"On July 26, 2009 it was thirteen years since we came to the US. When we first came, it was hard to understand the language and culture, but with the help of the Pleasant Hill UCC, Pleasant Hill, TN we fit in quickly. Within a few years we learned most of the language and got used to the culture. We actually never felt like refugees. We were just regular people looking for a new, peaceful home. Just saying thank you to the United Church of Christ isn't enough; no words can describe how grateful we are." The Mijatovic family: Dragica, Mia, and Zeliko Mijatovic; Vesna and Aleksandar Bojic, and Svetlana Petrovic.

“For almost 17 years, Little River, VA UCC has continued to play a very important role in all main events and changes in my life. My hope is in every embracing hug of friends after each church service; in the curious eyes of my kindergartener daughter; in the genuine belief and trust in people; and most of all in the amazing love and care of God. The Little River UCC witnessed and was directly involved in all my major life milestones: my U.S. citizenship, marriage, the birth of my daughter, Sophia. All these happened with my relatives still overseas. I am a family-oriented person, so the church becomes my family.“ Irina Karapetyan Melusky

Several dozen human-rights advocates, bracing for the long haul in comprehensive immigration reform, made their concerns public June 2-5 during a 72-hour fast in multiple New York City locations.

It started out as a loving favor for her Navy chaplain husband. But now it has turned into an inspiring symbol of affirmation and connection for a growing number of UCC military chaplains serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

When the Trans and their daughter fled Saigon in1975, they became separated from their two sons. The Trans new life began in Montebello, California, in October 1975. They lived with Rev. Ken Iha for several months and attended Montebello Plymouth UCC church services regularly. Uc Tran spoke several languages and was a military trained officer in Washington D.C. soon found employment. His wife, Tien was an excellent cook having owned her own restaurant in Vietnam. Their daughter Phoung (Jenn) did well in school and went on to college, graduating with a business degree. Jenn is now a senior business analyst at California State University. They were reunited with their son, Thai who inherited his mother’s love of cooking and is now a chef. The Trans enriched the lives of all who met them and their legacy lives on in their children and grandchildren today.

Lynn Redgrave, renowned actor and a member of First Congregational UCC in Kent, Conn., died May 2 after a seven-year journey with breast cancer. She was 67.

Montebello Plymouth UCC in Montebello, CA began as a mission to Japanese immigrants in 1913, the church was a sanctuary for people with different languages and traditions. With the start of World War II church families were thrown into a time of relocation and exile, spending the war years in the Rohwer Relocation Camp in Arkansas. After the war, they returned, and the church gradually reorganized and grew. In 1975 the congregation decided to sponsor a Vietnamese family. The church worked out the tasks that needed to be done—raising funds, finding employment, providing household furnishings, encouraging visits and outings. Rev. Iha said, “What stands out most for me is the transformation of the congregation from a guarded willingness to a wholehearted embrace of the adopted family.”

The Rev. Cameron Trimble eagerly expects elevated participation in this summer's New Church Leadership Institute. But, she says, don't look too high into the sky when "Seven Secrets" for vital, transformational church leadership takes place Aug. 9-13 in Atlanta.

While the United Church of Christ continues to lose both members and congregations, the decline may be slowing.

Dr. Pauline E. King’s vision was quite clear: All children should be given the best possible opportunity to succeed in life. To that end, she founded the Mudhiyor Balar Kudumba Grama Pannai (MBKG) Family Village Farm in 1969 to provide family life in India for many destitute orphans, semi-orphaned childern, deserted/widowed women and the aged. A strong Global Ministries partner today through the Child Sponsorship Program, the farm thrives due to the selfless efforts of King, who died at age 82 in 2000. “Mummy,” as she was affectionately known, served at the Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore, India from 1954 till 1997 in various capacities and initiated many new programs including M.Sc. Nursing, receiving the National Award for Best Nurse in 1980. In 1978, King founded King’s Matriculation School, which reaches out to include children of the 27 neighboring villages. Many of them are the first of their generation to attend school, benefiting from computers and lunch programs, thanks to the generosity of partners such as Global Ministries.

Bethany UCC, Seattle, WA is located in one of the most diverse multicultural neighborhoods in the country. Member, Gwilym Tso tells this story: “Bethany has a house in the neighborhood. We were contacted by an immigrant rights organization for help. Together with community partners, we quickly repaired the house, gathered furniture, clothing, and household items. “Martha” and her girls moved in. They have become wonderful partners with our church community. We witnessed them come out of their fearful shells into vibrant, joyful, relaxed individuals. Through them, the Bethany community was encouraged to share our own varied immigration histories. Our journey together has taken many twists and turns and is ongoing, but we are grateful for all that we have learned.”

God’s Love Knows No Bounds… Strengthen the Church Close your eyes. Imagine a church that spans boundaries. Now open your eyes… and see Iglesia sin Fronteras/Church without Borders UCC, serving people from both sides of the Ciudad Juárez-El Paso border. Strengthen the Church is helping this new church start! The UCC’s Southwest Conference has had Hispanic congregations, including Iglesia La Trinidad UCC in El Paso, Texas, since its founding. Lay people from La Trinidad have been crossing to the Juárez site to do social service work. Las Iglesias Cristianas Congregacionalales de Mexico, concentrated on Mexico’s Pacific coast, have a strong sense of mission to their brothers and sisters in Mexico’s north. Members of Iglesia Congregacional de Mazatlan have made the 20-hour bus ride to minister to people attracted from the interior of Mexico by jobs in the border plants around Juárez. To the Spanishspeaking community of Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, the two cities on either side of the border have always been one; and it is in this spirit that this new church is being established. Christ expects us to feed the hungry and heal the sick. Work guided by Pastor Raúl Blanco Valdez is meeting those expectations: diabetes testing, reading classes, health education, vision and dental clinics. Women are learning income-generating handcrafts, youth are helped with drug problems, and children are offered English and computer classes. The congregation worships in a sanctuary constructed by volunteer work groups from across the UCC. Our vision is that this church will provide a strong Protestant witness to lower- and middle-income people attracted to the economy of the Mexico/USA border. We expect this partnership to bless communities where God’s love knows no bounds.

When: Sat Jun 5, 2010 9:30am to 10:30am  EDT

Event Status: confirmed

First United Church of Oak Park (IL) houses the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry. Prior to Thanksgiving, 2009, 600 frozen turkeys were ready for distribution. A woman with two small children in tow came too late to receive a bird. One man near the end of the line seeing her plight, gave her his ticket. She, in turn, invited him for Thanksgiving Dinner. Her benefactor politely declined, and walked away into the gathering darkness. We seldom see such generosity except for the story of Jesus who watched a widow drop her last two copper coins into the temple treasury.

“What amazed us most about these children was their ability to maintain hope and happiness despite the challenges they face. It was incredibly inspiring,” Emma said. The volunteers also worked at a local dump, home to 34 families whose houses are made of scrounged materials. The volunteers worked with “maestros” who taught them how to mix mortar to build a sturdy concrete block home for one of these families. But the most profound experience for Emma was meeting Solidad, a 70 year-old woman whose new home the volunteers helped finish. “Solidad had so much energy and spirit, and was so grateful for her new house. Just seeing her smiling face gave me inspiration to carry me through the day.” Emma had the privilege of giving Solidad a handmade quilt – an item that all new homeowners receive when the house is completed. “She immediately hugged it and wrapped it around her like a prayer shawl,” Emma said. “Seeing her happiness brought me to tears.”

The statistics may have caught their attention, but it was their hearts that brought 23 high school students and six adults from Connecticut UCC congregations to Oaxaca – the poorest state in Mexico. It is home to 3.5 million people, half of whom have no access to healthcare, 53% of whom have sixth-grade educations, 25% of whom are migrant farm workers, with an average annual income of $2,265 for a family of five. Oaxaca is as far from their lives in Connecticut in living conditions as it is in miles but, as Emma Lane said of the experience, it was, “one of the most enlightening, shocking and emotional experiences of my life.” Emma, a high school junior and member of First Church of Christ in Mansfield Congregational UCC, wrote about her volunteer encounters for the Connecticut Conference edition of UCNews starting with their visit to Casa Hogar, an orphanage supported by a Connecticut non-profit, Simply Smiles. Approximately one-third of the children at Casa Hogar have some form of disability – physical or mental – and receive residential and educational support from caregivers.

As the World Council of Churches commemorates its World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel, the co-executives of Global Ministries, the joint world mission organization of the UCC and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), have asked that their member churches join in prayer for peace in the region.

Most people know the wisdom of ‘teach a man to fish’ in the battle against hunger and poverty. That wisdom would be just as sound if we changed the saying to ‘teach a person to farm’. The Disciples of Christ Church in Congo (EDCC) has undertaken a project called the Agricultural Sustainability Farm to provide a source of revenue and food that is based on autonomy and sustainability for the people of the Republic of Congo. In promoting this holistic ministry, the EDCC with support from Global Ministries, recognizes people may know how to farm, but lack access to land and proper equipment. So, encouraging durable development helps its members to understand the importance of agriculture. Since women and children often represent the majority of church members, the farm will be an ideal way to provide work for them. Produce from the farm will be supplied to the cities of both Brazzaville and Kinshasa.

The United Church of Christ has raised nearly $19,000 from more than 370 contributors nationally for the purpose of placing a full-page ad in the statewide Arizona Republic newspaper on Saturday, May 29, the day when 500,000 protesters are expected to march in Phoenix.

The much-publicized, initial splash of the UCC Stillspeaking Ministry’s “The Language of God” video message continues to make waves across the internet.