuilding of a structure in war-torn areas, or meeting other needs, as demonstrated by the receiving church. Cost varies from $500-20,000 or more.

Partnerships may be available in additional countries. Contact Mike Collins for more information.

3000 Mission Teams

It is the goal of the WNCC to send out 3000 teams in 2012. As we work towards this goal, we are working with individual churches to focus on countries where they can get actively involved. Please review other materials attached to the Blog on possibilities.

Missions Vacation Bible School Project

The Missions Vacation Bible School project will be available for for churches to use in 2010. We hope to roll it out in November 2009.

For the children, the sessions will cover Methodist mission activities in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. Framed for 4-5 day sessions, the activities are biblically-centered with hands'-on activities dealing with all of the senses.

The youth version will cover the country situation of Cambodia -- an overnight lock-in setting inclunding DVDs, hands'-on mission activities, games and dramas.

The materials will be available on a DVD/CD set and /or internet-based. Cost will be minimal. For more information on the children's version, contact Gloria Hughes (ghughes@wnccumc.org) and for the youth version, Mike Collins, (mcollins@wnccumc.org)