“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8b, NRSV)
How would you spend $55,000? If you ask United Methodism’s General Board of Church and Society, you might hear an answer like this: “We would teach young people about peace building, aid children living in poverty and promote health-care reform.” During a recent meeting, the board approved 16 grants, exceeding $55,000 and received through the annual Peace with Justice Special Sunday offerings.
Harbor House Crisis Shelter, a health and welfare ministry in my conference, was awarded a $5,000 grant. This mission responds to the growing number of homeless mothers and children. The grant is being used for case management, educational materials and community awareness—all in an effort to reach out to what some may consider “the lost, the least and the last.”
Another recipient in my conference is the Wisconsin Council of Churches as it builds a grassroots movement to help educate persons about the possibilities of health-insurance reform. In my state alone, more than 500,000 persons are uninsured, with thousands under-insured. Another venture of my conference’s board of church and society involved two seminars to teach youth and adults healthier approaches to conflict, especially recognizing and responding to bullying in our schools.
Did you realize 50 percent of the Peace with Justice Sunday offering goes for projects in the United States and other countries and half remains in your conference for peace-making ministries and programs? That’s money that stretches across the street and around the world!
Thank you for sharing these stories with your church family and providing an opportunity for people to support Peace with Justice programs. May we do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God as we all do peace-making ministries.
--The Rev. Jane Follmer Zekoff, former director of ministry and outreach, Wisconsin Conference
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