When the Light & Life Communications (LLCOMM) team was seeking a solution for our broadcast email needs, we chose MailChimp.

Besides featuring a cute little anthropomorphic chimpanzee that has a wisecrack ready each time you log in, MailChimp has some pretty cool features.

Website Integration
MailChimp plays nice with both Wufoo, an online form-building utility, and WordPress — the backbone of our family of websites. Our web architect can easily link Wufoo forms to MailChimp lists and include them on pages or posts in WordPress. This enables us to create simple to complex forms that link data with individuals.

Templates
One of our biggest needs was to establish our brand — for the Free Methodist denomination as a whole and for our department. We’ve been impressed by the care MailChimp puts into its CSS templates. We chose from one of the 38 basic DIY templates, but there are nearly 400 “designer” templates for those who don’t want to be as hands-on.

Ease of Use
MailChimp is very intuitive to operate, and the user interface has continually improved over the past year and a half. MailChimp does have a few hiccups with Internet Explorer, so IE users would do well to switch to Firefox or Chrome.

This screen capture is an example of MailChimp's "Inbox Inspection" results.

Preflight
To us, the one thing that makes MailChimp’s services worth every penny is Inbox Inspection. This little gem assesses your email’s recipient list to find the top 10 email programs. It then tests how your message will look in each of those 10 settings, and it shows thumbnails so you can fix any display bugs and avoid looking unprofessional.

Social Media Integration
MailChimp easily integrates with HootSuite, which we use for posting to Facebook and Twitter.

Nonprofit Friendly
MailChimp is a great supporter of nonprofits. We enjoy a 15 percent discount, and they publish handy online guides such as MailChimp for Churches and MailChimp for Nonprofits.

Training
From the thorough guides mentioned above, to training videos, to recorded online webinars, to an excellent online knowledge base, MailChimp makes it easy to learn. So far, our team has never run into an issue that couldn’t be solved without having to involve support.

We recently began to use MailChimp beyond our department to send official communiqués from our bishops — a big reinforcement to denominational identity — and other departments are interested in partnering with us as well.

Not only do we look good, but we also know who is or isn’t looking. We’ll talk more about that in Part 2 of this post — Reporting and List Management.

At the 2012 Awards of Excellence banquet, Light & Life Magazine [LLM] received the Award of Excellence in the Most Improved category and an Award of Merit in the Denominational category. During the 2012 Higher Goals Awards luncheon, the EPA gave LLM fourth place for Publication Redesign, and llcomm.org received fifth place for Website Design.

In awarding LLM the Most Improved title, judge Melissa Chessher praised LLM for its “brave move” to change “the editorial content, the size, the frequency, and to publish in two languages. It works, and it works well.”

LLM’s new format debuted in July 2011 as a monthly, theme-based magazine. The magazine previously published every other month and covered a variety of topics in each issue.

“I love approaching one big issue through different lenses. It gives the reader a depth of understanding and a variety that keeps the reader engaged,” wrote Chessher, who also liked the magazine’s appearance. “The design carries this new look — modern, fresh, reader friendly.”

Light & Life Communications [LLCOMM], the communications team of the Free Methodist Church – USA, produces publications and websites that provide creative, coherent and compelling content for the Free Methodist community.

Bishop David Kendall, a member of the magazine’s advisory panel, congratulated LLCOMM on the awards and expressed gratitude for each member of the communications team.

“Executive Director Jason Archer has worked closely with the FMCUSA’s top leadership to catch a vision for the whole gospel bringing wholeness to the world as FM members and friends follow Jesus earnestly in response to the important issues of our day,” Kendall said. “The new format and focus of the magazine is helping us articulate our message and stay on track as we seek to love God and people and make disciples.”

Archer said he appreciates the work of his team and the support of the denomination’s leadership.

“I’m incredibly proud but not surprised at the recognition of LLCOMM at the EPA Awards,” Archer said. “With empowering leadership from our Board of Bishops and the creation of a talented team of writers and designers, it’s easy to see why FMCUSA’s national presence in the evangelical church is being recognized.”

The LLCOMM staff includes Archer, Operations Manager Ben Weesies, Internal Communications Strategist Andrea Anibal, Web Architect Peter Shackelford, Managing Editor Jeff Finley, Lead Designer Erin Eckberg, Content Strategist Michael Metts and Project Manager Julie Innes. Dawn McIlvain Stahl, a freelance copy editor, also is a valuable contributor to the department’s success.

The EPA is a professional group representing nearly 300 Christian magazines, newsletters, newspapers and websites. The association’s purpose is “to strengthen evangelical periodicals through inspiration, instruction and networking.”

When you see the words “Free Methodist,” what’s the first thought that comes to mind?

Perhaps you’ve never heard of a Free Methodist. If that’s the case, go online to fmcusa.org/uniquelyfm.

Maybe you’re picturing your local church. Perhaps you’re thinking of Free Methodist institutions, such as the denomination’s camps, colleges and universities.

If you’re like me, your first thought is of people or places in the United States. After all, the Free Methodist Church has missionaries and congregations overseas, but we’re still primarily a church in the United States — right?

Well, no; the more than 77,000 members of the Free Methodist Church – USA (which also includes the United Kingdom Conference) are outnumbered by the more than 113,000 Free Methodists in the small African nation of Burundi alone. The worldwide Free Methodist family includes more than 962,000 members in 80 world areas.

Jeff Finley, Managing Editor

Sure, the United States is the birthplace of Free Methodism, but before we break into a chorus of “Born in the USA,” we should consider that U.S. Free Methodists are now only 7 percent of the total Free Methodist population. Perhaps we should sing another 1980s hit, “We Are the World,” instead.

Free Methodists follow the lead of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, who wrote, “I look on all the world as my parish.”

Downloadable PDF: LLM June 2012

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Features

• Table of Contents
• [Feature]: The Local Church Meets the Global Church
• [Bishops]: Relationships Trump Experiences
• [Foundation]: Loving and Serving All of Your Neighbors
• [History]: Free Methodism: A Worldwide Movement
• [Action]: Sandra’s Story and Photos Inspire Others
• [News]: Town Hall Connects Free Methodists
• [World]: Foundation Provides Hope After Tragedy
• [Discipleship]: Storybook Worlds

by Delia Nüesch-Olver

In a world connected by Skype and nonstop international flights, local churches are able to work alongside brothers and sisters in Christ across the globe. International connections also bring more people who need to hear about Jesus right into the neighborhood of local churches. This is an unprecedented time to be part of God’s global family.

But working together effectively across cultures and continents takes practice. Local churches can participate in the worldwide body of Christ by discovering their role in God’s already-unfolding plan, by supporting leadership development and by building cross-cultural relationships.

God’s story has been unfolding since the beginning of time. Christians arriving in an area that is new to them must look for God’s work already happening and learn from people on the ground as they join the story in progress. Working with the global church is like arriving late at a meeting, where getting involved requires understanding who is there and what has been done so far. Acting as though a missions group is the first or perhaps only way God might speak sadly isolates that group from the beautiful tapestry God is weaving, of which any group is only one thread. Local churches must watch for the Holy Spirit’s presence worldwide and be ready to team up as part of God’s bigger story.

Missiology 101
Missiology, the discipline of the cross-cultural communication of the Christian faith, helps guide Christians in sharing faith fruitfully to the ends of the earth, while also honoring people who have come before and who are already serving around the world. Missiology examines topics from anthropology to economics to contextualized theology, studying how to share the gospel in relevant and respectful ways to people in radically different situations.

Christians must leave behind the idea that their culture has the answers just because it has more resources or is more familiar to them. Instead, ministry must always make sense in the context of the place where it happens. Christ calls us to be servants, to meet others from a position of humility and love, which includes choosing to learn the complexities of others’ reality.

Changing World
Missiology equips Christians to keep up with a changing world. The missions challenge for the 21st century is to reach people in the world’s fast-growing urban areas. More than half the world lives in cities, with 1 million more moving in each week. Cities are the best hope many people have for education and income, despite pollution, crowding, often substandard living conditions, economic disparity and violence.

Missiology provides a context for how the church has spread historically and what organizational structures make sense for the urban church. Like a heart pumps blood through a body, cities move people around on both a short-term and a long-term basis, making it hard to develop stable churches but increasing opportunities for global evangelization. Missiology guides local churches in maximizing their global impact.

Evaluating Impact
Churches must evaluate their impact from the perspective of people on the receiving end. Outsiders should examine how their help looks and feels to those receiving the support, instead of just focusing attention on their own actions of giving, praying or going. Overemphasis on giving sometimes misleads churches into seeing poverty where no poverty actually exists.

On missionfrontiers.org, Steve Saint, a missionary to the Waodani people, describes how strong extended-family relationships in South America provide a safety net for children whose parents have died. In a North American context, these children would be considered orphans, but well-intentioned North Americans’ orphanages in South America can break down family networks by offering a home to children who already have one. Misplaced charity undermines self-sufficiency without solving real local needs.

Similarly, foreigners flashing electronics and buying souvenirs can provoke feelings of comparative poverty. Mature global Christians avoid projecting need onto people who live materially simple lives that may be rich in other aspects.

Christians from developed areas benefit by arriving ready to learn from their sisters’ and brothers’ perspectives, instead of spreading need associated with a different lifestyle. Jesus says that His followers cannot serve both God and money, a lesson many resourced believers could relearn from materially simpler Christians around the world.

Successful international efforts must focus on empowering local churches worldwide to address their own needs. Paul focused on starting new churches, strengthening existing churches, and appointing and coaching indigenous leaders. Missions today should do the same.

Churches must constantly ask: Is our giving actually helping to start churches? Do the local people think our giving is strengthening the church? Are local leaders being empowered as equal partners?

In Latin America, Free Methodist area leaders are creating structures and guidelines, within which local leaders operate autonomously. Ultimately, healthy leadership development means those local leaders are embraced and respected as equal partners in mission work.

Developing the cross-cultural communication and awareness necessary to partner effectively with churches around the world is hard work, but churches are getting more chances to practice. I recently visited the Maturin FMC in Venezuela, a congregation started by a local person who heard the gospel in Ypsilanti, Mich., and returned home to share Christ.

The rapidly growing church is now a Christian leadership factory that has planted eight other churches. This happened because people in Ypsilanti decided to reach out to foreign students.

Dr. Delia Nüesch-Olver is Free Methodist World Missions’ area director for Latin America and a former professor of global urban mission at Seattle Pacific University. Learn more about her ministry via Facebook and latinamericaarea.com.

Missions efforts must start at home, by developing cross-cultural relationships and honing leadership-development practices. For the church to be healthy in its global engagement, Christians need to focus on developing long-term global relationships. The stated goal of short-term missions is often “to build relationships,” but with a two-week mindset rather than an eternity mindset.

Pastor Wally Fleming of Pearce Memorial FMC in North Chili, N.Y., has led a series of trips to Argentina. His church is developing long-term relationships so that outcomes important to the leaders in Argentina become the short-term mission priority. This impacts how his church focuses on praying, giving and forming future mission teams. Efforts are directed toward long-term kingdom impact in a specific place.

In the worldwide church, missionaries are going from everywhere and to everywhere! The United States has more than 100 Free Methodist congregations with Latin American members, most of whom are ministering cross-culturally within their own language groups. Embracing the worldwide church means celebrating and deepening mutual partnerships globally.

An African proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

As local churches embrace the global family of Christ, the work will sometimes be slow and painstaking, but the fruits are a foretaste of the kingdom of heaven, where people from every nation will worship God together.

To read more from Bishop Thomas, visit fmcusa.org/ matthewthomas or click on the picture.

As a Free Methodist bishop, I travel a lot. I just returned from a trip that included California, Asia, Indianapolis and back to Washington State. I depart in a few days for Hong Kong and Taiwan.

This issue of LLM is about the church around the world. I have seen the church on all six populated continents, and I have learned the impact Americans have on the church outside the United States.

From the global church’s perspective, there are two kinds of Christian brothers and sisters who visit. One group includes those seeking an experience. The other group includes those seeking a long-term relationship.

The ones seeking an experience cannot get enough of the travel and the exposure. They want to see the world and experience other cultures. Wanderlust draws them to do a little here and a little there for people scattered around the world. You can hardly mention a place or culture without their eyes lighting up and their mouths prepping to tell their stories. They often have big hearts and always have curious minds.

Those seeking relationship may not have been to many places. If they have, it was to find a place and a people where a love relationship might develop. These relationships include heart, head and hands — commitment for the long haul.

When I travel to Cambodia, India, Taiwan, Thailand, Mexico, Burundi or Ethiopia, I quickly learn who is in that second group. The eyes of the international brothers and sisters light up when they mention members of the relationship-seeking group. I am often inundated with stories, pictures, smiles and sometimes tears of gratitude as they speak intimately about that man, woman or couple who have been like a father, mother, parents, brother or sister to them.

Both groups might be mentioned, but when speaking about the second group, people respond as though I had asked them about family members.

No one can commit to everyone everywhere. No one can know everyone everywhere in a meaningful way. The church around the world will always have and appreciate drop-ins, but drop-ins are seldom remembered.

The church around the world longs for stay-withs. The stay-withs are always remembered. Choose to be in that group.

by Bruce Cromwell

God says, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18).

In the same chapter, He says, “Do not defraud … pervert justice … [or] do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life” (Leviticus 19:13, 15–16).

These commands to bring shalom are something we owe our neighbors, whether they are next door or across the globe.

God told the Israelites to do more than serve only the people they knew and were comfortable around. They had to recognize the immigrant and to assist the single-parent family. They had to claim the poor as their neighbors.

“The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself,” God says in Leviticus 19:34.

In Luke 10:25–37, Jesus reveals that our neighbor is anyone we meet who lacks basic resources. We must meet the needs of people, even if they are of a hated race, a lower caste or another faith. Our neighbor is anybody in need.

In Matthew 25:41–46, Jesus says, in essence, if you do not love the poor, the hungry, the wanderer and the homeless, you don’t love Him.

Proverbs 14:31 reminds us, “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”

And Proverbs 19:17 teaches, “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.”

A life poured out in love and service to the poor is the inevitable sign of a real relationship with God. Anybody can give praise to Jesus, but do we love the people He loves?

SCRIPTURE:

Leviticus 19:18
Leviticus 19:13, 15–16
Leviticus 19:34
Luke 10:25–37
Matthew 25:41–46
Proverbs 14:31
Proverbs 19:17

Bruce Cromwell is the lead pastor of Lansing (Mich.) Central FMC, which serves nearly 500 refugees and immigrants each week and hosts five Sunday services, two of which are led in English.

Vivian Dake and Pentecost Bands. (Photo courtesy of Marston Memorial Historical Center)

by Bishop Emeritus Gerald E. Bates

Free Methodists are part of a world movement with work in 80 world areas and a world membership of nearly 1million.

Alongside the inscrutable grace and blessing of God, several identifiable elements contributed to our world presence.

Grounded in the Great Commission and impassioned by the Holy Spirit, early Free Methodists spread across North America. Within 25 years of the denomination’s founding, visionary missionary pioneers began traveling to India, Africa, China and the Dominican Republic.

Church planter Vivian A. Dake, founder of the Pentecost Bands, went first to Europe and then to West Africa. The Japan FMC opened work in Brazil in 1928. Eduardo and Cindi Angelo of Brazil now plant churches in Portugal. In Southeast Asia, two Free Methodist agencies have 20 missionaries.

In central Africa, the church has grown to 400,000 members. Democratic Republic of Congo Bishop Joshua W’Elongo recently told me in Bujumbura, Burundi, that Free Methodists have crossed the Congo River and now have churches in Congo-Brazzaville.

A couple of years ago, several U.S. Free Methodists met leaders of an indigenous Christian group in a creative access country. They spent two days reviewing Free Methodist doctrines and standards. The indigenous group’s leader said, “What you have told us is exactly what the Holy Spirit has been teaching us.” This validates the 152-year-old denomination’s faithfulness to the New Testament message.

The world’s 20 FM bishops demonstrate Free Methodism’s eagerness to share leadership. Although we are committed to the Common Constitution (containing the Articles of Religion and basic structural principles providing for the Council of Bishops and the World Conference) the general conferences are free within this framework to make cultural adaptations to their contexts. Structure and freedom join to keep a world movement relevant to its time.

Every Free Methodist should praise God and celebrate this worldwide family.

Photo by Alex Ngabo

by Jeff Finley

Sandra Uwiringiyimana, 17, has met Angelina Jolie and Oprah Winfrey, been interviewed by television journalist Charlie Rose and had her photography featured in an art gallery.

But the Rochester, N.Y., teen has not had an easy life. Uwiringiyimana was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where her ethnic group, the Banyamulenge, faced discrimination.

“It was very difficult to understand at such a young age,” she said. “For my family, my parents always taught us to ignore it. It had been going on for ages.”

In 2004, the mistreatment intensified into violence. She fled with her family across the border to a refugee camp in Burundi. The camp did not remain a place of refuge — the Forces Nationales de Libération rebel group attacked one night.

“I lost my younger sister, Deborah, in the massacre, and I lost my cousin, who had been living with us,” she said.

“Many of my best friends passed away in the massacre. It’s still very real to me — very tangible.”

Her brother’s arm was shattered; her mother was shot but survived.

The family eventually moved to Rwanda and then back to Burundi to apply for a United Nations program, which relocated them to Rochester in 2007.

Finding New Hope
After they mentioned they were Free Methodists, a caseworker guided them to New Hope FMC in Rochester.

“We felt like we were back home. We had people who loved God and had enthusiasm for God as much as we did,” she said. “The people of New Hope are so great, and I could never repay them for what they’ve done for me.”

New Hope is now home to Foundation of Hope Ministries, which Uwiringiyimana’s family started in Rwanda (see Page 13).

Photographer
Uwiringiyimana’s photography has been featured on The Daily Beast news website and in a gallery show at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester.

Her interest in photography began when she borrowed a camera from Joanna Heatwole, a Roberts Wesleyan College assistant professor, for a reunion of massacre survivors. Uwiringiyimana posted the photos of her fellow survivors in her notebooks and on her school locker.

“It was such a great way to heal and to know that I’m not alone,” she said.

In the Spotlight
She is not just using photographs to spread a message of hope.

Although Uwiringiyimana could not speak English five years ago, she is now an articulate speaker receiving international acclaim.

“Sandra’s Story” appeared March 8 on the agenda of the Women in the World Summit, which gave her the opportunity to meet celebrities such as Oprah. In front of thousands of people watching in person and online, Charlie Rose interviewed Uwiringiyimana and then asked her to introduce the next speaker — Academy Award-winning actress Jolie.

Uwiringiyimana sees speaking opportunities as “God’s way of telling me I can do this, and He’s chosen me to do this, and He’s there guiding me through every step of the way.”

To watch “Sandra’s Story,” visit llcomm.org/?p=8945.

Pastor Patrick McNeal (left) talks with Bishop David Roller after the Town Hall Meeting. (Photo by Michael J. Metts)

by Jeff Finley

The third semiannual Free Methodist Town Hall Meeting drew praise from online and in-person participants who appreciated the event’s interactive nature.

Bishops Matthew Thomas, David Kendall and David Roller gathered April 11 with dozens of Free Methodists in the sanctuary of John Wesley FMC in Indianapolis. Hundreds more watched online at fmcusa.org and participated in the conversation via an online chat window and social media. The meeting was viewed at more than 200 locations — primarily in the United States but also in nations as far away as Brazil and Taiwan. More than 100 Facebook fans voted at facebook.com/fmcusa about which questions the bishops would answer during the meeting.

Laura J. Hunt of Milan, Mich., was grateful for the opportunity to interact with other Free Methodists across the nation. “I love the way the church is using technology to bring us closer together,” Hunt said.

Jaymes Lackey, a Seattle Pacific Seminary student, expressed thanks for the online opportunity to hear the bishops’ vision, which he called “fantastic, relevant and kingdom-centered.”

Todd Miller, pastor of The Gate church plant in Indianapolis, and Jeff Harrold, pastor of New Beginnings Community Church in Ypsilanti, Mich., said they liked the discussion of how the Free Methodist Church is trying to reach all ethnic and cultural groups. “We’ve done a great job overseas, and I’m glad we’re beginning to do it here,” said Harrold, who is also the director of the African Heritage Network.

Patrick McNeal, the pastor of Living Grace Community Fellowship in Flint, Mich., watched from a pew in the John Wesley FMC sanctuary. “I love the honesty that came from the bishops and the opportunity for the church to speak,” McNeal said. “I sense direction. I sense hope, and I just sense the Spirit of God is moving in the Free Methodist Church.”

For the broadcast and in-depth coverage, visit fmcusa.org/?p=491918.

For related resources, visit fmcusa.org/townhallresources.

Alex Ngabo is a member of the Munyakuri family that started the Foundation of Hope. (Photo by Sandra Uwiringiyimana, Ngabo’s sister)

by Jeff Finley

The Foundation of Hope started in Rwanda as a Free Methodist family struggled to meet its needs after surviving a massacre. The 2004 massacre claimed the lives of 180 people at a Gatumba, Burundi, camp for refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Munyakuri family started a choir that performed concerts to raise money for living expenses. When the family relocated to Rochester, N.Y., the choir found new members and supporters at the New Hope FMC.

The foundation now includes people in the United States and Rwanda helping survivors of the Gatumba massacre and raising money to build Rwandan schools for children who otherwise could not afford an education.

“Coming to America and finding a family that incorporates both American and African culture was a blessing. That is what the Foundation of Hope family is like,” Roberts Wesleyan College student Adele Kibasumba said. “It gave me something to thrive for: peace and healing.”

Healing does not come quickly after witnessing the murders of family members and friends.

“I am not completely healed, but I am getting there,” said Kibasumba, a member of the Munyakuri family that started the foundation. “God left for me a great purpose, which is to serve Him and others through singing and loving people.”
The foundation’s choir now includes African refugees and lifelong U.S. residents.

“Foundation of Hope has allowed me to experience a culture that I otherwise would not have gotten to be part of. I have been able to foster lasting friendships,” choir member Mabel Hope said.

The foundation promotes its mission through speaking engagements and choir performances.

The foundation’s leaders have connected with the Free Methodist Church’s African Heritage Network, and volunteer Kim Barker said the foundation is exploring additional partnerships. It has received recognition through the participation of Sandra Uwiringiyimana, Kibasumba’s sister, in the Women in the World Summit (Page 9).

“It’s definitely put us out there in the media,” Barker said. “Each step opens another door.”

For more information or to donate, visit bit.ly/fofhope.