wfn.org | Methodists Help Brazil's Children

[owner-umethnews@ecunet.org]

"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3132 notes).

Note 3130 by UMNS on Aug. 15, 1996 at 15:26 Eastern (3873 characters).

SEARCH: Brazil, offering, Methodists, money, street children,
poor, mission
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Thomas McAnally                          416(10-71){3130}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470             Aug. 15, 1996

Methodists at world conference give host church more 
than $200,000 for work with poor, homeless children

by Thomas McAnally*

     RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Methodists participating in a world
conference here Aug. 7-15 gave their host church $204,093 for its
work with poor and homeless children.
     At the suggestion of the conference planning committee, more
than 2,700 individual participants brought with them to Rio money
from individuals, Sunday school classes and others in their
respective local congregations.
     The offering was taken Saturday night, Aug. 10, during a
celebration planned by the Methodist Church of Brazil. More than
15,000 people attended the event in a large domed sports stadium
in the city.
     The amount of the offering was announced Aug. 14.
     "I expected the offering to be a large sum," said the Rev.
Donald English, a British clergyman and chairman of the World
Methodist Council. "But the amount is much larger than I thought
it would be."
     His voice breaking as he announced the total amount, English
described the gifts as "a unified, concrete expression of love."
He noted that the total consisted of cash and checks in dollars,
reals (the Brazilian currency), francs, pounds and marks.
     English said money isn't the most important thing. "It
expresses the degree of love and gratitude we feel for our
brothers and sisters in Brazil and for all the work they are doing
for the gospel."
     The council's chief staff executive, the Rev. Joe Hale of the
United States, also expressed delight at the moment. "Through this
offering, we will put the arms of Jesus around thousands of
children in Brazil. We may not make a difference everywhere, but
we can make a difference somewhere, and we will begin here --
right where we are!"
     Brazilian Methodist leaders said the money will be used to
support the work with impoverished children maintained by their
church throughout Brazil. Priority will be given, they said, to
projects addressing the needs of street children, especially girls
in risky situations, drug recovery and prostitution prevention.
     The World Methodist Council is a 500-member delegated body
that meets every five years in conjunction with a larger World
Methodist Conference, which it sponsors. The council represents 73
member denominations, 32 million members and 107 countries. The
Rio meeting is the first ever held in South America. More than
2,700 are attending the meeting here.
     Two categories of street children are served by the Brazilian
church: orphans and others who literally live on the streets and
those who have a home but wander the streets to find money to help
support their families.
     Some projects work directly to help street children with
their problems. If possible, they are helped to return to
relatives, get into school or move into a children's home. Getting
children off the street is difficult, church leaders explain,
because some are used by adults for crime, drug distribution or
prostitution.
     Most of the programs try to prevent the conditions that cause
children to go to the streets. These efforts include day-care
centers,  after-school programs, tutoring and children's homes.
Poor families also receive assistance so that their children can
stay in school and do not need to beg for help.
                              #  #  #

     * McAnally is director of United Methodist News Service,
headquartered in Nashville, Tenn.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 To make suggestions or give your comments, send a note to 
 umns@ecunet.org or Susan_Peek@ecunet.org

 To unsubscribe, send the single word "unsubscribe" (no quotes)
 in a mail message to umethnews-request@ecunet.org

-----------------------------------------------------------------------