Bishop invites Linworth to take a leadership role on Laos ministry

After reviewing the status of the United Methodist Church’s mission in Laos and laying out a number of priorities at a dinner with members of Linworth United Methodist Church, Bishop Bruce Ough shared his vision for our congregation’s role in the ministry in Laos.  “I want Linworth to be the vanguard church rallying others to the ministry in Laos.”

God is doing great things in Laos through the United Methodist Church.  Currently there are 65 United Methodist Churches across seven provinces in Laos.  Forty pastors, including two women, as well as 32 lay leaders guide the local congregations that serve 5,048 members.

In order to move the ministry forward as quickly as possible Bishop Ough wants to continue to organize the people and congregations working with the Laotian mission.  “We need to create a roundtable on the mission in Laos to bring together all the partners who are working there.  We need to make sure everything is coordinated and covered.”

As a first step, the Bishop asked the local missionaries to make a list of everyone involved.  “The list was five or six pages long and Linworth was on every page,” he said.

After the roundtable, which could happen as early as this spring, Bishop Ough listed these priorities:

• Pastoral training for Laotian church leaders
• The establishment of a Vocational and Language School
• The identification and support of a second missionary or missionary couple
• Development projects to help prosper Laotian families.

You can be part of this ministry in a number of ways.  Consider:

• purchasing the Alternative Gift Market items supporting development in Laos (December 4-18 at the church)
• joining our April 2012 mission to Laos (contact Pastor Rae Lynn or Joel Rabb)