WorldHope Corps

 Dr. Michael Christensen, Director of Communities of Shalom for the United Methodist Church, Rev. Clarissa South Holland, Pastor of Green Village United Methodist Church, Dennis Singini, Guest preacher and Regional Shalom Trainer in Malawi The United Methodist Church in Green Village was delighted to welcome Dennis Singini, Regional Shalom Trainer For Communities of Shalom International, to her pulpit on July 1, 2012. We were also pleased to have the Director of Communities of Shalom, Dr. Michael Christensen in worship. Communities of Shalom is a ministry of the United Methodist Church, located at Drew University, that focuses on "neighborhood revitalization and community transformation." Dr. Michael Christensen, Director of Communities of Shalom for the United Methodist Church describes shalom as "more than a Jewish way of saying hello, shalom is more than 'peace' as the absence of conflict. Shalom means health, healing, harmony, wholeness, w

Michael Christensen reviews Henri Nouwen's Original Journals in Archives The Henri J. M. Nouwen Archives &  Research Collection at the University of Toronto (St. Michael's College) is a warm and welcoming place. This is my 4th visit to the Archives to review unpublished journals and manuscripts by Henri Nouwen (my professor at Yale) so that Rebecca Laird and I can complete the developmental editing of the third and final volume in the Spiritual Trilogy being published by HarperCollins. These posthumous books by Nouwen are based on his courses on Christian Spirituality at Yale and Harvard, and his unpublished manuscripts and journals.  The series moves  from questions to movements to connections: Volume One is on  Spiritual Direction:  Living the Questions of the Spiritual Life  (available now) Volume Two is on  Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit (available now) Volume Three is on Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life (scheduled for rele

Henri Nouwen, the world-renowned spiritual guide and counselor, understood the spiritual life as a journey of faith and transformation that is deepened by accountability, community, and relationships. Though he counseled many people during his lifetime, his principles of spiritual formation were never written down. Michael Christensen and Rebecca Laird have taken his famous course in spiritual formation and supplemented it with his unpublished writings to create the definitive series on Nouwen’s thoughts on the Christian life. Spiritual Formation, showcases Nouwen’s life-long effort to re-construct the five classical stages of spiritual development as movements in the journey of faith. The five classical stages are these: 1. Awakening (our desire) 2. Purgation (purifying our passions) 3. Illumination (of God) 4. Dark Night (of the Soul) 5. Unification (with God) Readings, stories, questions for personal reflection, and guided journal inquiry as articulated by Nouwen will provide re

Four Ministers of Shalom: Baaumu Moses, Dennis Singini, Gaius Charles and Julius Kasaija Pastor Clarissa Holland hosted a BBQ this afternoon at her home in honor of Pastor Dennis Singini (from Mzuzu, Malawi), Pastor Baaumu Moses (from Jinja, Uganda) and Mr. Julius Kasaija (from Western Uganda). All three men were certified this week by Drew Theological School as Regional Shalom Trainers. All three work directly with children and families HIV/AIDS in their countries.   And all three represent ministry supported by WorldHope Corps, Inc. At the BBQ for WorldHope Corps donors and friends, they expressed deep gratitude for their partners in ministry, and new friends they met this week in NJ and NYC.  This was their first trip to the USA, thanks to their generous sponsors who made it possible to receive Shalom Training.

Dr. Michael Christensen, Rev. Clarissa Holland and Pastor Dennis Singini The United Methodist Church in Green Village, NJ, welcomed Pastor Dennis Singini to their Pulpit today for Communion Sunday. Dennis, a circuit-riding pastor in Malawi, is program coordinator for CitiHope Malawi , in charge of food [1] and medical distributions and HIV/AIDS training for churches [2] .   Dennis also works for WorldHope Corps in Malawi on its Well-rig crew, drilling deep-water wells for villages without a clean water supply (see previous posts). And Dennis also serves as a Regional Shalom Trainer in Malawi for Communities of Shalom International, based at Drew University.  He was in NJ this week as part of Drew’s certification program for regional Shalom Trainers meeting at the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association for their annual 36-hour Training of Trainers event. He shared today with the Green Village congregation about “What God is doing in Malawi” in relation to 2 Cor. 8