MISSION: POSSIBLE
THE REACH OF OUR IMPACT IN 2021
A Missions Team Report
compiled by Julie Rolffs
Throughout 2021, the FUMC Missions Team continued to support missionaries and projects around the world. Our 4 “anchor points” include Liberia, Czech Republic, Honduras/Beyond the Borders, and FUMC’s Community Ministries in Peoria (what we refer to as our “Jerusalem”). Community Ministries are separately managed and supported and are not included herein. This report will summarize the work FUMC has supported “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The Missions Team’s funding comes from three sources: the church budget, the GIC (Global Impact Celebration) account (which has had a running balance since approx. 2007), and specific project-related restricted funds. This report includes support from all of these funding sources.
⚓ LIBERIA
⚓ CZECH REPUBLIC
⚓ HONDURAS / BEYOND THE BORDERS (MÁS ALLÁS DE LAS FRONTERAS)
⚓ OTHER
Thank you to our congregation at Peoria First for entrusting your Missions Team with the management of all of this! If you have an interest in serving on the Missions Team, please contact Julie Rolffs.
A Missions Team Report
compiled by Julie Rolffs
Throughout 2021, the FUMC Missions Team continued to support missionaries and projects around the world. Our 4 “anchor points” include Liberia, Czech Republic, Honduras/Beyond the Borders, and FUMC’s Community Ministries in Peoria (what we refer to as our “Jerusalem”). Community Ministries are separately managed and supported and are not included herein. This report will summarize the work FUMC has supported “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The Missions Team’s funding comes from three sources: the church budget, the GIC (Global Impact Celebration) account (which has had a running balance since approx. 2007), and specific project-related restricted funds. This report includes support from all of these funding sources.
⚓ LIBERIA
- Winifred J. Harley School of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, United Methodist University at Ganta
- Provided full tuition support for 10 “Peoria Scholars” (nursing students) and partial tuition support for another 14 students ($12,000 from Winter Harvest-raised funds)
- Were honored to have the cafeteria on campus named for us: the Peoria First United Methodist Church Cafeteria
- Provided funding for furniture for the cafeteria ($2,800)
- Recognized the wisdom of school leadership for using our annual support gift to fully enclose the campus in fencing, which provides security and prevents further encroachment of neighbors onto campus property ($3,500)
- Provided Ganta United Methodist Hospital with emergency funds for PPE and other supplies and equipment to combat the simultaneous timing of the COVID-19 and Lassa fever viruses ($5,100)
- Supported the Korsen United Methodist School (which we provided funding to build in 2019) with funds for furniture, supplies, and 1 month of salaries ($5,500)
⚓ CZECH REPUBLIC
- Supported 4 long-term American and 3 Czech-national missionaries, 3 who serve at Beskydy Mountain Academy, 3 with Josiah Venture, and 1 church planter ($17,000)
- Received 4 of these Czech missionaries on a Sunday morning at FUMC for update presentations and provided honorariums for travel-related costs ($1,600)
- Saw the opening of the newly-added 3rd floor to the Beskydy Mountain Academy (BMA) building
- Continue to support BMA in prayer as they seek governmental approval to increase their student enrollment capacity by 50% (from 120 to 180 students)
⚓ HONDURAS / BEYOND THE BORDERS (MÁS ALLÁS DE LAS FRONTERAS)
- Supported our sister church, Fuerzas Unidas UMC in Honduras with funds to use at their discretion ($3,500)
- Provided support for the Aposento Alto UMC in Honduras in lieu of a mission trip (due to COVID) ($3,700)
- Held a matching gift fundraiser for a missionary in Mexico as he continued to battle leukemia and continued to support him in prayer (total gift of > $22,000, which is almost entirely private gifts and includes a $10,000 match)
- Supported a pastor / church in Mexico with transportation and import of a trailer for use in their ministry ($1,200)
- Sent a short-term mission team of 19 participants to Jesus es el Señor UMC in Cobden, IL for a long weekend of projects for this Latino congregation ($6,000)
⚓ OTHER
- Supported 2 additional home-grown missionaries (defined as those who grew up at FUMC) and 5 other missionaries serving in such places as Slovakia, Nepal, Thailand, and other unnamed locations in West, Central, and East Asia ($14,500)
- Continued to support the Illinois Great River Conference initiative “Our Conference, Our Kids” with a goal of building the second phase of our support by $23,000, for a total commitment since 2017 of $50,000 and supported one of these specific agencies for children ($1,500)
- Sent out and supported a Youth Mission Team of 6 students and 2 adults to the Pacific Northwest to serve at the Yakama Nation Indian Reservation, at a coastal Christian camp in Oregon, and in inner-city Seattle ($7,000 + numerous individuals’ support)
- Began quarterly Worldwide Prayer meetings open to all FUMC and supported missionaries with an average attendance of 22 participants
- Received 3 additional missionaries on a Sunday morning at FUMC for update presentations and provided honorariums for travel-related costs ($400)
- Supported 2 former youth (now college-age young adults) in missional opportunities ($3,000)
- Provided support for 4 specific Peoria-area missionaries that serve the hungry, homeless, and impoverished in the city ($13,200)
- Provided support to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) for disasters in the U.S. / Worldwide ($7,100)
Thank you to our congregation at Peoria First for entrusting your Missions Team with the management of all of this! If you have an interest in serving on the Missions Team, please contact Julie Rolffs.