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Mohawk District

United Methodist Women

Newsletter

Gardening requires persistence. The challenge is not just planting, watering, fertilizing and weeding. At our house, the biggest challenge is keeping the pesky critters out. Rabbits and/or woodchucks dug under the garden fence and ate off nearly all the leaves on the green bean plants. We filled in the holes, put stuff around the enclosure that we thought they wouldn’t like, replanted some of the beans, and fertilized some more. The woodchucks were even eating the leaves off our summer squash plants. Our latest efforts in the battle against the critters have included using an organically acceptable spray the woodchucks aren’t supposed to like (I certainly didn’t), a motion detector that my sister picked up at a garage sale and sprinkling around human hair from a local beauty parlor. It’s difficult to be more persistent than a garden-loving woodchuck or rabbit, but we kept trying and by late July we were harvesting a variety of vegetables, including summer squash and green beans, produce I’d been nearly ready to give up on, along with green peppers, leaf lettuce and some cherry tomatoes. Persistence paid off. Persistence is important for United Methodist Women as well. We need to keep on keeping on to support mission projects, local, national and international, and to grow in our relationship with God and each other in a culture that is becoming increasingly secular and increasingly unwilling to get involved with people who are "different" or are one of "them" instead of one of "us". At our spring district meeting this year, we looked at the topic "Extending Hospitality" with a program that focused on the history and work of the Utica Refugee Center as well as hearing from our new district superintendent, the Rev. Dr. Sung Ho Lee, who came to this country as an immigrant. At our fall meeting, we’ll take this theme a little further as we hear from members of Women Transcending

Boundaries, a Central New York group that was organized after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and continues to bring women of diverse faiths and cultures together. Come and hear more as we meet Sept. 29 from 9:15 a.m.-2:30 p.m. at the Taberg UMC.

We also hope to see many of you at the conference annual meeting Oct. 13 from 9 am to 3 p.m. It’s being held at Rome First UMC, right in our own backyard. The district mission team will offer an officer update program Nov. 3 from 9a.m.-noon at the Earlville UMC. You don’t have to be an officer to attend. It’s a great opportunity to share ideas and concerns as well as to learn more about United Methodist Women. Local presidents: Annual report forms will soon be coming your way. Please fill them out and send them back as quickly as possible. Otherwise, we’ll wind up spending time and resources that could be going to mission work, on chasing reports. Thanks for all you do through United Methodist Women. I look forward to seeing you at the fall meeting.

(Area Code is 315 unless otherwise noted)

Volunteers welcome; please contact any current officer for additional information

Face To Face in Faith: Our UMW fall meeting will be held on September 29^th at the Taberg UMC from 9:15 am until about 2:30pm. Our spring meeting gave us some insight into the Refugee Center and how we can extend hospitality. Our fall meeting goes one step farther by showing that people of different cultures and religions can work together. Our speakers will be from the organization "Women Transcending Boundaries" a Central New York group that was organized after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and continues to bring women of diverse faiths and cultures together. Other things to look forward to at the fall meeting are singing, sharing, shopping, fellowship and food. There will be nominations and election of officers, a pledge service and more. Come meet your district mission team and join your fellow district UMW members for a fun and educational day. See flyer for directions and other information.

In Christ, Ruth Dietrich President, NCNYC UMW 315.336.7145 315.330.4987 Wk 315.330.2174 Fax ruth.dietrich.ctr@rl.af.mil

As Genie Bank Intern for Teen and College Women, my summer has been very busy and productive. I have had listening opportunities with teen and college women and spoken with campus ministers and adult women who are interested in working with young women in UMW. South Atlantic Regional School, June 23-26

I attended South Atlantic Regional School as youth leader for South Georgia conference. While at Regional School, I was networked with Southeastern Jurisdiction Membership Nurture and Outreach Coordinators at their Officer Update and heard the various programs that each conference has implemented to involve teen and college women. Some of the ideas were: having a young women¹s event alternated on the conference and district levels (North Georgia), setting up a booth at conference UMYF event (Tennessee), and having a one-day event for young women called a "fun day" (South Carolina). Each conference has good ideas and asked excellent questions about how to better include young women.

I also met with campus ministers from William and Mary College, Furman University, and Ferrum University. We discussed the opportunities UMW provides young women to be involved in mission and grow spiritually and the importance of involving young women in UMW. Our hope is to find an experienced UMW member who can work with the campus ministers, inform the young women of the opportunities UMW offers, and encourage them to join UMW and participate in our mission. United States Social Forum, June 27-July 1

Women’s Division’s College Consultative Group attended the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta GA June 27-July 1. This was the first U.S. Social Forum. Its predecessor, the World Social Forum, started in 2000 and was held this past year in Kenya. The U.S. Social Forum was a gathering of nonprofit organizations and activists from all over the U.S.

There were thousands of workshops to choose from, but I attended workshops on water privatization, military occupations, youth organizing, and intergenerational organizing. Probably the most interesting (and most relevant to my work as Genie Bank Intern) was the workshop on intergenerational organizing. We discussed problems we have faced working between generations and solutions to those problems. It was comforting to know that UMW is not the only organization that sometimes struggles to effectively bridge the generation gap.

Witnessing so many people who are passionate about causes that improve life for other people was invigorating. Many of the activists were young people. Many of the causes were issues that UMW has taken initiative on too: immigration, water rights, fair trade, sweatshops, and effects of globalization. I have always known that I am part of an organization that has been at the forefront of social action, but to experience it for myself with my friends from the consultative group, other college women who are part of UMW, was amazing. This is the kind action young women want to be involved in, and they can do it through UMW!

Youth 2007, July 11-15 Along with the Teen Consultative Group, I attended Youth 2007 in Greensboro, NC. 8,000 United Methodist youth gathered from across the United States. The theme was "SPLAT: Seek. Pray. Learn. Act. Teach." I led two workshops entitled "Teen Women in Mission" about how teens can become involved in UMW. At the beginning of the workshop, I asked the girls who knew about UMW to raise their hands. I was amazed at how many girls knew about UMW but were not members and didn’t really know about UMW and the opportunities that we offer to be in mission. The girls were reflective of the information that I shared with them and showed interest in learning more about UMW in their area. This affirms to me that young women are interested in UMW but don¹t know about the opportunities that UMW offers to be involved in mission, social action, and spiritual growth. I shared with them the Let’s Get Together kit and we went through the steps to starting a young women’s group.

Schools of Christian Mission I visited three Schools of Christian Mission: Western North Carolina on July 14, South Georgia on July 18-22, and Kansas West on July 24-28. In South Georgia and Kansas West conferences, I led sessions with adult women about involving young women in UMW. Many of the women shared stories of a particular woman who invited them to UMW and brought them to the meetings, so I encouraged them take initiative and invite the young women that they know. I shared with them some of the features of UMW that are attractive to young women: hands on mission, fellowship with women of different ages and backgrounds, involvement in social action.

At Kansas West School of Christian Mission, I met with young women in the youth program and discussed what is attractive about UMW, what they would like to see done differently to include young women, and how they can become involved. Some of the ideas they had about including young women were: have UMW mission trips for adult women and young women together, use young women in leadership roles during programs, and invite young women to UMW meetings and make sure they know when the meetings are held. I was encouraged by their thoughts about involving young women and that they were interested in learning more about UMW and how they can be involved. Young women do want to be involved in UMW, but they sometimes feel that there is not a place for them.

I also met with the unit president at Kansas Wesleyan University, Jane Howard, and some supporters of young women in the conference. We discussed ways to bring new members into the unit: a booth at freshman orientation, inviting girls from a women¹s bible study on campus, finding out from local UMW units when girls are coming to KWU. We talked about what units can do differently to make meetings more appealing to young women: meetings in casual settings, more hands-on missions, movie discussion nights. I plan to stay in contact with the unit and use their ideas to encourage other college units.

I visited with Western North Carolina Conference for one day while I was already in Greensboro for Youth 2007. I spent some time with the eleven girls attending the youth session, and explained to them my role in the conference. I spoke with them about being involved in UMW as a young woman and how I would like to work with them to help them start their own UMW groups. I was also able to make connections with adult women in the conference who are interested in working with teen and college women.

When: September 29^th 9:15am to 2:30pm

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