wfn.org | Popularity of individual volunteers rises

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

March 28, 2001	News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
10-32-33-71B{152}

By United Methodist News Service

While church work teams remain popular, the number of individuals serving as
volunteers for United Methodist-related mission projects is growing.

Currently, about 50 people, including married couples, are serving in
locations both inside and outside the United States as part of the
Individual Volunteers Placement Program of the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries. Individuals also are placed through the Volunteers in
Mission program of the denomination's Southeastern Jurisdiction.

The Rev. Walt Whitehurst of Virginia Beach, Va., who works with his wife
Betty as a consultant for the board's program, said the increased
opportunities are fulfilling needs expressed both by the volunteers and by
the host communities. The volunteers, who pay their own way, fill terms
ranging from two months to two years.

While many of the volunteers are from the United States, the number of
international applicants is on the rise. "The Web page is what makes them
become more aware," Whitehurst explained. "We hear from people from other
countries almost every day."

In fact, the program has placed its first international volunteer for a
program in the United States. Modesta Kalaw of Tarlac City, Philippines, a
United Methodist deaconess, teacher and mother of seven children ages 6 to
19, was to finish a three-month term in Florida on April 2. During that
time, she assisted at a preschool at First United Methodist Church in Coral
Gables; helped distribute materials for the Wesley Foundation of the
University of Miami; and worked with children and adults in the Carver
Heights Ministry in Leesburg.

Elsewhere, individual volunteers are serving in such projects as a refugee
center in Barcelona, Spain, an English college in Chile and an orphanage in
Italy. A pastor is translating theological documents in the Czech Republic,
individuals in Haiti and Honduras are coordinating volunteer teams, a
dentist and his wife are setting up dental clinics in Guatemala, and a
volunteer is serving as hostess at the Scarritt-Bennett Center in Nashville.

The idea of "volunteers in mission" was formally organized in 1975 in the
denomination's Southeastern Jurisdiction, according to Whitehurst. About 10
years later, some of the volunteers who had worked with teams wanted to
strike out on their own, and individual placements began.

Volunteers have not superseded regular missionaries, who receive training, a
salary and benefits and are placed by the Board of Global Ministries for
specific terms of service.

Both categories have advantages, said Whitehurst, who is a former missionary
to Chile. While people in a community might regard a volunteer as less
authoritative and more like one of the gang, "sometimes the volunteer is not
as effective as the missionary because he or she may not know the language
or stay as long as the missionary," he added.

The process of placement also differs. Whitehurst will send a copy of an
individual's application, medical form and references to the host community
to see if they are interested in inviting that person to come. "It isn't a
matter of our sending, it's a matter of our making them available," he
explained.

Volunteers also are responsible for their expenses, although they are
allowed to raise money from family, friends, churches and other groups. Most
who apply are United Methodist, but a few come from other denominations.

More information about the individual volunteer program is available by
calling the Whitehursts at (757) 426-2461 or by sending an e-mail to
IndVol@aol.com. The program's Web page can be found at
http://gbgm-umc.org/vim/features/indvolpro.htm.

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United Methodist News Service
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