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BY LINDA WORTHINGTON
UMCONNECTION STAFF

The planners for this year's School of Christian Mission decided to do a hands-on collection of flip-flops to send to Haiti, the country studied this year. They made a box, 2 feet tall and wide and 30 inches long and marked it with a big sign, "Flip-Flops for Haiti."

The response was overwhelming. As women from all over the conference registered Friday, July 22, they carried in armloads of the ubiquitous shoe. The box overflowed immediately and bags of flip-flops were stashed around the box, on a long table, under the table and behind. All the pairs of flip-flops were different. Like fingerprints.

Some of the flip-flops were given to Hope for Haiti, a small organization founded and administered by Brian House, a member of Westminster UMC, who presented the project to the United Methodist Women. Hope for Haiti focuses on education and grassroots development on Ile a Vache, a small impoverished island off the coast of Haiti.

The four Haiti classes, which met four different times, looked at the history of Haiti, why it was so devastated in the earthquake, the role of the United States in shaping Haiti, Liberation Theology and its impact, and what to expect in the years ahead. The instructors were the Revs. Tony Love, who was also dean of the school; Cynthia Belt, pastor of Centennial Caroline Street UMC; Frankie Ravell, pastor of Cokesbury Memorial UMC; and Judy Smith, a laywoman from Chevy Chase UMC, who taught on Sudan in last year's school.

All of the school's participants attended the Bible study and spiritual growth plenaries, led by the Rev. Vance Ross, Deputy Secretary for Connectional Relations and Strategic Initiative for the General Board of Discipleship. The topic for the four sessions was "The Journey: Forgiveness, Restorative Justice and Reconciliation."

Ross used many Bible passages to illustrate the redemptive power of forgiveness, the restorative power of God's justice and the Good News of reconciliation.

"We can't do right before God and not do right with each other," he said.

The text for these remarks was Matthew 18:15-20, which instructs people to first speak directly to the person you have harmed; then take a trusted friend to help ask for forgiveness; then involve the "community." Restorative justice "is not one-on-one behavior, the community is involved," he said.

In the two classes on "Joy to the World: Mission in the Age of Global Christianity," the Rev. Cecil Mudede and Nancy Randers-Pehrson, conference president of UMW, questioned why we do mission in this day and age – and how best to do it. Through Scripture and history, the groups explored mission of hospitality, mission of healing and mission of reconciliation.

"Let us believe God for God's transformative power in our lives, in the lives of our sisters and brothers, and in all God's creation," said Love.