Global Partnerships

Featured Global Partnerships

Cambodia

Our mission partnership with the Methodist church in Cambodia began in January 2017, when a small group from The UMC of Berea travelled there with other United Methodists from our local area. After spending two weeks among the Cambodian people, sharing in worship, fellowship, vacation bible school, and leadership development, we knew that this was a relationship we needed to continue.

In January 2019, The UMC of Berea and Westlake UMC traveled together to Cambodia for our next two-week trip. While there, we listened and learned together, continuing to cultivate relationships with neighbors literally on the other side of the world.

You are invited to read the 4 April 2023 Susanna Wesley House Newsletter Download

Guatemala

The UMCB works to make God’s love visible on many levels, including internationally. We are partners with a group of women in Guatemala. Among other activities, the women work to develop healthy bodies for themselves and their families and to strengthen their spiritual resources. Our church focuses on the development of healthy bodies through the “cost-sharing” of safe, fuel efficient stoves. Under cost-sharing, our church contributes a portion of the cost and the women and their families provide the remainder.

Many Guatemalan women use wood as a fuel for cooking. The stoves we support reduce the smoke produced by traditional cooking methods. The families suffer less from respiratory and eye diseases. In addition, the stoves also use a fraction of wood resulting in a major savings for the families.

Our relationship with the women is not one-way. We receive much from them. They show us what strong faith means. Whether they are suffering from poverty or natural disasters, the women trust the power of God to see them through such challenges. They inspire us to realize that we too can strengthen our faith to meet the challenges in our lives.

The UMCB support of Guatemala nutrition project

Our church has supported a group of women in Guatemala over the years. We are assisted them in a variety of ways, from their sewing schools to sharing the cost of fuel-efficient stoves.

Recently, we have been supporting a program that focuses on the smallest Guatemalans: children younger than age five who are malnourished. The program is straight-forward. In the short term, the children at risk are provided with a nutritional supplement. It contains soy for protein, wheat for carbohydrates, and a host of vitamins and minerals. After six months, most children are out of danger. As a result, they will develop normally and suffer from fewer illnesses as they mature.

The improvement in the children’s lives is complemented by the long-term feature of the program: the mother learn about nutrition. To put that knowledge into practice, each receives seeds to cultivate vegetable gardens. The produce she grows increases the quantity of vitamin-rich food available for her family.