wfn.org | United Methodists to commission 60 in Zambia

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

June 18, 1999 News media contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-21-31-71B{337}

NEW YORK (UMNS) - A July 16 commissioning service in Zambia for 60
"missioners of hope" will be a first for the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries.

The service will be the first of its type held outside the United States and
will mark the largest number of African men and women ever commissioned into
ministry at one time by United Methodists, according to board officials.

Representing 10 annual conferences and autonomous churches in Africa and the
United States, the new missionaries will be assigned exclusively to
ministries for children. All but five of the 60 are African.

United Methodist Bishop Kainda Katembo of the Southern Congo Area is co-host
of the ceremony, which will include a procession to the commissioning site
at Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation in Kitwe, performances by African choirs
and a special presentation for the children.
Bishop John Hopkins of the Minnesota Area will lead the worship.

Assigning such a large number of mission personnel to Africa reflects a
growing trend: countries that historically have only received missionaries
are now sending their own missionaries abroad. For example, missionaries
commissioned by the board in April included people from Burundi, Kenya,
Korea, Norway, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, Bolivia and the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
 
The missioners of hope program opens up a new age of mission, with
"significant numbers of people originating from Africa, Latin America and
Asia who will be critical to mission leadership and service," said the Rev.
John McCullough, the board executive in charge of mission personnel. The
program was a response to the United Methodist Council of Bishops' "Hope for
the Children of Africa" appeal.

Candidates have been recruited through the board's partnerships with
churches in Africa and conferences in the United States. A total of 100
eventually will be assigned to ministries for children in Africa. 
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