Opportunities to support Native, Hispanic ministries at Annual Conference

 
 At Annual Conference, members and guests will have the opportunity to support ministries making a difference locally and globally.

In addition to a special offering on Thursday of Annual Conference for the Maua Methodist Hospital in Kenya special offerings will be taken for the Wilshire/Native American Fellowship in Portland and the Wilder Hispanic Ministry in Idaho.

The Wilshire offering will take place during opening worship service on Wednesday evening at Boise First UMC, the Cathedral of the Rockies. It will be used to support camps for outreach and community building.

The Wilshire Native American Fellowship is planning three distinct camps this summer: Multicultural Music for Children, Native American Art Camp for Kids, and Huckleberry Camp. This work is being done in partnership with the Conference’s Committee on Native American Ministry (CONAM).

In the past, the CONAM partnership has helped provide positive experience for Native families, sponsored by the United Methodist Church, at Camp Magruder. These funds will be used to strengthen the program needs of the camps and provide scholarships as they reach out to new people.

For more than a decade, the Wilder Hispanic Ministry has been in place in Wilder, Idaho, working to make disciples of Jesus Christ within the surrounding Hispanic/Latino community. The ministry has had an impact in the life of many families and has produced new leadership that is making a difference.

The special offering will be taken for the Wilder Hispanic Ministry on Saturday morning during Annual Conference’s closing worship and reading of appointments.

Rev. Jorge Rodriguez served this congregation for 10 years and Alejandro Bravo is currently the lay pastor assigned there. In July, Rev. Modesto Diaz will be appointed as a full-time pastor and the funds raised from this special offering, and a grant from the National Hispanic/ Latino Plan, will continue to support this vital ministry.