By General Board of Global Ministries
Two young adults from Holston Conference were among 29 missioniaries sent into service by the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries last week. The commission service was held at Interchurch Center Chapel in New York City on Aug. 12.
Elizabeth "Libby" Hurley will serve the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants in Hong Kong. Hurley recently relocated to East Bend, N.C., but calls Abingdon United Methodist Church and Holston Conference home.
Hurley told church leaders that she felt a call to service in late 2012 and began to search for ways to respond. A friend pointed her to the mission intern opportunity.
"God opened the door for me to follow, and I am very excited to embark on this journey," Hurley said.
Hurley has a degree in theatre and history from Emory & Henry College. Her work in Hong Kong is with both permanently relocated and temporary migrant workers. (Read her complete GBGM profile.)
Mission interns engage in a 25-month international program that includes 20 months in a foreign placement, two-and-a-half months in training and transition (or itineration), and a final two-and-a-half months in a special project or itineration in their home countries.
Molly Williams will serve Crossroads Urban Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Williams is a member at Mount Olivet United Methodist Church in Galax, Va.
Williams felt a call to mission in response to a trip to Nicaragua, where she took part in a feeding center in a city dump community. “I asked God to break my heart for what breaks his, and he did just that.”
She has a degree in religion and philosophy from Catawba College, Salisbury, N.C. Her work in Salt Lake City focuses on ministries with low-income individuals and families. (Read her complete GBGM profile.)
US-2 missionaries are young adults who serve two-year terms in the United States. Their work, often with the poor, integrates faith and justice as they learn from and walk with communities in their struggles to address systematic injustice and human suffering.
See also:
"Young adults offered the opportunity to 'become grace'" (GBGM, 8/15/13)
"Young adults go forth in mission" (UMCOM, 8/14/13)