wfn.org | United Methodists approve 45 new missionaries

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Oct. 22, 1999 News media contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-71B{560}

STAMFORD, Conn. (UMNS) - The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries
commissioned 45 new missionaries during its Oct. 18-21 annual meeting,
including 31 assigned specifically to Korean-American or Hispanic
ministries.

Among the new mission personnel are seven deaconesses and four church and
community workers. 

Commissioned are Judith Austin of the Kentucky Annual (regional) Conference,
assigned to the Salvation Army Center of Hope in Louisville; Janie
Canty-Mitchel, South Indiana Conference, to the Indiana University School of
Nursing, Indianapolis; Debra Sue Chenault, Virginia Conference, to
Transylvania County "Making the Connection" Program, Cedar Mountain, N.C.;
and the Rev. Kenneth and Jane Hathaway, Kansas West Conference, to McCurdy
School, Espanola, N.M.

Also, Dana Jones, Northern Illinois Conference, to the Board of Global
Ministries in New York; Ellen King, California-Pacific Conference,
assignment to be determined; Jeanne Martin, New England Conference, to KIT
Clark Senior Services, Newton, Mass.; Governor Mays, Mississippi Conference,
to a church and community project in McGehee, Ark.; and Sue Schoener, West
Ohio Conference, to the Columbus South District in Columbus, Ohio.

Also, Johnny A. Stephens, Little Rock Conference, to a community outreach
program in Pine Bluff, Ark.; Sandra Lee Sipes, Missouri West Conference, to
the Empowering Women Project in Stoutland, Miss.; F. Steve Taylor, North
Carolina Conference, to Robeson County Church and Community Center,
Lumberton, N.C.; and Eric Torres, Methodist Church of Peru, to Wesley
Heritage Foundation in Southern Pines, N.C.

The board launched its Korean-American mission pastor program in 1997. The
October commissioning increases its numbers from 49 to 71. The new mission
pastors, with places of assignments in their home conferences, are the Rev.
Kwan Yun Cho, to Olympia, Wash.; the Rev. Chulsoo Chung, to Miami; the Rev.
Michael In-Suk Chung, to Fort Lee, N.J.; the Rev. Shin Kwan Chung, to
Auburn, Wash.; the Rev. Jong Taik Hahm, to New Windsor, N.Y.; the Rev. Sung
Eun Jee, to Wilmore, Ky.; the Rev. Yong Han Jeon, to Rochester, N.Y.; the
Rev. Dae Hyon Kang, to Fort Myers, Fla.; and the Rev. Kyong Hee Kim, to
Commack, N.Y.

Also, the Rev. Taie Kyung Kim, to La Canada, Calif.; the Rev. Young Ki Kim,
to Louisville, Ky.; the Rev. Chang Min Lee, to Upland, Calif.; the Rev. Chul
Goo Lee, to Irving, Texas; the Rev. Goo-Il Lee, to Enid, Okla.; the Rev.
Hong Han Lee, to Riverside, Calif.; the Rev. Eun Soo Park, to Aloha, Ore.;
the Rev. Hisook So, to Pasadena, Calif.; the Rev. Jang Woon Son, to Houston;
the Rev. Mun Sang Suk, to Brooklyn, N.Y.; the Rev. Yong Seok Yang, to
Rockville, Md.; the Rev. Kyoung Dong Yoo, to Chattanooga, Tenn.; and the
Rev. Yon Sil Yu, to Reno, Nev.

The commissioning also increased the number of missionaries for the National
Plan for Hispanic Ministries to 20. The new missionaries are the Rev. Samuel
Calvo of Costa Rica, to serve the Louisiana Conference; Ralph and Irma
Figueroa, Northern Illinois Conference, to serve in Sealac, Wash.; Jerry
Goebel, Pacific-Northwest Conference, to Sunnyside, Wash.; the Rev. Victor
Gonzalez, Pacific-Northwest Conference, to Fruitland, Idaho; Noel Morfin,
Oregon-Idaho Conference, to Rupert, Idaho; the Rev. Eleazar Rivera-Garcia,
Pacific-Northwest Conference, to Woodburn, Ore.; Paul Santillan, Rio Grande
Conference, to Georgetown, Texas; and the Rev. Ernesto Trevino, Methodist
Church of Mexico, to El Paso, Texas.

Carolina Labrada of the Methodist Church of Mexico was recognized as a
deaconess during the commissioning service. She is assigned to St. Mary's
Residential Training School in Alexandria, La.
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