With many branches of the Wesleyan Methodist family tree stretching around the globe, we hope to keep you connected to ongoing activities, celebrations, and challenges that about 80 million of our sisters and brothers from about 80 Methodist denominations are encountering. 

*In Great Britain, the Methodist Church has issued congratulations to ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, on its receiving the Nobel Peace prize. Vice President of the Methodist Conference Jill Baker stated,  

This recognition of the important work of ICAN with the Nobel Peace prize could not be more appropriate. Through this campaign, peace activists, lawyers, city mayors, faith leaders, survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and many others are speaking with one voice. The message is clear: there can be no moral or legal justification for threatening whole populations with devastating and indiscriminate nuclear weapons. 

*As just one sample of the devastation in the Caribbean. The Wesleyan Church reports on the scale of damage inflicted by Hurricane Maria on Wesleyan churches and educational institutions in Puerto Rico. According to this report, the communities most affected are Aguas Buenas, Dorado, Humacao, Levittown, and Vega Alta.

*The Methodist Church in Brazil has been probing the responsibility of the church towards refugees. Learn more about Pastor Roberto Lugon as “he shared the experience of welcoming a Syrian family in the Methodist Church in Carlos Prates, Belo Horizonte.” 

*The World Methodist Council has published a statement expressing grave concern at the persecution of Rohingya people in Myanmar. It reads, in part,  

We condemn the violence, persecution and human rights abuses of the Rohingya by Rakhine Buddhists and government personnel, and we appeal to State Counsellor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her government to stop the abuse and to ensure that the rights of minorities are protected. We call on the United Nations, Amnesty International and other agencies to assist in halting the atrocities against Rohingya’s Muslims and to provide relief for those who fled the violence. 

We call upon the World Methodist family and all persons of good will to pray for these people who have not been given the dignity of a home and citizenship, and we pray for an end to these abuses of human rights. 

*Recently Church of the Nazarene members living in refugee camps took up collections to aid the relief of those in Sierra Leone suffering the effects of devastating mudslides. “Church members in refugee camps in the Horn of Africa, where there is severe famine, sold their maize allocation so they could donate to help survivors in Sierra Leone.” 

*The Korean Methodist Church is marking the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation with a special exhibition, “The Reformation and the Bible.”  

These snapshots are a brief glimpse of just a few dynamics among Wesleyan Methodists around our world.  

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While events in the United States have dominated the North American news cycle, every day Methodists around the world encounter all kinds of opportunities and difficulties. 

You may remember the idea to pray around the globe as part of your regular prayer routine. Let’s join together to offer gratitude and intercession for our Wesleyan Methodist family around the world as we review recent happenings. John Wesley famously said, “the world is my parish,” but we know that our God created our universe and holds the earth and, yes, sun and moon in loving, all-powerful hands. 

*President of the World Methodist Council Rev. J.C. Park has called for renewed prayers for peace on the Korean peninsula. He directs churches towards a prayer for North and South Korea. 

*The Methodist Church in Singapore is celebrating 26 years of mission through its Methodist Mission Society, which it initiated in 1991. As you can read in, “Amidst Change, A Mission Unchanged,”  

As the first home-grown missionary sending agency, MMS is required to “work with local churches as its partners to promote the service opportunities and needs of mission fields selected by the Society.” 

Over the last 25 years, MMS’ objectives have been achieved in part through committed and able leadership, both in the Home Office and the mission fields. Partnership with our local churches has also contributed significantly to MMS’ integrated approach in church planting and community development. 

*The Church of the Nazarene celebrates the story of a Syrian refugee who found Christ through a church in Beirut. “Naseef’s family decided to send him to Lebanon to save his life. He moved into a house with other refugee friends near the Beirut Church of the Nazarene.” 

*Dr Olubunmi Olayisade, Africa Partnership Coordinator for the Connexional Team of the Methodist Church in Britain, has issued a response to the tragic calamity that recently unfolded near Freetown, Sierra Leone, where mudslides have devastated the region and claimed many lives. Along with other organizations, the Methodist Church in Britain is making it easy for donations to be made in response to the crisis. 

It was with great shock and sympathy that we watched the destruction of homes, properties and lives of the flood victims on the news yesterday. We heard the sad news that over 300 deaths were reported and over 2000 people were rendered homeless on the first day. It is certain that the death toll will rise. 

We therefore join our brothers and sisters in Sierra Leone in mourning the deaths of community members and friends in Freetown. We pray for prompt response in getting humanitarian support to the flood victims to avert further deaths and hardship. 

*The Methodist-related Iglesia Evangélica Española, or Evangelical Church of Spain, issued a response to the deadly terror attacks in Barcelona, saying in part: “The pain and the horror assail us…We stand in solidarity with the families and with the city of Barcelona and we pray that barbarism will not also take away our principles of solidarity and respect. We think of the many places in Europe and beyond European borders…where this kind of gratuitous and ruthless violence is suffered and we think of broken families.” 

*The National Sunday School Department of the Methodist Church in Brazil is launching studies for children inspired by Katharina Von Bora, Martin Luther’s wife, in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation this autumn. 

This is a brief panorama of the joys and sorrows of Wesleyan Methodists around the globe. I encourage you today to pray for our sisters and brothers in Christ as we let our light shine in the darkness. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

World Methodist Evangelism represents millions of Wesleyan Methodists from a variety of denominations around the world. We exist under the umbrella of the World Methodist Council, a body that links people together through a variety of ways.

Last fall we had the pleasure of gathering together with Wesleyan Methodists from all around the globe to worship, learn, connect, and encourage. There is nothing like the World Methodist Conference. It is a truly humbling experience.

In March, World Methodist Council leadership visited Sweden, where they both conducted business and began to sketch out plans for the next World Methodist Conference to be held in that northern European country in 2021. It’s become difficult in some ways to guess what the world may look like in five years. What we do know, however, is that since the mid-1700’s, the Wesleyan Methodist family of the Christian faith has grown and flourished in varied soil all around world. We also know that the God who brought us here will continue to guide and direct us.

What might God do between now and 2021? Will you join us in praying for the global family of Wesleyan Methodists between now and then? Do you have the ongoing courage and energy to look forward? We pray that God ignites in you a passion for Kingdom work that cannot be extinguished.