As a Christmas greeting to you, we wish to share with you the 2009 New Year letter from Bishop Växby to the pastors and leaders of the United Methodist Church in Eurasia

HANS VÄXBY
RESIDENT BISHOP
The United Methodist Church, Eurasia Episcopal Area

New Year 2009

Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Members and Friends of The United Methodist Church in Eurasia,


“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

“Abundantly!” Who can talk about abundance in times like these? Newspapers, TV programs and talks with friends over a cup of tea rather describe scarcity, crisis and worries. However, when I look back on 2008, I see much that speaks another language.

– Six new Bible groups started in Central Asia
– Minnesota Annual Conference sends $600,000 for a new church and annual conference center in St. Petersburg
– Our Theological Seminary has 47 students in three different educational programs
– Krasnoarmeysk UMC buys new property for expansion; Vnukovo UMC sanctuary is completed; Saratov UMC moves into a brand new church building; the building in Tyumen raises thanks to a big gift from abroad and ongoing “second mile” offerings from members; Zhetigen buys a new church center
– Offerings continue to grow in our churches
– Bishkek UMC is finally registered
– Leadership Institute from Church of Resurrection in Kansas City reaches Northwest Russia, and is followed up at the annual conference
– Samara UMC raises their pastors’ salary far beyond the minimum 10% of offerings
– The Upper Room is published in Russian
– New edition of the Faith-Sharing New Testament in Russian launched in connection with World Evangelism Faith-Sharing seminar in Kiev
– The first Walk to Emmaus in Russia is held in Satka
– Coaching for all pastors is introduced
– 25 members of the five new annual conference boards of ordained ministry in training event sponsored by General Board of Higher Education and Ministry
– 121 indigenous pastors and Bible group leaders under appointment in 116 local churches, official Bible groups, and other ministries of the church
Taking into consideration the picture many have of Eurasia, this is “far more than all we can ask or image!” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Only the one who is fishing can catch fish
It is true that Russia and the other former Soviet republics in Eurasia not yet have experienced the Great Awakening we all waited for in the 90s. After the first wave of new interest in faith and church, Russia soon went into a blend of broad acceptance of the Orthodox Christian culture and indifference to a deeper personal faith commitment – not very different from the common Western European attitude to religion. The development in other parts of the area was similar. In recent years, we have seen how the established religion – in European parts Orthodoxy and in Central Asian parts Islam – has been used by authorities and nationalistic powers to make it difficult for Protestant churches.

Who can expect abundance for the year of 2009 under such circumstances? So-called realists, tell us that there is little of positive development to expect next year. But true (!) realists also take into consideration “the power at work within us.” Also in next year, God can accomplish “far more than all we can ask or imagine.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Some of the first followers of Jesus Christ were fishermen. We can learn something important from the way Jesus related to their profession. When he lets a miracle happen, so they get abundantly of fish, it never happens without an effort from the disciples as well. He tells them what to do, and they follow his instructions. The notion is so simple and obvious, that we often miss the point. God’s way to make miraculous things to happen is cooperation. His power is “at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20-21), not without us!

When he asked them to “fish for people” (Matthew 4:19), I cannot believe he expected them to forget their professional skill. They knew very well that only the one who actually is fishing can catch fish. So do we! We cannot just pray and wait the miracle would happen that a lot of people come to our church. We need to follow Jesus’ instructions, and add our own effort to it. When we actively are fishing for people, we will get the contacts, the opportunity to share our faith, and the possibility to lead people to salvation through Jesus Christ. Only a church that actually is fishing for people can catch people.

And the expectations on each United Methodist local church and Bible group still is to grow in
 worship attendance
 financial self-sufficiency
 increased lay leadership
 service to neighbors
 progress towards its own annual goals

You can actually walk in an escalator
The financial crisis is unfortunately not a matter only for politicians and investors in the stock market. When companies have troubles, workers lose their job. When members in American churches earn less money, they pledge less money for the coming year. When members promise less money, the churches cancel staff positions, and make changes in programs and support commitments. In a connectional church like The United Methodist Church, changes in the financial situation in one part of the world have impact on the ministry in another. The present crisis is so deep that it will influence ordinary people all over the world, including United Methodists and United Methodist local churches in Eurasia.

However, this does not mean that God or even people abandon us. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever,” (Hebrews 13:8) and “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:29) It just means that the working conditions may look a little different for some time.

In December, we received the three first messages about partner churches telling they are not able to continue their support in 2009. We will probably receive more messages that are similar. We need to be prepared that in most cases, it will be extremely difficult to find a new partner. Until now, when a church has missed its partner, we have drawn on the “hope” account, borrowing from other funds until a new partner is found. In 2009, this will not be possible.

What will we do?

Recently, I saw something in the Moscow Metro, from which we might learn something. It was early on a Monday morning, and only a few people were travelling. The escalator bringing people up to the exit had stopped. An engineer had already arrived to see what he could do. The interesting observation I made was that the four people at the escalator did not move. They were calmly standing there waiting for the engineer to fix it! They were so used to the escalator bringing them to next level that it did not occur to them that they could start walking. After all, the escalator is a rather ordinary staircase, even if it is moving. You can actually walk in an escalator too.

What we NOT can do in 2009 is standing still, waiting that the Russia Initiative engineer will fix it for us. We need to walk ourselves up to next level. It will not be easy, since the finance situation is not an ordinary staircase, but it is possible! Mityshchi UMC, one of the churches that got the message in December, immediately started to look into how they can increase their offerings, decrease their expenses, and postpone planned projects to a later date. This is the way to go. We need to be realistic and imaginative, trusting that He who has called us is faithful, and will make it possible (Cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:24). It may mean that a small group loses its paid pastor; that a pastor needs to take an additional job; and that the ministry moves from suitable premises to smaller. This may not all be negative. It can also mean that we realize that our own resources are greater that we thought; that people will not disappear if they have to pay a little for the tea; and that there are members who are ready to contribute significantly more to the pastor’s salary. All because God is at work in and through the church, in and through its members, and in and through its friends.

To all generations, forever and ever
The greatest privilege and at the same time most pressing issue for us as a church is the fact that we are called not to live for ourselves (2 Corinthians 5:15). We bring glory to God in the church, when we bring what we have “in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever”. (Ephesians 3:20-21).

2009 will be a year when we celebrate what our church did for generations past. The first Methodist congregation in Russia was founded in St. Petersburg in 1889, and our denomination was recognized in Russia in 1909. Let us take the opportunity to remind ourselves and show the world around us that we have a task for present and coming generations as well.

The theme for the Episcopal Address at the Northern Europe Central Conference in February will be “A Charge To Keep I Have – To Serve The Present Age.” In line with this, the theme for the Eurasia annual conferences in 2009 will be “For God and His World.” This also how I wish we all can live both privately and as a church through the whole year. For this I am in constant prayer for you all.

Your co-worker and shepherd,

Hans Växby
Bishop

A Christmas Note from the Interim President of Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary

17 December, 2008
Dear Friends,

From the family of the Baltic Theological Seminary we wish you a peace- and joyful Christmas-time and a New Year filled with the Lord’s blessings and guidance!

Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary is one of the most strategic ministries in Estonia training professional Christian workers. The 2008/2009 academic year has started with enrollment of 131 students, which makes it the largest United Methodist owned Seminary in Europe. Students come from different churches and many countries - from Estonia, Russia, Komi, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Finland and Korea. In January 2009 the very first student from South-America will arrive. Yuri Velloso comes from Brasil to study theology and join our youth work.

The year 2008 gave us six graduates who are all in active ministry. In the fall 13 new students enrolled in the Seminary.

Christmas is time to think about the gifts we give and receive. The greatest of all gifts is the love of God, revealed through His son Jesus Christ. This is the true reason to celebrate. The Baltic Theological Seminary is a manifestation of that same love. It has been a precious gift that has changed the United Methodist Church in Estonia and has made very positive impact on Christian communities beyond Estonian borders. Seminary has equipped many of our pastors and lay workers. Our graduates – school teachers and chaplains in military, prisons and police forces, have made our denomination known in the society.

Please remember to pray for the seminary’s finances. The global economic crisis has negative impact on all of us but as Christians we believe that everything is possible with God. He can provide the necessary resources to build up His Kingdom.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. (Isaiah 9:2)

It’s wonderful that we all belong to those people, which are allowed to see the great light in the midst of the darkness. We can go into the New Year with that consolation

Connected in faith and service,

Lii Lilleoja
Interim President


Narva mnt. 51, 10152 Tallinn, Estonia
Tel. (372) 6 688 467
Fax. (372) 6 688 468
e-post: seminar@emkts.ee Web: http://www.emkts.ee/

If you would like to support the work of the BMTS, please send
your donation to:
World Methodist Evangelism
1008 19th Ave South
Nashville, TN 37212-2166

Please designate your gift: BMTS Kuum or BMTS General

Alternatively, funds may be sent through the GBGM Advance:
Advance # 15021 B (Kuum Scholarship)
Advance # 15020 A (General Fund)

Blessing Home Children’s Shelter: A Ministry of Hope in Pattaya, Thailand
News from the Thailand Mission Initiative

Pattaya, Thailand is a city of contrasts. On the outside it looks like a beautiful vacationland, but in reality, it is a place that is the center of the sex tourist trade in Southeast Asia. In the midst of tall buildings, massage parlors, and beer bars are women and children who are being trafficked. This has caused an epidemic of AIDS/HIV which has devastated families in Thailand and left thousands of children in Pattaya orphaned, abandoned, or neglected.

Benz (5 year old girl on the left) and her younger sister live with this woman who is not related to them but has shown compassion to them after they were abandoned. Both girls receive daily care at Blessing Home.

The people of Life Center UMC in Pattaya have hearts of mercy to these children and to the senior women who take care of them. Many times, these seniors are not related to the children, but have chosen to provide care for them. But these seniors usually cannot adequately feed or clothe the children or provide the funds needed for them to go to school. Most of the time, these young children, ages 2 to 10, must go with them into the streets during the blistering heat of the day to rummage through trash barrels for recyclables to sell for food. They work like this for 10 to 12 hours per day without having much to eat or drink.

Blessing Home is a ministry of Life Center UMC to these children. At this time, 35 children receive daily care, food, clothes, medicine, biblical teaching, and Christian love. Emergency shelter is also provided to any child in need. At this time, there is a very long waiting list of orphans and abandoned children, but there are not enough funds to hire child care workers and to provide food and other necessities.

Some of the children do not have birth certificates, and are not legally able to obtain them. Without a birth certificate, these children cannot attend school and when they become adults, they will not be able to have a national ID card which would permit them to work. Leaders of this ministry are currently seeking legal means for obtaining documents for these children so they can have good opportunities for their future.

Pastor Banya of Life Center UMC in Pattaya and Missionaries Mike and Sherri Morrissey, visit the “home” of Benz, a 5 year old girl and her young sister abandoned by their mother. The tin shack they were living in collapsed. The Christians of Life Center UMC helped to repair their home.:

Support for the orphans and abandoned children at Blessing Home can be given through Advance #00403A, Thailand Mission Initiative. Advance Gifts can be given to your local UMC treasurer or online at http://www.givetomission.org/.

Sudan Project serves as model for denomination

The Rev. Mike Slaughter speaks to members of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries about the Sudan Project, a partnership of Ginghamsburg (United Methodist) Church and the United Methodist Committee on Relief. A UMNS photo by Cassandra Heller.

A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*

Ginghamsburg Church did not seem to be a promising assignment when the Rev. Mike Slaughter was sent there 29 years ago.

He was the first full-time pastor for the small United Methodist congregation in Tipp City, Ohio, since its founding in 1864. As part of the "rust belt," the Miami Valley area surrounding the church was losing both jobs and population.

But Slaughter stayed and the church grew--so much so that it has attained "mega-church" status, with multiple buildings and ministries on two campuses serving about 4,500 people weekly. Membership stands at 1,300.

Ginghamsburg's ministries now extend far beyond Ohio. Through its Sudan Project, undertaken in partnership with the United Methodist Committee on Relief, "we are reaching or touching a quarter million people in Darfur," Slaughter said.

Slaughter spoke about that project--which has raised $3 million in three years--during the spring meeting of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, UMCOR's parent agency, March 10-13 in Stamford, Conn.

Christmas miracle offering
He sees the project as a model for The United Methodist Church. His Christmas fundraising message is a simple one: "It's Jesus' birthday, not your birthday."

Since Christmas 2004, Slaughter has asked parishioners to make a monetary donation for Sudan mission work equal to what they spend on family Christmas presents. The effort has become known as the "miracle offering."

The project has been particularly effective because it gives local church members a sense of ownership. "When we're focusing on one major mission initiative, it will have an incredible impact and ownership in our people's lives," Slaughter said.

The $317,000 raised during the 2004 Advent season helped start a sustainable agricultural project in South Darfur, an area with less conflict than West Darfur and home to many internally displaced persons. The investment in that project "is now feeding 65,000 people with no additional funds," he said.

The initial project-promoting small-scale farming and other agricultural work, along with the distribution of non-food items-focused on about 250 families in the Ed Al Fursan community south of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. UMCOR also has assisted in managing the El Ferdous IDP camp.

During Advent 2005 and 2006, the miracle offerings raised more than $1.5 million, about $80,000 of which was donated by partner churches, schools and businesses. A five-year child development program was begun in 2005 and a four-year water project in 2006.

The results include the construction of 90 schools and the training of 200 teachers serving 11,000 students, and the establishment of 10 water yards, providing 22,000 people and their livestock with water.

Each year, the miracle offering has expanded to include donations from other churches, many of them small congregations. Of the $1,145,649 raised during the 2007 Advent season, more than $200,000 came from other partners, including 17 United Methodist churches from nine states. For example, Urbana (Ohio) United Methodist Church, a congregation of around 200, has contributed $56,000 over a 12-month period.

"People want to contribute to something that has significance," Slaughter told UMCOR's board of directors.

Sharing concern Slaughter has addressed churches and schools across the United States about the situation in Darfur which, he noted, has been labeled by the United Nations as "the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today." Since 2003, more than 200,000 people in Sudan have been killed and 2.2 million displaced from their homes, according to U.N. statistics.

Despite a 2006 peace agreement, a rebel offensive occurred recently in West Darfur, with responding government and militia attacks. All sides have committed killings and human rights abuses, including destruction of property and forced displacement, according to a March 10 statement by Sima Samar, the Special Rapporteur of the U.N. Human Rights Council after a 13-day visit to Sudan.

During a March 11 briefing to the U.N. Security Council, the assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations said that a peacekeeping operation cannot by itself bring security to Darfur and that the parties in conflict must be pressured to negotiate a peace, according to a U.N. news release. UNAMID, a hybrid African Union-U.N. force, is patrolling Darfur.

Because the work of the Sudan Project is centered in South Darfur, much of the conflict has been avoided, but progress was impeded at the end of 2007. "We've had, this fall, some security frustrations that have held up some of our water project," Slaughter said. Since the beginning of 2008, work has resumed on the project, located in Adilla.

Contributions to the Sudan Project can be made to Advance No. 184385MG. Checks can be dropped in church collection plates or mailed directly to UMCOR at P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. To make a credit card donation, call (800) 554-8583 or donate online through http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/umcor/donate.cfm?code=184385&id=3018444&CFID=1736337&CFTOKEN=23850443.

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

Board commissions missionaries, deaconesses

Twenty-two new missionaries, 12 deaconesses and two home missioners are commissioned by the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. UMNS photos by Cassandra Heller.

By Mary Beth Coudal*

STAMFORD, Conn. (UMNS) - Twenty-two new United Methodist missionaries were commissioned March 11 to serve in churches, hospitals and community centers.

During its spring meeting, the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries also commissioned 12 deaconesses and two home missioners.

The new missionaries are lawyers, doctors, pastors and agriculturalists. They come from places as diverse as Brazil, the Philippines, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Missouri and Michigan. They fall into several categories of mission service and form the largest group of United Methodist missionaries commissioned at the same time in the last four years.

Five of those commissioned are global health missionaries assigned to sub-Saharan Africa. The number of global health missionaries now stands at 11, all assigned within the last two years.

The global health missionaries are:

.Jeremias Alfiado França from Inhambane, Mozambique, the director of health ministries at Chicuque Rural Hospital, a United Methodist health facility.
.Cláudia Peres Costa Maia from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, a community health worker at the Center of Hope Malaria & Community Health Project in Mozambique, and her husband, Dr. Eduardo Reis Maia, a surgeon and physician assigned to medical care at Chicuque Rural Hospital.
.Dr. Tendai Paul Manyeza of Zimbabwe, the medical superintendent and physician at Old Mutare Hospital, Zimbabwe.
.Victor D. Taryor of Liberia, hospital administrator for Ganta (Liberia) United Methodist Hospital.

Other missionaries commissioned for international service are:

.Kennedy Cruz, from the Evangelical Baptist Church in Laguna, Philippines, development and agriculture specialist in Phsa Deum Thikav, Cambodia.
.Dieudonné Karihano, a native of Burundi, agricultural coordinator for the United Methodist Cambine Mission Center in Mozambique.
.The Rev. Arthur Keith, a clergyman from Wells, Minn., pastor at the International Church of Lund, Sweden.
.Michael Keyse of Berea, Ohio, Volunteers in Mission coordinator in La Paz, Bolivia.
.Finda Quiwa of Sierra Leone, based there as a regional missionary working with youth and young adults in a large area of Africa.
.Guillermo Berman Ramirez, a native of Mexico, continuing as volunteer coordinator for the Mexican Methodist Border Mission.
.The Rev. Dong Min Seo of South Korea, working alongside his wife, Hyeyun Seo, in the Tsaiz United Methodist Church, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The National Plan for Hispanic and Latino Ministries missionaries are:

.Sonya Marie Luna of Ypsilanti, Mich., coordinator of Hispanic/Latino Ministries for the Detroit Annual (regional) Conference.
.The Rev. Lourdes Teixeira Magalhães, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, pastor in the Greater New Jersey Conference.

Church and Community Workers are:

.The Rev. Donald Edwards, serving as an immigration attorney for Justice for Our Neighbors in New York.
.Joanne Finley, executive director of the North Rampart Community Center in New Orleans, also commissioned to the office of deaconess.
.Mary Gladstone, development director for the Deaf Shalom Zone Inc., in Baltimore.
.Andrew Highland, executive director of Looking Glass Community Services, Laingsburg, Mich.
.Alexander Oatley, director of community development for the Joy-Southfield Community Development Corp. in Detroit.
.Susan Reed, an attorney with Justice for Our Neighbors in Grand Rapids, Mich.
.Janet Allyne Solomon, serving with the Lower Delta Paris Community Outreach Ministry in the Arkansas Annual Conference.

The office of deaconess in Methodism goes back to the late 19th century. The home missioner position, created by the 2004 General Conference, provides an opportunity for men to take part in the diaconal movement. Deaconesses and home missioners create a community of service and mutual support.

The new deaconesses are:

.Karen A. Caldwell, director of adult ministries of the United Methodist Church of Berea, Ohio.
.Sarah Barnes Capers, executive director of the Ruby S. Couche Big Sister Educational Action and Service Center, Jamaica, N.Y.
.Judy Davis, community outreach coordinator at Laurel Heights United Methodist Church in San Antonio.
.Joanne Finley, also commissioned as a church and community worker, executive director of the North Rampart Community Center, New Orleans.
.Nancy Garrison, executive director of the Brooks-Howell Home in Asheville, N.C.
.Doreen Grayless, director of student scholarships at Indiana University of South Bend.
.Patricia Hoerth, spiritual director and retreat leader at Turtle Rock Farm: A Center for Sustainability, Spirituality and Healing in Red Rock, Okla.
.Deborah Humphrey, program coordinator for Cookson Hills (Okla.) Center United Methodist Mission.
.Kathlyne D. Kraiza, executive director of the Sager Brown Depot, a facility of the United Methodist Committee on Relief in Baldwin, La.
.Gayle McCreery, minister of congregational care and development of the Christ United Methodist Church in Baltimore, Ohio.
.Kandi Mount, hospital chaplain at the Mercy Health Systems, Rogers, Ark.
.Jo Sheetz, education coordinator of Community Action Center in Sandy Springs, Ga.

Home missioners are:

.Haniel R. Garibay, projects coordinator for the National Association of Filipino-American United Methodists, Virginia Beach, Va.
.Matthew Morgan, project manager at The Advance for Christ and His Church at the Board of Global Ministries in New York.

A celebration of 120 years of the deaconess movement was held during the board meeting. To read an account of that event, go online to http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umw/news/news-1/honoring-120-years-of-deaconess-service/.

*Coudal is a staff writer for the Board of Global Ministries.

Elderly women in Mozambique robbed of blankets, food

Elderly women find a home at Hanhane Women's Shelter, a United Methodist-supported ministry in rural Mozambique. UMNS file photos by Mike DuBose.A UMNS

Report By Kathy L. Gilbert*

A thief stole 32 blankets and most of the food from 42 elderly women who live in reed and thatch huts at the United Methodist-supported Hanhane Women's Shelter in rural Mozambique.

"The houses they live in have no security," said Rosália Mauricio Queface, administrative secretary for the United Methodist Women's Society in Mozambique. "Many are alone. Many have disabilities. They were threatened and were afraid to ask for help."

The theft was reported in a church publication in February and points to the need for secure, permanent housing for the women, according to the shelter's supporters.

Known as "witch daughters," these women are driven from their homes and into the shelter because their families accused them of witchcraft.

"Life for them is not easy due to the many difficulties that they face such as hunger, lack of substantial permanent houses of conventional material, and hygiene products which mean suffering from epidemic diseases," Queface said.

The shelter was established in 1982 near the town of Massinga, and the women are cared for by the United Methodist Women's Society of Mozambique. "It is such a shame to see elderly women wandering around the streets," said Judite Gemo, a member of the society.

Catherine Mudime Akale, a regional missionary with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, visited the shelter in 2003 and wrote in her report: "These are women who were accused of witchcraft, dispossessed of their property (cattle, houses, coconuts, farms) and disowned by their own biological children or other close relatives and exiled from their homes and communities after their husbands died."

Long-term needs
The theft was reported in the Mozambique Initiative News published by the United Methodist Missouri Annual (regional) Conference. The Missouri conference has a partnership with the churches in Mozambique and immediately sent $1,000 to purchase more food and blankets, Queface said.

The Women's Society wants to build permanent housing to protect the women from theft and to reduce the spread of diseases. Many of the women have asthma and arthritis and no access to medical care or drugs.

A new center would include dormitories that can house four women in each building. "This center will cost approximately $20,000, and we have a portion of that on hand," Queface said.

She called on the church to respond to a great need.

"In Psalm 71:9, an aged worshiper prays for deliverance and laments, 'Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent.' My friends, we are Christ's presence to these women who suffer from aging, ailments and poverty," Queface said. "We are the church. May we hear their cry."

To contribute through The Mozambique Initiative, write check payable to "Missouri Conference UMC," marked "Mozambique-Hanhane Women's Shelter." Mail to Missouri Conference, 3601 Amron Court, Columbia, MO 65202.

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

A Letter from Bishop Daniel Wandabula re: Bishop's Appeal for Peace and Reconcilliation in the Post Election Crisis in Kenya

To all brothers and sisters in Christ,

I extend the New Year greetings from the East Africa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. I take this opportunity to inform you all that Kenya, a country which has been a cradle of peace in the turbulent Great Lakes region, has been hit by an unexpected outbreak of ethnic violence.

The deteriorating situation in Kenya, following the disputed December 27, 2007 Presidential Elections has claimed the lives of numerous innocent civilians. Official government estimates have conservatively put the death toll at 240 lives. However, independent reports put the number beyond 400, as of January 5, 2008. The clashes have claimed a number of casualties mainly from the Kikuyu, Luo, and other ethnic groups. Overall more than 250,000 people have been displaced from their localities making them homeless.

The 6 districts of the United Methodist Church, in Kenya, namely Nairobi, Nakuru, Naivasha, Busia (Kenya side of the boarder with Uganda), Central Nyanza, and South Nyanza, have not been spared. Many parishioners in our churches have been displaced, some killed, and many have lost property. A group of 30 people who attempted to escape the violence, by boat across a river, drowned and perished.

The United Methodist Church founded schools in Nairobi, Nakuru and Naivasha have been offered to the displaced people for shelter. Our churches have been gravely affected as many families have been displaced. A number of them are seeking refuge at Police Stations, churches, and other religious shelters, especially in the Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa localities. It is our prayer and hope that the violence comes to an end soon. We have noted that on New Year’s Day, at least 50 innocent people, many of them women and children, who had taken refuge in a Pentecostal Assemblies of God Church in Eldoret, were attacked by a mob and burnt to death.

One United Methodist Church in Naivasha District had so far received more than 250 people, especially children and women, in search of safety. Ms. Hendrick Ouma Alois, the Women President, Nairobi District, has been forced to accommodate over fifty people in her home in the rift valley area of Kajiado. The people have been rendered refugees, within their own country!

There is a growing number of people crossing over the national boundaries especially into Uganda and Tanzania. Our parishioners on the Ugandan side have so far received these brothers and sisters with numerous challenges. We have been relieved to learn that UMCOR is considering extending some emergency relief funding to ease the suffering within the temporary settlements here. There is great need for food, safe water, clothing, medicines, blankets, temporary shelter, mosquito nets, and basic household utensils.

We commit prayers to our brothers and sisters who are currently experiencing this stressful and critical situation. We are grateful to God that most of our parishioners, and missionaries, in Kenya have so far been spared. Indeed all churches in the East Africa region dedicated last Sunday January 5, 2008 to prayers for Peace and Reconciliation among the warring factions. As a church we empathize with all the people that have suffered from this injustice, violence, loss of lives/property, and the overall disruption of daily lives.

We pray for the return of peace to Kenya, and a more lasting settlement of the conflict. I appeal to all people of goodwill to contribute towards the settlement of the conflict through prayer, lobbying the parties in conflict, counseling, and material support to the displaced people in the various affected countries of East Africa. All assistance for relief to the affected areas should be directed to GBGM/MCR Offices in New York.

Grace and Peace,
Daniel Wandabula
Resident Bishop
East Africa Episcopal Area
The United Methodist Church

Post-tsunami Sri Lanka rebuilds amid worsening war
By Paul Jeffrey*

A fisherman throws a net at Waligama on Sri Lanka's southern coast. The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka, with support from United Methodist-supported ACT International, has helped tsunami survivors start over and rebuild their livelihoods. UMNS photos by Paul Jeffrey.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (UMNS) - Three years ago, Susantha Jayalath survived the tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean and devastated the coast of Sri Lanka.

He lost his fishing boat and nets, and within weeks sold his wife's jewelry to make the down-payment on a new boat. Then a war got in the way of earning a living, and life for Jayalath remains stalled long after the waves receded.

Jayalath's struggles reflect larger challenges that Sri Lanka has faced in the three years since the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami killed 35,000 people and left more than half a million people homeless on the island nation. Yet hope seems an integral element of the character of those who take to the sea in small boats, so Jayalath has not given up.

His boat is anchored in the harbor of Mirissa, a nearby village on Sri Lanka's southern coast, and has a motor and nets donated by the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka, part of the massive relief effort of Action by Churches Together (ACT), a United Methodist-supported alliance of church agencies responding to emergencies.

Jayalath often sets off to resume fishing; yet each time he is told by military officials that he can't go far from shore. "Before the tsunami, there were lots of fish," he explained. "But since then, everything has changed. It's much harder to earn a living fishing today.

"I can only have a motor that's less than 15 horsepower, because if it's bigger the Navy says it could be used by the LTTE [the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]. And I can only go out 5 kilometers, even though the big fish are farther out. They let the big boats go out there, but not small fishermen like me. I don't know how I'm supposed to earn a living."

Jayalath and his family still live in a temporary shelter built on the ruins of their old house. He's not allowed by law to rebuild there, however, as it falls within a coastal buffer zone where the Sri Lankan government has prohibited new construction of family dwellings. The government offered him land 9 kilometers inland, but he said he needs to be by the sea to work. The price of suitable land closer to the coast has skyrocketed.

Jayalath's frustrations mirror those of many around the perimeter of this island of 20 million people where, by a year after the waves receded, any sense of national unity generated by the tsunami had clearly evaporated.

Renewed fighting
Despite a 2002 cease-fire agreement, renewed fighting between Tamil separatists in the north and the Sinhalese-dominated government in Colombo has killed more than 5,000 people in the last two years, taking the death toll since the war erupted in 1983 to around 70,000. The government officially terminated the cease-fire agreement on Jan. 3.

Thousands of civilians, including many displaced by the tsunami and just resettled in new homes, have been uprooted again by the renewed fighting.

To the Rev. Jayasiri Peiris, chief executive of the National Christian Council, December of 2004 represents a missed opportunity. "When the waves were crashing down on Sri Lanka, both the LTTE and the government protected the people," he said. "They both carried out rescue operations without bothering about religion or ethnic affiliation. But some mischief makers with their own political agenda didn't want that to continue."

According to a November report from the International Crisis Group, a resurgence of Sinhalese nationalism in the south has emboldened extremists and handed "established politicians a diversion from their failure to address economic weakness, social concerns and pervasive corruption."

The report also blames the "brutality and intransigence" of the LTTE, the so-called "Tamil Tigers," for the country's deteriorating political climate, and argues that the two competing nationalisms "have sapped the ability of governments to develop a consensus for a negotiated settlement and power sharing" to the long conflict.

Despite the discouraging political environment, tsunami-related reconstruction goes on. ACT-sponsored houses are being finished and families are moving in. Supplementary classes for tsunami-affected children continue to meet in makeshift schoolrooms. Livelihood projects provide critical income for people for whom the depressed fishing industry has meant continued suffering.

"The housing problem is relatively solved from an outsider's view, but for the fishing families it's not all right," said the Rev. Ramash Fernando, a Methodist pastor in Tangalle. "If you're forced to live 8 to 10 kilometers away from the sea, it's difficult to do your job. These are people who know only how to fish. And there are indirect effects as well. Many of the women who lived near the harbors earned money stitching nets, but they can't do that now if they live far inland. Many fishing families were doing fine but lived in a poor house before the tsunami, and now after the tsunami they live in a nice house but have hardly any income."

Fernando said he joined with other Catholic and Buddhist religious leaders in the area to pressure the government to relax its restrictions on rebuilding along the coast, but with no significant result.

Rebuilding livelihoods
Although it has built almost 200 new homes for tsunami survivors, much of the National Christian Council's focus over the last three years has been rebuilding livelihoods, thus sidestepping the chronic delays and bureaucratic difficulties of housing reconstruction.

"We've had a significant impact by setting people back on their feet materially and psychologically, both in the fishing and non-fishing sectors. While some nongovernmental organizations focused more on housing, we worked on equipping people with the skills and tools for them to support their families over the long haul," said Kishani de Vaz, director of the National Christian Council's tsunami recovery program.

After that, it's been up to the ingenuity of beneficiaries. P.H. Nandasini's house near Tangalle was destroyed by the tsunami. He never found his boat or nets. He got a new boat motor from ACT, which he puts on the back of his bicycle and peddles 15 kilometers to place on a friend's boat. Together they fish and then divide the proceeds.

A Buddhist, Nandasini said ACT has provided the only significant assistance in his village. "The government doesn't have money or a plan. And other groups from other countries come here and ask thousands of questions about our needs, then they come back and take pictures of us, and then we never see them again," he said.

According to de Vaz, the renewed conflict-with its security restrictions and massive population displacements-has made tsunami recovery even more complicated and expensive. "If prices and people would have just remained where they were in 2005, this would have been a lot easier," she said.

Training programs have to be constantly reworked. "We do an assessment and mark some people out for training or education, but when we go to find them they've been forced to move because of the conflict," she said.

Since the war's renewal, Sri Lanka has been a dangerous place for aid workers, and access by nongovernmental organizations to internally displaced families is often prohibited by the government. So the National Christian Council works with pastors from its eight member denominations who do have access. "There's a lot we can do through them," de Vaz said.

In the south of the country, which is strongly Buddhist, access to affected communities often was accomplished in coordination with local temple leaders. Cooperation was so successful in most areas that church leaders say Buddhist-Christian tension, which had erupted in several violent attacks before the tsunami, is today greatly reduced.

"We have always communicated with the religious leaders of an area that we had no intention of converting the people," she explained. "We were there simply to provide them assistance. As a result, there are fewer tensions today than in the past, because they've seen that our work was done to help them, not to convert them."

Relief worries
De Vaz does worry about the effect that the larger tsunami recovery effort-what some dubbed the "second tsunami"-has had on Sri Lankan culture.

"We've unfortunately become a more dependent society. In our work, we've tried hard to help people move away from wanting handouts, from waiting for someone else to come and solve their problems, and instead learn to study and work to set themselves up in a way they can support their families. Perhaps much of the relief funding came in too quickly and took away the opportunity that people had to help each other."

Most of that outside assistance came with billboards attached. Sri Lanka has become "logoland"- its coastal areas blanketed with signs explaining how houses, boats, villages and schools are sponsored by foreign aid groups, governments, corporations and churches. The National Christian Council made a conscious decision at the beginning of the tsunami operation not to engage in such branding.

Peiris thinks questions about relief funding should go even farther. "Many of us ask why so much attention got focused on this disaster," he noted.

"Is the world only compassionate when there are dramatic catastrophes? How many children die every day from hunger or the lack of safe drinking water? That's an even greater catastrophe, but the conscience of many in the western world isn't moved to respond by that," he said. "There's something wrong with the world."

*Jeffrey is a United Methodist missionary and senior correspondent for Response, the magazine of United Methodist Women. He has covered Sri Lanka's response to the tsunami for Action by Churches Together.

UMCOR begins fourth year of tsunami assistance
by Michelle Scott*

The United Methodist Committee on Relief delivers boats to communities in Sri Lanka following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated coastal communities of South Asia and East Africa. A UMNS file photo courtesy of UMCOR.

NEW YORK (UMNS) - The United Methodist Committee on Relief is working to help tsunami survivors find a "new normal" more than three years after one of the world's worst natural disasters killed an estimated 230,000 people and displaced millions in 11 countries.

In Indonesia and Sri Lanka-the countries most affected by the tsunami-UMCOR offices continue to work daily to help survivors recover whatever possible. UMCOR also provided relief and recovery assistance in Somalia, India and Thailand.

United Methodists and others have contributed approximately $42 million to UMCOR's tsunami relief response since the Dec. 26, 2004, disaster.

UMCOR emphasizes a shared approach that encourages participants to take ownership of their recovery and to act as project partners in an effort to empower survivors to restore their lives.

UMCOR officials offer this update on their ongoing work in the two hardest hit countries:

Indonesia
In Aceh Province, UMCOR has helped 40,000 people directly through housing and infrastructure reconstruction, community development, income generation and livelihoods programs, and education. The agency also worked with the Methodist Church of Indonesia in Banda Aceh to help the church be a place of service to their community.

In addition to the work in Aceh Province on the island of Sumatra, UMCOR is expanding its relief to Nias Island, which was also heavily damaged by the 2004 earthquake and tsunami. In March 2005, the island was nearly leveled by a second earthquake.

In Nias, an area where many families are without access to safe water, UMCOR is conducting a large-scale water research project, which will result in a master water supply plan for South Nias and at least one water supply infrastructure project on the island.

Sri Lanka
UMCOR's recovery efforts in Sri Lanka have involved collaboration with the Methodist Church of Sri Lanka, including helping Sri Lankan Methodists expand their own capacity to respond to disaster. The work is interrupted from time to time by ongoing political and military conflict in the tsunami zone.

The challenge spurred UMCOR to seek ways to overcome the causes of the violence, a determination enhanced by a partnership with Muslim Aid, an aid agency based in the United Kingdom.

UMCOR's programs support survivors of both the tragedies of tsunami and civil strife, providing homes and food, improving agriculture production, rebuilding infrastructures, and generating jobs and business development. Rural reconstruction and development ranks high on the list of priorities. More than 100,000 people have been helped through these projects.

*Scott is director of communications for the United Methodist Committee on Relief.