Daily Digest - September 19, 2012

"My life can touch in the morning someone from Nicaragua. In the afternoon, I can find a person from Mexico. At night, I can finish it up with a person from southern Mexico. The outreach is tremendous every day." - The Rev. Corazon Escarzaga on the migrant ministry she conducts with her husband.

UMTV: Hispanic clergy couple's migrant ministry

CENTRAL VALLEY, Calif. (UMNS) - In the United States, 2.5 million farm laborers work long days and seasonal crops. Life on the move makes it hard for farm hands to have much quality of life. A husband and wife team of United Methodist pastors is making sure migrant workers get some support from the outside world.
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From Mexico to church in Abilene

ABILENE, Texas (UMNS) - Members of St. Paul United Methodist Church could have searched the country and not found a more qualified person to speak on unauthorized immigration than their own pastor, the Rev. Eduardo "Eddie" Rivera, says the Abilene Reporter News. The journey for Rivera, a native of Monterrey, Mexico, includes mastering the English language, earning a doctorate from a prestigious school of theology, gaining his U.S. citizenship and ministering in migrant camps.
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Resources for Hispanic Heritage Month

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - The United States marks Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 to celebrate the contributions of Americans who trace their roots to Spain, to Mexico and to the Spanish-speaking countries of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The United Methodist Board of Discipleship offers preaching and worship resources for congregations interested in joining in the celebration.
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Camp provides hope for Liberian refugees

BUDUBURAM, Ghana (UMNS) -"The most listened to woman on radio in North America" is using her big voice to speak for voiceless children and adults living in a Liberian refugee camp.
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Letter to Council of Bishops on Bishop Talbert

ASBURY PARK, N.J. (UMNS) - Bishop Melvin G. Talbert "should be celebrated" not censured for calling on clergy to officiate at same-sex marriages, writes the Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell, a retired elder, in an open letter to the Council of Bishops. His letter responds to another letter to the council signed by more than 70 people.
Read Caldwell's full commentary

Response to BMCR statement on Bishop Talbert

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (UMNS) - Signers of a letter calling for Bishop Melvin G. Talbert's censure support civil rights but do not see Talbert's stance on homosexuality as a civil rights issue, writes the Rev. Thomas A. Lambrecht, one of the letter signers and vice president and general manager of Good News. Lambrecht's commentary responds to a statement by Black Methodists for Church Renewal in support of Talbert.
Read Lambrecht's full commentary