Every 45 seconds, a child in Africa dies of malaria. Millions of lives, needlessly lost each year. A continent. Entire nations…slipping away. Slipping through life’s precious net. Unless you hear the buzzing inside you.  Just Imagine …

It’s time we all join hands with Africa | On a personal mission to heal | Imagine no malaria | Then make it real. | Over a million lives, we’re gonna save | But only if you get involved today. | The bednets have been cast | But people can’t slip through | Listen to the buzz inside of you.  Be part of the Dream … be part of the Solution … be part of the work of Jesus! 

10-Fold!

Items to be collected at Annual Conference 2011 – follow this link!

The people of the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church have a long history with the people of Liberia.  It was in 1833 that Rev. Melville Cox, a NC Conference clergy member, landed in Africa as the first United Methodist missionary to Africa and began to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.    At Annual Conference 2011, you will have the opportunity to join with our many United Methodists family of North Carolina who have gone before us as we collect and ship desperately needed health, education, and empowering items to Liberia.   Bring your items and look for the Love for Liberia signs.    Here is a listing of items being collected.

ZOE Ministry has a handful of slots open on two upcoming mission trips to Rwanda:

The trips will cost approximately $3,200 and will introduce missioners to ZOE’s remarkable orphan empowerment project.  This project equips orphans to live self-reliant, faith-filled lives within three years, thus breaking the cycles of poverty and dependency.

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10-Fold April – Healthcare Initiatives in Africa

”My work with Health and Welfare has taught me not to underestimate the resilience of women and men however adverse their condition may be.” —Dr. Cherian Thomas, Director of Health Ministries for UMCOR.

Help spread the word to your districts and congregations that the next 10-Fold online event on April 10th will focus on United Methodist Church healthcare initiatives in Africa.

Main Woman's Ward at Ganta United Methodist Hosital

In many parts of the world, getting to healthcare when it is needed is not always possible. This is a challenge that The United Methodist Church has stepped in to meet. In Africa, UMC missionaries are working with communities to build hospitals and train volunteers to spread information about good health. Being proactive is the best way to prevent the need for hospital care.

UMCOR programs, sponsored by the General Board of Global Ministries and supported by dollars raised through The Advance, are helping to make healthcare attainable, accessible, and sustainable in the US and around the world.

Here are the details you can use in church announcements:

On Sunday, April 10th, throughout the day, Dr. Cherian Thomas, Director of Health Ministries for UMCOR, and missionaries stationed in Africa will provide an inside look at the work being done to promote good health in communities that don’t have easy access to medical care. There will be a live update at 12:00 p.m. ET, with an opportunity to ask questions. You can also chat throughout the day with others who are interested in these projects.

To participate in this online event, go to www.10-fold.org/live.

Don’t forget, while visiting 10-Fold.org, with one simple click of the mouse it is Read more »

From Rev. James Labala in Liberia – Ivory Coast Refugee Crisis:

My dear friends and partners:

As some of you may know by now, there is fighting going on in the Ivory Coast. Gompa District has common boundary with the Ivory Coast. Right now more than 100,000 refugees have crossed over into Liberia. Our supervising pastor in the Gborplay area reported to us during our district planning retreat that the entire area is overcrowded with refugees. The burdens are so much on our local members and the communities. We decided that all of our local churches in Gompa District take a special offering on the first Sunday in April to help provide some relief for our brothers and sisters in the Gborplay Area.

As our partners in ministry, we invite you to pray along with us as we initiate this effort to provide some support for our brothers and sisters in the name of Christ. As the body of Christ, we are called to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and welcome the strangers…

Thanks so much for your support.

Blessings,
James Z. Labala
District Superintendent
Gompa District, Liberia

You can join in partnership with our Brothers and Sisters in Liberia by making an on-line donation or through the Advance Giving Ministry.   Please don’t wait.  The need is now.  100% of your gift will go to ministry in Liberia.

You are invited to participate in Love for Liberia – Change the World Day!

The Love for Liberia focus for January – June 2011 is the Ganta United Methodist Mission Hospital/community health ministry and the mission station schools.  You are invited to participate in supporting these critical ministries through the collection of critical items needed by Ganta medical providers and patients, and school teachers and students.

Please see the Quarterly Focus for Love for Liberia.  This page will provide a full list of ministry opportunities – hands and hearts, collection, mission trip opportunity, and prayer requests.

We are collecting:

• Collect School Kits for Students- Click here for items and instructions (Collection to be carried to MERCI Center on May 14 – Volunteers needed at MERCI.)
• Collect a health kit for patients served by Ganta Hospital and the Community Health Ministry(Collection to be carried to MERCI Center on May 14 – Volunteers needed at MERCI.)
• Collect a birthing kit for mothers being served by Ganta Hospital and the Community Health Ministry (Collection to be carried to MERCI Center on May 14 – Volunteers needed at MERCI.)
• Medical Supply Kits (Collection to be carried to MERCI Center on May 14 – Volunteers needed at MERCI.)
• Collect Story Books for Children and Age-Appropriate Bibles (Collection to be carried to MERCI Center on May 14 – Volunteers needed at MERCI.)
• Teacher resources and Equipping Classrooms (Collection to be carried to MERCI Center on May 14 – Volunteers needed at MERCI.)
• Donate High School Physics, Chemistry, Zoology books and dictionaries for library. (Collection to be carried to MERCI Center on May 14 – Volunteers needed at MERCI.)

There is also an upcoming opportunity for joining a medical and educational mission team to Liberia.

• Join a teaching/medical mission Team

You are also invited to participate at MERCI on May 14 for the shipment day.
Your District Mission Secretary will soon have more information to your regarding collection points and volunteer opportunities. Stay-tuned to the Love for Liberia First Quarter Page for more information!

As a part of the Love for Liberia missional emphasis, a volunteer- in- mission work team from across the NC Annual Conference will be going to Liberia this summer, with the estimated dates of July 24 – August 5.  Dates might change a day or two depending on availability of transportation.   Passports are required.  The work will be multi-varied and will allow participants to have a range of experiences helping the people at Ganta Station in Nimba County, Liberia.  Participants will have the opportunity to help Liberian teachers conduct a summer day camp enrichment program for both the junior and senior high divisions.  This camp will concentrate on math, English, general science, biology, chemistry, and physics.  We hope to offer teacher training as well.

Another aspect of the team’s work will be medical.  The Ganta Read more »

When Jesus spoke of the children, he must have had Liberia in mind.  Everywhere, in every village, in every town, on every road, there are children.  Most, at least at first, will eye you warily, looking like a frightened cat, an intense stare, muscles tensed, ready to take flight from this unknown threat that we represent, white folks with note books in hand and cameras by our side.  Of course, had I the misfortune of being born into a place where over the last twenty years there has been at least as much warfare as peace, I suspect I might look a bit cat-like as well.  For here, even during the times of peace, marauding bands of rebels, or the over-zealous thugs known as government forces, never remained too far from one’s periphery, always seeming to inject themselves with shakedowns and roadblocks and violent outbursts that would bring another moment of anguish or an additional point of death.  In such an environment, I imagine that skittishness is a desirable trait if one wishes to extend one’s life into the next minute.  But sometimes, if one is indeed fortunate, even a frightened cat will find its way to gently nuzzle your leg, and then you will know, you have been well-adopted indeed. Read more »

Need a fun, free and rewarding idea for engaging children in your church? ZOE Ministry is pleased to offer a package of five mission moments.   This exciting material is designed especially for children.   The free package includes five videos with accompanying take-home mission papers.   Each paper handout features a mission project that allows children and their families to support the work of ZOE Ministry in fun and meaningful ways.  The videos and handouts are arranged by topic.  Please see ZOE Ministry Children’s Mission Moments.

Mozart training trainers at Farmers Field School - building an infrastructure of sustainable agriculture in Liberia.

The Role of UMCOR’s Sustainable Agriculture and Development Program in promoting the “miracle tree.”  - Moringa in Sierra Leone – Flowing from Work in Liberia – January 2011 — Mozart Adevu

Dear Friends,

Happy and Prosperous New Year!

I bring you New Year greetings from my family, friends and communities in Africa, especially those you have impacted over the last years. We thank you for your support and giving over the last years. I hope my stories inspire you and give you great testimonies of how your support has helped changed lives in Africa.

“Imagine a tree in your backyard that will meet all your nutritional needs, take care of you medicinally, and purify your water for you. This tree actually exists. For centuries, the natives of northern India and many parts of Africa have known of the many benefits of Moringa oleifera.  Its uses are as unique as the names it is Read more »