To download the WEEKLY PRAYER for Sunday worship, click here: Taiwan

Please download the MONTHLY MISSION STORY for your church bulletin/newsletter:
June 2008: pdf or text only or espanol
July 2008: pdf or text only or espanol

Are you coming to Missionworks/MMI in Cleveland October 2-5, 2008? Missionworks/MMI

Botswana Council of Churches, GM Partner, Offers Prayers and Concern for Zimbabwe
In a press release the Botswana Council of Churches writes: "The people of Zimbabwe go to the polls on June 27 to vote in a presidential run-off between President Robert Mugabe of ZANU-PF and leader of MDC, Mr. Morgan Tsvangerai. The whole nation of Zimbabwe is at a crossroads as it prepares for what is arguably its most decisive plebiscite since independence. For close to a decade, the international community has stood by and watched Zimbabwe descend into an abyss of chaos, hunger, and political repression.  The suffering of the people of Zimbabwe is a mark of disgrace on our collective conscience, for we failed to heed one of the most important teachings of all religions that, indeed, we are our brother's keeper… As the Church, given the human suffering of the people of Zimbabwe we are witnesses to in Botswana and other neighbouring countries, we commend Zimbabwe and its people as the coming election to the keep and care of the Omnipotent God. Our prayers and thoughts are with the people of Zimbabwe at this trying time." To read the entire press release, click here: http://globalministries.org/news/africa/bcc.html

The Rural Life Program of the Diocese of Sambalpur, Church of North India, Offers a Report
"The Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) is a program created by the Rural Life Program of the Church of North India. The Center has been supported by Global Ministries' funding since July 2006 and serves three hundred men and women living and farming in the rural areas of the Diocese of Sambalpur. Most of these farmers live at or below the poverty line and struggle to deal with the challenges brought on by cyclically damaging weather, the pressures of globalization, and extremely high interest rates imposed by local money lenders. CARD has worked hard to implement educational programs for the farmers on various topics…" To read the complete report, click here: http://globalministries.org/news/sasia/centre-for-agriculture-and.html

Gloria Vicente, GM Missionary to Guatemala, Shares an Update
"I write to you from Santa Cruz, K'iché the highland region of Guatemala. I am now on my seventh month here serving at Guatemalan Cultural Action, ACG on behalf of Global Ministries...  I feel I have found a sense of belonging and place here at ACG.  I say this because I have not only being received with open arms and affection, but I have also received many gifts in my short tenure here.  The first gift was the gift of trust…  I have been actively involved with ACG's executive team assisting as advisor and working together with my colleagues in staff and organizational development areas.  At the same time, I am accompanying groups and individuals from our UCC and Disciples as they make their way to Guatemala either to visit ACG in the K'iché region or visiting other communities like Indianapolis' Westview Christian Church, a Disciples Church who visited Santa Maria Tzeja, and meeting friends from Centre Congregation Church in Vermont, a UCC church.  I also had the pleasure of accompanying friends like Martha Pierce from the Illinois Maya Ministries, and the joy of accompanying my own church, University Church a Chicago, UCC and Disciples church." To read the rest of the update, click here: http://globalministries.org/lac/missionaries/receiving-the-gift.html

GM Missionaries, Tod and Ana Gobledale, Share About "Scripture Crunching" in Australia
"Chairs scrape at 8:00 a.m. each Tuesday morning as we gather sipping steaming cups of coffee and tea. Voices hum as the scripture passage from the lectionary two weeks hence is read aloud. Then silence. A moment of reflection. But not for long! We're off! Engaged in lively, dynamic discussion, we explore the passage…With scriptures alive in our minds two weeks before the sermon is to be delivered (this is not a Saturday evening night-before-I-preach exercise!), our eyes and minds become open to "sermon moments," moments when life collides with the passage, with the "word" with which we are engaged. We walk through our days open to moments of insight when the scripture's images and metaphors appear in the faces of people, in conversation overheard in the market or city streets, in the storm's torrent, in the morning news. The Holy Spirit does its work – engages mind and heart in reflection opening the eyes to moments of intersection when the Word and the World intersect, opening the mind to ways of sharing these insights with the listening congregation. We do our work, holding the Word close to our hearts and on our minds, open to inspiration and insight. This process, referred to as "Scripture Crunching" was formalized for the Practical Preaching class we taught at Churches of Christ Theological College in Mulgrave, Australia. We included it as the first step in the sermon preparation process introduced in the class. An informal group of students and ministers continued to gather weekly for 2 years." To read the more about "Scripture Crunching" click here: http://globalministries.org/eap/missionaries/scripture-crunching.html

If you would like to receive directly to your inbox these weekly Global Ministries updates, please send your name, e-mail address, physical address, phone number, and home church to:bshebeck@dom.disciples.org

Connect with Global Ministries Staff at Disciples and UCC Events:
Southern Conference UCC Annual Meeting, Norfolk, VA, June 26-27 – Sandra Gourdet sgourdet@dom.disciples.org
First CC, Portsmouth, OH: July 6 – Ginny Haag ghaag@dom.disciples.org
Disciples Hispanic Convention, Hasbrouk Heights, NJ: July 10-13, 2008 - Maria Cruzado mcruzado@dom.disciples.org Felix Ortiz fortiz@dom.disciples.org Luis Gierbolini lgierbol@dom.disciples.org and David Vargas dvargas@dom.disciples.org
Disciples Men: Sessions 2008, Oklahoma City, OK: July 17-20, 2008 - LaMarco Cable lcable@dom.disciples.org
UCC National Youth Event, Knoxville TN, July 24-28 –Jan Aerie aeriej@ucc.org and others
Disciples ICYF, Chapman University, CA: July 24-27, 2008 - Sarah Riester sriester@dom.disciples.org Alex Morse and Jeffrey Mensendiek
Disciples National Convocation, Memphis, TN: July 25-28, 2008 - Julia Brown Karimu jkarimu@dom.disciples.org Maria Cruzado mcruzado@dom.disciples.org LaMarco Cable lcable@dom.disciples.org and Sandra Gourdet sgourdet@dom.disciples.org
World Convention, Nashville, TN: July 30 - August 3, 2008 - David Owen dowen@dom.disciples.org Bob Shebeck bshebeck@dom.disciples.org and David Vargas dvargas@dom.disciples.org
Disciples NAPAD, in Stony Point, NY: August 6-9, 2008 – Xiaoling Zhu Zhux@ucc.org

Find a Missionary Visit in your State:
IA: May 1 to June 30, 2008, Linda and Bruce Hanson (The Christian Development Commission (CCD) and The Theological Community of Honduras (CTEH) Contact: Selva Lehman selvarl@mchsi.com
Southern CA: May 1 to June 30, 2008, Jeffrey Mensendiek (Council on Cooperative Mission, assigned to the Emmaus Center in Sendai, Japan) Contact: Virginia Arroyo arroyo@scncucc.org
WA: May 10 to June 30, 2008, Ana and Tod Gobledale (Churches of Christ Theological College in Melbourne, Australia) Contact: Marvin Eckfeldt marveck@comcast.net
TN: June 8-30 and July 13-20, 2008, Krista Johnson (Sabeel in Jerusalem) Contact: Glen Stewart glenjstewart@bellsouth.net
IN: July 6-10, July 14-22 and July 28 – August 10, 2008, Alex Morse (Caminantes in the Dominican Republic) Contact: Cheryl Cloar: cheryl@ccindiana.org
Penn Central: August 24 to October 10, 2008, Steve and Lisa Smith (EKU in Germany) Contact: mcoons-torn@pccucc.org
CT: September 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009, Tim Rose (Reformed Church of France) Contact: Cecile Gilson cecileg@ctucc.org
NC: May 1 to June 30, 2009, Tim Rose (Reformed Church of France) Contact: Janelle Bunn janellebunn@soc-ucc.org