Short Term US-2 Mission Service

For those young adults ages 20-30 and are looking for a way to live out your faith commitment through peace and justice, then the US-2 program may be for you.

US-2s are commissioned missionaries. They serve in a variety of settings such as Nome Community Center, Nome, Alaska; Samaritan House of Atlanta, Georgia; United Campus Ministries, Fargo, North Dakota; Christ UMC Church of the Deaf, Baltimore, Maryland; the David and Margaret Home, LaVerne, California in the US as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These variety of settings are church-related or ecumenical organizations that engage in the alleviation of human need and the strengthening of poor communities.

Over the years, a great number of US-2s have gone on to long-term missionary service or become clergy or lay leaders in the church.

Our own Jennifer Battiest, pastor assigned to Billy Hooton and Clinton and a former US-2, states that the US-2 program is about community. She says that the US-2 program puts together a “class” of young people who want to be in mission with the church. “First we became a community then we were sent out into different communities around the United States to learn to be in community with others. We were sent to learn to live out the idea of being in mission for the church. I was sent to Robeson County Church and Community Center in Lumberton, North Carolina. While there, I learned that being in mission meant more than giving to people who came to the center but about receiving as well. To reach out and care for others and to let them reach out and care for me in return because we all struggle and need to feel the presence of God in our lives. I learned that being in mission is a way of life not just a one-time summer trip; it is a way of thinking that dictates the way you live out your life,” says Jennifer.

There is still time for young adults between the age of 20 and 30 to apply for short term mission service in the US-2 program of the United Methodist Church starting in August, 2008.

The deadline for the 2008-2010 term is February 1, 2008. Interviews will take place in March and April.

A bachelor’s degree or equivalent life experience is required to take part in the US-2 program, which is the oldest of the
short-term young adult mission service opportunities offered through the General Board of Global Ministries, the mission agency of the denomination.

Training prior to service will take place in New York City during the summer.
For additional information go online to http://new.gbgm-umc.org/connections/youth, select the US-2 application link in the lower right corner, or you may contact Alycia Capone at acopone@gbgm-umc.org.