Eleven grants totaling $196,088.00 were distributed by Global Ministries to six partner churches and two regional organizations for 2024: Argentina (1), Bolivia (1), Brazil (1), Costa Rica (1), Mexico (2), Nicaragua (1), Panama (2), Venezuela (2). The following is a summary of the grants approved.
- $20,000.00—Junta Unida de Misiones (Argentina). “Leadership Development for Indigenous Youth.” To provide rooted leadership of Indigenous youth that strengthen attitudes, habits, and action through biblical-ethical reflections and environmental care from the indigenous worldview and eco-spirituality. GM goal: Seek justice, freedom, and peace. GM priority: Disaster Relief and Sustainable Development.
Context: In the past year Argentina experienced one of the highest rates of inflation in the world, more than a 250% annual rate. The consequent erosion of purchasing power contributes to the creation of more poverty, and the rise in crime among young people. The Junta Unida de Misiones (United Mission Board), an ecumenical ministry collaborating with Indigenous people living in Argentina, is headquartered in Juan José Castelli, a city that ranks second as an urban agglomeration with poverty rates above 60%. The Province of Chaco, where this city is located, has been affected by climate change, especially the scarcity of water, deforestation, the increase of subtropical diseases, and annual increases in temperatures. Young people, especially from indigenous communities, suffer displacement seeking new opportunities in cities, generating pockets of poverty there: overcrowded in suburban neighborhoods, they coexist with violence in all of its manifestations and are exposed to the consumption of alcohol and/or problematic substances, with involvement in actions contrary to social coexistence or outright criminal.
Program Goal: This program will implement workshops to strengthen leadership and citizenship, knowledge of the production of agroecological gardens, environmental care, and how to advocate for indigenous justice before state agencies. Youth will learn about the recovery and preservation of native forests and the protection of wildlife in accord with their native ancestral practices. Youth will learn how to care for the common home from a biblical-theological perspective. They will also learn modern technologies, cybersecurity, and the use of virtual platforms for commercial purposes. It will provide resources for evangelization, discipleship, support for justice, and the promotion of new forms of spirituality and renewal.
People Impact: Beneficiaries of the program will be the rural Indigenous communities of Puerta Negra, Rio Salado, El Troltay, J.J. Castelli, as well as students in residence at the United Mission Board. More than 100 youth will be impacted by this program.
- $20,000—Evangelical Methodist Church of Bolivia (IEMB). “Comprehensive ministries with Methodist Children, Youth, Women.” To promote spirituality and renewal of ministries with Children, Youth, and Methodist Women of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Bolivia. GM goal: Strengthen, develop, and renew Christian Congregations and communities. GM priority: Evangelism and Congregational Revitalization.
Context: The IEMB has served people with the greatest needs in Bolivia for more than 100 years. High priorities of IEMB’s work with children, youth and women reflect a mission to form values that reflect Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom of God, promoting projects that contributes to spiritual development. Children and adolescents live in areas of Bolivia that are poor in both urban and rural settings.
Program Goal: Distribute written resources that help strengthen biblical-theological knowledge among children and adolescents. Train youth in holistic development with the aim of providing leadership in the local church, district, and national levels. Promote spirituality among Methodist women in Bolivia. Improving self-esteem of the Methodist women in Bolivia. To reach these goals workshops will be given in each of the districts of the IEMB. Written resources will be published for different age groups, including a guide and biblical notebook for children 4-6 years old; for 7-9 years old; 10-12 years old, and 13-15 years old. A national gathering of youth of the IEMB will be held in Cochabamba, Bolivia. There will also be a national gathering of Bolivian Methodist women.
People Impact: Beneficiaries of the program include 2,000 children and adolescents from local churches in the urban rural areas of the IEMB. 400 youth from local churches will benefit from the program as well as 300 women from the 19 districts of the IEMB.
- $20,000—The Methodist Church In Brazil NE Mission. “Comprehensive Ministry Support in Caruaru.” To provide comprehensive support of the Methodist ministry in the town of Caruaru, to include investing in training new leaders in the local community through the CFE evangelist training course, expansion of church buildings to include two rooms for children, the purchase of chairs, teaching materials for children, financial support for the local pastor, generating income for women through the creation of crafts workshops and recycling materials, music workshops for children, and systematic meetings with women and children who are victims of domestic violence for the purpose of overcoming this trauma. GM goal: Strengthen, develop, and renew Christian Congregations and communities. GM priority: Evangelism and Congregational Revitalization.
Context: In 2014, the Central Methodist Church of Jaoatao dos Guararapes started a new mission in Caruaru, a city 166 km away. The people of Caruaru live on a minimum wage. Women and children live in vulnerable situations. Central Methodist members traveled to Caruaru engaging in door-to-door evangelization. In 2019 a missionary was appointed to the mission, living without a salary with only housing and a small allowance supplied for him. As people responded to the mission, a hall and a small apartment were rented, which became the focal point of the ministry. They continued this work through the pandemic during which time food was distributed as well as support for the most vulnerable in the community.
Program Goal: This program will train people in evangelization. It will expand the building to include two rooms for children, along with the purchase of chairs. Training materials will be purchased. Financial support for local missionary pastors will be provided. Craft workshops will be offered to help women generate income for their families. Music workshops for children will be offered. There will be meetings with women and children who are victims of domestic violence with the aim of surviving the trauma. This training will be done in partnership with the Maria da Penha Institute, women police, and local social workers.
People Impact: The direct beneficiaries of this program will be 22 women, 30 children, and 3 pastors.
- $20,000—Latin American Biblical University (UBL). “Youth for a Culture of Peace in Siquirres, Costa Rica.” To develop a contextual biblical training program in gender justice, social justice, and environmental justice with youth from churches in Siquirres, Limón, empowering them to be agents of a culture of peace and strengthening UBL’s capacity to implement socio-pastoral outreach and advocacy projects. GM goal: Strengthen, develop, and renew Christian Congregations and communities. GM priority: Evangelism and Congregational Revitalization.
Context: The project is developed with the Disciples of Christ Church in Siquirres, and participants will be convened from Methodist, Baptist, Anglican, and Catholic churches in Siquirres. This is a canton in the province of Limón, on the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica, which has historically been the most socially and economically vulnerable due to the lack of public investment. It has experienced significant social and economic decline in recent decades, with an increase in social violence, homicides, violence against women, and organized crime, and it has the highest percentage of femicides in Costa Rica. The religious culture is conservative, and independent and neo−Pentecostal churches have grown significantly. These churches fill a void in the social marginalization experienced in this region but also influence political perspectives and participation in issues affecting the rights and well−being of the population and the environment. The canton of Siquirres is characterized by monoculture production, especially banana and pineapple, with significant water and land pollution due to the use of agrochemicals. Out of every 100 families, 38 live in poverty.
The Disciples of Christ Church is composed of Afro−descendants, mestizos, and migrants from Nicaragua, Colombia, and Panama. The Caribbean Methodist Church, which will also participate in the project, has an Afro−descendant population, a cultural group that has historically been marginalized in the country.
Program Goal: The goal of this program is to develop processes of critical biblical-theological and contextual reflection on social justice, environmental justice, and gender justice issues. It will also foster ecumenical and intercultural encounters among youth from diverse churches to address common problems. It will promote values and initiatives to build a culture of peace. It will strengthen the organizational and strategic capacity of the UBL to implement socio-pastoral extension and advocacy projects.
The project will be implemented through contextual Bible reading workshops with youth from churches in the Siquirres, Limón area.
Stage I: Call and community meeting to understand their reality (1−2 workshops, September 2024). Stage II: Three modules of 4 workshops each focusing on gender justice, environmental justice, and social justice. A total of 12 workshops including popular Bible reading and practices. Stage III: Production of initiatives by the participant group with technical training to promote practices for a culture of peace (2 or 3 workshops). Stage IV: Development of a final report through an audiovisual documentary of the process. A process of analysis and strategic planning will be conducted during this period within the UBL with the aim of incorporating the learnings from this project into the creation of a socio−pastoral extension and advocacy area.
People Impact: 25-40 youth and young adults, 15-25 years of age and youth group leaders (1 per church).
- $20,000—The Methodist Church of Mexico, Southeast Conference. “Indigenous Student Refuge.” To provide temporary shelter and dignified, safe, free, and accessible meals to high school and college students who travel from the Mixteca Oasaqueña community who are in middle and higher education. GM goal: Seek justice, freedom, and peace. GM priority: Evangelism and Congregational Revitalization.
Context: The socio-economic situation of Indigenous students in Mexico is challenging. Many persons face economic difficulties and linguistic barriers that can lead to dropping out of school. Additionally, income discrimination towards Indigenous families is evident. The Mixteca Oaxaqueña, from which these students come, is one of the poorest and most marginalized regions in the country. In terms of cultural context, Indigenous students often struggle to maintain their cultural identity in an educational system that favors the dominant culture. However, the Indigenous Student Home strives to be a space where students can maintain and celebrate their Mixteca culture and, if applicable, become acquainted with Methodist doctrine through missionary work hosted at the shelter.
Program Goal: To facilitate the continuation of studies for Indigenous students, preserving their cultural identity, and fostering their academic development. To provide student shelter, which includes lodging, meals, academic improvement support, spiritual growth, all free of charge.
People Impact: 20 students will benefit from this program.
In addition to funding from Global Ministries using the Encounter with Christ in Latin America & the Caribbean permanent fund, 25% of the funding for this program will come from the Methodist Church of Mexico.
- $16,000—Methodist Church of Mexico. “ ‘Saving Mexico’ National Youth Program.” To promote Social Holiness with a focus on youth migrant populations by engaging Mexican youth to provide food distribution, work with children, facilitate medical and wellbeing services in conjunction with adults, and pastoral accompaniment in conjunction with adults throughout Mexico. GM goal: Alleviate human suffering. GM priority: Evangelism and Congregational Revitalization.
Context: Mexico has become a mecca for migrants. From professionals seeking job opportunities in Mexico, to Mexicans returning from other countries (especially the United States) to Central Americans, Haitians, Cubans, and Venezuelans seeking a better life in the United States, but deciding to stay in Mexico, Mexico has received hundreds of thousands of migrants. For youth, the lack of decent job opportunities has led to violence and low wages.
Program’s Goal: During the month of October 2024, across the six conferences of the Methodist Church in Mexico, the National League of Methodist Youth, and Intermediaries (NLMYI) will participate in the following activities:
- Distribution of food
- Social brigade (doctors, dentists, counseling)
- Work with children
- Youth Leadership Diploma Projects
- Light and Health Expo
People impact: Approximately 500 families and 100 youth will benefit from this program.
- $20,000—Amós Salud y Esperanza (Amos Health and Hope), an ecumenical partner in Nicaragua. “Parenting with Love and Health—Matagalpa.” To assist with the critical issue of maternal/child health in 6 remote communities of Matagalpa lacking access to health facilities. GM goal: Alleviate human suffering. GM priority: Global Health.
Context: Nicaragua, the second poorest nation in the Americas, allocates only 17% of its GDP to health expenses, leaving a critical gap, especially in rural areas (www.datosmacro.expansion.com). While national progress has been made, neonatal deaths remain a pressing issue. Of the 23 rural communities AMOS serves, 48% are classified as ’Severe Poverty’, 48% as ’High Poverty’ and 4% as Medium Poverty (Nicaragua National Institute of Information Development 2012).
In 2022 AMOS conducted a community survey revealing stark realities:
- 92% of homes have unmet basic needs, including limited access to healthcare.
- Only 14% of children identified with low weight problems have received adequate support to improve their nutritional status.
- Timely initiation of prenatal care, ideally before or during the first trimester, remains a challenge, with 63% of pregnant women enrolled late in their pregnancies.
- Only 48% of pregnant women undergo the recommended 4 or more prenatal checkups, and only 11% reporting partner attendance at any prenatal appointments.
- Additionally, 52% of mothers with children under 5 years of age express the need to restrict their diet during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
- Furthermore, only 25% of mothers engage in 4 or more exercises to foster early childhood stimulation in their children.
Program Goal: To successfully address the critical issue of maternal/child health in six remote communities of Matagalpa through innovative educational methodologies, mother volunteers, caregivers, and community leadership will be empowered with knowledge and skills that reduce preventable diseases and malnutrition in children under 5 and complications during pregnancy.
People Impact: This program will directly benefit 1,190 people, including 660 women and 530 children under 5 years of age residing in rural, isolated communities of Matagalpa supported by AMOS.
- $20,000—Council of Evangelical Methodist Churches in Latin America (CIEMAL). To host a gathering of representatives of Methodist churches in Latin America and the Caribbean in person, to reflect on the current state of its churches while looking towards a future common mission. GM goal: Strengthen develop and renew Christian congregations and communities. GM priority: Evangelism and Congregational Revitalization.
Context: A rich part of our Methodist heritage dating back to the days of John and Charles Wesley, is to bring together leaders in conferences to pray, reflect, and define its mission going forward. Since its founding in 1969, the Council of Evangelical Methodist Churches of Latin America and the Caribbean (CIEMAL) has sought to be a communion of Methodist churches living in cooperation and Christian unity, in conformity the Wesleyan identity. This organization comprises national Methodist churches, where they have their own organisms, however they form a unified front within evangelical Christianity in Latin America and the Caribbean. This connectional plan has permitted its members to moments of gathering, in which praising the same Spirit, they also have discussed analyzed strategies concerning mission. Economic challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and changes among national churches in the region has created an urgent to convene a conference.
Program Goal: To reflect on the current state of the churches with a view to establishing common horizons of mission, with Methodist representatives from Latin America and the Caribbean. Specific objectives of the conference include:
- Conduct practices of prayer, singing, and Bible reading in communion with God and one another.
- Actively listen to the churches about what they are doing in their respective countries with respect to mission.
- Receive biblical and theological support from the Wesleyan tradition that illuminate the context of their testimony and mission.
- Define priorities of mission that contain the Wesleyan identity in the current Latin American reality.
People Impact: The national Latin American and Caribbean Methodist churches who are members of CIEMAL will be the primary beneficiaries of this event.
- $10,000—MCCA: Panama Costa Rica District Conference. To renovate a parsonage by replacing the zinc roof, fixing the electrical system, and finish church construction in Playa San Lorenzo and Playa Cocodrilo. GM goal: Strengthen develop and renew Christian congregations and communities. GM priority: Evangelism and Congregational Revitalization.
Context: The region of these two locations has the lowest development indicators of Panama, including an elevated poverty index and minimal coverage of social security. The missionary congregations at Playa San Lorenzo and Playa Cocodrilo have dedicated themselves to establishing preaching posts across the peninsula, having established 15 congregations in the region. They have done this despite not being able to count on the physical structure that they started several years ago. The construction of a place of worship positions the church to be a missional center that will keep growing with the social and political changes in the region.
Program goal: Provide a safe space where the two congregations can conduct the activities of the Methodist Church. The building will also serve to offer workshops, promote self-sustainability, facilitate various meetings, and create a culture of leadership and work in the team for the mission’s growth and the community’s use.
The objectives of this project include:
- Parsonage: completely replace the zinc roof, repair the electrical system, provide electrical hookup, and other needs for the residence.
- Playa San Lorenzo: Complete the construction of the church building.
- Playa Cocodrilo: Complete the construction of the church building.
People Impact: the project will impact 65 women, 47 children, 35 youth, and 30 men.
- $10,408—Autonomous Methodist Church in Venezuela. “Women’s Health Evangelism—Tachira and Lara States.” To provide medical, psychological, and spiritual attention to pregnant girls and teenagers. GM goal: Seek Justice Freedom and Peace. GM priority: Global Health.
Context: Venezuela has the highest rate in all of Latin America of pregnancies among girls and adolescents. Due to the shortage of contraceptives and limited sexual education in Venezuela, girls from low-income backgrounds become particularly vulnerable when initiating sexual activity.
Program goal: Implement an evangelization program where medical, psychological, and spiritual attention is provided to pregnant girls and adolescents. Through these activities, the church will gain social acceptance, demonstrating that each person will be treated with love, care, understanding, and respect, thus becoming a channel for each beneficiary and, if possible, accompanying family members to encounter the love of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
Objectives of the program include:
- Offer informative and educational presentations given by professionals on the mental and emotional health, postpartum phase, and motherhood.
- Spiritual guidance and what it means to identify with Christ.
- Health and care by obstetricians and gynecologists during prenatal development.
- Medical assistance to the girls and adolescents, including consultations with physicians.
- Provision for a birth kit, including personal items for the newborn, a set of clothes with measurements, and a baby bottle.
- Provision of Mom kit with personal items and vitamins.
People Impact: Approximately 120 girls and adolescent will benefit from this program and will be documented through registration records.
- $19,680—Christian Methodist Community of Venezuela. “Youth Academic Support and School Lunch Program—Maracaibo.” To improve the reading, writing, and mathematics skills of 90 children from 6 communities and provide nutrition assistance during school days with a complete and balanced lunch. GM goal: Seek justice, freedom, and peace. GM priority: Evangelism and Congregational Revitalization.
Context: The Methodist Christian Community of Venezuela (MCCV) churches undertaking the project are situated in a currently depressed socioeconomic context exacerbated by the enormous migration crisis from Venezuela and the Covid−19 pandemic. Parents are migrating to countries in Latin America and the United States, leaving their children in the care of their grandparents, who are facing severe hunger. The rates of dropping out of school are high, and children are receiving only three days of classes. The education crisis in Venezuela has hit rock bottom. In January 2023, the teaching profession went on strike for salary improvements. President Maduro offered a solution for March, but the government’s response has been that they will not sign the collective contract because there are no resources to pay the teachers. Public services are precarious, with daily power outages and, where available, water service functioning only every 15 days. In many cases, hopelessness is mitigated with alcohol.
Program Goal: Provide three sessions of classes per week, each lasting three hours, plus an hour for lunch and reflection, totaling 9 hours, with an enrollment of fifteen children pers session over a period of ten months. Two weekly meals will be provided, prepared with local support and the inclusion of relatives, one for each class session, to be nutritious and balanced to improve the nutrition of children who need it.
An annual Vacation Bible School festival supported every year by young people, musicians, and a pastor from each church where MCCV conducts biblical and recreational activities.
Each selected child will be requested to bring the corresponding school supplies for their academic period.
The classes will be taught by six pre−selected facilitators who are lay and pastoral members of the church, trained with technical or higher education and in accordance with our child safeguarding policies, as follows:
Pastor: Julie Vizcaíno; Pastor: Patricia Toro; Deaconess María Isabel Amaris Coronado; Deaconess Yadira Chirinos; Deaconess Lilibeth Velásquez; and Deaconess Auxiliadora Moreno.
Objectives include the following:
- To level the skills of children in reading, writing, dictation, and spelling so that they can be promoted to the 3rd and 4th grades.
- To improve the children’s skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division so that they can be promoted to the 5th and 6th grades with an adequate level.
- Improve the nutrition of the children throughout the process.
- To encourage and foster effective treatment among individuals (children) who have suffered a lot of mistreatments. The leisure and recreational space for this activity will be provided through the Vacation Bible School.
People Impact: 90 children, both boys and girls, and will be documented via a registration list.
Encounter with Christ in Latin America and the Caribbean 