First United Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa
Friday, May 18, 2012
 
 
JUDEA
(Regional and National Outreach)
 
Click on one of the links below to learn more about the regional and national outreach missions of First United Methodist Church. 
 
 
 
Disaster is something we do not hope for but we know it is wise to plan for it. We know that we are not immune to disasters.  United Methodists have a proud tradition of responding with love to disasters at home and around the world. In our area we are most likely to be affected by weather related disasters such as tornadoes, floods or straight line winds.  The Disaster Recovery Team at First United Methodist Church Tuscaloosa sends teams to areas stricken by disasters of all types. Most recently teams have gone to the Gulf Coast area, affected by Hurricane Katrina, to work with individuals that need repair/construction work done to their properties that would otherwise go undone.
 
For more information on Disaster Recovery Projects contact Steve Smith at 205-758-2222.  The quick and compassionate response by Methodist Disaster Response teams has been referred to as one thing that makes everyone proud to be a United Methodist. The Disaster Response Team is in Tuscaloosa.  
 
Discovery was launched from First United Methodist Church by Rev. Melody Traylor.  Discovery is a spiritual weekend retreat for mid-high students.  Click here to learn more about Discovery. 
 
Since 1984, The Mission Society has been involved in recruiting, training and sending missionaries both overseas and within the United States. We currently support more than 200 missionaries who minister in more than 30 nations worldwide. We also partner with churches in an effort to help them realize and grasp their potential to have an impact locally, nationally, and internationally.  Click here to learn more about The Mission Society. 
 
Ty Williams is the Director of Development for Restoration Academy in Birmingham. The academy is a Christ-centered private urban school that ministers predominantly to lower-income families in communities on Birmingham’s west side. Over 65% of its annual budget must be raised through donations. The school has 172 students (K4 - 12th grade) with 13 full-time teachers; over half of whom reside in Fairfield and Ensley as “urban" missionaries. Restoration Academy was founded in 1988 by Dr. Anthony Gordon as a rescue mission that provided a positive response to the violence, chaos and decay that surrounded the communities around them. Now it provides quality private education for lower-income families.
 
19 years after its founding Restoration Academy has stayed committed to Dr. Gordon’s vision of a Christ centered education. In 1999 the school relocated to Fairfield and is now a vital and integral part of the western end of town.
 
The school ultimately desires to be an agency of redemption and reconciliation by providing young people with the rare opportunities to learn in a safe environment, to experience the power of Christ’s grace and to receive a dynamic education that will give them the tools to make it in the real world. They also have a very successful sports program and for the last 2 years Restoration Academy has won a state football championship.
 
Restoration Academy has received high marks for teaching responsibility and accountability. Supporters say this is changing an entire community for the better and giving a brighter future to the students.
 
Cooking For Christ – Cook and serve meals to raise funds for other local and national ministries. For more information contact Jim Deford at wpdef@msn.com or 205-330-9417.
 
under construction
 
Wilma Frances "Fran" Lynch is a Deaconess and missionary with the Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church assigned to the Willow Anvik Grayling Church and Community Ministry in Alaska.  Willow is about 75 miles north of Anchorage and Fran spends about two-thirds of her time coordinating the outreach ministry of the Willow United Methodist Church. This includes the food bank, clothes/household items, helping with heating fuel, transportation, home repair and response to other basis emergency needs of families. She also organized the Willow community to build the first Habitat for Humanity house.
 
One third of Ms. Lynch's time is spent in Anvik and Grayling which are Athabaskan Indian villages located on the Yukon River about 400 miles west of Willow. These villages are accessible only by air, dog sled, or boat. She goes by invitation of the Tribal Councils to provide Sunday school for the children. There are no active churches in these villages and the parents of the children remembered going to Sunday school and wanted this experience for their children. In the summer the children fly into Anchorage to attend Birchwood UMC Camp.
 
Ms. Lynch came to Alaska in the Nov. of 1996. It quickly became home as she fell in love with the people she serves and grew in her knowledge that this is where God needs her to be at this point in time. The ministry has grown and shifted over the past 11 years as needs and issues have changes. But the constant has been the understanding that there are people who are hurting and need the assistance that can be offered with the love of Christ so that needs are met. There are also people who want to help others and have found an outlet to do this with in the ministry. Alaska is in North America.
 
MARIE LANIER – SIFAT
Marie Lanier is promotions and marketing coordinator for Servants in Faith and Technology (SIFAT), a Lineville, AL based Christian non-profit organization providing training in self-help programs for a needy world.  SIFAT offers opportunities for Christians to get involved personally, both to learn from others and to partner with them in missions.  The idea of SIFAT was conceived in the jungles of the Alto Beni of Bolivia in 1976 when Ken and Sarah Corson took their four children and moved to Sapecho to be pastors of a Bolivian church. Realizing that the homesteaders there needed more than spiritual nourishment, Ken and Sarah began work in integrated development with the people of the village.  Volunteers are taught to establish farms while maintaining the integrity of rainforests, to establish microenterprise within urban slums, to build and maintain schools in third world countries, and to promote safe motherhood while combating infant mortality. In short, they are taught to bring God’s peace and love, in practical ways, to others.
 
Training is offered for team members and team leaders participating in SIFAT's Short-term Mission (STM) program to Ecuador and Bolivia. Join with grassroots community leaders from around the world to learn practical skills to help the poor help themselves in a context of Christian Community Development. Come to SIFAT's International Training Campus in Lineville for the ten-week summer practicum in appropriate technologies and Christian community development. Lineville is in Randolph County, AL.
 
The Rev. Tom Duley is an ordained Elder of the North Alabama Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He serves as the Executive Director of Urban Ministry Inc. Rev. Duley has a long history of working in the area of missions and social justice both within congregational settings and outside them. Mike Harper is Director of Development and Volunteer Recruitment.
Urban Ministry’s mission is to bring Compassion and Wholeness to the urban poor of Birmingham.  We have a vision:  to grow in ministry to our community.  We want to expand the breadth of our current programs and increase the number of programs we offer as well. In order to realize that vision, we must increase the number of volunteers who donate their time and money to Urban Ministry

Urban Ministry, Inc. carries out its mission in a variety of ways. A daily feeding program is operated through Assistance Ministries; it also distributes food boxes, and provides financial assistance in meeting the costs of utilities and housing. Through the Children's Program offer after-school care and a summer day camp for children in the fourth through the eighth grade is offered. Through the Joe Rush Center for Urban Mission exterior house painting for low-income elderly and disabled persons in done. In partnership with Kairos Prison Ministry, Urban Ministries works in a maximum security prison of the State of Alabama (Donaldson Correctional Facility) with men on death row. Through Academy for Action Formation opportunities are provided for persons to live out their faithfulness in the world.  Urban Ministry is in Jefferson County, AL.