Global Relationships

New Quarterly E-news from the Global Relationships Team

Welcome to this new quarterly round up of the news from Global Relationships. We hope to keep you up to date on the news from World Church partners, Mission Partners, Projects and Programmes. Do contact us by email with feedback and questions on what you would like to hear about in future newsletters.  

You can also keep up to date by:

Following us on twitter at: @world_parish

Visit Global Relationships News on the website

Mission Partner Updates

The Irish Pilgrims! - Barry and Gillian Sloan are Mission Partners in Chemnitz, Germany and serve at INSPIRE a fresh expression initiative.  Last year a film of their work 'On The Bruhl' won an award at the Burbank film festival (you can watch it here).

Now they have a new venture - The Irish Pilgrims! - a YouTube channel for you to follow, watch and keep up to date with their life and work in Chemnitz.  You can watch the latest video here and sign up to their channel.  You can also read the latest from INSPIRE here.

Fiona Kendall is in Italy working with Mediterranean Hope, and a joint Mission Partner with the Church of Scotland. In her latest letter she reflects on the difference a year makes and the ongoing work of the church to serve those who are migrating. As an insight to the plight of migrants she says, 'The 'hotspot' detention centre has 192 places.  This summer almost 1,500 people were housed there, many sleeping on bare mattresses at a time when personal space could be a matter of life or death.'   Read more in her January News here.

You can get a recent update on how all our Mission Partners have been doing during the pandemic on our website here.

Mozambique: A Response to Cyclones, Covid and Violence

Since 2017, Mozambique has endured, cyclones, storms, drought, the COVID-19 pandemic and a resurgence of violence.  Persons are suffering displacement, trauma and injury or death.

The Mozambique Synod of the Methodist Church in Southern Africa is responding to the needs of the community with practical assistance. In February 2021, the World Mission Fund supported this work with a grant of £10,000.

Please continue to keep the people of Mozambique in your prayers.

Read more

Climate Justice For All

Climate Justice for All is a campaign of the Methodist Church in Britain working with partners around the world to send a message to the UN COP26 Climate conference in Glasgow in November.

This is a campaign led by young adults from Britain, Italy, Zambia, Uruguay and Fiji, working as a global team, along with a network of volunteers from six continents.

Read more and meet the team

Hope and Growth during the Pandemic  

The Church in Cuba has seen incredible growth in recent years and this growth has continued despite the challenges that Cuba faces in the current Pandemic. The head of church, Bishop Ricardo Pereira shares his news here.

The Hope Centre in Lativa works with mothers who have learning disabilities, the director of the centre, Gita Binane shares the important work they are doing to gently care during difficult times. Read more about this work supported by the Fund for Mission in Europe here.

Global Church Youth Reps

The Global Church Youth Reps are two new posts developed by 3generate and the Global Relationships team to share, connect and speak in to the Church conversation worldwide from a young persons perspective.  The first two reps are Liddy (right) and Meg (left) and you are going to hear more from them through the year in this e-news.

Read more about Liddy and Meg here

Mission Together: Celebrating Diversity in the Global Village

The Methodist for World Mission Conference this year is focussed on celebrating the diversity of the body of Christ. The line up of speakers is fantastic and includes: Prof. Anthony Reddie, Rev'd Prof. Frances Young and Rev'd Dr Inderjit Bhogal. This will be a fascinating and stimulating one day conference.

Please register your interest by contacting Gillian Pengelly through the MWM website here.

Events!

World Day of Prayer is on 5 March with the theme : Build on a Strong Foundation - praying this year with Vanuatu.  You can find an introduction to Vanuatu here.  Look out for events that your local church may be holding or pray using the resources available here

On 20th March 10am-12noon East Anglia District are holding a 'Global Encounter Event' - discover new ways of joining in partnership in mission with the church worldwide.  This is a joint event with the Global Relationships team.  Hear from current mission partners and about the work of the COP26 team and more! Click here for more details.

Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer event from 13-23 May. The Evangelism and Growth team is supporting this event. You can read more about getting involved here.

Sign up to an webinar from the Evangelism and Growth team on 22 March about 'How to run a virtual prayer room' . A virtual prayer room provides the excitement of Christians praying together in community, across international borders, without having to leave your own homes. It’s a great way to get involved with Thy Kingdom Come this year, at a church, circuit or district level. Register now.

Feeling called to God's mission? Explore your calling through #LoveThisCalling on social media or visit the website here or Register here to attend the Living Library on 22 May and meet people who can share about their calling.

If you would like a World Church speaker at your church or online event, please get in touch with us by email.  

If you are planning a Global Relationships Sunday Service you can download resources here.

Keep your ears open!

We would love you to follow the Global Relationships twitter feed on @world_parish for prayer requests and news items from partners around the world. You can also interact with our posts or let us know if you would like to hear more.

Keep up to date with news and the work of partners and Mission Partners on the Global Relationships webpage. Click the button below.