October 19, 2020 | The OIMC has been very fortunate to have received funding from organizations inside and outside of The United Methodist Church for COVID-19 relief.
The Native American Community Response Fund was the first to send a grant to strengthen outreach to families in need.
“We were able to give funds to local churches and areas of OIMC that are further away such as Dallas Indian UMC, Wichita and Lawrence, Kansas to support food banks,” said the Rev. David Wilson, assistant to the Bishop of the OIMC.
“In addition, our churches were able to purchase food and snack packs for children who were at home during the pandemic and they were able to provide utility assistance to families in OIMC.”
Thirty local pastors and lay missioners received a one-time grant thanks to the West Ohio Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church through their Native American Ministry Sunday Funds.
One of the larger grants came from Perkins School of Theology through the Luce Foundation. Due to the pandemic, the homeless community continues to grow in Oklahoma City. Funds were used to purchase backpacks with necessities such as blankets, socks, flashlights and toiletry items for 72 persons.
Most recently we purchased Personal Protection Equipment including masks, water bottles, and hand sanitizer for Native children returning to school through a grant from the General Board of Global Ministries.Those funds came from the Native American Ministries Sunday Fund.
In addition, OIMC has delivered 6,000 school kits to area schools and tribal communities that were made available from the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
“We are blessed with our connectional network within the denomination and the many great organizations beyond who have allowed us to serve our Native community in this time of need,” said Wilson.
