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A friend recently reminded me of a story about a church that was preparing to open a homeless shelter in the church in Conshohocken, a community outside of Philadelphia. They had one more hurdle to cross, approval by the town council. Neighbors had organized against the shelter, had circulated petitions and the council was ready to deny the request.

Visiting and ministering in Philadelphia at the time was Mother Teresa. She heard about the challenge and immediately went to the town council meeting. She arrived at the meeting late and the council was nearing its decision when she requested to speak.

She went before the council, got down on her hands and knees and begged the council to allow the church to minister with the poor. On hands and knees she begged. She humbled herself and begged. She put ?herself in a situation in which God could minister through her.

The council approved the church's request.

Jesus got down on his hands and knees and washed his disciple's feet. On hands and knees he humbled himself as he washed his disciples' feet. He allowed God to use him to transform the world.

I once saw a picture of Bishop Roy Sano, who was serving the California-Pacific Conference at the time, in an old factory building that was being transformed into a church, on his hands and knees washing a toilet and the bathroom floor.

On hands and knees Bishop Sano was washing a toilet. He humbled himself so that God could use him as a servant leader to help transform the church.

In the Baltimore-Washington Conference, as part of the Discipleship Adventure, we as followers of Jesus Christ have committed to serve like Christ.

Serving like Christ begins by having the heart and mind of Christ deep within ourselves. Having Christ deep within us helps to ensure our actions are motivated to serve God, and not self gratification. When Christ is deep within us, we serve not because goodness is our aim, but because we desire to be like Christ. Goodness is an outgrowth of being like Christ.

We serve to bring honor and glory to our Creator.

Secondly, serving like Christ means humbling ourselves. Humility means that we do not think of ourselves as better, or even more fortunate, than the people we serve. We are just as deprived as those who are in need. Our deprivation is just different.

As servants of Christ, we recognize that we have our own poverty. When we have this attitude, then God has the opportunity to be lifted up.

And serving like Christ means putting ourselves in situations with the greatest potential to serve God by serving others. We do not serve like Christ by isolating ourselves from the people who need God the most.

When we are not close to the situations or do not look for opportunities to be the difference among the poor, the outcast, the immigrant, the hungry, the homeless and those who have not experienced God's redemption and reconciliation, we have lessened our opportunity to be like Christ.

I leave you with these words from the letter to the Romans in the New Testament and invite you to meditate on them as you serve like Christ.

"Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." -Romans 12:9-18

Missionaries assigned to the Baltimore-Washington Conference
(with Advance numbers)

Alison Brown
#982938 - Church and community worker, Justice for our Neighbors, Omaha, Neb.,

John Campbell
#931029 - District Superintendent for the Lithuanian United Methodist Church,

Bonnie Campbell
#931853 - Pastorm Vilnius UMC in Lithuania,

Christine Erb-Kanzleiter
#13957Z - Pastor, Peace UMC, an international English-speaking congregation in Munich, Germany,

Ellen Hoover
#07990Z - Educator and administrator, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo,

Jeffrey Hoover
#07989Z - Professor, University of Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo,

Gayle Lesure
#982965 - Deaconess and church and community worker, Greater Clarksburg Cooperative Parish, West Virginia

Miguel Mairena
#12877Z - Community development ministry, San Francisco Libre, Nicaragua,

Kathleen Masters
#982016 - Church and community worker in Bluefield, W.Va.

Nan McCurdy
#10801Z - Women and Community Association of San Francisco Libre, Nicaragua,

Suzanne Porter
#13929Z - Ganta Medical Complex in Ganta, Liberia,

Herbert Sei Lami Zigbuo
#10911Z - Vocational Training for United Methodist Church in Liberia

Mary Randall Zigbuo
#10721Z - Assisting the United Methodist Church in Liberia in its development of programs for people with disabilities

Authenticity key to mission
By Paul Jeffrey

Paul Jeffrey is a missionary and photographer. His photos for Response, New World Outlook, and other publications, tell a powerful story of the church in the world. The photos on this page are his. A slide show of his work can be viewed at www.kairosphotos.com/pauljeffrey/index.htm .

When we follow Jesus across the borders of our world, we are called to be pilgrims, to go on a pilgrimage, to set out into the world with the goal of being changed, of being transformed.

We don't travel as tourists, taking pictures to show people back home the ugly cement-block church building we built for the people "down there." Rather, in our encounter with people who live across the chasm of class or ethnicity or language or spirituality from us, we can hopefully report how we found new meaning for our lives.

We struggle a lot in our churches here about how to reach out to groups at the margins of our communities. When the church lives and breathes at the margins of society, among the poor and desperate where Jesus hung out, ministry is easier than climbing down from steeples of privilege to launch paternalistic enterprises of mercy.

Where we start in the adventure of mission has a lot to do with where we end up.

Creating a relationship with missionaries
By Linda Worthington

Since 1974, the Covenant Relationship Program has enabled United Methodist congregations to surround mission personnel with love and prayer and to grow in their understanding of the world as their parish.

This mutual relationship, which fewer than 20 percent of Baltimore-Washington Conference churches participate in, calls for a church to join in the work of a missionary through financial and prayerful support; and for that missionary to share with a congregation firsthand experiences of working in God's mission.

To get started on a Covenant Relationship:

• Seek a challenging annual financial goal for a Covenant Relationship commitment. Use $2,500 or more per year, or $5 per member per year, as a guideline. Give first consideration to United Methodist missionaries related to the Baltimore-Washington Conference: it's easier to coordinate the missionary's busy visitation schedule when he or she is in the United States for itineration.

• Consult with Conference Secretary of Global Ministries, the Rev. Richard Brown-Whale ( ). The Office of Covenant Relationships of the General Board of Global Ministries Web site can also help. (http://new.gbgm-umc.org/work/missionaries/ ).

• Once you've decided who you'd like to be in a covenant relationship with, request a Covenant Relationship Acceptance Agreement form to formalize your church's decision.

• When the church receives the recommendations and makes a decision, send the agreement form to Global Ministries and the conference secretary of Global Ministries. Global Ministries will confirm the agreement and notify the missionary. The Covenant Relationship takes effect on the date the church indicates and it continues according to the church's directions. Churches are encouraged to make three-year commitments.

• Funds are sent by the local church treasurer through the conference treasurer, clearly designated for the missionary with his or her Advance code number. Gifts may be sent monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually.

• Churches participating in the Covenant Relation-ship Program will be notified when the missionary is available to visit churches. Churches committing $2,500 or $5 per member will receive priority for such visits.

Information modified from New World Outlook, "How To Issue on Mission," September/October 2008.

The grace of God creates relationships

A Missionary witness
By Miguel Mairena

I was born and raised in Nicaragua, and now I am also a U.S. citizen. I have been a United Methodist missionary for 11 years. The support that I receive from Covenant churches for mission work in Nicaragua represents the grace of God that touches people's hearts.

Our covenant church partners in the Baltimore-Washington Conference help in the mission we carry out so that impoverished people (our brothers and sisters in Christ), who merely exist, might have a fuller life. It's part of the command to build the reign of God here on earth.

More than 90 percent of the people in Latin America consider themselves to be Christians, either Catholic or Protestant. Therefore, as a missionary, my work has more to do with educating people who are already Christian, that they might be guided by Christ's example. We should not call ourselves Christians without acting like Jesus and putting the Gospel - the good news - into practice as God called on us to do.

A CHURCH Responds
By Neil Moores

I am mission co-chair at Baldwin Memorial UMC in Millersville. We give $3,500 a year to support missionaries

In 2000, our church started sending volunteers to work with Miguel Mairena ad his wife Nan McCurdy in Nicaragua, which was still recovering from Hurricane Mitch. I was on the team, and it changed my life.

That trip to Nicaragua started my interest in mission. I had my eyes opened, and it was very transforming. After returning from Nicaragua, I became the mission chair for our church and also became involved with the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission work of the conference.

Nan and Miguel keep our church updated on what's happening, and we've contributed to other projects (through the Advance), such as scholarships for Nicaraguan students, a solar-oven project and the purchase of a cow for a community.

We took another team to Nicaragua in 2005 with team members from multiple churches. One of those team

members came back, his church became a Covenant church, and now the church members are much more aware of the mission.