Holston seeks to raise $125,000 for India
Supplies also collected for Liberia, Zimbabwe
Holston Conference will aim to raise $125,000 for "Hope for Today" in India and collect supplies for missions in Liberia and Zimbabwe, Mis- sions Coordinator Bill Daugherty recently announced.
The annual spring missions project, always coordinated to conclude by Annual Conference in June, targets two African countries this year as part of the denomina- tion's ongoing "Hope for the Chil- dren of Africa" focus.
On May 2 or an alternate date, all local churches are requested to take special offerings to benefit homes for children and other min- istries in Hyderabad, India.
District offices will be receiv- ing brochures explaining how supplies will be collected through local churches for missions in Liberia and Zimbabwe. (Brochures will also be available online later this week).
Each district will have specific supplies to gather between now and June 11, Daugherty said. For example, Tazewell District will gather school supplies (notebooks, pencils, rulers) for junior-high students in Monrovia, Liberia. Oak Ridge District will fill food buckets (corn meal, sugar, canned ham) for Ishe Anesu mission in Zimbabwe.
The hands-on kits will once again benefit missionaries and children that Holston Confer- ence has helped in previous years, Daugherty said.
"If we don't send food to Zim- babwe, they literally will not eat," he said. "The assistance we've provided in the past has sustained them, because they work to make it last. The need continues to be great."
In Liberia, United Methodist missions are also in great need fol- lowing civil war, Daugherty said. (See "Bishop's Perspective" on page 2 and "Nation & World" on pages 6-7.)
Once collected, the supplies will be routed through missionar- ies Maria Humbane in Zimbabwe and Herbert and Mary Zigbuo in Liberia. "We're just trying to make a difference," Daugherty said.
India was chosen to benefit from the conference's annual mis- sion offering after Holston mem- bers recognized a need there, he added.
"We've had several teams go to India from our churches and they recognized the great work that has been done by Methodist folks, par- ticularly in Hyderabad," he said.
Led by missionaries Peter and Esther Pereira, "Hope for Today" provides homes for children, food for homeless people, medical camps, a vocational sewing center for women, and a school for pas- tors, according to Becky Hall, Holston missions worker.
"This special offering will help construct a facility on land that has already been purchased," she said. "This facility will allow con- solidation of the existing programs which are currently scattered ... It will also enable the birth of new programs."
Goals include establishing a soymilk program for children, a home for senior adults, and further vocational training programs. The $125,000 the conference hopes to collect is equivalent to 75 cents for every Holston church member, mission leaders pointed out.
A special video on India will be available at district offices beginning March 15. In April, local- church treasurers will receive envelopes designated for the May 2 special offering. The envelopes should be brought to Annual Conference at Lake Junaluska, N.C., June 13-16.
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