ATLANTA – Human Rights Watch reports that increasing violence has put the population of Haiti at grave risk. Gang violence, rising prices, falling income and below-normal rainfall that results in low agricultural production fuels the violence. Suffering is made worse when humanitarian aid can’t reach the communities that need it.

After the 2021 earthquake in Haiti, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) joined other humanitarian and faith-based organizations to increase relief efforts across the country. But today, only 10% of Port-au-Prince remains under government control, with criminal groups escalating attacks since late 2024. These groups have targeted key infrastructure, such as airports, seaports and roads, as well as state institutions, schools, health centers, media outlets, and residential and commercial areas.

“People no longer have a safe place to flee to,” an aid worker told Human Rights Watch. “Women who come here seeking help have not only lost loved ones, but have also been raped, displaced and left on the streets, starving and struggling to survive. We don’t know how much longer they can endure such suffering.”

In the face of these challenges, UMCOR has been working with Haitian partners that have capacity and ability to serve women, children and families. Providing health care and counseling for women, food and medical care for children and general food and shelter relief to families has become the focus for UMCOR’s grants in Haiti.

One way of getting health care and specifically, gynecological care for women, to the temporary places where they are sheltering is to meet them where they are using mobile clinics. Several partners have access to vehicles, staff and expertise to do this.

The Association for the Promotion of Haitian Family (Profamil) is a Haitian non-governmental organization dedicated to providing sexual and reproductive health services to women and adolescents. Places where displaced people shelter are typically schools, churches, and public spaces – none of which are designed for this purpose – yet they accommodate thousands of individuals.

“During our mobile clinics, we transport our equipment to these makeshift sites and set up our operations,” noted Profamil staff. “On one occasion, the room provided to us served as living quarters for 20 families. For the duration of the day, these families graciously moved their personal belongings to make space for us to establish our clinic in this room. We were able to provide medical consultations to over 100 women in a single day under these challenging conditions.”

REFKAD, an organization that brings together 30 women’s organizations in Haiti, received an UMCOR grant to organize community mobile clinics to assist women and girls who are survivors of sexual violence. It supplied medical staff, medicines, consultation and psychosocial support to women in shelters.

The Centre Hospitalier de Fontaine Foundation (CHFF), a Haitian nonprofit that helps underfunded schools and hospitals serving marginalized Haitian communities, supports health care, education, child protection and job creation services. CHFF hosted mobile clinics that visited K-9^th grade schools to provide health care for children and their families and school staff. CHFF also provided meals.

Négés Mawon, another Haitian nonprofit, received an UMCOR grant to improve the safehouse in Port au Prince that houses women, adolescents and children who are survivors of abuse. The grant was used to increase access to counseling and to make the residence more comfortable and functional for the residents.

The Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA) Haiti District has been a major emergency food distributor for several years now through ongoing and shifting disasters, including earthquakes, hurricanes, severe flooding, and now political and social unrest. MCCA Haiti, also knows as EMH, or the Methodist Church of Haiti, has an agreement with UMCOR to buy and distribute food throughout the 13 circuits (or districts) of the church across Haiti. These ongoing rations of rice, beans and cooking oil help to supplement many families’ food needs.

Other support for food programs includes Project St. Anne’s, which distributes similar food packets to families in Camp Perrin, in the western part of Haiti. In Dondon, south of Cap-Haitien, Organization for the Development Integral of Dondon (ODID), a grant helped to support cash assistance or food, medical supplies and school needs.

The Community Coalition of Haiti (CCH) has been working in Grand Sud and Port au Prince regions to provide emergency response and urgent activities to bring immediate relief to those most affected by the current crisis. Flexible cash grants provide help to vulnerable families in households that have doubled or even tripled in size because of people fleeing violence. In addition, educational institutions and parents seeking a way to help students in places where schools have been forced to close will receive resources and support to continue educational activities outside the classroom. Since Haiti is often struck by natural disasters, the coalition will also continue to work with communities on disaster response readiness, given that the government currently has no capacity to respond.

The humanitarian need in Haiti is so severe that UMCOR continues to explore new partnerships and granting possibilities, especially with Haitian nonprofits. Consultations with Global Ministries’ Global Health unit ensure that programs involving health care are reviewed and any guidance relayed to the partner.

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.

UMCOR DISASTER RESPONSE

United Methodist Committee on Relief Disaster Response and Recovery serves as the primary channel for United Methodist assistance for disasters that strike both inside and outside of the United States.

Make a gift to help UMCOR provide for the basic needs of people and communities outside the U.S. affected by natural or humanmade disasters.

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Evanston, Ill. — Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary conferred an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree upon Roland Fernandes, general secretary of Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry during its 169th Commencement ceremony on May 9 in the Alice Millar Chapel on Northwestern University’s campus, honoring his years of leadership in global mission, education and humanitarian service in The United Methodist Church (UMC). 
 
“For several decades and on multiple continents, the leadership of Roland Fernandes has had profound and transformative impact, in the church and in the lives of communities and individuals,” said the Rev. Dr. Javier A. Viera, president of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. “As a layperson who understands his work as ministry, we honor him for his wise and bold stewardship of our key institutions, for his partnership in amplifying the church’s voice, role, and purpose in the most vulnerable communities around the world, and for the witness of his life lived in total service to God and to neighbor.” 
 
Fernandes was awarded his honorary degree by Garrett professor Dr. Hendrik R. Pieterse, who recognized his advocacy for the flourishing of God’s people and for his enduring example of service to the UMC. Dr. Hla Hla Aye (Caroline Mawia) also received a Doctor of Humane Letters at the ceremony. 
 
The president of GBHEM’s board of directors, Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball, celebrated this honor for Fernandes. “Roland has dedicated more than 30 years to the mission and ministry of Christ through The United Methodist Church – giving leadership to GBGM, UMCOR, and now GBHEM. He is a catalyst for the vision, support, education and training of United Methodist missionaries, educators, pastors, lay persons and relief workers around the world. Roland’s faithfulness and dedication bring transformation to denominational systems, communities, individuals, and the denomination. This honorary degree is a recognition and celebration of one of our great leaders who develops, encourages and empowers those whom God has called to be the Light, Hope and Life of Christ in this challenging, ever-changing world.”  
 
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, president of Global Ministries’ board, added her praise. “I am delighted that Roland Fernandes has received this honor. Roland has committed himself fully to serving Jesus Christ and enriching the lives of others. He is a gifted and gracious leader of our church.”  
 
Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, who led Global Ministries’ board from 2012 to 2024 said, “This degree honors Roland’s longstanding stewardship of the denomination’s mission agency, Global Ministries, and the innovative thinking he now brings to his leadership at GBHEM. It recognizes his deep commitment to the church and humanity. I pray and give thanks for his authentic leadership daily.”  
 
In his address to the graduates, Fernandes urged them to remember their roots while embracing transformation in ministry. “It is one thing to be changed by experience, by faith, by education—but it is another to lose sight of where we come from,” he told graduates. “Today… I hope you will remember the roots that have grounded you and the journey that has brought you here.” 
 
Originally from Kolkata, India, Fernandes began his career as a missionary with Global Ministries, serving in India and the Philippines. A chartered accountant by training, he later transitioned into financial leadership roles within the agency. During his 30-year tenure at Global Ministries, he has guided the organization through periods of major transition, serving as interim general secretary and chief operating officer. He was named general secretary in January 2020, just a few months before the start of the pandemic, officially starting his role in September 2020. He assumed the unprecedented dual leadership role of Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry in 2024 and is now guiding operational and programmatic alignment for both agencies.  
 
Committed to service, Fernandes has founded several humanitarian agencies and served on numerous nonprofit boards. He and his wife, Liesl, live in Atlanta. 
 
In closing, Fernandes noted that with hearts filled with trust, openness and the flexibility to pivot, the graduates would experience learning, growth and even great joy through their lives. “May you remember your roots, may you be filled with a spirit of openness and trust, and may you go forth with a heart full of gratitude for what you have learned here at Garrett,” he said. “May you be ready to serve and lead wherever you are called to in the name of Christ.”  

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Native American Ministries grants, made possible through offerings on this special Sunday, can support ministries as unique and creative as the tribal affiliations of the congregations that put them to work.

When the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference (OIMC) first visited the Standing Rock Reservation to distribute UMCOR school kits, a wrong turn led their mission team to the Little Eagle community, where they observed several challenges faced by residents, including high unemployment and poverty. Through this wrong turn, which turned out to be God’s right turn, the OIMC established an ongoing relationship with the community.

An OIMC mission team brought holiday joy to the students at Little Eagle Grant School last Christmas through its annual Christmas mission trip, now in its fourth year. The project provides Christmas gifts to K-8th grade students at the school, located in a remote area of South Dakota. A second grant for OIMC supported another mission to the Standing Rock Reservation to distribute school kits earlier in the year.

Great-Spirit UMC in Portland, Oregon, and the Native American Cooperative Ministry (NACM) in Pembroke, North Carolina, both applied for grants to provide food for their communities. Great-Spirit provides a Sunday dinner every week and NACM delivers food to mostly Lumbee community members. Their plan incorporated a host of volunteers to plant and harvest two vegetable gardens and make the food deliveries with a personal touch.

A Navajo congregation in Cortez, Colorado, requested help to support their pastor and his work. Native Grace UMC is seeking to build sustainability while serving intergenerational Navajo families just outside the Navajo Reservation, which is next door in Montezuma Creek, Utah. The Navajo pastor shares the love of Christ through the lens of Navajo language, culture and spiritual practice.

Contributions on Native American Ministries Sunday help develop and strengthen Native American ministries within each United Methodist annual conference and provide scholarships for Native Americans pursuing ordained or licensed pastoral ministry.

United Methodists are called to recognize and honor the gifts and contributions made by Native Americans to our society and church. The United Methodist Church acknowledges a gap in understanding Native American life and culture, while affirming the sacredness of Indigenous peoples, their languages, their unique identities and their contributions to the church and the world.

Half of what is collected on this special Sunday will stay within the annual conference of the churches that collect the offering to help sustain regional and local Native American Ministries.

Celebrate the ministries, communities and congregations of Native Americans across the U.S. with an online gift to Native American Ministries or drop a gift in the offering plate of your local church when the offering is taken.

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.

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The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has supported relief and recovery projects in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022. Working with many different partners, UMCOR has accompanied people affected by the war through ongoing phases of humanitarian response.

At the recent Global Ministries Board of Directors meeting, members approved two major grants for continued war recovery in Ukraine. The ongoing conflict has had devastating effects on the population, causing widespread infrastructure damage and large-scale economic disruption.

A new grant of $1 million to International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC)gives continued support for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and people with disabilities living in conflicted areas, such as Zakarpattia, Rivne, Ternopil, Lviv, Chernivtsi and Ivano-Frankivsk. It will provide food and other essentials, and job training, thereby fostering stability, self-reliance and improving prospects for long-term recovery. Economic empowerment is especially crucial for women IDPs, who care for children and parents and face additional barriers to employment. IOCC will also establish safe housing conditions in three shelters and two institutions.

Another UMCOR partner, One Collective, is building an apartment complex in Zakarpatska Oblast, projected to house 40 people. Apartments have private bathroom facilities and a common kitchen, living room, and laundromat facilities. Many residents cannot obtain safe and permanent homes until after the end of the war. In addition to building houses, the grant of $400,000 will help the project incorporate construction training for displaced individuals and others who have lost their primary source of income because of the war. Those who participate in the training will receive jobs to build the houses. This type of programming seeks to address the needs of livelihood as well as housing.

“It is becoming apparent that many from Eastern Ukraine will not be able to return home,” Katie Hills, director of UMCOR Disaster Response, said to UMCOR directors at their committee meeting in April. Therefore, two critical areas requiring aid are shelter and livelihood programs. Return to stable and reliable medical care, which includes trauma counseling and Post Traumatic Distress Syndrome (PTSD) counseling for civilians and military personnel, are also concerns that UMCOR is addressing.

The United Methodist Church in Ukraine – In 2023, UMCOR confirmed a significant grant to purchase property, providing reliable shelter for displaced families and a base for the UMC outreach ministries. Through local connections, the UMC in Ukraine purchased Pid Zamkom, Ukrainian for “Under the Castle,” a hotel, restaurant and event venue near Kam’yanytsya. The new shelter hosts 40 displaced people currently and provides space for United Methodist conferences, training and community outreach. The long-term vision for Pid Zamkom is to transform it into a rehabilitation center for war-related trauma survivors. Today, the residents are mostly women, children and the elderly, with many having stayed several years because of the war’s ongoing devastation.

International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) – An earlier grant to IOCC improved the living conditions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and people with special needs living in shelters throughout Western Ukraine, IOCC is supplying or installing home and kitchen appliances and providing humanitarian kits and non-food items to targeted communities. In addition, IOCC is procuring essential medical equipment to restore medical services in the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv.

Arlene Campbell Humanitarian Foundation – UMCOR supports psychosocial care provided to Ukrainian veterans and active military personnel at the Vinnytsia Rehabilitation Facility. This grant also provides wheelchairs and other medical equipment and nutritional support.

Tutapona – There is increasing need to support mental health and emotional healing in women, men, girls, and boys affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Tutapona adult and child-focused group therapy curricula supports people in need of intensive mental health support in Lviv. Facilitated by trained, in-house Tutapona staff, these programs aim to produce a measurable decrease in trauma symptoms and increase well-being.

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.

International Disaster Response

United Methodist Committee on Relief International Disaster Response and Recovery (UMCOR IDR) serves as the primary channel for United Methodist assistance for disasters that strike outside of the United States.

Make a gift to help UMCOR provide for the basic needs of people and communities devastated by both natural and humanmade disasters.

The post UMCOR awards new grants for displaced communities in Ukraine appeared first on Global Ministries.

ATLANTA — Directors of two of The United Methodist Church’s program agencies, both international in scope, were challenged by their shared leader to strengthen their work in response to suffering intensified by rapidly shifting global political landscapes. Roland Fernandes, general secretary of both the General Board of Global Ministries and the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, reinforced the Christian and moral imperative to “stand firm on the side of the gospel message, which calls us to welcome the stranger, feed the hungry and tend to the sick.”

Fernandes proposed that elected directors of the two agencies, meeting together, formalize actions in support of education, migration, health, food security and livelihoods, and peace, demonstrating a shared mission and ministry with the marginalized and ignored.  

Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry are in the process of aligning their goals and operations. Global Ministries includes the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). Directors meet twice a year and hear a report from the general secretary on the state of matters that affect the agencies. 

While neither agency receives U.S. federal funds for its work, Fernandes described how the elimination or cutbacks in funding of international and domestic programs are creating a worldwide humanitarian crisis. He outlined how the elimination of the U.S. Agency for International Aid (USAID) had wiped out thousands of grants and programs, many in health services and vaccines for the earth’s poorest people. 

“The church cannot completely fill in for U.S. governmental support lost, but we can, indeed we must, do all that we can,” Fernandes said in explaining his plan of response to the recent actions. 

Fernandes sharply criticized the elimination of the Department of Education. Dismantling the education department, he said, “…undermines the fundamental principles of justice and opportunity, disproportionately harming students who rely on educational opportunities and standards of excellence across the nation to break cycles of poverty and systemic inequity.” 

Quoting Genesis 1, “God created humanity in God’s own image,” Fernandes held up the inherent worth of every person. He criticized actions that conflict with the gospel message, saying, “When Christ invites us to the table, all are included on the guest list and all receive their portion. Since the dawn of humanity, God’s plan has unwaveringly affirmed the intrinsic value of every person and has issued a powerful call for justice, whenever that divine purpose is disrupted.” 

Fernandes’ words reflect the theology, social principles and teachings of The United Methodist Church. 

He said that Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry are well equipped, along with global and ecumenical partners, to strengthen their work in the areas of education, migration, health, food security and livelihoods, and peace. Examples given included: 

• Provide grants/scholarships where possible to fill in the gaps that emerge from withdrawal of support to educational institutions, especially Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s); 
• Expand support for organizations and networks that serve migrants in U.S. communities; 
• Support health care infrastructure in underserved areas impacted by loss of foreign aid; 
• Expand the church’s Yambasu Agriculture Initiative in Africa to increase food security in the communities the African central conferences serve; and  
• Continue and increase humanitarian aid in Ukraine, the D.R. Congo, Gaza and other parts of the Middle East. 

Fernandes ended his report with encouragement from Galatians 6:9: “Let’s not get tired of doing good, because in time we’ll have a harvest if we don’t give up.”  

Elliott Wright is an information consultant for Global Ministries and UMCOR. 

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ATLANTA – Lisa arrived at Old Mutare Mission Hospital in Zimbabwe almost a month before her delivery date. She lives more than 37 miles from the hospital, the closest to her home. She came to stay at the Waiting Mothers’ Shelter to be sure she could give birth in a medical facility. The shelter was just refurbished last year with the help of some outside supporters. The labor and delivery units were expanded and new equipment installed using grants from Global Ministries.

In many medical facilities across Africa, patients’ families are expected to provide all or some food during their stay. Fortunately, Old Mutare established a large garden last year to grow nutritious food for patients. “The vegetables we now eat are grown in this garden. I do not have to ask my relatives to bring me vegetables from back home,” said Lisa.

The garden was possible because the water system had also been reconstructed, with new storage tanks. The Zimbabwe Episcopal Area Health Board has been working on improvements to Old Mutare Mission Hospital over time, as well as to two other United Methodist hospitals, Mutambara and Nyadire, several smaller clinics.

Every year, the Global Health unit of Global Ministries awards grants to health boards and other United Methodist partners to support improvements in health care and administration. In addition, some episcopal areas receive grants for Mother, Newborn and Child Health; prevention and treatment of communicable and noncommunicable diseases; and for major infrastructure and facility improvements increase health care for everyone using the services.

Global Health partners with health teams from 14 sub-Saharan countries, encompassing nine United Methodist episcopal areas. The UMC supports hundreds of health facilities – hospitals in some cases and many small, remote clinics. Currently, about 190 health facilities are working on grant projects.

Working through partners that oversee the work of United Methodist health facilities in Africa, Global Ministries has helped to improve health services in many African countries. Health partners track the progress in their facilities, gathering information on their patients and services, the kinds of health problems they encounter, length of treatment, medical supplies and medicines. With reliable data, Global Health reports reaching, on average, more than a million beneficiaries each year. Last year, 48 grants were awarded among the health boards with 24 additional grants to other partners for a total of $5,291,657.

Reconstructing maternity and delivery wards and building new mothers’ shelters improve the conditions in which babies are born. But it takes much more to keep a baby thriving once he or she leaves the hospital.

United Methodist health teams have created community outreach programs that spread health information on the importance of prenatal care, giving birth in medical facilities, returning to the doctor for check-ups, vaccinations, and how to prevent malaria and other diseases and provide food with better nutritional value.

Some health facilities have staff that visit communities and set up clinics for health checks. Others train volunteers to give out important health information in their communities.

When major grants are released for reconstruction or building new facilities, water infrastructure is often included in the building plans. Clean water goes a long way in preventing disease. Most facilities open new wells and other clean water sources to the surrounding community.

Transportation is another factor for remote health clinics and hospitals to consider. Few rural residents have cars, and some communities lack roads altogether. Stocking facilities with supplies and medications is a constant challenge in some remote areas, especially in rainy seasons. Reliable vehicles are sometimes part of the plan in a health administration budget so conference staff can get to the facilities to assess operations.

The first UMC health boards were developed by UMCOR when Imagine No Malaria collected significant funding for malaria awareness, net distribution and treatment. The campaign needed organized and efficient ways to distribute supplies, information and medicines, that included follow-up by UMC health facilities. The creation of health boards worked so well to coordinate responses that the Global Health unit was developed to extend the work and further explore ways to improve health outcomes.

Today, United Methodist health boards and other partners have expanded their mission as professional health administrators. Even with the uncertainty of government aid, especially from the U.S., the mission of church-related health facilities, which draw support from larger religious and nonprofit networks, continues. They often serve in remote places among the people who need them the most. Family members the world over love and cherish their children, and in God’s eyes, every baby is a gift and a promise for abundant life.

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.

Global Health
Through United Methodist conferences and health boards, Global Ministries works to strengthen whole networks of health responses, from revitalization of facilities and staff training to building better water sources, developing sanitation facilities and promoting nutrition. Global Health concentrates on preventing, testing and treating those affected by preventable diseases, such as malaria, HIV and AIDS, and COVID-19, and supporting the most vulnerable populations, including mothers, newborns and children.

Support the work of global health.

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“It was a chaotic time. Nobody knew what was happening! The war started, people were dying, and our main purpose was our family’s safety,” recounts Pavlo Osypenko of Life Spring UMC in Kyiv.

Pavlo and his friends—Slava Zinchuk, Evgen Boshov, Serge Shvets, and Maksym Pryhodko—moved their young families to the Slovakian border on the day Russia invaded Ukraine, Feb. 24, 2022. A Baptist church in Ternopil provided shelter, food and a place to sleep on their first night. Thankfully, along the journey, they encountered numerous acts of kindness.

Once the five men neared the Slovakian border and ensured their families’ safety in Slovakia, they were welcomed in Kam’yanytsya, Ukraine, by pastors Vasily and Alla Vuksta through the United Methodist connection. With their life savings in backpacks, the displaced men decided to establish a shelter for others. They began by visiting a local administrator in Onokivtsi, where they were given keys to a school. By the night of Mar. 6, they were sheltering 12 displaced people, which increased to 120 by the fifth night.

The community generously provided pillows, mattresses, blankets and food. Support poured in from United Methodists and other Christian friends worldwide, enabling the purchase of beds, sleeping bags, washing machines and more food. About 600 people passed through that school before it had to resume classes.

In May, they rented a former printing house on the edge of Uzhgorod, transforming it into a shelter with space for 60 guests, later expanding to accommodate at least 100. The total number of internally displaced people (IDPs) sheltered has reached over 1,500. Some stayed for a night, some for more than 3 years.

District Superintendent the Rev. Oleg Starodubets and his wife, the Rev. Yulia Starodubets, of the Ukraine Annual Conference, regularly visited the shelter and provided significant help, both spiritually and physically. They also partnered with UMCOR to provide a van to transport people and supplies and began regularly supporting the shelter financially. Bishop Christian Alsted of the Nordic-Baltic Episcopal Area and UMCOR staff members, Katie Hills and the Rev. Jack Amick, also visited the shelter, sparking discussions on establishing a permanent property for the UMC’s mission and ministry.

UMCOR confirmed a significant grant to build or purchase property and, through local connections, negotiated the procurement of the “Under the Castle” (UTC) hotel, restaurant and event venue near Kam’yanytsya. The purchase was finalized in March 2024. While the UMC still uses the former printing house, the new UTC shelter hosts 40 IDPs and provides space for United Methodist conferences, training and community outreach. The long-term vision for UTC is to transform it into a rehabilitation center for war-related trauma.

Under the Castle recently reopened its first-floor restaurant and began renting out its large hall for private events as ways to support the shelter’s residents on the second floor. Today, the residents are mostly women, children and the elderly, with many having stayed for years because of the war’s ongoing devastation.

Pavlo, now residing in the Netherlands with his family, reflects on his experience: “I want this story to be told, it was the most important part of my life – for God’s glory and power. I witnessed many amazing testimonies during this two and a half years.” See a video Pavlo created sharing the story here. Watch an interview of Pavlo Osypenko here.

The Rev. Dr. Fred Vanderwerf is a United Methodist pastor in the Minnesota Annual Conference and serves as the partnership coordinator for In Mission Together – Ukraine for Global Ministries.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief International Disaster Response program (UMCOR IDR) serves as the primary channel for United Methodist assistance for disasters that strike outside the United States. Response includes food, water, hygiene and other essential nonfood supplies and shelter support for displaced people fleeing disasters.

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MCDOWELL COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA. – “I live on land owned by my family since the 1800s, maybe longer. I never wanted to move anywhere else. I grew up surrounded by family. This is the place I want to be until I pass away – and then be buried.”

Diane Farmer never used to think about the water, which had always been plentiful and clean, flowing from her family’s well in Leckie, W.Va. When she married in 1974, she and her husband built a house on the family property and a generation later, one of their children did the same. She didn’t imagine then what it would be like to grow old in McDowell County today, without clean water.

“We buy gallons of bottled water to drink, to do dishes…we do not even give our animals our well water,” she explained.

Farmer is a member of Boyd’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Leckie. Her pastor, the Rev. Brad Davis, cares for this and four other churches in the Welch Charge. He arrived two years ago and was appalled to discover what some of the members and their communities struggled through every day.

McDowell County has produced a bounty of fuel for West Virginia’s energy business over many decades, coal and natural gas, predominantly, as well as steel production. In 2019, strip-mining companies started production in the area, one just up the road from the Farmers.

“Our water started getting rust colored. It has only gotten worse since then,” Farmer confirmed. “We use the water to clean, to take showers, not really even to wash our clothes. We have to pay attention to what color clothing we buy because we know our water will ruin it.”

McDowell County is one of the poorest in the U.S., and the communities of Anawalt, Leckie and Gary are some of the hardest hit by the current six-year water crisis. All have Methodist churches that are part of the Welch Charge.

Pastor Davis, and a colleague pastor, Caitlin Ware, felt a clear directive from God to do something.

The small communities have made plans and proposed solutions to build clean water systems. But Anawalt’s already-approved public system upgrade project needs full funding ($7 million) and includes a plan to connect the affected wells in Leckie to the system. Gary has a municipal water system in need of technical and infrastructure upgrades, which has not been a state priority for years.

Residents have spent far too much money on filters and filter systems that break down under the pressure of the rust and black sludge that enters their wells and public water systems. They made many trips to spring water sites to collect water for themselves, family members and neighbors, only to discover that the spring water also had contaminants. In addition, Central Appalachia has some of the highest cancer rates in the country.

Although the lack of clean water is a problem that affects other counties and other states that cross parts of Appalachia, the pastors began to investigate what other groups were doing and decided to concentrate their efforts on the three municipalities in this area where they had direct connections into the communities through their churches.

Rev. Ware, who first arrived in the southern coalfields to complete a graduate school requirement, says they started by developing an educational immersion experience called “From Below,” funded by the United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia. She currently pastors the Blackwater Charge, three United Methodist churches in Tucker County, W. Va., which borders Maryland.

“We took a group of nearly 40 people along the path the miners took to Blair Mountain during the West Virginia Mine Wars, visited historical sites, and met with community members actively working for the benefit of McDowell County. From Below morphed into a movement advocating for clean water, land access and economic development in the southern coalfields,” Ware explains, “From Below: Rising Together for Coalfield Justice.” They partnered with the West Virginia Faith Collective to strengthen their advocacy and further amplify neglected and forgotten voices in McDowell County.

“We believe the solution to this problem involves funding public water infrastructure projects, organizing local people to ensure those projects are carried out, and providing residents with clean water until those projects are completed,” Ware said.

Rev. Davis confirmed that since March 2024, their team of volunteers has provided residents of the three towns with thousands of cases of water, a stop-gap measure until permanent system solutions are begun. It’s a colossal feat, and it also represents a mountain of plastic. The Welch Charge contacted the WV Conference Disaster Response Coordinator, Jim McCune, for help. This is out of the ordinary for most disaster response offices, but McCune described the water crisis as a long-term, slow-moving disaster whose severity only increases the longer residents must wait.

McCune’s United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) connection put him in touch with Global Ministries’ Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program. A WASH grant allowed them to obtain a 500-gallon “water buffalo.”

“We can now provide the water in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way,” said Davis.

The conference disaster response team arranged to fill the portable water buffalo from the Welch water system, the county seat of McDowell, and transport it to Gary, where residents have been supplied with refillable containers. Residents of all three towns can come to get water, and volunteers will also continue deliveries for those who need it.

Deliveries from the tanker began on Mar. 17, despite a more common disaster that has preoccupied the disaster response teams; southern West Virginia was hit by a severe storm on Feb. 15 that caused major flooding. Even Davis’s home was affected, and Ware joined a team to provide early response.

Global Ministries advocates safe drinking water and basic sanitation and hygiene facilities for all people as a basic human right and is committed to improving health and wellbeing in underserved and marginalized communities in the U.S. and around the world.

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR. Quotes from the pastors and lay people were sourced from an interview by Natallia Rudiak for “Reimagine Appalachia.” The full interview can be watched here. For more information about From Below and the West Virginia Faith Collective, click here.

Celebrate World Water Day with a gift to Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) projects, Advance # 3020600 to keep this precious, life-saving resource flowing.

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ATLANTA – Did you know that The United Methodist Church (UMC) empowers local leaders worldwide to deepen mission engagement through Global Ministries’ Nationals in Mission (NIM) program?

NIM grants enable Global Ministries’ mission partners to identify leadership roles they deem critical for the church to flourish and then employ skilled, local leaders to fill those roles. Because NIMs are native to the country where they serve, they bring a deep cultural and contextual understanding to the ways they build relationships, address needs, and implement and lead sustainable ministries.

Recognizing the vital role that NIMs play in deepening the impact of mission in today’s global context, Global Ministries awarded grants totaling nearly $1.25 million to the program in 2024.

“By investing in indigenous leaders through the Nationals in Mission program, The United Methodist Church honors the importance of agency for our mission partners worldwide to provide sustainable leadership for critical ministries,” said the Rev. Dee Stickley-Miner, executive director for mission engagement for Global Ministries.

Currently, more than 300 NIMs are serving around the world, working in various areas including education, health care, community development, pastoral leadership, evangelism and social justice. Many also partner with UMC conferences, ecumenical organizations, or Methodist-affiliated institutions to expand their reach.

A NIM grant opened an opportunity for a church worker to focus on human rights with partner organization Centro Ecuménico Popular para América Latina de Comunicación (CEPALC) in Colombia. And in Pakistan, a NIM grant enabled a student to return to his home country to answer a call to ministry: counseling survivors with the kind of trauma and terror his own family experienced in a deadly bombing.

You can support the NIM program through a gift to Advance #12122L.

Sara Logeman is the senior manager of content and marketing for Global Ministries.

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ATLANTA – A family from Venezuela has just arrived in the city of Danlí in the south of Honduras and presented themselves to Honduran authorities. They have come a long way – through Colombia, into Central America through Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. But now, their 8-year-old son, who is with them, lies with his head on his father’s shoulder. He is unresponsive.

Fortunately, the United Methodist Mission in Honduras (UMMH) opened a clinic in Danlí two and half years ago and today, the Honduran migration officers notify the clinic when they encounter sick or injured migrants passing through. The clinic team arrived quickly to assess the boy’s health and agreed that he needed immediate medical attention…in a hospital. He was near death from severe dehydration, and the team convinced his parents to follow the advice. The specialized care saved his life.

In 2024, the Rev. Daniel Contreras, a new missionary assigned to UMMH, became the interim country director and he has confirmed that the small clinic served 10,000 patients last year. “The United Methodist Church in Honduras is committed to ministry with the poor and marginalized. Our health work started with a project for the elderly in Danlí, which then developed a fruitful partnership with the authorities. Sadly, the need for a clinic for migrants is greater now than it was before,” Contreras noted.

Others who are referred to the clinic, either by immigration officers or by word-of-mouth, receive direct care from the professional staff at the clinic. They see many cases of less severe dehydration, which they can treat, people with chronic diseases who have run short on their medications, malnutrition, respiratory problems, diarrhea, cold and flu, skin diseases, gastrointestinal infections, foot and leg injuries and wound infections. In most cases, migrants recover and continue their journeys, whatever their destinations may be.

The Government of Honduras promotes universal health coverage but lacks sufficient funding to cover its own citizens, much less the transient population. The city of Danlí has seen as many as 1,500 immigrants passing through each day. Migrants’ need for free, accessible primary health care is great and so the government has found ways to partner with the church’s ministry, such as providing consulting rooms and an ambulance.

The clinic is open eight hours a day, five days a week, and they see an average of 67 patients daily. The volume of patients has continued to increase, but there is uncertainty about whether the flow of migrants to the North will continue as a new U.S. Administration changes policy and procedures for immigrants at the U.S. border with Mexico.

Although the Methodist Church in Honduras is small, it has found ways to contribute important resources to local communities through its mission and ministry. Health care for passing migrants was a needed resource that church members and leaders in Danlí believed they could provide. With a series of grants (currently working on a phase 3 grant) from Global Ministries through Global Health and United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), and partnership with immigration officials, the primary health care clinic they envisioned has become a reality. In addition, the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, has a close relationship with the UMMH. Its support in 2024, the congregation’s third annual grant, helped to meet the clinic’s increased demand for services.

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.

UMCOR and Global Migration

Learn more about migration ministry and programming through Global Ministries and UMCOR.

Global Health
Through United Methodist conferences and health boards, Global Ministries works to strengthen whole networks of health responses, from revitalization of facilities and staff training to building better water sources, developing sanitation facilities and promoting nutrition. Global Health concentrates on eradicating preventable diseases, such as malaria, HIV and AIDS, and COVID-19, and supporting the most vulnerable populations, including mothers, newborns and children.

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