Daily Digest - December 11, 2012

"We want to be proactive and not just react, so capacity building among the people is the focus of our humanitarian response." - Ciony Eduarte of UMCOR in the Philippines.

Typhoon lessons learned in Philippines

MINDANAO, Philippines (UMNS) - Although hundreds of people died as Typhoon Bopha raged over the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines on Dec. 4, lessons learned from an earlier typhoon helped hundreds to survive.
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Read UMCOR report

Reclaim Christmas: 10 ways to simplify

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - Before you start to feel the stress of the holiday rush, take a minute to learn how you might make this season less frenetic and more joyful.
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Alternative giving for South Sudan

ALCOA, Tenn. (UMNS) - Still have gifts to give? The Holston Annual (regional) Conference suggests honoring family and friends with donations to an orphanage the conference is building in the new country of South Sudan, reports The Call. The Holston Conference, which includes churches in parts of Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia, is working closely with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries to ensure that its funds go to the Yei District of South Sudan in a way that is accountable.
To support the orphanage

Four years after fire, church has new life

FLORENCE, S.C. (UMNS) - Four years ago, the worst thing imaginable happened to the members of Dawsey United Methodist Church: A rogue bolt of lightning burned their beloved home-away-from-home to the ground. Now, four years of "wilderness" later, the church is experiencing a resurrection, the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate reports.
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Interfaith roundtable set on clergy ethics

SEATTLE (UMNS) - The United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women is among the participants in a free, online, interfaith roundtable discussion on clergy ethics in Christian, Jewish and Buddhist communities. The roundtable is from 11 a.m. to noon PST Thursday, Dec. 13, and sponsored by the FaithTrust Institute in Seattle.
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Chinese Christian recalled as 'visionary' leader

NEW YORK (UMNS) - Two United Methodist leaders paid tribute to Bishop K.H. Ting, one of the most prominent figures in Chinese Protestantism, as a "courageous and visionary" leader who helped to guide the Chinese church through the revolutionary era. Ting died in late November at age 98.
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15,000 signatures support Christian leaders

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - Mark Harrison, United Methodist Board of Church and Society, recently joined Rabbi Liz Bolton, Jewish Voice for Peace, and others to express support for 15 Christian leaders who were criticized after calling for a congressional investigation into possible violations of U.S. law by Israel in using weapons acquired from the United States.
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