Western North Carolina Conference (WNCC) Building Teams
Service around the Globe
Teams of Western North Carolina United Methodists have been responding to the call to build churches, schools, medical facilities, parsonages and orphanages for over 40 years. The church is growing at an amazing rate in developing nations under conditions we would find most discouraging. Nearly 600 volunteers branched out from the Western NC Conference during 2006. They worked in the Latin American countries of Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico. Teams to the Caribbean went to Jamaica and Puerto Rico. We continued work in Lithuania and Cambodia, while expanding into Zimbabwe and India. Teams to Alaska reach new areas every year and remain very popular. For 2007, we are expanding further in into Africa with two teams to The Congo. A first-time team to Nicaragua will also be going out in 2007.
Link: www.wnccumc.org/bgt/building_teams.htm
The United Methodist Committee for Overseas Relief (UMCOR)
UMCOR is the humanitarian relief and development agency of the United Methodist Church. For 65 years, UMCOR has responded internationally to natural or human-made disasters – those interruptions of such magnitude that they overwhelm a community’s ability to recover on its own. The first ten years of UMCOR saw the organization of several services, endeavors, and initiatives, and saw over nine million dollars, from donations both large and small, make its way to refugees, the homeless, and hungry persons all over the world.
Link: www.umcor.org/
ABCCM
Founded in 1969 by eight Buncombe County, North Carolina churches, ABCCM is now a cooperative ministry of more than 220 churches accomplishing what individual congregations cannot accomplish alone. ABCCM creates opportunities for others to restore the dignity of the “least of our neighbors” by offering grace and mercy in service. Through dedicated volunteers and generous supporters, thousands of needy families are given compassion and hope. ABCCM helps tens of thousands of our Buncombe County neighbors in need each year through five ministries. If it weren’t for the generosity of local churches, individuals, and businesses, many of these deserving people would suffer despair and hopelessness.
Link: www.abccm.org
Mountain Area Hospice (CarePartners)
CarePartners Hospice provides compassionate care for people at the end of life and continued support for those who are grieving. They seek to ease emotional and physical problems, to provide spiritual assistance and supportive care to those bearing that burden. The Hospice Program seeks to allow persons living with a terminal illness to live in dignity and serenity, as free as possible of pain and other distressing symptoms. A team of persons – doctors, nurses, certified nursing assistants, social workers, volunteers and clergy – is committed to this total care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For the majority of hospice patients, care is provided in their own homes. They strive to enable patients to live at home as long as possible, but also offer services in extended care facilities when needed. The hospice team, in consultation with the resident’s physician and long-term care staff, provides intermittent specialized services aimed to maximize symptom and pain control and offer emotional and spiritual support to residents, family and friends.
Link: www.carepartners.org/hospice.html
Heifer International
Ending Hunger, Caring for the Earth
A Midwestern farmer named Dan West was ladling out rations of milk to hungry children during the Spanish Civil War when it hit him. “These children don’t need a cup, they need a cow.” West formed Heifers for Relief, dedicated to ending hunger permanently by providing families with livestock and training so that they “could be spared the indignity of depending on others to feed their children.” In 1944, the first shipment of 17 heifers left York, Pennsylvania, for Puerto Rico, going to families whose malnourished children had never even tasted milk. Each family receiving a heifer agreed to “pass on the gift” and donate the female offspring to another family so that the gift of food is never-ending. Since 1944, Heifer has worked to end hunger and poverty, and care for the earth by providing appropriate livestock, training and related services to small-scale farmers and communities worldwide. They care for the earth's natural resources through training in livestock management, pasture improvement, soil conservation, forestation and recast. The simple idea of giving families a source of food rather than short-term relief has continued for over 60 years and millions of families in 128 countries have been given the gifts of self-reliance and hope.
Link: www.heifer.org
Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity (AAHH)
AAHH incorporated in 1983 under the name of Western North Carolina Habitat for Humanity, making it the first Habitat affiliate in North Carolina. Today the state boasts 87 affiliates. Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, Inc. is a nonprofit ministry dedicated to building simple, decent houses with community volunteers in partnership with qualified families currently living in inadequate housing. The first Habitat house took volunteers 18 months to complete with a few dedicated volunteers working only on Saturdays. Currently, volunteers work six days each week; and a new house is started every 3-1/2 weeks. Over 1000 people volunteer with AAHH each year. 144 houses have been completed with plans to build 14 in 2007.
Link: www.ashevillehabitat.org
Potter’s Touch
The Asheville, Marion, and Waynesville Districts of the WNC Conference support this counseling and spiritual guidance service for United Methodist laity and clergy in Western North Carolina. This ministry seeks to respond to persons in need. Through its professionally trained counselors and spiritual guides, support and healing is offered as it provides counseling, therapy, education, consultation, and spiritual direction for United Methodists. If you are seeking counseling or spiritual guidance, contact the Potter’s Touch office, (828) 281-4566.
(No link is available)
Africa University
Africa University opened in March 1992 as the first private, international university in Zimbabwe. The pioneer group of 40 students came from a dozen Africa countries to pursue bachelor’s degrees in agriculture and natural resources and theology. Africa University is a United Methodist Church-related project and is being nurtured and funded by church members from all over the world. It is a consequence of the growth of United Methodism on the African continent and has its foundations in the history and legacy of the church. The University welcomes persons regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion, politics, gender, nationality or social background.
Link: www.africau.edu/