Becoming More Clearly Ourselves

Three years ago today, myself and 35 others were commissioned as young adult missionaries in a service held at Aldersgate United Methodist Church near Washington, DC. Among the speakers at the service were Bishop Minerva Carcaño, then of the Desert Southwest Conference on the UMC; Elizabeth Chun Hye Lee, director of young adult missionary services; and … Continue reading →

When God Asks You to Do Car Loans

The following post is based on the sermons I gave at Red Hill and Murphytown UMCs near Parkersburg, West Virginia this weekend. These churches and several others in the district come together every year for the Faith Missions Conference. The conference raises funds to support missionaries serving all over the world and in the United … Continue reading →

#Branchification

Last week marked one year that I have been serving with Branches! One year ago, I sat with my fellow missionaries and new AmeriCorps VISTAs in training, learning about this organization that I would be with for the next year and a half. Of course, there was the obligatory overview of the employee handbook, signing … Continue reading →

Sharing My Story

January was an exciting month for me. I began the new year celebrating with my family and friends back in Ohio, where I spent the holidays. I returned to Miami revived and ready to be serving once again. There are many exciting things going on at Branches which I want to update you on soon, … Continue reading →

Gratitude

What is your favorite holiday? I would have to say that mine is Thanksgiving. I am a self-proclaimed “foodie,” so that of course is part of it. I also appreciate the sentiments behind this holiday: joining with family and friends to take stock of all the things we have to be grateful for. This post … Continue reading →

Waiting Expectantly

It happened again, folks. Blogging took a backseat for a while, because I’ve been busy and distracted and because the things I have had on my mind have not really been “blog worthy” as of late. Usually I try to hit upon a recent theme or profound experience in my blog posts: something God is … Continue reading →

Send in the Missionaries!

Originally posted on There Be Method To Madness:
At the beginning of this week, something out of the ordinary happened at work. In the late afternoon, a woman came into the Center for Financial Stability (CFS) Main Office in North Miami (lets call her “Nicolette”). Nicolette asked if she could go into one of our…

Fire and Ice

Today the extended Branches family gathered under a big white tent to celebrate and dedicate the newly constructed Branches Florida City facility. The building, which also houses Branches UMC, will be the hub for Branches’ activities in southern Miami Dade County. The ministry of Branches was born out of one tragedy- Hurricane Andrew in 1992- … Continue reading →

Here and Now

As with many blog authors, I can have the best of intentions for writing new posts without actually following through. It has always been my goal to post in my blog at least once per month. My blog gives others a window into my experiences during the two years I’ve served as a UMC young … Continue reading →

How We Are Together

This past week, June 8th-11th, I had the privilege of participating in the 2014 West Ohio Annual Conference. For those of you not familiar with Methodism in the U.S., here is your crash course on the structures of the church and how annual conference works. There are about 35,000 United Methodist congregations in the world, … Continue reading →