WorldHope Corps

Today marks the 20 th Anniversary Weekend of Communities of Shalom Shalom on Facebook         UMCOM TV interview with Michael Christensen This Very Day--Sunday, April 29—is the 20 th Anniversary of Shalom! Friends of Shalom are here in Tampa for the General Conference of the United Methodist Church.  This afternoon, from 5-6, in the Big Tent (across the street from the Convention Center) hosted by the Methodist Federation for Social Action, friends of shalom will gather to sing, testify, pray, and tell stories of shalom work in their communities. Bishop Joseph Sprague (Instigator of Shalom in 1992 and still active in the Greater Hilltop Shalom Zone in Columbus, Ohio) will offer inspiration followed by anointing with oil for the difficult work ahead.  On Sunday night during the 7pm celebration of ministry service in the Convention Center, Communities of Shalom will present its Report to GC and show the new video “Shalom...

On this 20th Anniversary Day for Communities of Shalom, I asked Bishop Joseph Sprague, Instigator of Communities of Shalom, to reflect on the origins of Shalom on April 29, 1992--the day of the social uprising in Los Angeles after the non-guility verdict for the officers who beat motorist Rodney King and the response of the General Conference of The United Methodist Church to create the first "shalom zone" in south central LA.  Origins of Communities of Shalom (1992) By Bishop C. Joseph Sprague on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Shalom Initiative at General Conference, April 29, 2012 There was a certain irony about how I got to General Conference in 1992.  As a pastor from West Ohio, I had been elected as a delegate at two prior General Conferences. However, this time Good News and IRD targeted me to not get elected, apparently because of some of my social justice stands.  Consequently, I was the last clergy delegate elected and seated....

http://www.ministrywith.org/ media/ article.html?a=view&id=275 Our Shalom Team is in Tampa joining forces with other peace and justice ministries of the United Methodist Church in seeking the shalom of the city where we have been sent (Jeremiah 29:7). If you are in Tampa at General Conference, let me know. I plan to blog, tweet and link this week during the 20th Anniversary of Drew Shalom Ministry With the Poor - Media www.ministrywith.org Explore what is going on in other communities and United Methodist churches around the world and share your stories about your ministries and/or ministry with the poor.

Call to Action:  99% Spring Training       With the goal of training 100,000 people this Spring in community organizing and non-violent direct action, the 99% Spring coalition hopes to gather a critical mass of people power to “draw a line in the sand and say ‘No More!” to the corporations and wealthy power brokers who collectively have hijacked our democracy. Given last year’s Supreme Court decision granting corporations and superpacs legal provisions to spend unlimited money to influence the political process, I personally agree that its time to demand a “separation of Corporation and State.”  (See my earlier posts on  OWS    for why I have supported this original and primary goal of Occupy) A broad-base coalition of national organizations (initiated by Occupy Wall Street and MoveOn.org) invited community activists to today’s training session in various cities across the country. Several friends and supporters of Communities of Shal...

WorldHope Corps Seeks Sponsors to Secure Well Rig Equipment in Malawi Calling all sponsors.  We need $50,000 to start our own well-drilling ministry.  After five years of sponsoring village wells by hiring well rig companies to do the work, we are ready to secure our own equipment, employ our own crew, and run our own well-drilling business.   For more information on this new venture, and learn how you can help, please contact us at worldhopecorps@gmail.com WorldHope Corps began drilling boreholes in Malawi in 2008.  So far, we've managed to put in  18 deep water village wells in northern Malawi.  For five years now we have contracted with different drilling companies to install our sponsored wells.   Typically, we contract with drillers with rigs based in southern Malawi who are willing to bring their equipment to the north (and we have experienced considerable delays and obstacles in the process).  What is needed is a well-drilling bus...

Hope Scholarship House under construction in February 2012 Friends of WorldHope Corps: I am pleased to report that WE DID IT!   Friends of our mission in Mzuzu, Malawi, contributed more than the $2,500 needed to complete the Hope Scholarship House building project and more!   We thank God and all you who contributed to the Hope House Fund, especially:  Rev. Paul Gasque and the United Methodist Women of the  Latta UMC; John Lang and his friends; John MacDougall of JMC Development, Inc.; and Stephen Hobbs.   The one piece of bad news, according to program director Copeland Nkhata, is "an ugly experience at the House as thugs cut off the inlet pipe of the overhead tank. We had to repair it yesterday and the police were brought in for investigations. Its so sad. But we have made tremendous progress on the house. Will send you a new photo soon." We broke ground on the project last year in May when I was last there, after receiving generous donations from World ...

Rev Michael and all Friends, Kindly feast your eyes on what the Lord is still is doing in our midst and in our community. The students from the Hope Tailoring School are getting ready for their graduation and their skills are getting better by the day. The first week of May 2012 we shall parade in the university hall for this fabulous event. Please continue to pray for and support the program. We count on you as God's appointees to stand on our side till all God's will is done. We love you. Copeland and Alice Nkhata Program Directors