Recent LAVIM missions

In 2011, working with United Methodist Missionaries in Honduras, St. Luke-Simpson United Methodist Church sent its first team into Potrerillos, Honduras. This small community is located in the mountains above the city of Siguatepeque. The team consisted of 24 members; specifically, the team had a medical focus. Medical and children’s volunteers were stationed out of the community medical clinic and community meeting building. Again in 2012, St. ...

Rev. Ricky Willis, pastor of First UMC in Zachary, recently led a LAVIM mission team of 22 people to Rio Bravo, Mexico. The group worked with the Manos Juntas Mission and Mexico VIM; this was the first international mission team for the church.   The team also included four people from Aldersgate UMC, Slidell and one person from Blackwater UMC in Baker. The group was comprised of a medical team and a construction team. The medical team worked with local ...

Local churches and groups throughout the Louisiana Annual Conference are asked to help students in Reynosa, Mexico by donating backpacks and school supplies during the month of July. The school backpack program is an initiative of the Methodist Border Friendship Commission.   Rev. Willie Berman, the Mexican Methodist Border Mission coordinator and Global Ministries missionary, will receive the backpacks and distribute them for this fall’s school session.  ...

Rev. Jon Lord, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Arcadia, recently led a Louisiana Volunteers in Mission team to the Northeast Conference Center of the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference.   The team helped to refurbish the fellowship hall of the center, located in Okmulgee, Ok., during their mission which stretched from May 8-12.   “There are several halls which are used by the various tribes for cooking, meals and fellowship during the  annual...

As Louisiana United Methodists continue to pray for those affected by recent tornadoes and storms, Rev. Bob Deich is leading an Early Response Team from the Louisiana Conference working primarily with debris removal near Rowlett, Tex.   "Team Louisiana," pictured here, moved quickly to respond to a request for aid from the North Texas Conference in the wake of an EF-4 tornado that struck the Dallas area on Dec. 26. Team members include Daryll Guy, ...

Sadie McGuire, a member of First United Methodist Church in Shreveport and a senior at Magnet High School, spent her spring break this year in Costa Rica as part of a mission team with other members of her youth group.   Last summer, Sadie and a group from First UMC worked to help build the future headquarters of Costa Rica Mission Projects in San Isidro, constructing cabins for future missionaries, lodging for young women wishing to attend college and a ...

Every summer, countless children fill churches for an unforgettable week of Vacation Bible School. Whether it’s in Louisiana--or thousands of miles away in Russia--lives are impacted through songs, storytelling and scripture. On June 2, a Louisiana Volunteers in Mission team traveled to Russia to help the people of First United Methodist Church in Ekaterinburg put on VBS. More than 120 children, parents and leaders participated in the event. The group ...

An Early Response Team comprised of Louisiana United Methodist volunteers left for Arkansas last Wednesday to help Vilonia United Methodist Church with cleanup in the wake of recent devastating tornados. Team members departed from First UMCs in Clinton and in Denham Springs. The groups met at Grace UMC in Ruston, and then convoyed to the storm-damaged area north of Little Rock. Rev. Bob Deich and Charles Goss served as team leaders for the group. ERT ...

A 14-member Louisiana Volunteers in Mission team from First United Methodist Church, Baton Rouge traveled to Nome, Alaska to this past June to offer repair help to Community UMC.   During the 10-day mission the team, ranging in age from 18-82, repaired playground equipment, installed lights in the church’s Fellowship Hall, carried out grounds maintenance, repaired fencing and plumbing and helped with similar projects. First UMC has sent several mission ...

Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey joined a Louisiana Volunteers in Mission team from McNeese School of Nursing Aug. 2-4 serving the ministries of Manos Juntas along Mexico’s border. Led by Rev. Angela Bulhof, the team provided medical clinics and helped with socio-economic and medical surveys of area residents. Bishop Harvey worked alongside the team, conducting personal interviews with families of the Vamos Tamaulipas Community, where Manos Juntas’ ...

A Louisiana Volunteers in Mission team from Asbury United Methodist Church in Lafayette recently completed a mission to Picmy, Haiti. The construction/medical team lived and worked among the islanders in the impoverished seaside village, hosting a Vacation Bible School during their stay. A total of 115 dresses from the church's "Dress a Girl Around the World" ministry were carried to the village by team members, and then distributed during the mission. The...

Nine Louisiana Volunteer in Mission volunteers recently traveled to the middle of Cuba to Ciego de Avila Iglesia Metodista. Ciego de Avila is strategically located in the middle of the island. The team was in Cuba to share the love of Jesus Christ while working on concrete walls and completing the electrical wiring for a three-story parsonage/guest house. Pastor Andres Rodriquez said that the building will not only provide a home for his family, but the ...

A Louisiana Volunteers in Mission team from First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge recently served for two weeks in Kenya at the Maua Methodist Hospital. The team helped with maintenance projects around the hospital grounds, assisted in building an AIDS orphanage, served at a bush medical clinic and hosted a Vacation Bible School for area children. Team leader Terry Dier was joined on the mission by Alan Brock, Skip Irwin, Paige Fore, Linda Spain, ...

A 12-member Louisiana Volunteers in Mission team led by Archie Corder from St. Mathew’s United Methodist Church in Metairie served in Reynosa, Mexico from June 10-14. The team organized several Vacation Bible Schools, traveling to three local churches and to Casa Hogar Benito Juarez, a Reynosa area orphanage. The team coordinated its efforts with Willie Berman, Manos Juntas and VIM director for Mexico, and local pastor Rev. Maria Elena.

Fourteen volunteers from Louisiana and California served on a Volunteers in Mission team in Cambodia the last two weeks of July. The team traveled through Cambodia visiting Methodist projects, worshiping with local congregations, conducting a mini-VBS program, touring historical sites and facilitating a week-long youth rally. The Cambodian Methodist Youth (CMY) planned the rally theme, the program, and the venue nearly a year in advance. The team from ...

A Louisiana Volunteers in Mission team traveled to First United Methodist Church in Ekaterinburg, Russia this past June to spend 13 days sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, participating in worship and completing construction work on First UMC’s church building. Members of the team joined with Russian VBS teachers to present five days of “action-packed” Vacation Bible School programming for approximately 45 kids each day. The school focused on the life of ...

St. Luke Simpson United Methodist Church in Lake Charles sent a 45-member Louisiana Volunteers in Mission team to Portrerillos, Honduras for two weeks in February. Members from St. Luke Simpson, The Well, First (Lake Charles) and Grace Community UMCs comprised the team which returning to Portrerillos for the fourth year. Volunteers provided a dental clinic, a medical clinic, a construction team and Vacation Bible School, which was attended by more than 300...