February

Women of Purpose Philippians 2:1-2 “Connecting Women, Transforming lives… Together with One Heart and One Purpose.”

We collect LABELS FOR EDUCATION The barcode, which we send to McCurdy Ministries McCurdy Ministries On a trip to the Espanola Valley in New Mexico from Texas, Mellie Perkins, United Brethren deaconess, discovered that there was no school public or private in the valley. In September of 1912, the same year New Mexico became a state, Mellie returned and opened a school. Six students attended the first day of school. Since then the school has grown, thrived, and found a permanent home on McCurdy Road.

We donate to: Mary Elizabeth Inn which provides affordable safe housing for single women who come to San Francisco seeking employment, schooling, or leaving behind family turmoil.

We donate to: Gum Moon Women's Residence and the Asian Women's Resource Center established to address the unmet needs of women and children in geographic and social transition. In providing a safe sanctuary to live in and programs that develop life skills, Gum Moon empowers these individuals, fostering stability, self-reliance, self- determination, and full access to opportunity Founded in 1868, Gum Moon's history mirrors the ever changing needs and developments of the Asian Immigrant Community in the San Francisco Bay Area.

February Mission Study Belfast, Ireland, Forthspring Intercommunity Group

Forthspring Intercommunity Group

In Belfast, Northern Ireland, UMW supports Forthspring Intercommunity Group,

a non-profit committed to providing a much needed safe and welcoming environment where people from both Protestant and Catholic communities can meet

and find a different way from the violence and division of the past.

Northern Ireland has a long history of violence between the two major political beliefs – Unionists (who want to remain a part of the United Kingdom and are mostly Protestant) and the minority Nationalists (who want to become a part of the Republic of Ireland, and are mostly Catholic).

“The Methodist Church and its members have made an enormous contribution to the peace process in Northern Ireland. Of all denominations, the Methodist Church has caused the least obstruction and arguably made the greatest contribution to healing.” Methodist Churches in Northern Ireland

Dr. Eric Gallagher, as president of the Methodist Church in Ireland, was the first Protestant churchman to met with IRA representatives in Feakle, County Clare in the 1970s to try to broker a peace. He was called, “A Beacon of Peace” There are 26 Methodist churches in Belfast.