CCOWSI-FEDICE Trip 2016:
Photos and Written Reflections
In June 2016, 13 travelers from 6 congregations went to Ecuador to visit our partners with FEDICE. Below are their reflections and pictures of their trip. These blogs are in Spanish and in English. Enjoy reading them and share them with your friends!
Written Reflections from Ecuador Trip 2016
"On the way back for lunch, we noted in various locales, vertical stacks of drying reeds, called 'Totora' reeds. They are harvested from nearby lakes and used for weaving baskets, floor mats, straw llamas and other marketable crafts. The process of this enterprise is called 'Totora Sisa,' and it has helped to slow the evacuation of young people from the community who leave to get jobs in the bigger communities. After lunch we made plans to meet at 5:00 to prepare earthquake kits, and how to divide up the extra items we had brought along. After dinner we will have our first opportunity here for community building, sharing and reflection." - Carol from Murray Hills CC
Become a Global Mission Congregation!
The Global Mission Church program walks with congregations who are discerning a bolder commitment to God’s mission in the world. This process helps mission boards and committees to identify specific steps that can be taken to strengthen the international work of their congregation.
By becoming a Global Mission Church you will receive:
-
Monthly emails crafted for mission boards and committees highlighting engagement opportunities in the coming weeks
-
Invitations to exclusive webinars with Global Ministries staff
-
Opportunities to host mission personnel at your congregation
-
Special resources to connect your congregation more closely with mission personnel and partners
-
Recognition of your congregations commitment on the Global Ministries website and a certificate
Current Global Mission Congregations in our region:
-
Corvallis First Christian Church
-
Eugene First Christian Church
-
Hood River Valley Christian Church
-
Keizer Christian Church
-
Lynchwood Christian Church (Portland)
-
Murray Hills Christian Church (Beaverton)
-
Portland First Christian Church
-
Salem First Christian Church
-
The View Christian Church (Portland)
If you think that this program may be right for your church, learn more here
Pilgrimage to Cuba 2015
The Cuban Council of Churches, the Evangelical Seminary of Theology, the Pentecostal Christian Church and the Memorial Center Martin Luther King, Jr., warmly hosted the delegation of Global Ministries from October 2nd-6th, 2015. Co-Regional Minister, Cathy Myers-Wirt participated in the pilgrimage and wrote the following reflection entitled "Dancing with Memories" from day one of the journey:
We all managed to arrive in Miami in time for a late dinner together. Around the table sat persons with long standing relationships and strangers, and all of us bound for Cuba. Some of us had been to Cuba 1, 2, 3 times. Others of us had been scrambling with reading to get some sense of context for a place we know only from infrequent news media coverage, generally coverage that emphasizes events deemed important to the United States foreign policy and not information about lives of common people in Cuba...read more.
More Global Ministry Resources
for Congregations
Study Resources
"Restoring Dignity, Nourishing Hope" is a resource produced by Global Ministries to assist and guide churches as they seek to answer difficult questions on issues such as partnership, advocacy, short-term mission trips, community development, evangelism and interfaith dialogue, and fundraising.
Mission Bulletin Stories (provided in English and Spanish)
Overseas staff stories provide a timely and meaningful opportunity to help your congregation connect with the work being done through partners around the world, and can be used in a wide variety of settings.
Mission Study (provided in English and Spanish)
A resource that outlines a history of "missions" and presents our own paradigm for understanding "mission work" in today's context.
Vacation Bible School Resources
Worship Resources
Children and Youth Resources
READY: Revolutionary Engaged, And Driven Youth
Ready to take your youth on a journey of self-discovery as they broaden the view of who they are, their place in the church, their community, and their world?
This curriculum is a wellspring of information and resources to equip youth with the tools to continually evaluate who they are, their world, and God’s mission.
-
Challenging stereotypes, and prejudices
-
Recognizing God in all religious traditions
-
Discovering differences and similarities to people in different cultures
-
Realizing God’s mission requires a constantly evolving worldview
Connecting Threads Video Series
CCOSWI and China: Then and Now
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) recognizes the Chinese Christian Mission of Portland, Oregon as the first Asian American Disciples congregation in the United States. Brief references record that this ministry began in 1891 and closed in 1924, achieving national notoriety within the church in its own time, but remaining relatively obscure to succeeding generations. This essay will use primary and secondary source documents to construct a brief narrative of congregational life and pastoral leadership of the Chinese Christian Mission. The historical record reveals a remarkable partnership between Chinese immigrants, Disciples women in Oregon and nationally, and higher education institutions related to the Christian Church. Anti-immigrant policies and sentiment within the nation, state and church presented major obstacles to this resilient community of faith and eventually contributed to its demise.. Read full paper presented at the NW Association for Theological Discussion by Dr. Douglas Wirt
Dr. Jeu Hawk, Pastor at Oregon Chinese Mission in Portland, Oregon 1892-1900
Photo from Disciples Historical Society Archives
Minnie Vautrin,
Missionary to China
Miss Wilhelmina (Minnie) Vautrin, a Disciples woman, was born in 1886 in Secor, Illinois, graduated from the University of Illinois in 1912. She was sent to China by the United Christian Missionary So- ciety (Disciples of Christ) in 1912, where she first served as a high school principal in Luchowfu and then became head of the education department of Ginling College when it was founded in 1916 in Nanjing (formerly Nanking).
Read Minnie Vautrin's Diary from 1934:
Associate General Minister, Todd Adams with President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn
Carter with a Local Leader at Drum Tower Hospital Rededication,
January 2013
Read a Book Together
The Chinese in America by Iris Chang
20 chapters about the experience of Chinese Americans. Easy to read and very interesting.
A History of Asian Americans: Strangers From a Different Shore
by Ronald Takaki. Chapters 3, 6, 10 are particularly relevant.
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford A 300 page novel about a young Chinese boy and young Japanese girl growing up in Seattle during World War!! This book puts the history into a story form.
Watch a Movie Together
Nanking written by Bill Guttentag
Nanking is a movie/documentary about the 200,000 people that were saved during the "Rape of Nanking" by an unarmed group of Westerners. The movie is Rated R and is approximately 90 minutes long. Missionary Minnie Vautrin features in this story. Mariel Hemingway narrates.
More Resources
-
-
Blog from Kim and Erik Free trip to China to teach English our partners in the Amity Foundation, Summer 2012
-
-
-
Posts from Sharon Watkins, General Minister and President of Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) from her trip to China in May of 2013:
May 12, 2013 Worship Photos from Huangshan
May 13, 2013 Visiting Hefei
May 14-15, 2013 Visiting Nanjing
May 16, 2013 Visiting Shaanxi Bible School
May 18, 2013 Chinese Christians Hardworking, Committed, Faithful