Global Ministries

Ministries in Honduras

• The Honduras Methodist Mission is made up of 12 congregations in five different areas of Honduras, each engaged in ministry with its community.
  
• Liberty Grove United Methodist Church (UMC) supports the Rev. Daniel Wilson-Fey, a missionary of the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) of the UMC assigned to Honduras and his wife Kathy, who is also a GBGM missionary. A clergy member of the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference, Dan serves as Area Financial Executive and Communications Coordinator for the Honduras Methodist Initiative. Based in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, Dan is responsible for church leadership development as well as teaching Methodist history, doctrine and policy, and leadership/pastoral care at the ecumenical seminary Comunidad Teológica de Honduras. As Communications Coordinators, Dan and Kathy together create publicity pieces and maintain a web site for the ministry. They also oversee the work of United Methodist volunteers and other groups coming to Honduras to assist in construction and other needed projects. The ministry entails scheduling, assigning work sites, providing supplies and leading orientation for the teams. Kathy Wilson-Fey also serves as a counselor and educator with the Comunidad Teológica de Honduras in Tegucigalpa.
  
• In June 2003, Liberty Grove UMC sent a 20-member mission team to Colonia la Ceibita, Honduras. The team provided medical care for over 600 patients; performed construction work on the ceiling, windows, and kitchen of the mission house; and provided a Vacation Bible School to over 200 local children. The team also met with local civic leaders and led a community worship service.
  
• In June 2004, Liberty Grove UMC sent an 11-member team to Colonia la Ceibita. They provided medical care to over 700 people as they supported the local government clinic, and began construction of an addition to the mission house. The Liberty Grove UMC Sunday school children and adults raised funds to procure sports equipment, donated children’s clothing and toys, and created a coloring book of their own drawings for local children. During this mission, our pastor, Rev. Richard Hogue, also conducted the very first baptisms in Colonia la Ceibita, with a beautiful immersion ceremony for five new Christians in the local river. A farewell party for hundreds of the town’s children was the highlight of our final day in this wonderful small town.
  
• In June-July 2005, Liberty Grove UMC will again send a mission team to Colonia la Ceibita. Up to twelve Liberty Grove members will perform construction, landscaping, and medical work, in addition to group worship, daily devotions, and experiencing God’s love in this beautiful, remote town.
  
• Colonia la Ceibita is about 20 minutes (about five miles) from Tocoa in the northern part of Honduras. Construction of the main part of the Methodist Church structure is complete, along with a fence around the property. Colonia la Ceibita is a relatively new community. It is primarily made up of people who had to rebuild after Hurricane Mitch in November 1998. Most of the homes in the community that surround the church were built by United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) funds after the hurricane. Because this area, called Colonia Metodista, is relatively new, it is not found on older maps of Honduras. The community has running water and unified septic system. They have no electricity, though the church owns a small, portable generator donated by Liberty Grove UMC.
  
• Randy Webster began as pastor in summer 2002. He divides his time between the congregation in Colonia la Ceibita and the Methodist congregation in Puerto Cortéz, where he and his family live. Congregation-building is the major ministry at the moment. Randy is also now forming a youth group, men’s group, and women’s group.
  
• A storage building built after Hurricane Mitch to hold construction materials and tools is now used as a children’s feeding center. Children, who receive one meal a day, are chosen by the Ministry of Health as the most malnourished. When these children are nourished to a certain level, others take their place in the program. They are feeding 200 children per day. This ministry costs the church over $400 a month. Last year, Liberty Grove members provided several months of support to the nutrition program.
  
• Pastor Webster has several dreams for the congregation in Colonia La Ceibita. First, to find long-term funding for the Children’s Feeding Program. Second, to bring electricity to the church and surrounding community. This involves buying materials and obtaining approval from the government and the electric company. Finally, when congregation in La Ceibita is strong enough, start a congregation in Tocoa, the main town five miles away.
  
• Find out more Honduras Mission, Daniel Wilson-Fey, and Kathy Wilson-Fey
  

Ministries in Central Asia

LGUMC supports Suzanne Porter, missionary in Central Asia, working in the maternal child health program, providing care to local residents and teaching others to provide care

Suzanne was moved to follow God’s call to professional mission service through her work in Baltimore, MD at an inner-city pediatric clinic, serving teenage mothers and their infants. She says, “Every time I did examinations on children and looked into their eyes, I saw God looking back at me with the potential that each one had for a future.”

Of her current assignment, Suzanne says, “God’s mission for us is to serve those of fewer resources for us to open people’s hearts for the work of the Holy Spirit. Through my contact with the women and children at my place of assignment in Central Asia, I hope to develop relationships that will fulfill God’s mission.”

Find out about Suzanne Porter.

Ministries in Missionary Support

LGUMC supports Mark and Kathleen Masters, missionaries in the United States. Mark is on study leave in Nashville TN, working on his PhD. Kathleen is providing missionary training.

Find out about Kathleen Masters.

Ministries in Liberia, Africa

LGUMC supports revitalizing the Ganta United Methodist Hospital in Liberia Africa.

The hospital currently lies in ruins, shot up and looted by government and rebel forces. It is part of a larger mission facility that includes primary and secondary schools, a demonstration farm, vocational training facilities, and a leprosy and tuberculosis rehabilitation unit. Most of the buildings were badly damaged in July 2003. The hospital had been treating casualties of the war without charge.

Find out more about this and other missions.

Ministries in Russia

LGUMC supports Olga Pokrovskaya, pastor of Tree of Life Church in Moscow, Russia.

· There is tremendous spiritual renewal going on in Russia; the growing churches and seminary represent a major change from what was possible in the former Soviet Union

· LGUMC also supports the Russian United Methodist Theological Seminary, training new pastors. The first and second floors include classrooms, library, offices, kitchen and dining area and a chapel. A building project is ongoing to add a third floor to provide housing for 18 students and 2 visiting professors.

· Find out more about this mission. This site:

• Summarizes the history of the seminary.
• Explains the program.
• Offers comments by visiting professors.
• Shows photos of students in their church settings.
• Clarifies the needs of the Capital Campaign.

Ministries in China Outreach

LGUMC supports Bill Horlacher, missionary to Chinese students at University of Maryland at College Park

LGUMC recently hosted 11 Chinese students from West Virginia, giving them a glimpse into American and Christian life

Major outreach activities include English classes, Bible Studies, social events, and acclimating to US culture

There are 70,000 Chinese Intellectuals studying in the United States. They have tremendous economic and political influence when they return to China. Reaching them for Christ potentially reaches a nation when they return to China.

China Outreach has 35 staff with access to 31 campuses. Their goal is to have key ministry on 100 campuses in 5 years

Find out more about China Outreach.

Ministries in Haiti

LGUMC supports John and Beth McHoul who operate Heartline Ministries, which is dedicated to helping the children of Haiti survive poverty, disease, and famine.

By providing shelter, education, and child care, Heartline Ministries has been able to adopt nearly 150 Haitian infants and children to their new families since 1988. Heartline Ministries' adoption mission is carried out through Maranatha Children’s Home (MCH) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

MCH has been growing Christ-centered families through adoption since 1989. Children are brought to MCH primarily by missionaries, Haitian pastors and surviving parents with the hope they can grow up free of the poverty which weighs on this beautiful country and her people.

With only 10 or so in care at a time, John and Beth and their childcare workers are able to focus love and care on the children God brings them. The children’s residence is a comfortable, intimate home where the children receive physical, emotional and spiritual nurturing while they prepare for adoption. Adoption provides these children with loving Christian families and a future unimaginable in Haiti today. Most children coming to MCH are under the age of two, though God’s plan has meant a house full of toddlers and preschoolers at times! Few of the children have special needs but they all need a special, Christ-centered home.

Despite the current turmoil in Haiti, God has directed Heartline Ministry to expand in the following directions:

• Adding an additional missionary to provide assistance for the adoptions.
• Purchasing an additional house to expand the number of children moving through the adoption process and another house to provide a place for mothers who cannot care for their children in their current situation.
• Purchasing a new vehicle to carry on the ministry across the country of Haiti.

More info can be found at their website.

Ministries Globally through Opportunity International

LGUMC supports Opportunity International, whose mission is to empower people in chronic poverty to transform their lives by creating jobs, stimulating small businesses and strengthening communities among the poor.

Opportunity works through indigenous Partner Organizations that provide small business loans, training and counsel.

Opportunity adds credibility to the gospel by harnessing the power of Christian love and economics to break the yoke of poverty, strengthen the local church and spread the Good News.

Find out about Opportunity Interntional.