Advent giving forklifts aid to Ukrainians

WesleyMen (WMC Men’s Affiliate) is pleased to provide a follow-up on the donations provided by the World Methodist Conference family to the WesleyMen Advent offering in 2022. Your gifts were combined with a World Wesleyan Hunger Fund grant to Church World Service (CWS).

Your donations have supported the mission of CWS to provide permanent solutions to hunger, poverty, displacement, and disaster with half of the funds directly helping Ukrainian refugees seeking refuge in neighboring Moldova. CWS has worked to integrate the needs and priorities of Moldovan communities— including families who have opened their homes to Ukrainians as days turned to weeks and months —into programs for refugees from Ukraine. They have provided food, clothing, school supplies, counseling services, cash assistance and more to both Ukrainian refugees and the families hosting them.

One unique aspect of the support was providing a forklift to a Moldovan food bank distribution center, rapidly repurposed as a food and supply distribution hub for organizations welcoming Ukrainians. The forklift was critical and is still used for the loading and unloading of humanitarian supplies (food, hygiene items, blankets, and winter clothing). Over 214 metric tons of supplies had been delivered by the end of 2022.

During the darkest of times, a familiar meal can bring us back to a place of calm and happiness.

-Julia

| May 21st, 2023

Read more of Julia’s story: https://cwsglobal.org/stories/a-familiar-meal-a-sense-of-home/

If you’re interested in more information, visit the CWS website at https://cwsglobal.org/ukraine-one-yearlater/ or watch this video: https://youtu.be/4L6NmQ5qY24

Many in our Wesleyan family already know about CWS. Today the African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Christian Methodist Episcopal, and United Methodist Church are all part of CWS. If you want to learn more about CWS and how you can join the movement to build a world where all have food, a voice, and a safe place to call home, visit www.cwsglobal.org

Article provided by Steve Hickle of the Wesley Men

Peruvian Methodists are Creation caretakers

In the framework of Earth Day, which is celebrated every April 22nd since 1970, the Methodist Church of Peru promoted the celebration, reflection and action on Creation stewardship in Sunday worship services, Sunday schools and other spaces.

Each Sunday morning in the morning, Peruvian Methodists join the Community Prayer via Zoom. In this opportunity, Rev. Jimmy Benitez-Arraiza, Northern Coast District Superintendent shared a reflection based on Genesis 1:28, about the meaning of Earth stewardship. Then, local churches observed the day through their worship services, adapting the liturgies developed by the Wesleyan Theological Seminary and the Climate Justice Taskforce, from the Methodist Church of Peru. This continued in the Sunday schools through experiential lessons on what it means to be a steward of Creation, culminating with practical actions such as planting new seeds, watering and maintaining the plants in the church. Local churches seeking to embrace the practice of avoiding the use of disposable materials.

These actions will continue during May in all Sunday Schools. “Methodists, Caretakers of our Earth” seeks to reflect on the problem of climate change and our great responsibility as Christians of being stewards of Creation. This unit works with the care of the earth, a topic very little touched by Christians, but necessary to learn and put into practice in our times.

To learn more about the work of the Methodist Church of Peru, you can visit our website www.iglesiametodista.org.pe. The work of the Methodist Church of Peru in Climate Justice is shared through the initiative “Christians committed to Creation” of the Climate Justice Working Group https://www. facebook.com/cristianoscomprometidosconlacreacion.

Article provided by Methodist Church of Peru