Latin America/Caribbean

A woman sings and prays during a Dec. 2, 2023, worship service in the Gante Methodist Church in Mexico City, part of a larger celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Methodist Church of Mexico. The denomination observed the anniversary with a conference Nov. 30 to Dec. 3 in Mexico City looking at how its Wesleyan heritage can better equip the church to face current challenges. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Celebrating 150 years of Methodism in Mexico

The Nov. 30-Dec. 3 anniversary conference offered a time for reflection and looking ahead at ways to navigate the challenges facing Methodists. United Methodist Bishops Sally Dyck and Héctor A. Burgos-Núñez attended the event.

Immigration

Maj. Gerardo Ortiz (left), leader of the Salvation Army in Tijuana, Mexico, and Bishop Felipe Ruiz, episcopal leader of the Northwest Annual Conference of the Methodist Church of Mexico A.R., have been working collaboratively to serve immigrant communities on the border, and they are now serving refugees from Ukraine. Photo courtesy of Bishop Felipe Ruiz, Methodist Church of Mexico A.R.

Methodists help Ukrainian refugees in Tijuana

The Methodist Church of Mexico A.R., together with other churches, civil organizations and the support of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, is providing food and other aid to refugee applicants from Ukraine.

Mission and Ministry

Vinicius Guimarães dos Santos, an educator with Shade and Fresh Water, an after-school ministry of the Methodist Church of Brazil, plays a game with some of the students at the Liberdade site in Brazil. The ministry is among many over the years receiving small grants through the Encounter with Christ in Latin America and the Caribbean Fund. Photo by Mark Greathouse, courtesy of Global Ministries.

Sustaining faith partnerships with Latin America

Through small grants, the Encounter with Christ fund has nurtured Methodist mission and relationships in 26 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Social Concerns

United Methodist deaconess Cindy Johnson (right) walks to buy medicine with Isabél who traveled with her daughter from Nicaragua to Matamoros, Mexico, hoping to request asylum in the U.S. Kassandra, 16 months, was suffering from fever and weight loss while she and her mother waited for their turn to approach the bridge leading to Brownsville, Texas. Johnson, who makes regular visits to the makeshift camp, brought members of the United Methodist Immigration Task Force for a firsthand look at the immigration situation. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

United Methodists respond to migrants at the border

The United Methodist Immigration Task Force saw United Methodists in action caring for migrants from around the world seeking asylum at border towns in Texas.

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