MISSIONS

AFRICAN UNIVERSITY

Located in Zimbabe. Through our giving to the Africa University Fund, our congregation helps provide consistent and reliable funding each year. Our gifts pay for the general operating costs of the university, but other gifts support scholarships and the endowment fund. By giving to this Advance special, we help support the transformation of Africa by educating nearly 1,200 African students from 25 countries. We help empower more than 4,000 graduates. The areas of study at the university include sustainable agriculture, disease prevention, peace, leadership and governance, education, church growth and development, business management and administration, and ethical leadership.

BLANKETS/FOOD SUNDAY

Is a special mission opportunity. Over 8,000 congregations and groups across the U.S. provide funds to help people in need around the world, including the U.S. For over 60 years, Church World Service has worked in partnership with local communities to identify their needs and access the resources they need to build the foundation for a more viable future, including: blankets, tents, food and other emergency supplies in the wake of a disaster; tools and seeds for refugees returning home to replant their fields; wells for families living in drought prone areas to provide clean, safe water to drink and to irrigate crops and gardens; and literacy training and microcredit for women struggling to realize their potential.

BREAD FOR THE WORLD

Is a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad.  Donations to Bread for the World will help advocate for vital food programs like school meals and the Women, Infant, and Children's program (WIC), educating communities of faith about the causes of hunger, and making sure Christian voices are heard in the halls of Congress and in the White House. Bread's goal is to help end hunger by 2030. It believes that everyone, especially our federal government, must play a part in ending hunger. Bread for the World works to change the policies and conditions that allow hunger to persist, seeks long-term solutions to hunger, and advocates for legislation that addresses the root causes of hunger. God's grace moves us to build the political commitment needed to overcome hunger and poverty.

FOOD PANTRY

The Food Pantry is an Interchurch Food Pantry serving Meridian School District and the community of Stonington. It is operated by Interchurch Council of Blue Mound, Boody, Stonington and Macon. Each church in the community is scheduled for 1 month during the year to volunteer their services. Cash and food donations are welcome. Hours of operation are Saturdays from 8:00am to 10:10am.

HEAT AND FUEL FUND

The money received for this fund is used in the community to assist those who need help with their heating bills. It’s also used to help people traveling through the area who have a genuine need for help to pay for gas for their cars.

HEIFER INTERNATIONAL

Heifer International's singular commitment is to help poor and hungry people help themselves. By giving families a hand-up, not just a handout, they empower the people to turn hunger and poverty into hope and prosperity. The animals the organization provides don't just provide partners with a reliable source of food, but also a reliable source of income. Extra agricultural products, such as milk from cows or goats, honey from bees, or eggs from chickens, can be both shared within the community and sold at market. This new income,
coupled with the training in sustainable practices that the partners receive, allows partners to clothe their families, provide them with medical care and send their children to school. And when not just one, but many families gain this new sustainable produce and income, it brings new opportunities for building schools, creating agricultural co-ops, and forming community savings and loan groups to help fund entrepreneurial start-ups.

LIBERIA NATIONALS IN MISSION

Donating to this Advance provides support for innovative ministry and essential needs of well-qualified indigenous workers. It enables local leaders to be involved in God’s mission in their own country. As always, 100% of each gift reaches the Advance mission.

LIBERIAN PASTOR SUPPORT

Monies are given to help support pastors in Liberia.

OKLAHOMA INDIAN MISSIONARY CONFERENCE (OIMC)

Is our November mission focus. The OIMC works to serve Native communities in areas where the state and tribes have limited resources. Currently, the OIMC has 81 churches in Oklahoma, three in Kansas, one in Missouri and one in Dallas, Texas. Pastors in the OIMC receive very low salaries. Any donations you make will help supplement those salaries.

PROJECT SCHOOLROOM

Is a mission program of the Conference Board of Global Ministries of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference. The money we donate will go toward school supplies for children and their teachers in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. For years, the Methodist schools have provided a quality education using special teaching materials printed in Creole from the Methodist Print Shop. As with all advance giving, 100% of the money donated will go to the project. Thank you for your continued support.

RED BIRD MISSION SCHOOL IN KENTUCKY

Our church has a covenant relationship with them which means that our church has committed to pray for them regularly and to help support them financially. Red Bird Mission is located in an isolated, rural region of the Appalachian Mountains. Chronic poverty, lack of jobs, poor housing, and rugged mountainous terrain are obstacles faced by the residents of the area. Red Bird Mission School serves students in grades K-12 and centers on developing the full potential of its students in a Christian atmosphere. It provides quality education to students of the Red Bird area regardless of their ability to pay. Christian education is incorporated in the curriculum for all grades. Mark Smallwood currently teaches music to all grades and his wife, Rebecca, teaches fifth grade.

UNITED METHODIST COMMITTEE ON RELIEF (UMCOR)

Is the not-for-profit global humanitarian aid organization of the United Methodist Church. UMCOR is working in more than 80 countries worldwide, including the United States. Their mission, grounded in the teachings of Jesus, is to alleviate human suffering—whether caused by war, conflict, or natural disaster, with open hearts and minds to all people. In times of acute crisis, they mobilize emergency supplies, fresh water, and temporary shelter to stricken areas, and then stay as long as it takes to implement long-term recovery. Their workers are known all over the globe for their compassion, leadership, expertise and guidance in recovery efforts. UMCOR works through programs that address hunger, poverty, sustainable agriculture, international and domestic emergencies, refugee and immigrant concerns, global health issues, and transitional development. United Methodist hearts and hands are part of every program implemented; school kit, seed, health kit, fresh water and tool distributed in the US and throughout the world; and every new house, well, clinic and school rebuilt after catastrophes of conflict or nature.

Funding Promise-100% Efficient—Every dollar you give to UMCOR goes to the program you designate.
UMCOR is 100% efficient. The One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) offering allows UMCOR to make—and to keep—this promise. OGHS funds the cost of doing business UMCOR. They do not receive apportionment funds or any other world service funds.

WINGS OF THE MORNING

Pilots in the Kapanga, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the United Methodist mission station transport patients to places of emergency care and deliver lifesaving relief supplies and medicines. They play a pivotal role in helping delegates get to meetings vital to DRC communities.

WORLD SERVICE

The conference assigns each church in the conference a designated amount of monies to be donated to mission projects throughout the year.