Global Ministries Team

This past year the Global Ministries Team was reactivated and began working on three priorities: completing 1 the naming of the final Africa University Endowed Scholarships and celebrate the reaching of the one-million- 2 dollar goal, updating the information for all the Conference Advance Specials, and updating the list of 3 missionaries for our Conference members, and churches to support. 4 5

Since its founding in 1988 by UNYAC, our predecessor conferences have supported Africa University through 6 the general church apportionments, gifts, donations, and scholarships. In 2024 members of the Global 7 Ministries team are planning on taking a VIM team there with plans to meet with students supported by our 8 scholarships.

The list of Conference Advance Specials on the Conference website Conference Advance Specials|The Upper 11 NY Conference (unyumc.org) has been updated to include some pictures and the ability to donate online. This year we will be setting up the guidelines and process to add new ones for next year.

We have also updated the list of current UMC missionaries Missionaries|The Upper NY Conference

(unyumc.org) for our congregations and individuals to support including a new one – our own Olga Gonzalez.

This year, after COVID isolation, we will once again have missionaries be able to come and itinerate to sponsoring churches and be present with us during annual conference.

This year we will be intentional on helping with the call for people to become missionaries (paid and volunteer).

To learn more, go to the GBGM website MISSIONARIES - Global Ministries (umcmission.org) and come to the

Global Ministries table during Annual Conference.

In 2022, a total of $25,000 was secured for Disaster Response through the help of UMCOR and distributed to assist communities and ministries impacted by a socio-economic or natural disaster. This included flooding at

Casowasco Camp & Retreat Center and aid to the Buffalo community after the racist mass shooting. This year, unfortunately, began with another disaster: the Christmas Blizzard. To date, we have raised and dispersed

$15,400 to those impacted and deployed four ERT teams, totaling over 100 hours of service, to clean up churches that experienced severe damage. The recovery has just begun, and we will walk alongside impacted communities as neighbors and siblings in Christ through their journey of physical and spiritual recovery.

We praise God and celebrate the service of a VIM team from St Paul’s UMC in Ithaca, led by Nancy and George

Gull, that served in Agua Viva Serves, Los Chiles, Costa Rica from Jan 23 - March 2, 2023. In 2024, plans are being made for a Conference-wide team(s) to go to Puerto Rico and Africa University.

Kristina Clark was named the Director of Missional Engagement and Director of the UNY Mission HUB in July

2022. Last year, churches around the Conference donated 20,490 items to ministry of the HUB and 24,266 items were dispersed to communities across Upstate NY to bring relief to socio-economic or natural disasters.

UMCOR discontinued the school kit in 2022. The HUB now assembles and distributes three relief kits: hygiene, the cleaning, and Menstrual Hygiene Kits. The HUB launched its first grant, “The Everyday Disaster Grant,” which gave a total of $30,400 to 32 churches that represent the HUB’s values of neighboring, justice, collaboration, and diversity. We are excited to continue adding to the ministries of the HUB to meet the relevant needs of our neighbors in the UNY Conference.