News

UMCOR Relief Supply Kits Are Needed Now

By Phil Bandy Interim Director, CA-NV UMVIM Office The distribution of United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Relief Supply Kits has been successful this year. The sad news is that many were in great demand because they were shipped to assist people in crisis from the many disasters this year, and now supplies are running out. Brian Diggs, Director at the UMCOR West Depot, says, "We need kits and supplies of almost every type." He will be restocking the warehouse this winter...

Grant Awarded for San Bruno Pipeline Explosion Recovery

Silicon Valley Community Foundation has awarded a grant of $89,600 to the California- Nevada Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church to support two fulltime case managers to work with San Bruno residents impacted by last year's gas pipeline explosion. The Sept. 9, 2010 explosion and resulting fire devastated the Glenview neighborhood – resulting in eight fatalities, numerous injuries, the destruction of 38 homes, and damage to many others. Case managers will work directly with...

Conference UMVIM Teams Plan Return to Japan

By Phil Bandy Interim Director, CA-NV UMVIM As a result of recent planning meetings in Japan, future United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) team leaders from the California-Nevada Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church are making plans to return to Japan for disaster response. A small planning and assessment team traveled to Japan May 9-20, 2011 and met with various people involved in the Church's disaster response after the early March earthquakes and tsunami.    ...

New Blog Post From Japan Assessment Team

The assessment team from the California-Nevada Annual Conference which travelled to Japan on May 9 will be blogging at intervals during their trip. The Rev. Motoe Yamada has posted the group's first entry.   To follow the team's reflections, visit http://cnumc.org/blogs. (To locate specific posts, click on author's name.) And while you're there, read the Haiti blog posts from Julia Hastings!...

Cal-Nev Team Heads to Japan on Monday

On Monday (May 9, 2011) a three-member team from the California-Nevada Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church will travel to Japan to assess needs in the wake of the early March earthquakes and tsunami. The Rev. Motoe Yamada, senior pastor of Japanese UMC in Sacramento and a World Council of Churches Central Committee member, will head the team. Accompanying her will be Phil Bandy, interim director of the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) program for the Conference, and...

UMCOR Reaches Out to Survivors of Spring Storms in South

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) website reported that at the start of the 2011 spring storm season, an unprecedented number of severe storms, including tornadoes, hail and high winds, have raced across the United States, provoking widespread damage and flooding in the South and Central regions. The month of April alone saw more than 7,000 such storms, which produced hundreds of tornadoes. Rivers, including the Mississippi, are at record 100-year-flood levels. The cleanup and...

Ongoing Haiti Mission Connection Project Being Developed

The California-Nevada Annual Conference's United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) director, Phil Bandy (in head shot below), is traveling to Haiti this week to develop the details of a new project, described as an Ongoing Haiti Mission Connection. The project is being developed by local church volunteers and will be presented to Cal-Nev congregations in coming months with an invitation to participate. It is outlined below. All those wishing to support the project, or who desire more...

General Orientation Meeting for UMVIM Teams to Japan Is This Saturday

The United Methodist Church response to the massive earthquake disaster in Japan soon will include volunteer recovery teams. A general orientation meeting for people who may want to go to Japan will take place at Sacramento's Japanese United Methodist Church this Saturday (April 9) from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.  The meeting program will include a general introduction to the culture and language of Japan. Participants will be introduced to the UMC response plan for Japan recovery and plans...

UMCOR Director Cynthia Harvey Has Update on Japan Relief Story

The Rev. Cynthia Fierro Harvey, Director of United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), has posted a letter on the UMCOR website (umcor.org) detailing the organization's response to the earthquake and tsunami devastation in Japan, and giving an update on its relief efforts. On Friday, March 11, Harvey reports, the General Board of Global Ministries reached out to missionaries and partners in Japan to confirm their safety and to ask how UMCOR could be of help. The Wesley Center, affiliated...

2011 ACS Guest Speaker Releases Book With Timely Message

"Why?" When tragedy strikes, such as the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan, it's the question most of us ask – whether out loud or just to ourselves; whether as a despairing cry to God or as an instinctive reaction (faith notwithstanding). It's also the title of the new book by The Rev. Adam Hamilton, who will be guest speaker at this year's California-Nevada Annual Conference Session – and the book's message becomes even more relevant for those seeking explanation in the...

Children and Disasters Resource List Is Updated

The General Board of Discipleship (GBOD) has updated its resource list for helping children cope with images and feelings in the aftermath of disasters, according to Melanie Gordon, Director of Ministry with Children in the Leadership Ministries Division. You'll find the resource list under "Children's Ministry" at gbod.org....

Fundraising Concert for Japan Relief Is at Sacramento's Japanese UMC This Saturday

Hear world-class Japanese artists perform in a concert for Japan relief, this Saturday (March 26) at 3:30 p.m. at Japanese United Methodist Church in Sacramento. The artists include internationally known soprano Miwako Isano, performing "Pie Jesu" from Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Requiem in memory of the earthquake and tsunami victims, and a selection of Japanese folk songs (including "Akatonbo," "Hamabe No Uta," and "Biide Biide"); soprano Leena Shiokawa...

Cal-Nevada Churches Respond to Japan Disaster With 'Love and Generosity'

By Cate Monaghan Director of Communications Many United Methodist churches in the California-Nevada Annual Conference have taken a special offering or plan to take a special offering to benefit the victims of the natural disasters in Japan.   In response to a survey emailed to churches and clergy this week, 32 of those responding to date – 82% of the total – said they will take a special offering or already have done so.   "Our congregation's love and generosity...

Cal-Nev Churches Are Mindful of Local Communities Hard Hit by Tsunami

'Calamity' declared in Crescent City By Cate Monaghan Director of Communications Three California coastal communities have their own disasters to cope with in the wake of the Japan earthquakes and tsunami: Crescent City, Santa Cruz, and Fort Bragg all were victims of tsunami-based tidal surges and suffered extensive damage – 50-million dollars' worth, at lowest estimates.   "While Japan is very much in our prayers, we have to deal with the harsh reality of the tsunami here...

In Wake of Earthquakes, Tsunami, 'Celebration of Our Faith Continues'

By the Rev. Motoe Yamada Japanese UMC, Sacramento "Did you hear about the earthquake?" My sister's shaking voice over the phone was when I learned about the largest earthquake in Japanese history and the fourth largest in the world. I called her to brainstorm ideas for my mother's birthday gift, and my heart sank hearing she could not get hold of our family. Phone lines were intermittent throughout Tokyo, and it took some time to reach both of my parents. My...

Cabinet Responds to Japan Disaster

The bishop and Cabinet responded quickly to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, sending a letter on Friday (March 11) expressing shock and sorrow – and ultimately, hope – to the Conference's email mailing list. "As pictures unfold of losses almost impossible to imagine, we can confidently proclaim that we United Methodists are and will continue to be part of the recovery after the devastation of these natural disasters," the letter read. "We have created a...

Goodpaster Encourages Prayer, Asks Churches to Take Special Offering for Japan Quake Victims

Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster, President of the Council of Bishops, is urging United Methodists to pray for the victims of the devastating earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan last week, and is encouraging support of relief efforts through the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). In a letter to fellow members of the Council of Bishops, he writes, "In times of immense loss and grief, we are reminded once again that God's grace is sufficient. While it does not offer us immunity...

UMVIM Presence in Haiti to Double in 2011; Cal-Nev Teams Have Openings

By Phil Bandy CA-NV UMVIM Interim Director As we start the new year, I want to update you on the Methodist volunteer response in Haiti. This last year United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) teams traveled to Haiti and made good progress, and we have great plans for the year ahead. We need your ongoing support in this ministry – and even more, we need you to join us in traveling to Haiti.   By the end of 2010, thanks to the UMVIM Haiti Response Plan, 82 volunteer teams...

Haiti Earthquake Recovery: One Year Later

Containers of rubble show there is work to be done NASHVILLE, Tennessee | To commemorate the one-year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti which occurred Jan. 12, 2010, The United Methodist Church is reminding people that much work remains to be done in Haiti and that there are ways in which individuals can help.   An advertising campaign running through January 23 includes television ads on CNN and Fox News Channel, online advertising, text messaging, and outdoor billboards in...

CBS Special: Religious Response to Haiti Earthquake

NEW YORK (UMNS) | Relief efforts given to the people of Haiti after the January 12, 2010 earthquake are highlighted in a CBS-TV religion special, "HAITI: Religion's Response to Disaster," which will begin broadcast on Sunday, December 5.   (Since stations' schedules can change, please check your local station listings to confirm broadcast information.)   After a 7.0 magnitude earthquake ravaged Haiti in January 2010, some of the first responders were religious relief...