Marilyn Beecher

Partnering with Missionaries

The Rev. Marilyn Beecher is a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church serving as a Church and Community Worker with the Church and Community Connection (CCC) of the Florida Annual Conference.

Marilyn shares the purpose of CCC, "CCC works to equip congregations for transformational mission. Individual congregations are supported while developing new outreach ministries and clusters of congregations serve together to provide ministry in strategic locations. Priorities include working with children and youth, disaster response, immigrants and hunger programs."

Sleep Out Saturday - Hope for the Hungry & Hopeless

Combatting Hunger/Poverty

Sleep Out Saturday is a fund-raiser that hopes to serve as a "wake-up call" for residents of Glynn County to open their eyes to the issues of the hungry and homeless in our own backyard.  The goal is to bring awareness to this growing problem and provide financial support to be donated to the Salvation Army so that they can carry out their mission in supporting those in need - in God's name.  At this community-wide event, participants will transform boxes into homeless shelters, be served dinner from a soup kitchen, listen to various community speakers and end with a time of worship & prayer for the hungry & homeless. Community participants will spend the night outside in boxes, tents or cars - all to raise money and awareness for The Salvation Army.  

Ellen Hoover

Partnering with Missionaries

Dr. Ellen Titus Hoover is a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo (also called DRC or Congo-Kinshasa). She is a part-time professor at the United Methodist university in Mulungwishi where she teaches courses in Islam and church history in the college of theology.

Ellen also works with The English-speaking School of Lubumbashi (TESOL), an elementary and middle school for children of missionaries, full-time church workers and other English-speaking families in a city where French is the common language of instruction. After helping start the school in 1987, she served on the Administrative Council and as director of the school.

William Lovelace

Partnering with Missionaries

The Rev. Bill Lovelace is a United Methodist missionary with the Board of Global Ministries who is serving as a pastor and district superintendent in Kiev, Ukraine. The focus of his assignment is evangelism and church development which will include the establishment of a new United Methodist congregation in the capital city.

Bill has served in the former Soviet Union since 1992, first as a pastor in St. Petersburg, Russia and later in Kerch, Ukraine as district superintendent of the "Southern" region which includes the Ukraine, southern Russia and the north part of the Caucuses region of Russia. He also served as pastor of the Kerch United Methodist Church.

Nancy Carew

Partnering with Missionaries

Mrs. Nancy Carew is a missionary with the Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church assigned to the Liberia Annual Conference, Liberia, West Africa. Her current responsibilities include teaching foods and nutrition at the Women's Training Center.

A native of Sierra Leone, Nancy earned a B.S. degree in Home Economics Education from Njala University in Sierra Leone. Before her commissioning as a United Methodist missionary, she taught for six year in high school in Sierra Leone before proceeding to London where she worked for three years in the dietary department of St. Mary's Hospital. Nancy worked in the food and beverage department with Stouffer's Concourse and the Evergreen Conference Center in Atlanta, GA, while her husband taught at a local college. Nancy says, "my training in nutrition and experiences working in hospitals and hotels has prepared me for God's mission", and feels blessed to have been called to serve in this capacity.

Dakin Cook

Partnering with Missionaries

Dakin Cook is a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church currently serving at the General Board of Global Ministries offices in New York with Mission Personnel as the Regional Executive for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Dakin was born in New Haven, CT and moved to New Delhi, India with his parents when he was twelve years old. During this time he attended an American International School and spent a month each summer doing volunteer work with various projects sponsored by the National Christian Council of India. The projects were different each year and included famine relief, flood relief, vaccination programs and refugee resettlement programs. During the school year he worked with a team of volunteer high school students to help build and maintain a leper colony for a period of five years.

My parents have always been the greatest influence and examples in my life, Dakin says. Their entire lives were involved in mission recruitment and service. It was their support, advice and prayers that helped me make the commitment to live out a life of faith as a missionary.

Gordon Greathouse

Partnering with Missionaries

Gordon Greathouse is a United Methodist missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries serving in the Fourth Region of the Brazilian Methodist Church since 1978, along with his wife Maria Tereza.

After their first assignment directing the Conference Camp in Nova Almeida, Espirito Santo, the Greathouses were called to Belo Horizonte, Brazil's third largest city. In this second assignment, the Brazilian Church asked them to develop a community center with programs that promote self-esteem through self-help projects in which people from slum areas gain skills to become more economically independent. During the last few years, the community center has worked with Habitat for Humanity building low-cost, two-bedroom homes.

Following 14 years as founder and director of Sao Gabriel Community Center, Gordon was asked to work with the bishop to develop a new urban ministry program for the region. The first year was spent meeting with and working with local churches in order to develop a common analysis of the city's problems. He is now helping to develop and implement a common strategy of response both in terms of evangelism as well as social action.

Wilma Frances Lynch

Partnering with Missionaries

Wilma Frances (Fran) Lynch is a Deaconess and missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church assigned to the Willow Anvik Grayling Church and Community Ministry in Alaska.

Willow is about 75 miles north of Anchorage and Fran spends about two-thirds of her time coordinating the outreach ministry of the Willow United Methodist Church. This includes the food bank, clothes/household items, help with heating fuel, transportation, home repair and response to other basic emergency needs of families. She also organized the Willow community to build the first Habitat for Humanity house.

Mark and Rebecca Smallwood

Partnering with Missionaries

Mark and Rebecca Smallwood are serving as Associates in Mission Service (AIMS) with the Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church at Red Bird Mission in Kentucky.

Mark and Rebecca came to Red Bird Mission in August 1988 to serve as teachers at Red Bird Mission School during its first full year as a private Christian School. Mark directs the vocal and instrumental music programs for the elementary, middle school and high school. Rebecca taught 4th grade for 9 1/2 years and now teaches Elementary Christian Education.