Blogs

 With so much attention focused on Haiti Recovery, many of us have lost site of the many opportunities and needs for mission volunteers in other areas. If you feel called to join a mission team to Haiti, answer that call. But the needs are also great in Zimbabwe and four teams from Western PA will go there this year. 

Western PA Mission/Volunteers in Mission Director Diane Miller details ways to help relief efforts in Haiti. UMCOR emergency kits needed!

Success is nothing with successors.  Church leaders must take action to develop principled Christian leaders.

The Book of Discipline contains some calls to action that, if followed, can address issues facing many local churches today.

United Methodists must rediscover the power of connection to make a difference in the church and the world.

Erin Eidenshink is a member of Mars UMC and is serving as a General Board of Global Ministries missionary in Mongolia.
To read Erin's Blog "Once Upon a Time in Real Life"  click here

Erin Eidenshink spent her first weeks in Mongolia settling in and adjusting to the cold weather.

Erin sends Thanksgiving greetings from Mongolia, where a swine flu quarantine is still in effect.

Michael Airgood, of Kane First UMC in Western PA, is serving as an  Individual Volunteer in Mission in Mongolia.
To read "Michael's Missionary blog" click here.

There's a new ad campaign urging people to "be good for goodness sake".  Although many good people don't profess a belief in Jesus, many of them come to a point where the going gets rough without God in their lives.

Words can cause unintended hurt.  It's important for all Christians to bear faithful witness, be sensitive to the impact of what we say and do, and seek forgiveness when necessary.

Israeli authorities demolished the East Jerusalem home of a Palestinian family of five  the day a team of 13 mission volunteers from Western Pennsylvania arrived to help with the olive harvest. The team met with the family, now homeless, on the last day of their two-week stay. 

Western PA Conference Missionary Tina Whitehead returned to the Jerusalem one week into Ramadan, the holy of month of prayer and fasting for Muslims, brings thousands to pray at Al Aqsa Mosque in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.  She describes the hardships she sees pilgrim endure to get to the holy site through additional Israeli barriers, checkpoints and security measures.

When prayer was needed for people in Bridgeville, United Methodistst from across the world responded. The power of our connection is awesome. 

A shooting spree at LA Fitness in Bridgeville left three woman and the alleged gunman dead, 10 injured and countless others devastated. Two of the victims were United Methodist. Join us in prayer for all touched by this tragedy.

Partners in the fight against malaria use a both/and approach, not either/or.  It's a strategy United Methodists should adopt in the global health arena and other aspects of ministry.

Basements and balconies are critical for the success of today’s church. Basements provide the foundation for our entire ministry -- our biblical faith, our Wesleyan heritage, our common experience and the trust we build through our fellowship. But if all we do is dwell in the basement, we find ourselves entombed in past realities and successes that often become stale and irrelevant as the culture changes.  

Using new technology, some pastors have connected with people searching for meaning their lives and are sharing the gospel.  But many have never met face-to-face and they don't necessarily show up in our churches. They may not even be in the same geographic area.  How will they connect to our established churches? Do they want or need to?