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    United Methodists of Upper New YorkLiving the Gospel. Being God's Love.


    mission

    Missionaries

    Meet Upper New York Conference's missionaries for 2022.

    John Calhoun #13970z
    The Rev. John Calhoun serves as the pastor of the English-Speaking United Methodist Church of Vienna, Austria. John has served in several missionary placements since he was commissioned in 2000. Previously, he was the director of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church’s Family Center in Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine. 

     

    Belinda Forbes #12109Z
    Dr. Belinda Forbes is a dentist serving with AMOS Salud y Esperanza (Health and Hope) in Nicaragua as the Liaison for Faith and Health Partnerships. Her responsibilities include supporting AMOS's Primary Health Care Program and accompanying delegations, volunteers, and communications.      

     

    Ronald Julian #3021881

    Ronald is from the Philippines and serving as a chaplain with the International Seafarers Ministry in Yokohama, Japan one of the busiest ports in the world. The Seafarers Ministry there was set up under ecumenical sponsorship in 1983 to provide pastoral care, counseling, and practical assistance to sailors. The chaplain must be non-Japanese because Japanese nationals are not allowed to go on board visiting vessels. Many of the sailors are from the Philippines.

    Doel Kaloa #3022632

    Doel is a Global Mission Fellow (International) with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, engaged in a two-year term of service. She is from the North Katanga Annual Conference in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Communication Studies from Africa University. 

    Ediberto Lopez #12860z

    The Rev. Ediberto Lopez, Ph.D., is from Puerto Rico and is assigned to the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico. He was appointed to the seminary in 1992 as Professor of New Testament Studies as well as Greek. 

     

    Miguel Mairena #12877z

    Miguel is a lawyer from Nicaragua serving with Give Ye Them to Eat (GYTTE) in Puebla, Mexico. Give Ye Them to Eat was founded in 1977, as a social outreach project of the Methodist Church of Mexico to combat hunger and poverty in the rural sector by strengthening the capabilities of marginalized people and communities to meet their basic needs, and to determine and sustain a just and integrated development process so people can achieve the full promise and potential of their life as a child of God.           

    David McCormick #3022179

    David McCormick is serving alongside his wife Elizabeth as Mission Advocate for the South Central Jurisdiction. David previously served as Hospital Director of Chicuque Rural Hospital in Mozambique. He and his family currently reside in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

    Emmanuel Mefor #13990Z and Florence Mefor #13991Z

    Emmanuel is a medical doctor and Florence a nurse mid-wife. They are assigned to Mutambara Hospital in Zimbabwe.   

     

     

    Charles Mulemena  #3022034

    The Rev. Charles I. Mulemena is serving as a Pastor and Trainer of the MCCA Belize Honduras District, The Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas, based in Belize. Charles is from Kitwe, Zambia and is an elder of the Zambia Annual Conference. 

     

    Alma Navarro #3022029

    The Rev. Alma Jumuad-Navarro is from the Philippines serving as minister for administration and Christian education of the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) ministry in Taipei, Taiwan. The OFW ministry is linked to the Methodist Church in the Republic of China and is conducted in collaboration with the Davao Episcopal Area in the Philippines. There are an estimated 100,000 Filipinos in Taiwan at any given time, a majority of whom are temporary migrant workers.

    Nkemba Ndjungu #12910z

    The Rev. Nkemba Ndjungu from the Democratic Republic of Congo is serving with MCCA Belize Honduras District, The Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas as pastor, trainer and mentor. 

     

    Gaston Ntambo #14177Z

    Gaston is a pilot and mechanic with the Wings of the Morning Aviation Ministry in the North Katanga Conference in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  

     

    Becky Parsons #3021143

    Becky Parsons is serving as mission advocate for the Northeastern Jurisdiction in the United States. She assumed the position in 2017, having been commissioned as a Church and Community Worker in 2009. Becky was born in Florida and raised in Henryville, Pennsylvania, within the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference. 

     

    Douglas Williams #3022122

    The Rev. Douglas Williams is serving as pastor and Volunteer-In-Mission promoter of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Argentina, based in Buenos Aires. The Argentine church has 100 congregations spread across the country. Rev. Williams is pastor of the Mendoza and San Juan churches, chaplain at Alberto Schweitzer School, and assists with the hosting of VIM teams, mostly from the United States.   


    With more than 100,000 members, United Methodists of Upper New York comprises of more than 675 local churches and New Faith Communities in 12 districts, covering 48,000 square miles in 49 of the 62 counties in New York state. Our vision is to “live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to be God’s love with our neighbors in all places."