Author Archives: ECRD DistrictUWF

An Evolution of Gratitude

By K Stone – Almaden Hills UMC, San Jose – El Camino Real District – CA NV Conference United Methodist Women

In 1869, a small group of women in Boston raised enough money to send the first Methodist missionaries to help change the lives of women and children in India. One of those missionaries was Isabella Thoburn, a teacher who built a girls’ school later named for her. Isabella Thoburn College, in Lucknow, northern India, is now a highly-reputed school associated with Lucknow University.

Not too many years later, a young woman – my mother, Eileen Betty Hakim Townsley – attended and graduated from Isabella Thoburn College. This was the beginning of her life-long passion for education, advocacy, service & leadership.

Mom graduated at the top of her class in education and economics.  As a high school Principal, she had been groomed to be the next President of Isabella Thoburn College, when she met my father, her “prince-charming”.  She made the difficult decision, with the help of her Bishop, to leave the path of Isabella Thoburn, educator, and join the world of Global Methodist missions, service, and life as a minister’s wife.  

My mother was molded by her parents, her mother being one of the first Christian women doctors in India and father being a second generation Christian.  Both were active lay leaders in their church.  Throughout her life, she was an epitome of leadership, mentoring & activism for the W.S.C.S organization in India, including being a Board member of the Bible Society and an advocate for the Indian Methodist church. 

My recollections of Mom were of holding leadership training events in large outdoor meeting tents.  She travelled to villages to connect with women, to teach about the goodness of Jesus and advocacy for women & children.  With gavel in hand, she led the ladies to organize service projects.  The W.S.C.S. ladies supported church “melas” for fundraising events.  As a child, I had a special job….to help welcome the ladies!

My sister, Colleen, and I are blessed to be direct products of the work & intentions of the Boston women in 1869, for the establishment of Isabella Thoburn College, and of the many leaders and teachers who have spent a lifetime to nurture & guide young women to their full potential. 

I believe God’s world is amazingly connected, for perfect purposes!  My heart is filled with gratitude for the direct legacy I have with the vision of the United Methodist Women, thru my mother, from Isabella Thoburn and the forward-thinking women of 1869.

Learn more about the legacy of Isabella Thoburn here.

“Finding Jesus at the Border: Opening Our Hearts to the Stories of Our Immigrant Neighbors”

Book review by Carolyn Bircher, Reading Program Coordinator

As Californians, we grapple with the complex issues of immigration.  It is heart wrenching to consider life challenges so severe that they motivate people to leave everything they know in order to take a long, dangerous journey to a land that likely won’t welcome them.

Julia Fogg is a pastor and New Testament scholar who has been serving immigrant families in Southern California for a number of years.  In her book, “Finding Jesus at the Border,” she devotes a chapter to each of these topics:

  • Fleeing without Papers 
  • Border-wall mentalities
  • Seeking Asylum at the US Border
  • Various vantage points regarding borders
  • Behind prison walls
  • Standing before ICE

Fogg tells stories of people she’s met who have faced these issues.  Each story is juxtaposed with a Bible story.  Seeing a Guatemalan mother next to Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt, or a father being held in an ICE facility next to Paul writing letters from prison, helped deepen my empathy for my new neighbors.

Fogg encourages us to step out of our comfort zones and cross social, ethnic and religious borders, just as Jesus did.  The last chapter gives practical ideas for how we can help our new neighbors feel welcomed and secure.  Some libraries offer this book through Hoopla to be downloaded to a mobile device for reading.   It counts for the “Education for Mission” category of the UMW Reading Program.

Korean UMW contribute 200 UMCOR Hygiene Kits

By Katherine Kim

United Methodist Women from Korean UMC of Santa Clara Valley assemble hygiene kits for UMCOR relief and education programs.

If you were in a disaster, had to suddenly leave your home without any personal belongings, and stores were not open for business, how would you take care of your basic hygiene needs?

The United Methodist Committee on Relief has developed standard hygiene kits, which provide basic necessities to people who have been forced to leave their homes because of human conflict or natural disaster.  Hygiene kits are also used as learning tools in personal hygiene, literacy, nutrition, and cooking classes. 

The UMW group of Korean UMC of Santa Clara Valley assembled 100 UMCOR hygiene kits, and sent the kits to the UMCOR Sager Brown Depot in Baldwin, Louisiana in September, 2021.   After the first shipment was sent to UMCOR, a group of Korean United Methodist Church women donated enough money to make another 100 hygiene kits, which we sent to the UMCOR Depot later that same month.

We were all very happy to do the work to help those who need the hygiene kits, and it was a good chance to get together during this time of Covid.

The contents of UMCOR Hygiene Kits are:

  • One hand towel 
  • One washcloth
  • One comb
  • One toenail or fingernail clipper
  • Bath-size soap (3 oz. bar or larger)
  • One adult tooth brush
  • 10 adhesive bandages
  • One one-gallon size resealable bag

We also include a check for the total amount of hygiene kits times $2 per kit, for the cost of tooth paste and shipping to Sager Brown.

More information about UMCOR Hygiene Kits can be found at https://umcmission.org/umcor-hygiene-kit/.

From the President: Sharing the Journey

K Stone, Outgoing President, El Camino Real District United Methodist Women

Dear sisters,

It has been a very special highlight of my life to belong to the San Jose District, changed to El Camino Real District United Methodist Women, Leadership Team!

My heart is overflowing with gratitude at this time.  I want to share a journey —

  • Say ‘YES’ to the invitation to attend….UMW accepts us just as we are.
  • Keep saying ‘YES’.
  • Invite a friend.
  • Keep inviting friend/s …. Someone said it took an invitation repeated 6 or 7 times before she said ‘YES’!
  • Step outside the comfort circle…. Baby-steps are OK.
  • Reach out, connect with new sisters.
  • Say ‘YES’ some more.
  • Share stories, ideas, and thoughts.
  • Listen, giving other sisters space to share.
  • Learn, Grow, Laugh, Praise God!
  • Repeat over & over & in any sequence …. Enjoy the journey of United Methodist Women!

Thank you for giving me …. Friendship, Laughter, Spirituality, Overcoming Hurdles, Adventures, Self-awareness, Learning more, and, led by the Spirit, you’ve enriched my life immensely!

With Love & Gratitude ~
K Stone

P.S. See my personal “back story” in the article “An Evolution of  Gratitude.”