New Year’s greetings from your AZ Region Global Mission Team!
First, some great news: After a moratorium following the COVID Pandemic, Global Ministry Co-Workers are now visiting Disciples and UCC congregations across the country, with several of them available this year in Arizona to speak during worship, or at small group events. To schedule a visit to your church, please contact Global Mission Team Co-Chairs Al Beasley (abeasley6@cox.net) or Amy Hirsch (revaehirsch@gmail.com).
We are expecting several visiting Ministry Co-Workers in the coming year. Please read about them below and contact Al or Amy to schedule a visit to your congregation.
Click here for more information on our visiting Ministry Co-Workers:
- Nishan Bakalian serves as a mission co-worker in Lebanon and is available to speak in congregations January-March 2025. Learn more about Nishan Bakalian‘s ministry.
- Maria Bakalian serves as a mission co-worker in Lebanon and is available to speak in congregations January-March 2025. Learn more about Maria Bakalian‘s ministry.
- Alex Maldenado and Xiomara Cintron-Garcia who serve in Colombia will be available in the summer and fall of 2025
- Paul Chimhungwe who serves in Botswana will be available in June-July 2025
- Elena Huegel who serves in Mexico will be available in the fall of 2025
In addition to scheduling visits from Ministry Co-Workers the Arizona Global Mission Team is also available to facilitate the process of becoming a Global Mission Church. Several of our Arizona congregations have already completed this process, and the team would be happy to visit with you to discuss your church achieving this distinction. You can begin reviewing the process at globalministries.org.
The third part of our exciting New Year agenda is to promote Church-to-Church partnerships. We believe that walking with Christians and people of other faiths from around the world can enhance the life, faith, and witness of your church.
Reflection from Rev. Amy E. Hirsch
The Arizona Region sent me off to serve as a Division of Overseas Ministries (now Global Ministries) missionary (now known as mission co-workers) to Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1989. I will never forget the letters I got from churches, Chistian Youth Fellowship groups, CWF (now Disciple Women) groups and Sunday School classes while I was in the jungle on the Equator. Those letters, drawings and support sustained me when the situation in Zaire was bleak. Initially, I taught English at Zaire Christian Institute. Then, I worked with women and children teaching nutrition and running a feeding program for malnourished children out of the Bolenge Hospital.
I was evacuated in 1991 due to civil unrest. The Zaireans were sobbing, tearing their clothes and rolling in the dirt as we missionaries departed. I was saddened that we were plucked from danger while they continued to live with uncertainty, corruption, heat and humidity. Division of Overseas Ministries (now Global Missions) helped those evacuated process our experiences and reintegrate back into society successfully.
As part of the ministry of the AZ Global Mission Team, I would encourage Disciple churches in Arizona to: 1) Become a Global Mission church. Global Ministries has resources to assist churches in learning about overseas missions. Instead of the old model of sending out missionaries (a giving at), the focus is now on (a giving with). We are called to ask the deeper question of what it means to give and receive when it comes to global missions. 2) Engage with returning mission workers. Co-workers from Botswana, Mexico, and Colombia will be available to visit Arizona congregations in 2025. 3) Consider becoming involved in the Church – to – Church program as a church. Visit the Global Missions website for details on the above three programs. www.globalministries.org
Let us learn from our Congolese neighbors as together we serve in ministry.
Rev. Amy E. Hirsch (aka Mama Bombundo)
