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Missionaries supported by Anderson First United Methodist Church Oscar Ramos-Gallardo: The Rev. Oscar Ramos-Gallardo is a missionary of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church assigned to the North Indiana Annual Conference through the National Plan for Hispanic Ministries. As the conference coordinator for Hispanic Ministries, Oscar is responsible for overseeing the conference’s efforts in reaching out and ministering to its Hispanic population. As part of his assignment, Oscar works to educate churches about the needs of Hispanics in the conference and to help congregations develop ministries to serve this community. He also works to secure resources for these programs, and serves as an advocate and resource person for the pastors and leaders involved in the conference’s Hispanic ministries. Oscar supports and guides the non-Hispanic churches in their efforts to reach out, serve, and empower the Hispanic community. He is now developing lay-missioner and pastor-mentor teams in addition to supporting the existing Hispanic ministries. Prior to his commissioning as a GBGM missionary, Oscar served as co-pastor of the La Sagrada Familia United Methodist Church in Goshen, IN, for seven years. He continues to work with the congregation, which has been active in Goshen’s Hispanic community for years. Reflecting on his ministry, Oscar says he sensed God’s presence when “I saw our Hispanic community in Goshen looking for our leadership in many areas of community life, especially advocacy.” He adds that he has also experienced God moving through his ministry in his work as “part of a group of people who alleviate pain” and in witnessing “many families experiencing God’s abundant life after ‘living’ in the middle of a senseless life.” Oscar also shares that he has experienced God moving in his ministry, the most recent being the training event in September 2003 when 10 more teams were developed and more people are interested in Hispanic ministry. Oscar attended the Juan Wesley Theological School in Monterrey, Mexico, earning a certificate in theology in 1991. He then went on to study at Garrett Evangelical Seminary in Evanston, IL, where he earned an M.Div. in 1994. He was ordained as a clergy member of the North Indiana Annual Conference in 1997. He served pastoral roles in several congregations prior to coming to La Sagrada Familia UMC in 1994. Oscar was born in Tamiahua in the Mexican state of Veracruz. He is married to Juanita Ramos, and they have two young children, Damara, 6, and Emilio, 3. Oscar Ramos-Gallardo is available for Covenant Relationship support in North Indiana Annual Conference.
Missionary
code: 140638 Larry Kies:Larry Kies is a missionary of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church assigned to Africa University, located just outside Mutare, the fourth-largest city in Zimbabwe in the southern region of the continent. He serves as a technical advisor at the university, assisting in the development of the university’s farm and working to train a new generation of agriculturalists from countries across the continent. Prior to this assignment, Larry served as the manager of Nyadire Mission Farm at Nyadire Mission Station in Zimbabwe. His duties involved developing the farm to make the mission more self-sufficient in regards to food production, thus freeing resources for other aspects of Christian mission. He also taught agriculture at Nyadire Secondary School and worked with the Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Initiative. “I am in mission with the African people as we search for and introduce methods of improving food security. To paraphrase a Chinese proverb, we hope to not just give a man a fish, nor even to teach him to fish, but to work with him in finding new ways to fish–and then help him obtain a fishing pole. By so doing, I hope to obey Jesus’ command, implicit in Matthew 25, to feed the hungry.” Born in Jesup, IA, Larry inherited a love of farming and sense of global mission from his parents. After graduating from Iowa State University with a B.S. in biology, he began a 15-year career in Botswana. He first taught agriculture as a Peace Corps volunteer, then taught and managed the farm at Maun Secondary School. The Kies family then returned to the U.S. where Larry earned an M.S. in Vegetable Crops at the University of California, Davis. While at Davis, he was active in the Davis United Methodist Church, playing guitar and singing in the folk choir, leading the singing for youth Sunday School, and helping teach adult Sunday School. Larry is married to Jane Kies, who is also a GBGM missionary. They have four children: Ben, Andrew Pule, Carly, and Michael. Larry Kies is available for Covenant Relationship support in California-Nevada Annual Conference, Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference, Iowa Annual Conference, Kansas East Annual Conference, Kansas West Annual Conference, Northern Illinois Annual Conference, Pacific Northwest Annual Conference, Wisconsin Annual Conference.
Missionary
code: 09572Z
Chet Cataldo:The Rev. Dr. Chet Cataldo is a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church assigned to the Methodist Church of Lithuania. His Episcopal appointment is as District Superintendent for the United Methodist Church of Lithuania and pastor of Pilviskiai UMC. Dr. Cataldo is also responsible for organizing "Servant-Leader" seminars designed to develop lay leadership in churches. Of his assignment, Rev. Cataldo says, "The church in Lithuania is just re-emerging from oppression during the Soviet regime and I am to help develop pastors and church leadership within Lithuania, helping them to understand how to be the church." Rev. Cataldo, a clergy member of the Dakotas Annual Conference, served as pastor of Bowman (North Dakota) United Methodist Church from 1993-99. He was pastor of the Zion United Methodist Churches in Wishek/Lehr, North Dakota from 1990-93 and was a mission pastor in Marion, Illinois during 1989-90. Ordained in 1982 by the General Association of General Baptists, he served as a missionary and theology teacher at the General Baptist Bible College in Davao City, Philippines from 1985-88. Rev. Cataldo joined the United Methodist Church in 1990 and his ordination was recognized by the Dakotas Annual Conference in 1994. Of his sense of call to mission service, Rev. Cataldo relates stories of young men and women whose lives were influenced during his ministry in the church in the United States as well as the Philippines. "Several young people have responded to God's call and have entered or are preparing for ordained ministry. During my time in the Philippines, it was a blessing and a privilege to witness God at work in the lives of the students as they prepared for ordained ministry. There I also had the honor of ordaining the first female clergy person in the General Baptist Church of the Philippines." A 1982 graduate of Friends Bible College in Haviland, Kansas with a BA degree in Bible/Missions, Rev. Cataldo earned a Master of Arts degree in Religious Studies in 1983 from Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Kansas. He also earned a Th.D. degree in 1988 from the International Seminary in Plymouth, Florida and was awarded the M.Div. equivalency from the General Board of Higher Education (Division of Ordained Ministry) in 1993 after further studies at United Seminary in St. Paul, MN, St. Paul's School of Theology, Kansas City, MO, and Trinity Seminary in Deerfield, IL. Within the Dakotas Annual Conference, Rev. Cataldo served as a member of the Board of Global Ministries, Board of Discipleship, NW District Council on Ministries, and was NW District Missions Secretary. In addition, he was president of the Dakotas Conference Evangelical Fellowship and a dean of Jr. High backpacking camps. Rev. Cataldo is married to Jodi Cataldo, who also serves in Lithuania as a GBGM missionary. They have two adult sons and one daughter: Jeremiah, who served as a director with the General Board of Global Ministries from 1992-96 who is now pursing doctoral studies at Drew University and teaching at Seton Hall University and lives in New Jersey with his wife, Susan; Tobin, who is a librarian at Emporia State University and lives in Kansas with his wife, Marta; and Natalya, who lives with her parents and attends 'Anima', a Lithuanian public school. Chet Cataldo is available for Covenant Relationship support in Dakotas Annual Conference.
Missionary
code: 13093Z |
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