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                                                          16 August 2013

Dear friends,

Part of my job is introducing you to people you might otherwise not know. People like Maman Dedeou, a young man who lost one hand to terrorists who last year occupied his home town of Timbuktu in northern Mali. His experience illustrates that behind a conflict often painted in religious terms, what’s at work is simply old-fashioned economic greed.

I recently wrote about Dhamyah Mahdy Salih, a refugee woman from Iraqi who lives in Amman, Jordan, and who's helping Syrian refugees survive. And I wrote about Milan Pesic, a Roma musician and fisherman who was forcibly displaced from the squatters’ community where he and his family lived in the center of Belgrade, Serbia. I just spent time with six teenagers from Fukushima, the nuclear wasteland of Japan, in order to write about their trip to California to visit with Asian American United Methodist youth. And this weekend I’m flying to Haiti in order to document life there almost four years after the quake. From Port-au-Prince I’ll fly to Ecuador to write about the struggles of indigenous women high in the Andes.


As I travel, the stories I listen for are not those which most of the media seek out. I don’t report the pronouncements of politicians and pundits, but rather seek out those whose voice is often not listened to, who indeed too often remain voiceless.

As you and I try to understand the world around us, we need to listen more to those at the margins.

That’s a central focus of my work as a missionary, work that you make possible with your support. I’m writing to say thanks for your prayers and financial support, and for taking seriously the challenges of mission in your own communities. May you also listen–and hear–the voices of those both near and far who need to be heard.

                                                                                      Paul

Paul's coming to town

Every three years, United Methodist missionaries take a few weeks to visit congregations that support our ministry. During October and November, I'll be on the road doing that, sharing some images from where I’ve been and talking with you about what mission means today in your community and around the world. I look forward to being with you all.

Just before I hit the itineration road, I'll be leading a September retreat of all the clergy in my annual conference, exploring with them the "images of hope" to be seen today in God's mission. Pray for me as I prepare for both of these times of sharing.

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A boy in a flooded community in the Philippines where UMCOR is helping people recover their livelihoods.

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Want to see some of the latest images? Check out Paul's online photo archive. And if you haven't read his blog, drop what you're doing and check it out here.