UMCOR

Women wait for vegetable oil at the Malicha internally displaced camp in Fizi, Congo. The United Methodist Church distributed 74 tons of supplies to survivors of two fires that ravaged the camp in August and October. The aid included rice, corn flour, salt, sugar, beans, soap, toothbrushes and more. Photo courtesy of the East Congo Episcopal Area disaster management office.

Church helps survivors of fire in Congo

The United Methodist Church has provided food and other supplies to 5,000 survivors of two fires that ravaged a camp for displaced people.

Social Concerns

Jean Tshomba demonstrates the procedure for voting during an educational program at Victor Wetchi United Methodist Church in the Kibombo District in Congo. Tshomba is coordinator of the local disaster management office. Financial support from the United Methodist Committee on Relief helped fund a program to prevent election-related violence. Photo by Chadrack Tambwe Londe, UM News.

Church strives to avert election conflicts in Congo

Through funding from the United Methodist Committee on Relief, the church in Congo focused on preventing violence and hate speech before, during and after elections.

Immigration

Victor Lugo, a migrant from Venezuela, talks with two of his granddaughters at CAFEMIN, a migrant shelter in Mexico City. Founded by the Josephine Sisters, a Catholic religious order, the shelter has been overwhelmed in recent months by requests for shelter and other forms of assistance. Lugo, who volunteers in the shelter's kitchen, is traveling with seven family members, including the two girls. They are awaiting an appointment with Mexican immigration officials, hoping for a transit visa that will allow them to proceed further north. Photo by the Rev. Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

As migrant numbers surge, Mexican Methodists offer hospitality

Early last year, church leaders projected a shelter in Apaxco, Mexico, would assist between 100 and 150 migrants per month. By December, the shelter was housing 150 people a night and feeding 600 a day.

Disaster Relief

Bishop Agustín Altamirano Ramos helps deliver emergency supplies to Acapulco, Mexico, where Hurricane Otis struck in October, 2023. At the last minute, the storm intensified to a Category 5 hurricane, a phenomenon observers say results from warmer ocean temperatures and other elements of the climate crisis. Altamirano is bishop of the Mexico Annual Conference of the Methodist Church of Mexico. The emergency response of the Methodist Church of Mexico in Acapulco is supported by the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Photo by the Rev. Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Mexican Methodists respond to climate crisis

Hurricane Otis devastated Acapulco and surrounding communities on Oct. 25. The disaster is just the latest example of how the climate crisis is pushing congregations throughout Mexico to respond to new pastoral challenges.

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