Sitting in the conference hotel dining room, I noticed another delegate who was also eating alone and asked her to join me. Reverend Barbara Lovelace, United Methodist minister, told me that she had been a career foster parent for several years after retiring. We discovered we had much in common as I had once worked as a therapist with a therapeutic foster care program; we had a lively conversation.
Some time after her retirement, the district superintendent in her area called her and asked if she would pick up the ministry again with two small churches and she agreed. We talked about social problems in rural areas and shared thoughts about how churches might be able to meet the needs. She and I both enjoyed the variety of music and worship styles of the conference worship services and discussed how these ideas might fit into our home churches.
One of the pleasures of participating in a large conference gathering is the people whom you meet and from whom you learn. Before we parted, Barbara told me that she is 87 years old.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Annual Conference of John Wesley "do-gooders"
Twenty-one million people in the world today crawl because of land mines, cluster bombs, war, and birth defects. The leg handicapped cannot work or carry on daily activities of living. Often they lie in dark back rooms of houses and are left out of the mainstream of life.
In 1994 an idea was conceived. . .Methodist missionaries from Zaire, Larry and Laura Hills, said, “We need hand-cranked, sturdy, affordable wheelchairs with hauling capacity for the many persons we have with leg disabilities. They must travel very rough roads and trails.”
Here in the heartland of the United States, United Methodists designed and built prototypes of these wheelchairs for testing. Personal Energy Transportation (P.E.T.) was launched! Today P.E.T. International sends PETs all over the world and the organization has become inter-denominaltional.
At the 2008 annual conference, personal donations bought 600 PETs
which will be assembled in our region and sent to Africa or South America. John Wesley’s three simple rules included “Do good”,and we strive to do just that.
In 1994 an idea was conceived. . .Methodist missionaries from Zaire, Larry and Laura Hills, said, “We need hand-cranked, sturdy, affordable wheelchairs with hauling capacity for the many persons we have with leg disabilities. They must travel very rough roads and trails.”
Here in the heartland of the United States, United Methodists designed and built prototypes of these wheelchairs for testing. Personal Energy Transportation (P.E.T.) was launched! Today P.E.T. International sends PETs all over the world and the organization has become inter-denominaltional.
At the 2008 annual conference, personal donations bought 600 PETs
which will be assembled in our region and sent to Africa or South America. John Wesley’s three simple rules included “Do good”,and we strive to do just that.
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