The UMCOR Hotline for February 20, 2013

In Today's Hotline: Read how UMCOR is responding to needs around the world.

NEWS: FARMER-TO-FARMER AID IN ARMENIA
PRAYER: CHERRY BLOSSOMS AND HOPE
UMCOR OPENINGS: GRANT OFFICER, COMMUNITY-BASED PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
MEDIA: ECO-PALMS VIDEO
RESOURCE: ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING

NEWS: FARMER-TO-FARMER AID IN ARMENIA

Fremont, Michigan, is a small town with a big project. Fourteen years ago, a few farmers and their local churches started a Growing Project with the Foods Resource Bank (FRB). Since then, their project has expanded to involve 20 farmers, 10 churches, several local businesses, and many individuals and organizations.

In Armenia, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) partners with FRB to increase food security. UMCOR’s agriculture team in Armenia provides communities in need with education and agricultural inputs such as livestock and beehives, and asks beneficiaries to “pass on the gift” when their new animals have offspring.

“We are certain that the farmer-to-farmer approach is one of the cornerstones of our project’s success,” reports Gohar Grigoryan, who leads UMCOR’s mission in Armenia. “It creates a spiritual link when the harvest grown by a [US] farmer… helps disadvantaged rural families on the other side of the world.”

The spiritual kinship formed by farmers sharing their surplus across borders goes both ways. FRB’s farmer-to-farmer model fosters the understanding that we’re all in this together. Read more.

You can support this powerful ministry of accompaniment by donating to Foods Resource Bank, Advance #982493.

PRAYER: CHERRY BLOSSOMS AND HOPE

Melissa Crutchfield, UMCOR associate general secretary for International Development, first offered a reflection in the spring of 2011 at the close of a meeting in South Korea, to support recovery in Japan following the devastating triple disaster there.

Cherry blossoms—the first sign of spring—consistently reassure us; the small pink and white flowers are a signal to us that life goes on, grows, blooms, replenishes, and recovers from the harsh winter of previous months. They embody optimism and hope in their very existence….

[A]s the Gospel tells us in the story of the resurrection—we just need to believe that life, which we thought had ended, has in fact begun again. Read the full Lenten reflection.

Please pray this Lenten season for renewal and new life especially in the most devastated of places.

UMCOR OPENINGS: GRANT OFFICER, COMMUNITY-BASED PRIMARY HEALTH CARE

UMCOR has the following opening for a grant officer to manage the community-based primary health care grant portfolio for UMCOR Health and Development. Read more.

MEDIA: ECO-PALMS VIDEO

Watch and share this video about Eco-Palms, a program that provides fairly traded palm fronds to churches for Palm Sunday. The March 1 deadline for ordering is coming up soon. Order yours today!

RESOURCE: ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING

One Great Hour of Sharing is on March 10 this year. Free online resources, including a bulletin insert, poster, sermon starters and children’s sermon, are available to help you celebrate this offering that supports UMCOR.

UMCOR provides emergency relief in many areas of the world. To find out more about UMCOR's ministries, please visit umcor.org. You can donate to any project by placing a contribution in the offering plate at a local United Methodist church; by sending a check to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068; or by calling 1-800-554-8583, where credit card donations are accepted. You can also give online by clicking any of the "DONATE" links or make a $10 donation anytime by texting “UMCOR” to 80888. UMCOR is exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States and qualifies for the maximum charitable contribution deduction by donors.

And, please pray for those who are hungry, displaced, sick or in poverty because of these and other natural and human-made disasters, and for the workers who minister to them.

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United Methodist Committee on Relief
General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church
Room 1520, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115
Voice Phone: 1-212-870-3816; FAX: 1-212-870-3624
Email: umcor@umcor.org
Web: http://www.umcor.org/
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