News

Registration is open for a mission trip to Give Ye Them to Eat (henceforth to be known as a GYTTE) in Puebla and Tlancualpican, Mexico March 3-12, 2023. The trip will be led by Dee Poujade of First UMC, Portland. The Team Information flyer provides the pertinent information regarding qualifications for participation, the scope of the work and other activities, general cost and practical information.  The Program Overview tells more about what GYTTE is and does. To join the team, interested ...

With wildfire season beginning across the west, the hope and prayer is always that everyone stays safe. But the reality is, our churches and communities need to be ready to respond. While – knock on wood – no fires are posing immediate threats to churches and communities across the Oregon-Idaho Conference this moment, interim disaster response coordinator Louise Kienzle is sounding the alarm bell for churches to start creating more disaster response kits as the supply is woefully low. If and ...

Written by Louise Kienzle, Oregon-Idaho UMVIM coordinator  Early in March, a team of 15 traveled to Tucson. This team included friends and new friends from Oregon and Tennessee. We spent a very busy 5-days learning about the real issues at the border, both in Tucson and Nogales.   I’ve been home for almost two-weeks now, but visions of what our team saw and words that we heard still resonate.   One meeting early in the week was with Rocio, a woman from Bolivia who spent 2 years and 1-month in ...

The members of the OR/ID Holy Land Task Force were horrified by the announcement of the “Deal of the Century/Peace Plan” recently announced by the Trump and Netanyahu administrations. We know that many share in our dismay.  Some have commented on the timing of the announcement – midstream in Trump’s impeachment trial and preceding Netanyahu’s third attempt to retain his position as Israel’s prime minister in the face of recently filed corruption charges.  Others are struck by the incongruity of ...

Larry Johnson headed out the door on Wednesday of the Oregon-Idaho Conference Center in order to get to Pendleton, Oregon, by the late afternoon to assist with flood relief. “This would be the first time I know of, that we’ve responded in Oregon,” said Johnson, who is the Conference’s Emergency Response Teams coordinator. He plans to be in Pendleton for a Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) gathering on Thursday to aid those who had to evacuate their homes due to flooding or suffered ...

  “People appreciated our presence in their community and said over and over again how important that presence is to them. The also recognized that many people in our communities and families had made it possible for us to be there.” “I will go on other mission trips—without question. It was a week where working to help others in need brought me many unexpected gifts.” UMVIM, United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, is a part of the Mission Volunteers program area of the General Board of Global...

When disasters happen, local churches can provide early response to help their communities. They can do this best if they have prepared in advance. This basic understanding that disaster response is local, forms the foundations for UMCOR’s (United Methodist Committee on Relief) disaster preparedness and response efforts. So how can individuals and churches be prepared to serve their communities with compassion in times of need? There will be two workshops presented at the Crossing Boundaries: ...

The United Methodist Church has been “on a mission” for more than 200 years and plans are underway in the Oregon-Idaho Conference to celebrate and reflect on where the church has been and where it’s headed this fall. In October, people in the Oregon-Idaho Conference will have the opportunity to participate in any one of the three special celebrations and workshops in the area to honor the 200th anniversary of the Global Missions program of The United Methodist Church, the 150th anniversary of ...

Learn about Reconciling Ministries, Peace with Justice or "Go Nuts for Jesus" at the Ministry Marketplace being held during the Annual Conference session in Eugene. The Ministry Marketplace will be located in the convention center lobby of the Hotel Eugene, where the Annual Conference sessions will be held Thursday, June 13 through Saturday morning, June 15. There are more than 20 vendors available to provide participants and visitors with all sorts of interesting information. “The Ministry ...

It takes more than 20 hours to fly there, but the people of Saipan are in desperate need of trained volunteer emergency responders to help them as they struggle to rebuild after Typhoon Yutu ripped through the area last fall. Larry Johnson, a member of the Oregon-Idaho Conference Emergency Response Team (ERT), recently returned from a two-week work trip there. As a commonwealth of the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) is looking for volunteer organizations ...