The UMCOR Hotline:

• NEWS: JAPAN NUCLEAR CONFERENCE
• PRAYER: HOPE IN ADVENT
• MEDIA: A LOOK AT HIV AND AIDS WITH SHANNON TRILLI
• RESOURCE: CHRISTMAS SHOPPING WITH UMCOR

NEWS: JAPAN NUCLEAR CONFERENCE

UMCOR attended the 2012 Inter-Religious Conference on Nuclear Issues in Fukushima, Japan, where 23 religious communities from 11 countries met to seek solutions to our world’s nuclear issues.

This year’s meeting resulted in a unanimous declaration that pledges “to work to abolish nuclear power, to heal the living communities affected by it, and to restore creation as fully as possible.”

While this is not a statement of UMCOR policy, UMCOR will be playing a fully committed role. “We will focus on helping those suffering from radiation poisoning in the years to come,” said James Rollins, UMCOR’s director of Communications and Marketing, who attended the meeting.

UMCOR’s considerable experience in developing disaster risk reduction strategies will form an essential contribution to the worldwide push for nuclear safety and recovery. “We will be using the lens of disaster risk reduction to help prevent this type of disaster from reoccurring in the future,” Rollins pointed out.

Your gift to International Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #982450 will help UMCOR respond to the unfolding needs in Japan and to emergencies around the world.

PRAYERS: HOPE IN ADVENT

Please continue to pray for all those who have been affected by the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, last week. Pray that the people of the United States may work for a solution to the gun violence that has harmed so many families.

MEDIA: A LOOK AT HIV AND AIDS WITH SHANNON TRILLI

Shannon Trilli, director of Global Health Initiatives for UMCOR, helps the church examine its role in AIDS-related stigma and encourages leaders, pastors, and advocates to step up and speak out about the disease, in this week’s edition of A Look at HIV and AIDS.

RESOURCES: CHRISTMAS SHOPPING WITH UMCOR

In the final days before Christmas, consider giving a gift that will make a difference by purchasing an alternative gift through UMCOR’s gift catalog. You can provide food to a child, give a storm-stricken family assistance, and cover people vulnerable to malaria with a mosquito net.

Also available through UMCOR are gift sets that support fair trade. These sets include fair-trade, coffee, chocolate, or tea and a candle made by a refugee in the United States. The special sets include the following: Holiday Cheer, A Peaceful Moment, and Start the Day Right.

UMCOR provides emergency relief in many areas of the world. To find out more about UMCOR's ministries, please visit umcor.org. You can donate to any project by placing a contribution in the offering plate at a local United Methodist church; by sending a check to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068; or by calling 1-800-554-8583, where credit card donations are accepted. You can also give online by clicking any of the "DONATE" links or make a $10 donation anytime by texting “UMCOR” to 80888. UMCOR is exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States and qualifies for the maximum charitable contribution deduction by donors.

And, please pray for those who are hungry, displaced, sick or in poverty because of these and other natural and human-made disasters, and for the workers who minister to them.

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United Methodist Committee on Relief
General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church
Room 1520, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115
Voice Phone: 1-212-870-3816; FAX: 1-212-870-3624
Email: umcor@umcor.org
Web: http://www.umcor.org/
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