Women’s Division President Shares Mission Experience in Opening Address
by BARBARA WHEELER *
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Women's Division president Kyung Za Yim reflected on a recent trip to Cambodia as an Ubuntu Explorer in her opening address to directors, guests and staff at the Women's Division annual meeting Oct. 6 in Stamford, Conn.Ms. Yim said she and other participants saw first-hand the context of mission outside of the United States through the Women's Division's Ubuntu Explorers program.
"The suffering and the poverty of the Cambodian people that I have seen are beyond words," Ms. Yim said. "It is a country rich in natural and cultural beauty, but it is a country that has been devastated by the insidious war of the rich and the powerful both from inside and outside the country.
"In the dumpsites where children scavenge for anything to fill their stomachs, our missionaries were doing fantastic work. It brought me to tears when they said, 'Mission is love in action. Mission is to love our neighbors as ourselves.' When I heard that, I knew to the core of my being why I am a member of United Methodist Women."
Ms. Yim recalled the Women's Division's process of transition over the past year. She emphasized the continued passion of directors, officers and staff during a time of budget and staff cuts. Her mission experience and the current reality of the Women's Division reveal opportunities for God to be at work.
"We have a great opportunity before us," she said. "With less, we can always do more because we become more focused on what we are about. Whatever challenges are before us, it may be God's blessings in disguise if we are willing to view it that way."