Christians continue work in Pakistan, despite hostility
A UMNS Report
By Rebecca C. Asedillo


The Church of Pakistan's Diocese of Peshawar runs economic development programs that include 24 sewing centers. The church is an official partner of The United Methodist Church. A UMNS photo courtesy of the Diocese of Peshawar.


What does it mean to be a Christian minority in a post 9/11 Islamic society?

Christians in Pakistan "live and move and have their being" in a context of increasing uncertainty. Sometimes that environment turns hostile.

.On Oct. 28, 2001, in Bahawalpur, Multan province, a congregation sharing worship space at a Roman Catholic Church was attacked by armed men. Sixteen people died, including several children.

.On Aug. 5, 2002, armed gunmen attacked the Murree Christian School in the Himalayan foothills, about 30 miles north of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, killing six adults but leaving the students unharmed.

.On Nov. 12, 2005, a mob, angry at a perceived insult against the Qur'an (later found to be baseless), set on fire three churches, two houses of priests, a convent, one high school and the houses of three Christian families in a place called Sangla Hill, not far from the city of Lahore. Almost 400 Christian families had to evacuate their homes before the situation could be put under control.

.On Feb. 6, 2006, following the publication of the Danish cartoon that many Muslims saw as ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad, mobs with sticks, chains and stones attacked institutions run by the church, including Edwardes College, Elizabeth Girls School and College, St. Pauls Church and School, the Mission Hospital and the Pennell High School and College in the Northwest Frontier Province.

.On May 16, 2007, BBC News reported that the small Christian community in a place called Charsadda, also in the northwest province, was threatened with violence if its members did not become Muslims.

Despite the conditions, the church's work continues.

The Northwest Frontier Province is an area where Christian communities experience an extraordinary level of tension and sense of vulnerability.

The Diocese of Peshawar, whose territory coincides with the province, is one of the eight dioceses that make up the Church of Pakistan. This diocese originally belonged to the Anglican tradition, but with the merger of the Anglicans, Methodists, Lutherans (Norwegian) and Scottish Presbyterians in 1970, it is now a part of the united Church of Pakistan, an official partner with The United Methodist Church.

Servanthood ministry
The catastrophic earthquake of Oct. 8, 2005, in Pakistan killed an estimated 86,000 people. The diocese responded to the emergency by adopting a cluster of six villages in an area known as Pateka. Besides the immediate response to provide food, clothing, shelter and medical aid right after the earthquake, the diocese is now involved in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the villages. It facilitated the creation of a community-based organization to address livelihood recovery, health, education, water and sanitation, house repair and other communal needs.

Trust among Christians and Muslims in these communities has been developing, according to Ashar Dean, the diocesan staff overseeing communications and evaluation of the program. "If we give them respect, they will give us respect," he said.

In the northwest province, the majority of the people are Pashtuns (or Pathans), while most Christians are Punjabi descendants of the camp followers of the British Army during the late 19th century. In a society that has traditionally looked down on Christians not only for their adherence to what is perceived as a "foreign/western religion" but also for the fact that a majority of them come from the lower castes, the development of trust is a significant achievement.

Seventy-five-year-old Mohammad Ayub, a respected elder of Pateka testified, "During the relief and recovery phase, the diocesan staff maintained our self-respect, dignity and honor. At no point did they let us feel we were dependent on them…"

"In interfaith dialogue, we try to make our Muslim neighbors understand that we too are Pakistanis," Dean said. In the past, he explained, Pakistani Christians had followed the isolationist model of the British, who did not interact with the majority community. This is now changing. "I want the two societies - Muslims and Christians - to come together."

Women's ministries
Some of the women of the diocese discussed the low social status accorded to women in Pakistan where, according to Human Rights Watch, victims of sexual assault are deemed guilty of illegal sex rather than victims of unlawful violence or abuse. For this so-called "honor" crime, many women are imprisoned, and some are even killed.

"We are living in a country where the role of women is not up to the mark," said Reena Patrick of the diocesan women's desk. "Women are degraded and are deprived of many things in life."

However, "women now have more courage to speak," asserted a member of the diocesan women's group, which gathered for a reception with a guest from the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. The women's association holds seminars on women's health, legal rights and HIV/AIDS. It ministers among women prisoners who, cultural norms dictate, could not be visited by men.

While often facing obstacles in their pursuit for education and jobs within their society, the youth of the diocese are reaching out in a program for interfaith dialogue called "Youth Faith Friends." The young people are also very much aware of how suspicion of Christians has increased since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. "Because of Bush's war on Iraq, our churches have been attacked," one of the young people said.

The youth of the diocese are active in the Pateka villages, organizing sports and creative activities for the children there. They also continue to serve and strengthen their own networks through youth sports festivals, career counseling programs and participating in regional ecumenical youth events. They dream of building a center with a gymnasium and a library where they could organize discussion groups, sports events and other activities.

Education ministry
The first school in the Northwest Frontier Province was established by the church in 1853 - Edwardes School in Kohati Gate, Peshawar. Since then, the diocese has opened 12 more schools, three colleges, two hostels, a computer center and a Vocational Training Center.

The schools are highly regarded by the majority Muslim community for the quality education they provide at nominal charges, but sometimes they become targets of extremist elements. In February, reports that female suicide bombers might target schools sent officials scurrying around to beef up security arrangements.

Health needs are great in this part of Pakistan, but the resources are few. The mission hospital run by the diocese in Peshawar has obviously seen better days, with its antiquated equipment and decaying infrastructure, but its outpatient department continues to serve children with tuberculosis.

Another hospital is in a place called Bannu, a breeding ground for Islamic fundamentalists. "Why are we there, where every minute of your life could be your last?" asked the bishop of the diocese, Bishop Munawar "Mano" Rumalshah. The answer is obvious: the hospital is there to serve the needs of the people in the community. The bishop has put out a call for volunteer doctors and other health professionals to serve in this ministry.

The diocese also runs literacy and economic development programs, such as job apprenticeships training in tailoring, carpentry, computer repair and welding, and has sewing sites in 24 centers.More information is available on the Diocese of Peshawar's Web site, at www.peshawardiocese.org.



*Asedillo is an executive with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

Encounter fund assists Methodists in Latin America, Caribbean

A UMNS Report By Linda Bloom*

A desire to shift more decision-making about mission in Latin America to Methodist churches in the region has led to the successful development of a permanent fund to support projects in those countries.

The Encounter with Christ in Latin America and the Caribbean Permanent Fund, administered by the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, uses the interest from nearly $1.5 million in principal to finance the projects.

By the end of 2006, 24 projects in 14 different countries had received support through $150,000 in grants. The projects included:

A program of the Methodist Church of Brazil to increase awareness and provide tools and skills to combat racism against people of African heritage and to promote racial equality in both the church and community.

An emphasis on mission formation and leadership for Methodist youth in Argentina, designed to reach 120 youth in the church's seven regions.

A training program for indigenous Methodist leaders in Bolivia to help them acquire the necessary skills to understand the country's social and political dynamics.

A plan by the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas to develop and produce a common church school curriculum for the region.

A project to train health care workers in Venezuela to manage small health centers in four isolated communities in the Andes Mountains.

Mission priorities
The vision behind the permanent fund began with a 1991 meeting in Antigua, Guatemala, according to the Rev. Wilson Boots, the fund's director of interpretation. The meeting brought together 60 clergy and lay leaders from the region and representatives of the Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Council of Bishops, British Methodist Church and United Church of Canada.

The fund was established a year later. "This fund provides the flexibility and the resources to seize the moment for special opportunities," he explained.

Mission priorities are evangelism and new church development, community-based health care and the needs of women, children and youth. One of the programs in Bolivia, for example, resulted in the training of 450 youth in workshops on mission and social justice.

Boots said he saw the impact that the grant had while attending the 100th anniversary of the Methodist Church in Bolivia last August, an event that took place "with the active involvement and leadership of the youth within the church. It had an immediate, direct connection for us."

Decisions regarding grants from the dispersal of interest money are made by a committee with equal representation from Latin American/Caribbean churches and Global Ministries - a process that Boots considers "historic and bold" for a new mission age.

Appeals for support
Several direct appeals for donations to Encounter with Christ are made annually to a mailing list of more than 1,000 people, according to the Rev. C. Rex Bevins, the fund's director of financial development. "Normally, our gifts come in from local churches and individual donors," he said.

United Methodist Volunteer in Mission teams also have become involved in projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Over several years, for example, about 76 volunteers from the New York Annual Conference helped build 120 rural homes in Bolivia, with a tithe on each home dedicated to Encounter with Christ, Boots reported.

Churches in Western North Carolina, Texas, Oregon, Nebraska and Eastern Pennsylvania also have incorporated gifts to the fund as part of their mission trips. Conference-wide promotions in the Texas and Florida annual conferences resulted in significant gifts as well, according to Boots. The denomination's Southeastern and South Central jurisdictions have appointed people as Encounter fund advocates.

Even individuals are contributing to the Encounter with Christ Fund. A bequest from John L. Carl of Philippi, Wash., provided a gift of some $600,000 - the largest donation from an individual so far. Philippi, who was moved as a youth by a call to missionary service, was never able to become a missionary himself, but still wanted to support global mission, Boots said.

Encounter with Christ also has received financial support from the region's churches themselves, especially through the Council of Evangelical Churches in Latin America and the Caribbean (CIEMAL) and the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas.

Contributions earmarked for the Encounter with Christ Permanent Fund No. 025100 can be dropped in church collection plates. Checks payable to the General Board of Global Ministries also can be mailed directly to the agency at 475 Riverside Dr., Room 1449, New York, NY 10115.
Those interested in deferred giving or who want to order a DVD about Encounter with Christ can contact Bevins at rexbevins@alltel.net or (402) 742-9010.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

Bishops focus on poverty in Africa and its causes

By Linda Green*

Bishop Jose Quipungo

SPRINGMAID BEACH, S.C. (UMNS) - What is poverty, and why is the word used to describe Africa?

The questions were posed during an April 29-May 4 meeting of the Holistic Strategy on Africa committee, which is made up of African and U.S. church leaders seeking to strengthen ministries of The United Methodist Church in Africa.

Africa is rich in diversity and uniqueness, but a common thread throughout the continent is degrees of poverty that adversely affect its people and their national governments.

Although the continent is rich in mineral resources, "the resources are not controlled by Africa," said Bishop Joseph Humper of Sierra Leone.

"Poverty itself needs to be redefined because Africa is not poor," said Bishop David Yemba of the Central Congo Annual Conference. "Africans have their fields, sheep, food."

The roots of poverty
The challenge, according to East Angola Bishop Jose Quipungo, is "the struggle for an African to live day to day." He said that churches, especially those in Portuguese-speaking countries, had no resources when colonialism ended and had to fight for access to education and technology.

"We started at zero to have the achievements we have today," he declared, adding that education is necessary in eliminating poverty. "Give education to the people so that they can get the education about the resources they need. We may not become like America today or tomorrow but, in 20 to 30 years, we will not be the Africa we are today."

Rukudzo Murapa, vice chancellor for Africa University and convener of the session, said that avoiding the issue of poverty "is in itself the enemy" and that any cultural traits that keep Africans from seeking knowledge need to be examined. "Ignorance is the worst form of servitude," he added. "It is one of the root forms of poverty."

Poverty is the result of slavery "when the leaders were taken away and the gap has not been filled," according to Zimbabwean Bishop Eben Nhiwatiwa, adding that Africa is still suffering long after the slave trade has ended.

"Poverty is a complicated subject," said Bishop Benjamin Boni of the Cote d'Ivoire Annual Conference. "It needs to be discussed over a long period of time to arrive at solutions," but "surely, churches need to be financially empowered to address poverty."

Speaking for the voiceless
East African Bishop Daniel Wandabula spoke of how ignorance, exploitation and diseases of poverty plague Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda. "If the church is to be effective, these issues have to be addressed by the whole church which is entrusted to speak for the voiceless," he said.

Africa does not manufacture guns, land mines or other weapons used for killing, he added, "but the people continue to suffer from these weapons being directed at them."

Murapa shared strategies for addressing poverty, which include:

.Understanding the relationship between Africa and developed countries;
.Investing in human resources and human capital;
.Investing in higher education with disciplines and other subjects that can guarantee a return;
.Fostering a climate of entrepreneurship using models from the Nation of Islam;
.Teaching people that accumulating wealth is not a bad thing - but that how they use that wealth can be;
.Finding ways to stop the "brain drain" from poor nations, in which bright and talented people leave to work in other countries;
.Urging the church and government to collaborate in the fight against poverty.

United Methodist bishops in Africa will meet Sept. 10-13 at Africa University in Zimbabwe for further discussion about responses to poverty.

On another matter, a committee working to develop models for pension systems for pastors and church workers in United Methodist conferences outside the United States has begun working toward a $2 million campaign to fund pilot pension projects in Africa. The committee named Liberia for a pilot project in 2006 and is considering where to begin the next three pilots projects before the 2008 General Conference.

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

Bishops updating 'In Defense of Creation' document
By Linda Green*


The Rev. J. Phillip Wogaman addresses the United Methodist Council of Bishops during its spring meeting. Wogaman is slated to write the church's updated "In Defense of Creation" letter. UMNS photos by Linda Green.

SPRINGMAID BEACH, S.C. (UMNS) - United Methodists are invited to assist the church's bishops in drafting a statement exploring the problems of and solutions to nuclear weapons, environmental degradation, global warming, endemic poverty and disease.

More than 20 years ago, the United Methodist Council of Bishops introduced a pastoral letter called "In Defense of Creation." The 1986 letter responded to the possibility of nuclear war and the potential for extinction of life.

"The pastoral letter ... came as an urgent reminder that this world is God's creation, a sacred gift to be received and nurtured with respect," according to an episcopal invitation to the church for conversation on a new creation document.

On May 3, the Council of Bishops heard a presentation from a task force seeking to update the 1986 statement with input from The United Methodist Church and "other persons of goodwill" as authorized by the 2004 General Conference.

When the first statement was drafted, the world faced the threat of nuclear disaster in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The original document called for the elimination of nuclear weapons and "was one of the most serious engagements by our church with public policy," said Florida Conference Bishop Timothy Whitaker, chairman of the task force.

"By taking up the task of renewing In Defense of Creation for our time ... we are building a tradition of our church being seriously engaged with public policy concerning the issues that most affect the human race," he said.

Exploring new challenges
The bishops are being assisted with their research on these complex issues by the Church's Center for Theology and Public Policy at Wesley Seminary in Washington. The center was founded 30 years ago by Bishop James Mathews and assisted in drafting the 1986 document.

"The problems facing the world have changed dramatically in the 20 years since the previous pastoral letter. It is the responsibility of the church to provide leadership and discernment to meet those challenges," said the Rev. Barbara Green, a Presbyterian clergywoman and the center's executive director.

Those challenges, she said, include global warming, endemic poverty and disease "and a world awash in weapons."

"Defending creation is important because it is God's comprehensive gift which is the basis of all life."

While the Cold War is over and the Soviet Union no longer exists, an increasing number of countries possess nuclear weapons and others aspire to become nuclear powers, the invitation notes. Acts of terrorism are part of the world's new political landscape.

The world faces a very different situation that is "more complicated by the interconnections" between the ongoing nuclear danger and realities of violence, the environment, global warming and the continuing struggles by hundreds of millions of the world's people for basic economic subsistence," the invitation says.

Two decades ago, the world was a dangerous place and a "great wave of social moral concern arose." Countries demanded an end to the nuclear arms race and In Defense of Creation "was a central part of that great awakening and moral voice," said David Cortright, president of the Fourth Freedom Forum, a Goshen, Ind.-based organization that tracks and addresses global nuclear nonproliferation and security issues.

"The danger of nuclear war has not gone away. In many respects, it is more alarming today than it was then," he said, adding that the U.S. policy of unilateral militarism drives nations to seek weapons. "While the U.S. encourages others to give up bombs, we are in the process of developing nuclear weapons" that may be acquired by terrorists.

"This danger is very real," Cortright said, "but there is also reason for hope."

Inclusion of world hunger
The Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, an advocacy group seeking to eradicate world hunger, told the council that The United Methodist Church "always gets the connection between the Gospel of Jesus Christ and social transformation."

The Lutheran pastor and economist thanked the council for including poverty in its new creation document since roughly a billion people live in "subhuman conditions" and "people who live in serious poverty never are able to come close to the potential that God has built into them."

Poverty, he said, breeds violence, cynicism, disorder and environmental degradation. "It is a threat to creation and it is really right that it be lifted up in your proposed pastoral letter," he said.

Beckmann spoke about the hope to eradicate hunger, disease and poverty "in our time." Within the last 30 years, the proportion of undernourished people has decreased and, despite population growth, "there are fewer hungry people in the world today than there were in the world 30 years ago." However, while developing countries are addressing poverty, the United States has not made significant progress on the issue since the mid-1970s, he said.

The task force will host a two-day hearing in October in Washington to explore the interconnection between debt and nuclear weapons, poverty and economics and the environment.

The task force encourages annual conferences, seminaries and other constitutenties to conduct hearings, conversation and study on nuclear proliferation, the environment and poverty in 2007 and 2008. The results should be sent to the Rev. Barbara Green, executive director of the Church's Center for Theology and Public Policy (www.cctpp.org) or by mail to 4500 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20016. For more information, contact Green at (202) 885-8648.

The findings will be turned into a pastoral letter and foundation document, as was done for the 1986 statement. The bishops anticipate approving a new document, written by the Rev. J. Phillip Wogaman, in May 2009 and releasing it to the church for study and action.

In a related matter, the bishops were updated about the Katrina Recovery efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi. An appeal through the United Methodist Committee on Relief has collected more than $60 million. Hurricane Katrina roared across the Gulf Coast in August 2005.

Proclaiming that leadership requires action and investment, the bishops collected $1,865 for the fund in response to an appeal from Bishop William Morris.

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

Mission volunteer numbers show 'incredible' growth
By Elliott Wright*

A Volunteers in Mission team from Christ Church United Methodist in New York repairs a roof damaged by winds from Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Miss. A UMNS file photo by Mike DuBose.

NEW YORK (UMNS) - The number of participants in United Methodist Volunteers in Mission climbed from just under 20,000 in 1992 to almost 111,000 in 2006, with several peaks and valleys across the 15-year period.

"This is an incredible growth of voluntary mission service," said the Rev. Clinton Rabb, an executive with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. "The growth and the appeal come from the grassroots nature of the volunteer movement."

The figures specifically chart the expansion of United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, a ministry involving mostly congregation-based teams engaged in short-term construction, medical and educational service around the world.

The total number of mission volunteers registered by Global Ministries in 2006 was 112,486, including several programs in addition to Volunteers in Mission.

Short-term volunteer services are widely considered the primary channel through which United Methodist youth and young adults become acquainted with the mission mandate of the church today. "Volunteer service is woven into the fabric of congregations, district, annual conferences, and jurisdictions," Rabb explained.

Participants in United Methodist Volunteers in Mission reached an all-time high of 135,000 in 2005, which organizers attribute to the deadly hurricanes along the Gulf Coast.

Growth was slow but steady from 1992 to 1997, then saw a dramatic upswing in 1998 through 2000, with a sharp fall in 2001 as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Total participants fell into the mid-60,000 range in 2003 and 2004, down from some 96,000 in 2000.

"The figures, of course, vary with what is happening in the world," Rabb said. He said the increase in late 1998 through 2000 was attributable, in part, to the response to Hurricane Mitch, which devastated large parts of Central America, especially Honduras and Nicaragua, and moved on into Florida.

Rabb added that the phenomenal growth, especially in 2005, "strained the system but we did not fall apart. The challenge has helped us to find way to strengthen the interaction between UMVIM and the work of the United Methodist Committee on Relief," he said. "As a network, we are always looking for ways to improve our outcomes and the experiences of mission service without doing damage to the very concept of voluntarism."

The 2006 UMVIM figure of 110,912 represents reports from 60 of 63 annual (regional) United Methodist conferences in the United States.

There were 7,410 construction teams and 264 medical teams - 2,074 of which took part in hurricane relief.

Volunteers in Mission is the largest component of the volunteer ministries but not the only one.

Individual volunteers, who serve from a few months to years, numbered 78 in 2006, working in 28 countries and nine U.S. states. Last year, there were 1,100 documented participants in Health Care Volunteers, with the possibility of some participant overlap with people on medical teams.

In 2006, there were 1,152 active members of NOMADS, mostly seniors who move around the United States and sometimes in Central America, living in recreational vehicles while they engage in mission volunteer work.

*Wright is the information officer of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

Mission Agency Approves $1.25 Million in Scholarship Aid for Students from 46 Countries

New York, NY, May 2, 2007—The United Methodist mission agency will grant $1.25 million in leadership development scholarship aid to 250 students from 46 countries in the 2007-08 academic year.

The appropriations were approved by directors of the General Board of Global Ministries meeting in Stamford, CT, on April 23-26.

Four groups of scholarships help to prepare leaders for religious and social responsibility around the world. In most cases, the recipients, including ethnic and racial persons in the United States, would not be able to pursue higher education without the grants.

“Our scholarships are of great value to the whole church and to the Christian ecumenical community,” said the Rev. R. Randy Day, chief executive of the mission agency. “Over many decades we have educated persons who became bishops, doctors, diplomats, scientists, and educators. We strive to make allocations that are of substantial help in professional achievement.”

The four categories of scholarships are Crusade International, Crusade National, International Leadership Development, and National Leadership Development. The level of study supported ranges from undergraduate to graduate-level programs.

Some of the funds come from the annual World Communion Sunday Offering in October and are earmarked for the Crusade Scholarship program. The sum realized by Global Ministries for Crusade Scholars in 2006 was $472,298 for use in the 2007-08 academic year. Money for the Leadership Development programs comes from board endowments and supplemental allocations. Relatively small sums come through the Advance for Christ and His Church, the designated mission giving program of the denomination.

A total of 217 scholarships were approved in April, and another 35 will come before directors at their October meeting.

Church members and friends do not need to wait until World Communion Day to make gifts to the scholarship programs. Gifts can be made to either Crusade Scholarships or the Leadership Development programs through the Advance. The Crusade number is Advance 982161; Leadership Development, Advance 982468.

Contributions can be made online at http://secure.gbgm-umc.org by inserting the project number in the appropriate blank; or by credit card via the telephone at (888) 252-6174, or by check made out to the Advance and bearing the project number, mailed to Advance GCFA, P.O. Box 9068, GPO, New York, NY 10087-9068.

Designated gifts can also be placed in the offering plate of any United Methodist Church. One hundred percent of each Advance donation goes to the ministry indicated.

Grants to aid ethnic minority ministries
By Kathy L. Gilbert*

WASHINGTON (UMNS) -- Minority college students will intern in areas of mercy and justice under one of four programs receiving funding from The United Methodist Church's social advocacy agency.

The United Methodist Board of Church and Society, meeting April 26-29, approved four grants totaling $104,700 to help programs serving ethnic minorities reach their ministry goals in 2007.
The Ethnic Local Church Fund was created to help the denomination's program boards support local church and annual conference ministries in each board's area of focus.

Grants for 2007 are:
.The 2007 Ethnic Young Adult Summer Internship, $65,000. Fourteen interns will live together in Washington this summer and work in organizations addressing social justice concerns. The internship has been sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Church and Society for the last 20 years.

.Students and Parents for Educational Success, Academy for Life Transformation Inc., Memorial United Methodist Church, Western North Carolina Annual (regional) Conference, $16,700. Educational testing based on the Standard Course of Study for grade level is the focus of this year-long church project.

.Inter-Ethnic Leadership Development Group at 2008 General Conference, Inter-Ethnic Strategy Development Group, $18,000. The project is an effort to support racial and ethnic monitors at the 2008 United Methodist General Conference. Monitors will identify and support legislation most critical to racial and ethnic ministries.

.Young Adult Ecumenical Forum on Environmental Justice, Young Adult Ecumenical Forum, $5,000. The forum seeks to bring together rising national leadership to address systemic and local causes and effects of globalization from an ecological perspective.

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.