Haiti in the Mission Spotlight at SOCM

Haiti in the Mission Spotlight!

The School of Christian Missions (SOCM) was started in the 1930s by the Women’s Home Missionary Society.  Each year more than 20,000 women participate in SOCM. The School of Christian Mission takes place each summer in every United Methodist conference across the United States and is organized by United Methodist Women (UMW) leadership. SOCM is an opportunity to study current issues impacting society based on recent mission study topics. Each School offers classes on a topic covering three themes: spiritual growth, geographic, and social issue.

The Geographic Mission Study for the 2011 School of Christian Mission is Haiti.  ICC staff member, Rachel Mills, taught at the West Ohio School of Christian Mission at Ohio Northern University July 18 – 21. Over the course of four days, Mills’ class learned about the people of Haiti – their history and culture, the theology that informs the United Methodist Churches’ mission work in Haiti, and ways to respond appropriately to the challenges the Haitian people face. The students can now take this knowledge back to their local church and motivate, inform and enrich their congregations’ commitment to global ministry.  The West Ohio Conference also collected hundreds of Healthy Birth Kits for ICC’s project areas in the remote villages of northern Haiti where women often deliver without assistance.

ICC USA Board members Rev. Lynne Austin and Dr. Ellen Palmer also represented ICC at Schools of Christian Mission.  Rev. Austin taught the Haiti mission study in two SOCM in the California-Pacific Conference and Dr. Palmer supported the North Texas Conference.