Journeys
If your VIM team is looking for volunteers, contact the VIM Coordinator, Michelle Schwartzman at vim@susumc.org to add your mission journey opportunity here.
April 26 – May 3, 2025
Tucson, Arizona
Due to popular demand the Immigration Immersion Journey has two additional spots open. We have room for one male and one female, first come first serve. Please respond as soon as possible if interested.
Partnering with Arizona Justice for our Neighbors (AZJFON), join the Susquehanna Conference VIM team for an Immigration Immersion Journey. We will hear from Arizona Justice for our Neighbors (JFON grew out of the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s commitment to refugees and immigrants, Pima County Medical Examiner, and The Inn of Southern Arizona (United Methodist run program for asylum seekers). We will tour Nogales, Sonora, Mexico led by Border Community Alliance and take a trip into the desert with Humane Borders or the Tucson Samaritans. We will learn about the immigration crisis with the intention of conveying that knowledge to our churches, ministries, and circles so as to support the relief efforts.
Must be 18 years old or older and have a valid US Passport. Limited spots available. Read the Jan 2024 LINK about our 2023 journey (scroll to page 6). Cost will be about $1,000-1,200 plus lunch and dinner on our own.
Contact Michelle Schwartzman at vim@susumc.org if you are interested in learning more.
Join us in South central Mexico for a 10 day Study Mission trip with “Give Ye Them To Eat” – a rural development mission of the Methodist Church of Mexico and the General Board of Global Ministries.
Teams from Central PA and Susquehanna Conference have been making a difference in the rural sector of Mexico for 30 years. Working with GBGM missionaries, Nan McCurdy and her husband Miguel Mairena Aragon, we will experience the culture and the working lives of our Mexican brothers and sisters. We visit the city of Puebla, then spend most of our time near the small town of Tlancualpican where the Tree of Life Training Center is located.
The areas we travel in are safe, the food is great, and the water is bottled. Accommodations are comfortable with a hotel in Puebla and dormitories at the training center, hot showers and Wi-Fi.
Dates: October 4-13 or November 8 - 17, 2024
Cost: $1,100 plus roundtrip airfare from Harrisburg to Mexico City (currently around $800)
(Get a group together and do some fundraising!)
Qualifications: Good health, ability to walk two miles (high altitude, hot climate, lots of walking); open mind; ages 12-18 with a parent; 19-??; no special skills needed
Contact Rev. Marian Hartman, mhartman@susumc.org, 814-441-0235 for more information and an application.
Check out www.gytte.org and this video by Jack Meyers, a recent participant
To schedule a volunteer team for 2025, please contact our Volunteer Registrar, Eufemia Romero, by phone at 505-753-7221, ext. 210 or by email at: eromero@mccurdy.org.
Phone volunteers are the first line of responders who lend an ear and record their needs. This vital work helps organize information that is provided to relief organizations and disaster teams, allowing them to reach the survivors and meet their needs much quicker.
Phone volunteering is a great COVID-safe way to do meaningful service and training will be provided. If you have a phone and a computer with internet access, you can participate in the important mission opportunity from the comfort of your home.
Contact Doug Hoy, Conference Disaster Response Coordinator, if you are interested in serving, call (717) 766-7441, extension 3402, or email - drc@susumc.org include "Crisis Cleanup" in the subject line.
Mission Central (https://missioncentral.org/) is looking for mission volunteers to fill a variety of roles within the organization. Volunteer opportunities are flexible and accommodate almost all physical abilities. Volunteers can volunteer once a week, once a month, or at any interval they choose. There are opportunities in the warehouse and in the office, as well as internship opportunities. Please contact missioncentral@missioncentral.org or call 717-766-1533 for more information.
Projects could include:
- Kit creation/verification
- Donation door management
- Donation pickups in the box truck
- Item sorting
- Resource packing/loading
- Outdoor clean-up
- Communications Intern (create content, conduct interviews, draft impact stories, assist with additional Mission Central communications initiatives)
- Marketing Coordinator (recruit, educate and retain volunteers, cultivate collaborations between corporations and Mission Central, create HUB reporting plan, assist with additional Mission Central marketing efforts)
- Program Intern (run varying programs related to outreach, outreach education and disaster recovery, create and facilitate new programs, cultivate collaborations between other nonprofits and Mission Central, track growth, opportunity and successes)
VIEW TEAM OPENINGS
This is the most up-to-date information VIM Inc has regarding current team openings and various mission opportunities, however we cannot guarantee that all opportunities are still available.
Please contact the team leader for the latest information.
Flo Waybright
Conference Secretary, Global Ministries
waybright5@comcast.net
Deb Currinder
Disaster Response Coordinator
drc@susumc.org
Michelle Schwartzman
Volunteers In Mission Coordinator
vim@susumc.org