Author Archives: janineroberts

Connecting Local Congregations to Global Missions by Janine Roberts

When I was in middle school, I developed a deep desire to go anywhere in Africa.  At the time I had no idea why.  I just knew I wanted to go there someday.  As I entered high school and then college, this desire only increased, until I finally heard of a United Methodist mission team traveling to Zimbabwe for three weeks.  I quickly checked a map, verified that Zimbabwe was in fact in Africa, and began the process of begging my parents to go.  They finally relented a few years later when I was over the age of 18 and were no longer legally allowed to stop me.   

From the time I stepped off the plane in July 1998, I was smitten.  My love for Zimbabwe was cemented that first day and has only grown each year since.  I lived there for many years at a Children’s Home, and I still go back each year to visit people who are now as close as my biological family.  They are a part of who I am.  My life is richer and fuller because I was able to see a new piece of who Jesus is by experiencing another culture. 

Now I serve as Mission’s Director at Chapelwood UMC in Houston, TX.  We are still wading through the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and trying to figure out how we can assist other states and islands that were devastated by the hurricanes and storms that followed.  With so many disasters occurring around the U.S. this past year, it is natural to ask, “Why should we help people in a different part of the world when there are so many in need throughout our own country?”  As with many issues, the answer is not always either/or, but requires a both/and mentality.  Either/or signifies a limited capacity and in turn can limit God’s ability to work fully in our lives as individuals, families, and churches.   

Similar to when we are told to put on our own oxygen mask in an airplane before we help others, we do need to make sure that our own well-being and that of our family and community are met first so that we have a stable base from which to serve.  When I was in the middle of weathering Hurricane Harvey, I had no capacity outside of trying to do my job and figuring out how to move around a city where most of the streets were still blocked with water.  But – before long the streets and businesses opened back up, and most people were able to find a safe place to stay even if it will be a long time before they can achieve a new “normal.”   

We have churches, organizations, and government programs all working together to provide immediate assistance, and they will stick around for the next few years to make sure the city is back up and running. Unlike many other parts of the world, the structures we have in place throughout the U.S. make it much easier to respond quickly in disaster situations. In many cases, our resources far surpass the services available in other areas around the world.

Yet after we have experienced devastating disasters, our desire and ability to practice generosity to those outside our small bubble may fade even though the needs of our family around the world has not decreased.  We need to remember especially during these times why it is so important to continue serving and building relationships with our brothers and sisters around the world.  

We serve because God calls us through his Word to participate in his mission of reaching out and loving people from every nation and culture.  We have the opportunity to form genuine relationships as a means of building up and unifying God’s kingdom, to learn from each other, and to see new ways that Jesus is at work. We grow in our faith when we observe how God has moved in the lives of people in so many different and difficult circumstances.  The faith that I saw exhibited by my Zimbabwean family throughout the years shaped and changed how I responded when going through traumatic events, including Hurricane Harvey.  

My experience is unique to me, but God has a unique experience ready for each of us who are willing to listen and respond in faith daily.  Go where God asks you to go and do what he asks you to do, whether it is as a missionary in your own community, or in a place that starts out entirely foreign to you.  The main reason I believe that we are to serve both at home and around the world is because when so many have looked into the eyes of Jesus and sat still enough to listen, that is what he told them to do.    

So find out which partnerships your church has formed in different parts of the world and how you can participate in growing these relationships.  Research an organization in your town that welcomes refugees and international students and invite someone to dinner.  Check out the work supported through World Methodist Evangelism or other connectional mission organizations.  Choose a country that God has set on your heart and educate yourself and your family so that you can actively pray for individuals and situations in a place you may never physically be able to visit.   

Or go.   

Whatever you feel led to do, you are guaranteed to discover a richer and fuller love for Jesus and the life he has given you.

Notes from Houston: Giving and Receiving by Janine Roberts

I am writing from an air mattress at my coworkers’ house late at night. I just ate some fabulous fajitas around a table filled with laughter and shared stories after watching the sun set slowly from someone else’s backyard.  

I drove home from work last Thursday night jovially saying goodnight to everyone, knowing we would probably be “hunkered down” for the next few days to ride out Hurricane Harvey and his aftermath. It felt a little exciting at first, like anticipating a snow day when I was younger and growing up in West Virginia. But over the next days, which has now turned into a week, the excitement drained away with every tornado warning, every flood warning, every flash of tragedy that unfolded from the news reports and social media.  

I am back in the place of being the recipient of others’ generosity and overwhelming support. This is a familiar place for me, after living many years in Zimbabwe as a missionary and knowing that both my programs and personal finances depended on the kindness of others. When I could no longer renew my work visa and had to leave Zimbabwe, I somehow ended up at Chapelwood UMC, a large church community in Houston, Texas, as a Missions Director.  

All of a sudden, the tables were turned and I was now in charge, along with my committee, of dispensing funds to hopeful missionaries and programs around the world who were just as eager as I had once been to be good stewards of what they were given. When disasters happened around the world and closer to home, Chapelwood generously donated funds and manpower in whatever way was most needed.  

Over the last three years working here in Houston, I have been privileged to have other staff and members become my family. My family has also grown to include people from Haiti and Kenya and other parts of Texas. My family now includes people from Estonia and Louisiana and Costa Rica. When our family in Haiti was suffering from Hurricane Matthew, we were there. When flooding devastated Louisiana, we were there. When Kenya experienced famine from drought we were there.  

Now we are the ones who are in devastation. We look out our windows and see swimming pools where parking lots should be and boats where cars used to drive.  

And the emails and phone calls and social media posts pour in: from Stanley in Kenya, from Meeli in Estonia, Pastor Carlos in Weslaco, Texas and Paul in Haiti. And all over the U.S. they assure us: We are praying for you. We are sending support. We are coming.  

I had to evacuate my home this morning, to join the tens of thousands of others who are now displaced. But we will be okay again one day soon because of your prayers and your presence and your gifts, service, and witness.  

And because of the beautiful, compassionate, resilient people of Houston who have rallied around each other. We represent every tribe, tongue and nation here in Houston. Although we are in the midst of deep waters this week, we have also experienced a hint of heaven.