New DVD draws big picture

The Media Library has received the latest DVD and guidebook on The Advance. Released by The General Board of Global Ministries, the DVD, called "Connecting the Church in Mission," contains worship videos, sermon starters, and children’s resources.

With powerful visuals and helpful ideas, the Church’s missions around the world come to life through this new resource. Check it out for your church!

Five subjects get special emphasis on this DVD: missionaries, fair trade projects, disaster relief, mission initiatives, and young adults in mission.

The Advance is the second-mile giving arm of The United Methodist Church. Careful accountability ensures 100 percent of each gift is used for its intended mission. For more than 60 years, The Advance has been the official program for designated giving in the denomination, connecting individuals and churches to have a greater impact for God in all the world.

The Conference has been honored repeatedly at the national level for total giving to The Advance by Oklahoma’s members and churches.

• This resource will help energize people for the overall mission of the Church, although it is designed to specifically educate about The Advance.

• In the new DVD, the children’s resources explain the five key concepts through storytelling, hands-on crafts and games, and team-building activities.

• Sermon and worship-planning starters include relevant vignettes, sermon tips, facts about UM missionaries, and scripture references. You’ll find directions to specific missionaries’ websites and articles, to learn more about them and the places they serve all over the world. Videos and hymn suggestions will also enhance worship.

"In this guide, you will find exciting opportunities to connect with the missional strength of The United Methodist Church," said Thomas Kemper, general secretary of the General Board of Global Ministries.

"This sense of connection and sharing reminds me of when I was a missionary serving in Brazil. Every Wednesday we gathered under a bridge for soup-making. Everyone brought what he or she had: leftovers from street markets, fish heads, wilting vegetables. We sat around together, cooking the soup over an open fire, and ate it together in a large circle. Then we worshipped."

To check out this free resource from the Media Library, contact Amelia Ballew at 405-530-2075 or aballew@okumc.org.  The library is in the Department of Communications at the United Methodist Ministry Center in Oklahoma City.

For more information about The Advance, visit www.umcmission.org/advance.