Missions Ministry at Epworth UMC

1.We Make Disciples of Jesus Christ
We will witness by word and deed among those who haven't heard or heeded the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We will initiate, facilitate, and support the presence of ministry to seek, welcome and gather persons into the body of Christ and offer the challenge for Christian discipleship. Direct proclamation and a caring presence shall serve as the means of our Christian witness.
 

2. Partner to Strengthen, Develop and Renew Christian Congregations and Communities
We will work mutually with mission agencies, organizations and initiatives toward common growth and development of spiritual life, worship, witness and service.
 

3. Alleviate Human Suffering
We will help to initiate, strengthen and support ministries to the spiritual, physical, emotional and social needs of people.
 

4. Seek Justice, Freedom and Peace
We will participate with people oppressed by unjust economic, political and social systems in programs that seek to build just, free and peaceful communities and societies.
Mission Ministries: Four
  

• Food Pantry Sunday: Non-perishable food items are collected on the 1st Sunday of each month for local pantries. 
• Meals on Wheels: Three times a year Epworth volunteers deliver meals to shut-ins of Elgin.
• PADS: Public Action to Deliver Shelter is designed to help with shelter services during fall, winter and spring.
• Soup Kettle: We volunteer the 3rd Tuesday of each month to serve meals at the Soup Kettle at the Zion Lutheran Church in Elgin
• Campbell Soup “UPCs”: UPC codes from any Campbell product are collected and donated to the Marcy-Newberry Association youth program in Chicago.
• Box Tops for Education: Box Top collection sheets are available at the church office.  All collected labels are donated to Garfield School in Elgin, IL.
• Red Bird Mission: We collect items throughout the year to help with Christmas gifts for children and adults of the Red Bird Mission in Appalachia
• Heiffer International: We receive coins from children, collections in Sunday School, and adult giving for the purchase of livestock to help impoverished communities develop their own sustenance. 
• Mission Work Teams: Work teams have traveled to Louisiana, Montana and Minnesota.  Multiple options are possible for future mission outreach.  Contact the church office if you are interested in participating.
  
• Mission Discovery: Youth and young adults engage in mission together with international youth/young adults of other countries. Contact the church office for more information and application. 
  
• Communities and Congregations:Education, Environment, Emergencies, & Ethnic Ministries.

As a United Methodist congregation we are in connection with many agencies and institutions that serve from the heart in missional connection.
Whether in formal or informal settings, education is a powerful way of sharing God's love. We encourage education as mission work.
 

Being faithful, according to the Bible, requires just and right relationships with God, other human beings and with the rest of creation. Likewise, The United Methodist Church's Social
Principles calls for sound stewardship of the earth and environmentally friendly lifestyles that preserve creation for the benefit of present and future generations.
The United Methodist Church is working with focus on making disciples for Jesus Christ among the Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, Korean American, and Native American minority communities in the United States.
On behalf of The United Methodist Church, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) brings hope and aid in the wake of catastrophes, responding to requests by church partners,
conferences, and bishops for funding emergency work all over the world.
 

Health
Hunger/Poverty
Immigration/Refugees
Mission Evangelism
Missionaries
 

We are in mission for the prevention, treatment, and advocacy of health issues locally and globally.
Welcoming the stranger and offering refuge to those seeking asylum are important traditions that assure all God's people of God's steadfast love. Through the programs of Global Ministries,
United Methodists offer compassion, hospitality, discernment, stewardship, advocacy against injustice, and communion to all sojourning persons.
 

Global Ministries encourages and equips individuals and congregations to share the good news with all creation. As we "go into all the world", Global Ministries forges the connections between United Methodists in the heart of mission.
The United Methodist Church seeks to have an international mission face to match the international reality of our church. We consider this a Christian imperative clearly stated in John
Wesley's invitation: "If your heart is as my heart, give me your hand."
 

The role of the church in alleviating hunger and poverty is crucial. The mobilization of resources through United Methodist connections brings us closer to our goal of eradicating the root
causes of hunger and poverty.
 

Peace and Justice Volunteers
Volunteers are Always Needed for Mission
 

Volunteers are important resources. They embody Christian love in action as they bring their diverse talents to mission programs, projects, and institutions, local outreach ministries, and emergency response and recovery work around the world.
 

Get Connected to a Volunteer Program or Opportunity
 

Global Justice Volunteers
This program provides young adults, 18-25 years old, opportunities to live and learn alongside people whose lives are
shaped by justice work. Global Justice Volunteers volunteer at the grassroots level for a set term of 2-3 months.
 

Health Care Volunteers
United Methodist Fellowship of Health Care Volunteers is a national organization related to the United Methodist Volunteers In Mission (UMVIM) and the Mission Volunteers Program Area of the General Board of Global Ministries.
 

Individual Volunteers
Embark on a spiritual journey with new experiences every day! Serve in approved locations around the world for two months or more where the host community has requested a volunteer.
"Love of God is always linked with love of neighbor, a passion for justice and renewal of the life of the world." United Methodists are committed to efforts to create peace, call for justice and, in so doing, live a faithful life.
The United Methodist Church recognizes the important role of volunteers in enabling the church in mission to the world. Volunteers are important resources in all kinds of mission institutions, in local outreach ministries, in our work with our mission partners, and in our cooperative efforts with the ecumenical community.
 

NOMADS
The NOMADS program offers persons with recreational vehicles the opportunity to share their time and skills in meaningful Christian service.
 

Primetimers
Primetimers offers educational and mission service experience for older adults.
 

Ubuntu eXplorers
Through partnership with Mission Volunteers and the Women's Division of United Methodist Women, participants from the US are hosted by women's organizations in other countries. The program allows Christian sisters to understand and share together the daily life, joys, struggles, culture, challenges, and opportunities of women.
 

UMCOR Volunteer Opportunities
There are three ways you can volunteer to assist with UMCOR's work: working as a disaster response volunteers, helping to sort and ship relief supplies at UMCOR Sager Brown, and volunteering overseas at an UMCOR project.
 

UMVIM Mission Teams
United Methodist Volunteer in Mission (UMVIM) resources - whom to contact, application form, schedule your team online, UMVIM Sunday, and more.
 

United Methodist Women
Members of United Methodist Women can be in mission in a number of ways as volunteers, locally and globally.
 

UMCOR and UMVIM Disaster Response
Assistance in preparing a team for service in long term disaster recovery is available from your jurisdictional and annual conference UMVIM Coordinators and annual conference Disaster Response Coordinator.
 

Volunteer Opportunities
There are hundreds of United Methodist Volunteer in Mission (UMVIM) projects in the United States and around the world. Take a look at the various types of volunteer opportunities and choose one or more that interest you.
 

Youth and Young Adults
Youth and Young Adults volunteer opportunities.

Family Mission Opportunities
The purpose of the the family missions Opportunities List is to identify mission project opportunities that will host families who wish to serve together.  Projects are not necessarily all UMC projects, but must be safe, ethical and approved by the responsible UMVIM coordinator for the region listed.

2009 Rainbow Covenant Special Offerings

January - Abounding Ministries and Child Serv
Abounding Ministries leads persons toward a deeper relationship with Christ using music, writing, speaking and retreats.  The Northern Illinois Conference (NIC) Evangelist circuit rides among our local churches introducing creative workshop music to strengthen the spiritual life, mission and evangelism of congregations and to offer recorded and print resources.  This is a full-time, non-salaried position with NIC.  The Evangelist is assisted by a writer on spirtual formation, discipleship and strengthening relationships between congregations and clergy families.

Child Serv founded in 1894 by Methodist Deaconesses, ChildServ's mission is to help children and their families build better lives through an array of services for children, youth and their families in under-resourced communities in Lake, DuPage and Cook counties.

ChildServ promotes early childhood learning, helps children, provides care for children of working parents, strengthen relationships with their parents and helps children and youth become successful in school.

At ChildServ parents gain the skills that they need to support the children's positive growth and development.  ChildServ serves about 3,700 children, youth and parents each year.

February - PADS - (Public Action to Deliver Shelter)
PADS has provided over 159,000 nights of shelter to homeless and displaced individuals from the Elgin area. In July 2007, they opened a new year round permanent facility which houses 50 plus individuals shelter nightly.

March - Soup Kettle
Funds will help support Elgin Cooperative Ministries which is a multi-denominational religious organization that operates a food pantry and soup kitchens. They provide a meal for those less fortunate. For the past 10 years a number of local churches have collaborated with Elgin’s Soup Kettle program, serving those in need with hot meals and warm smiles. Soup Kettle Kitchen
provides meals to 60-100 needy individuals every night.

April - UM Volunteers North Central Division
The General Board of Global Ministries is the global mission agency of The United Methodist Church, its annual conferences, missionary conferences, and local congregations.  It is organized into eight program areas, the Women's Division, and General Administration.

The Gospel-- the Good News of God's love and gifts of redemption and reconciliation-- empowers the work of mission.

Making disciples, building up the church, alleviating suffering, and promoting justice, freedom, and peace are Global Ministries' mission goals.

May - Food Pantry
Northern Illinois Food Bank, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) charity organization and member of Feeding America (formerly America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network) was founded in May 1983 in Wheaton, Illinois and distributed 7,000 pounds of food in its first month. NIFB has grown tremendously in the past 24 years - distributing more than 22.5 million pounds of food in 2008 and currently serving over 520 food-assistance sites in 13 northern Illinois counties.

June - UM Volunteers North Central Division
The General Board of Global Ministries is the global mission agency of The United Methodist Church, its annual conferences, missionary conferences, and local congregations.  It is organized into eight program areas, the Women's Division, and General Administration.

The Gospel-- the Good News of God's love and gifts of redemption and reconciliation-- empowers the work of mission.

Making disciples, building up the church, alleviating suffering, and promoting justice, freedom, and peace are Global Ministries' mission goals.

July - Nothing But Nets
Nothing But Nets is a grassroots campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa. While the UN Foundation has been working with the UN to fight malaria for years, it was a column that Rick Reilly wrote about malaria in Sports Illustrated, challenging each of his readers to donate at least $10 for the purchase of an anti-malaria bed nets -- and the incredible response from thousands of Americans across the country -- that led to the creation the Nothing But Nets campaign.

August - Red Bird Mission is a non-profit agency located in the Appalachian mountains of Southeastern Kentucky which empowers individuals and advocated justice by providing educational, health, and community outreach ministries to area low-income residents.  Areas of ministry include K-12 Christian School, Residential Dormitories, Early Childhood Development,
Medical Clinic, Dental Clinic, Pharmacy, Lab, X-Ray, Public Health, Community Aid Ministries, Elderly Ministries, Family Ministries, Community Store and Craft Marketing, Work Camp, Home Repair, and Mission Facilities.  Visit the link above for more information.

September - Fox Valley Habitat for Humanity
This is an ecumencial Christian service organization whose mission is to build decent, safe, affordable houses for those unable to purchase a home through conventional means. These houses are then sold at cost. Future homeowners must commit to 250 hours of “sweat equity” per adult, commit to repay the mortgage, which helps fund additional homes, and qualify financially.
They council families on successful home ownership and community responsibility. Thirty-five families have been housed since 1991 in the Elgin, Carpentersville and St. Charles areas. Material costs for each home are $50,000. With your financial help we can help additional families build their futures.
 
October - Children's Fund
The United Methodist Children's Fund for Christian Mission helps children learn about and make contributions to a select group of mission projects that are chosen for their value in helping children understand what it means to "be in mission."  The policy of the Children's Fund is (1) to help children learn about mission (2) to provide a way for children to give to mission beyond their local church.

November - El Mesias UMC
The Hispanic ministry of El Mesias began in 1960 at FUMC New Orleans.   It was led by lay leader Larry Dominguez, who attended FUMC.   As the group grew, it was led by Rev. Robert Eaker and met in the FUMC chapel.  Rev. Eaker and the membership felt that it was necessary to translate all this work at the Felicity UMC in New Orleans.

After having its ups and downs, the Hispanic church re-started in 1979 at FUMC under the leadership of Rev. Juan and Martha Sanfiel.  After Rev. Juan Sanfiel’s death, his wife Martha continued the ministry as they moved to the Messiah United Methodist Church in Kenner.  She was followed by Rev. Benjamin Santana (1992-95), Rev. John Higginbotham (1996), and Rev. Judy Shema (1996-99).  

Since June 1, 1999, El Mesias has been under the Missionaries of the General Board of Global Ministries.  They have been led by Maribel Mojica and Rev. Samuel and Saray Calvo.  As the membership of Messiah diminished, it was decided to join congregations in 2004.  

The church continues to meet the needs of Hispanics in the metropolitan area, conducting GED classes in Spanish, English classes (ESL) and Spanish classes, and a weekly Spanish radio station.

December - Mark and Rebecca Smallwood
Welcome to the biographical sketch of Mark and Rebecca Smallwood, Associates in Mission Service (AIMS) with the General Board of Global Ministries serving at Red Bird Mission in Kentucky.

Mark and Rebecca came to Red Bird Mission in August 1988 to serve as teachers at Red Bird Mission School during its first full year as a private Christian School. Mark directs the vocal and instrumental music programs for the elementary, middle school and high school. Rebecca taught 4th grade for 9 1/2 years and now teaches Elementary Christian Education.

Mark was born and raised in Harrisville, Ohio where he attended the Harrisville United Methodist Church. Music has been an outlet for expressing his faith since childhood. When a pastor took him on a visit to Asbury College, he knew that was where he would be going to college, and in 1986 graduated prepared to share his music and put it to use for the Lord. After two years in the public schools in West Virginia, he arrived at Red Bird and began the process of resurrecting a music program what had suffered severely for lack of a teacher. Mark earned a MA degree in Music Education from Eastern Kentucky University in 1991.

Rebecca grew up in Sumner, Illinois in the Southern Illinois Conference where she received Christ as a young child. Rebecca’s pilgrimage gives credence to the saying at Red Bird that "if you get your feet wet in the creek you’ll be back." Her first contact with Red Bird was in 1982 as a member of a work team and even then she felt God’s call to return to Red Bird as a teacher. Rebecca is a 1986 graduate of Oakland City College in Oakland City, Indiana with a BS in Education and in 1992 earned a MA in Elementary Education from Eastern Kentucky University. Following her marriage to Mark in 1986 she was a public school teacher for two years prior to returning to Red Bird.

They have two children, 6-year old Nathaniel (Nate) and 4-year old Leah. Nate enjoys playing the drums, riding his bike, studying science-related subjects, and playing with Matchbox cars. He is in first grade at the Red Bird Mission School. Leah (adopted from Korea when she was eight months old) likes to sing and dance, play make-believe games, and other games like UNO. She also enjoys hands-on creative activities. Leah is in the Early Childhood Development program, a preschool program provided through Red Bird Mission. Her mobility continues to improve as she receives treatment for cerebral palsy through the Lexington, Kentucky Shriner's Hospital and the Red Bird Clinic.

Mark and Rebecca Smallwood is available for Covenant Relationship support in Central Pennsylvania Annual Conference ,  Detroit Annual Conference ,  East Ohio Annual Conference ,  Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference ,  Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference ,  Northern Illinois Annual Conference ,  South Georgia Annual Conference ,  West Michigan Annual Conference .