Go Serve with Global Mission Fellows
Episode 601
Hannah Hanson from the United Methodist Global Ministries agency joins Carl to talk about a way for young people to go to places around the world to serve others. The Global Mission Fellows program stands in a long tradition of young people exploring their faith and calling through service with communities everywhere.
SUMMARY
Recent Global Mission Fellows training in Kenya.
Hannah Hanson from the United Methodist Global Ministries agency joins Carl to talk about a way for young people to go to places around the world to serve others. The Global Mission Fellows program stands in a long tradition of young people exploring their faith and calling through service with communities everywhere.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction to Global Mission Fellows Program
04:56 Training and Preparation for Service
10:46 Nuts and Bolts of the Program
16:37 Final Thoughts and Call to Actio
TRANSCRIPT
Carl (00:05)
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Uproar Podcast. My name is Carl Thomas Gladstone and I get a chance to be the, you know clergy in residence with a bunch of mischief makers in Detroit, Michigan at Motor City Campus Ministry. Today, we're really glad to have Hannah Hanson with us, who's going to talk to us a little bit about the Global Mission Fellows Program. After the last couple of weeks.
We wanted to be sure that we were telling the story of all the great ways that people can go and serve in different places. And Hannah's got some good word about that. Hannah, thanks for being with us.
Hannah Hanson (00:38)
Awesome. It's so fun to be with Mischief Makers So I wish I was in Detroit, but so glad to join you today, Carl. I'm Hannah Hansen. I'm actually based around DC right now, but work with global ministries based in Atlanta for the United Methodist Church. So we're the mission arm of the United Methodist Church, connecting all the different people across the denomination who want to do things missionally and serve directly in communities.
I'm honored to be here. I've learned a lot through my service with global ministries and also realizing that God is already present all these different places around the world and how do we meet God and that holy mischief that is already happening in the different places around the
Carl (01:22)
But we love that. Many, many years ago now, I was walking past the chaplain's office at Albion College between my freshman and sophomore year, and I saw this trifold yellow piece of paper that just said, you can serve in the summertime with global ministries. And I probably called the number at that point. Maybe there was an email. But I had the opportunity to do what was then a summertime placement program.
The overall helping young people find places for missional service has been going on for a long time. Will you tell us a little bit about the history of the programs?
Hannah Hanson (01:56)
Sure, so today we're called Global Mission Fellows and really we revamped some of those names in 2012 to 2014 because we did have such a global nature to the program. But the programs actually stem from the 1950s. So the Methodist Church has been doing work and trying to get people into community for a really long time. At that point, it was giving young adults the opportunity to serve for three years in another context.
with other young adults to see what was happening around the world. Our US 2 track was also sort of started then by our pioneering women. The first class was sent in 1951 and they actually desegregated where they were being trained. So it's not just going and trying to cross boundaries in different communities and women saying, yeah, we have a lot to serve. We've got a lot to give. A lot of them were more educated than maybe local pastors in rural settings where they were serving.
And there was a lot of tension that also came from that. And as they were working through civil rights, as they were more open to integrating races and the church wasn't always quite ready for that. So I think often we see in society, communities can be in different places than the government, than the church, than the world is really ready for. And so I think it's really cool that I'm able to be in this job that I'm in.
because of the people that came before and planted those seeds and organized and used strategy so that the community can still be worked through. In the 1970s, what is now our international tracks kind of predecessor, the Mission to Intern program that we thought like interns wasn't a great enough name for them because they're not just making coffee. I hope they find good coffee where they are, but that's not just the purpose.
But really was sent from the United States to go and see what was happening around the world to our partners because the US was involved in so much of the economic resources, post-war resources, and sometimes for good or bad. So young adults would leave for a year and a half and then they'd come back to the US to advocate for those communities that they really saw firsthand what was happening in grassroots settings. So also kind of a cool background to say that
hey, our voices matter and young people are really strategically placed to go into other communities because you don't go in with all the resources, you don't go in with all the knowledge, you're kind of allowed to see the day to day in a way that maybe older adults going to serve in mission wouldn't get to see, right? Going in as a learner actually in some ways gives you more access.
Carl (04:29)
Yeah. So , the other piece from my life that I thought was wild, my dad worked with a local Michigan migrant ministries when he was in college. So similar kind of summertime, go and do some good things. He described to me the training that he received, which was, here is a notebook that you can like write people's names and, you know, addresses down. Here is a car. Now go find,
places where people are doing migrant labor across Michigan and do whatever they need you to do. Goodbye.
Hannah Hanson (05:05)
Did that training work? We wouldn't invest so much in training.
Carl (05:09)
Yeah, you know, I think it was a different era and back in that day he was really working on some really basic needs and was he's getting people groceries give him rides places and there was a You know, I think back then there was a sense of like well, you just got to go do it. What is what is it like to You're preparing folks to go and to serve to what what elements of that? Are you do you like telling people about?
Hannah Hanson (05:32)
Yeah, so this is where I love getting to journey with young adults for two years, right? So first, I think the benefit is you're already, being trained in a cohort model. So Global Mission Fellows come in, they interview with the program, they apply to the program. We kind of see their passion and we want to know that they're resilient enough to move to a totally different place, right? To take a plane, to cook for yourself, to learn what's going on.
in a new place and that you're open to some of those differences to learn a new language, right? So we're kind of looking for all of that because we want to make sure it's healthy for the fellow, it's healthy for the partner receiving them. The Peace Corps actually came to us to look at how to do this program and the difference that we have, like Peace Corps you kind of like go and do your own project in this rural setting, make sure the US looks good, those kind of things. We don't want to young adults without any like connection to the local partnership because
then we get into the colonial models of mission and ministry that have made the world so messy in a lot of ways. So we really want local leaders to help give our young people that orientation to see, this is my friend, meet them, they're good with me, which for me was really important in South Africa. So I served in the program. I'm in South Africa and we're going in to help bring food to mainly grandmothers that are taking care of kids whose parents have died from HIV.
and some other different pieces. So we're going in and everybody in my office like would dress up on these days because it was like official work. Well if you're going into locations as a white person in South Africa all dressed up they thought I was from the power company right? They thought I was coming to cut off the lines that they have from each other maybe they're illegal lines and so was like let's shut this door in this white lady's face.
And so I changed how I looked, right? And my friends were like, no, no, no, she's with us. Like she's good. She just wants to give you these food parcels, check on the kids, check on you. So I had like a very different access than you would just like traveling as a lone American with other Americans because my friends were South African. They knew the communities they were serving in and we could figure out how we could really be there when somebody died, be there.
in these really big life moments, along with the work that we were trying to do and trying to transform so people at sort of the most dire need could have a more sustainable way of living. So that's some of on the ground training and just purpose. I didn't answer your question, but I wanted to give you a story. But in terms of training, what I love is we have to know who we are before we're going to go serve someone else, right? So we do some identity work, right?
What are the power structures? how do we show up in a space so that we can show up well for someone else and listen and be healthy and whole? And so I love our training, but what we get the most is learning from and hearing from really diverse voices of other young people from all around the world in one room, right? Hearing from, learning from each other. You know, we've got people that travel six hours by bus to interview with us.
Carl (08:26)
Mm-hmm.
Hannah Hanson (08:32)
And then we've got other people that have the greatest connection and the greatest speeds in the world and know more about technology than we do, right? To do it on Zoom. we really benefit from pushing each other. And so we kind of use the common language, right? The Bible has been translated in all these different places. We can look and come together with that. We've got some fellows that really have sort of a political or a sociological background that they can dive in to some of our training sessions on the social principles, on why we can act and work for justice.
Carl (09:01)
Mm-hmm.
Hannah Hanson (09:01)
as a group of young people to be grounded in that. And then some practical things like, you know, we want you to know what to do and how to get money and do reimbursements, right? Get the money that you're paid back. We want you to know how to get your stipend. We want to make sure that you've got some of those practical pieces that you like figure out how to use our app if there is an emergency, right? We want to make sure you're protected and looked out after. And so,
Carl (09:11)
Yeah.
Hannah Hanson (09:27)
that kind of runs the gamut from getting through the biblical, the scriptural basis for why we do what we do. How do we deconstruct some of our preconceptions so that we can serve better? And then we don't do it just once, right? We're in continuing education for the whole two years, so we can learn from the young adults too. Where is God moving? How do we strategize, make change? What are we learning from our climate justice placement sites, right? Where are they asking?
the church to change their policies and that we can make some structure. What are we learning from our health placement sites so that it's not just in that one community that's fed, but that we're feeding each other's communities and really getting the best ideas out there and seeing where they cross paths.
Carl (10:11)
Yeah. So tell us a little bit about the folks who are serving now, where are they coming from, where are they going to, how does it work these days?
Hannah Hanson (10:18)
Yeah, these days we have about 35 countries that people are coming from. So I'm always learning on different basis, learning how different things work in different places and just open to that. And we have people that are just like, they get it, right? I'm all for young people right now because I think they're more straightforward maybe than we were when we were there and know what's happening. And then they're working with different partners, right?
We've got people with great communication skills and they're working with one of our partners, St. Paul in Columbia, and they're doing radio programming still to get information to youth and women around their rights and to really promote gender justice in society. They're using music and their radio program has actually left space for all of our young adults, have come up with topics that are really important at all their placement sites. So they're giving us a spot for an hour and by us it's led by the Global Mission Fellows.
every two weeks, once a month, to share their ideas really globally, right? So it's coming from this like Colombian radio news source and our really cool partners there that are enabling that. We're working with like youth and people that have different issues and access to being able to get solid jobs because of some of the poverty and inflation that's really been impacting the whole world as we see rise of costs and how that can lead to
drug use that can lead to alcohol in our churches and in our communities. And so we've got people that are serving in the Caribbean. just have to go to a trip for some of our partners at the Methodist Church in the Caribbean in Americas. And somebody's like, wow, that must be really tough to have your placement site in Barbados for two years. And I was like, well, if you like the beach and not like a really huge thing, it's not the worst place to be.
But there are some real concerns that communities face even some of these tourist destinations that we're part of and so two years really gives you a chance to make those relationships go to the beach regularly if you want Spend some time there, but also get to know different populations. I mentioned Climate justice so we're working with the pan-african climate justice alliance out of Kenya, but they're working with a lot of different groups in Africa So how do religious communities come together and recognize?
We've got to activate our communities to change some of our policies, change the way we operate. If we want to be good stewards of this earth and if we want to keep living in the ways that we want to do. And you mentioned migrants. Migration is really tough around the world right now. It means our fellows have a tough time getting different places. The U.S. passport is still very strong, easier to move people around, but there's a lot of pushback and we're seeing that in governments.
Carl (12:58)
Hmm.
Hannah Hanson (13:05)
in the US, but all in our partners around the world where people are tired of a lack of resources potentially. And so there's a push back against migrants. And so many of our church partners are really trying to help still make space so that people get adequate services, that people are living with human dignity in these different places. And so a lot of our placement sites in some way.
We'll also deal with migrant rights, migrant populations, working with children that are integrating into society, long time positions like in Germany that are really working on how to accompany young people learning a new language, learning a new place to be, and how to really support their families as they do it. So the stories are really different in the different countries that people are in, but they're very human stories of how do we come together and meet one another.
in some of those most basic times and then in some of the high level strategic places too. And our young adults are coming alongside with a lot of experience or a lot of passion, right? You don't need to be a migration expert to care and listen to the story of somebody that's a new migrant somewhere. And a lot of times our fellows, because they're migrants themselves, can resonate in ways, again, even the local community couldn't, and open their eyes in different ways.
Carl (14:22)
Before we talk about how these mission service kind of opportunities around the globe affect the next steps, what happens after those two years for young adults, can you talk a little bit about the nuts and bolts? Where do people live? Do they have to raise money before they go? Do they get to take a suitcase? What happens if I get malaria? You know, that kind of stuff. What kind of pops to mind when you think of the nuts and bolts?
Hannah Hanson (14:44)
Nuts and bolts. We want to pay people, right? Like we don't want people, only the people that can fundraise all of the money to go to be the only people that can go, right? So we want to make sure that people are paid enough that they themselves can eat, but they're not paid so much more that they're making more than the people they're serving, right? So housing is covered by global ministries or our partners. And that could look like an apartment, a studio apartment. That could look like
living on top of where the office building is, right? There may be an apartment that you rent there. It could be living with multiple other people, but we want to make sure you have your own room, you got a place to cook, you can lock your door and that you're safe enough, right? So there are some protections that we have there. And if you're living with someone else or a partner, that those are really well respected for people's safety. So that's all covered. Health insurance was covered. That was huge for me in the program, right? I knew I had a medication that I would need to take.
So health insurance is covered and we've got a nurse that's available 24-7 and pastoral counselors that we connect everyone with because mental health is just also really important especially when you're making that many changes. So we really want to invest in that. And so then we play for your air for it there for any of the trainings that we do. There's a lot of things that are online as well so access to both online connection.
and in-person connection. So we pay for people's airfare there, help with visa support and figuring out how to apply to get to go there, and some of those like very logistical pieces. You actually apply to the program. We match you with the organizations that apply to us based on prayerful discernment, but then you actually interview directly with that placement site. So it's not like you're going, you could say, hey, this really does not work for me, or hey, I want to be stretched, this does work. And so we ask both of them. So people get to meet together.
and then have about six months to get to placement site while we're doing training and in case of uses take a little while. So we try to take care of all of these things. You're not going to get rich. We still want some simplicity values. So there is that. But you're not going to just have to like dive into your savings. In fact, we ask people to live off of that stipend and not use your savings to really be in solidarity with the people that you're going to serve. So those basic payments, they're all covered.
And then the organization should cover any workspace for you. If there's work-related travel, a computer, those types of things to be able to do what you do. have agriculturists, right? They don't need a computer, maybe they need tools to be able to work in a farm. So it really depends on the skills. And we really take lots of different skill levels, right? So we want people, again, that are mature enough to move forward and go out that feel called in some way, right? We don't want to just escape things.
to go and serve in another community. We also want to be able to be ready and dive in. So there's a lot of that practicality. And like you've said, this history has been here a really long time. We always think about how we could shift and do this better. But the history, and this has worked for a long time. And so we love to continue what's been working and how it's been transformational in people's lives.
Carl (17:56)
Tell us about some people that have gone through the program and where they've ended up. Maybe somebody came in thinking one way about their life next and these two years, their time made them go in a really different direction. Maybe somebody else that really confirmed the kinds of calling that they felt from a young age. Who pops to mind? Who could you tell us about?
Hannah Hanson (18:16)
There are a lot of people I should make sure I could like ask that I can use their name. So Jim Winkler, who's the head of the National Council of Churches is an alum of the program. And so really like that connecting that organizing working in church kind of politics has been there a long time. We have Katie Davis who went and served with migrant workers in the in Hong Kong, a lot of Filipino migrant workers saw cases that did not work out in the favor of their people.
came back and ended up going to law school and is now a lawyer from going into the program and seeing even when the law didn't work in favor of the domestic workers in Hong Kong, what is the power behind doing that work? We've got people that are pastors, but I think it's also just the whole life, right? And I think what I love about global ministries and my role in this space is we've got a lot of people that have gone into seminary from the program or already had gone through seminary that become pastors.
But that's not our goal, right? We have this Wesleyan tradition that you can be passionate, you can learn about this community development and use that anyway, right? Use that as a parent. Believe me, becoming a parent and trying to live into these values is much harder than it was these two years of service. But I think for everyone, how do you engage in community really well? We have people that are really great community organizers that have come out of this program. We've got people that are fostering
You know, at a young age, fostering a kid and like changing one kid's life and like focusing on that even though they may have a day job that's working for the government or doing something different. So I think we want to see where God's moving in your life and not tell you what to do, but help you think through it. Do some vocational discernment during this time. Talk to the other friends of yours that are making it happen. And I think what's going to happen now is there's less guaranteed sort of pay within ministry positions as we see these shifts.
and who's in ministry. And so there's also a lot of people that are looking at more entrepreneurial ways of being in ministry and how do you fundraise for that and how do you figure out what your community needs and a way to make it sustainable. So I think there's some really cool work that's going in there. Bishop Merrill was also in the program. So, you know, we have a lot of different people that are creative, but I think not just kind of that high level. I'm really inspired by
alumni that are going through the day to day that are social workers that are really willing to care about community and really willing to stay joyful and hopeful and grounded in their spirituality when things are tough in communities, when things are tough with laws and legislators, and use the networks that they've made while being in service to enhance their whole life.
Carl (21:01)
For you, your time, when you think back to the time that you served, what's the thing that keeps coming to mind that helps you even today?
Hannah Hanson (21:10)
I think I was really inspired, like I was supposed to be giving something, I was thinking about this and we had a farm and everyone was getting really tired. It was a six month training program, we're in South Africa, and people were like upset about weeding with me, right? Like who wants to keep weeding? But you had these like great conversations and there was a point I thought everyone was gonna revolt. Everyone was gonna be like, Hannah, I don't wanna do this anymore, I'm away from home, I'm homesick, all this stuff. And then they turned it around and they were like, but it must be even harder for you, you're so much farther from family.
Right. And so this point where I felt like I was like not going to be able to figure out how to lead or I had imposter syndrome, all of these things, people could care back with me. And I realized that I had a lot more in those spaces of solidarity to be with them. So honestly, some things fell apart while I was there too. And it's been the best professional training that I've had. Right. Sometimes things do fall apart or funding falls through and learning that we're resilient enough to work through it and to troubleshoot.
and to have honest and hard conversations has served me the rest of any of my work life. So I always say I learned the most from those two years and also I gained better questions, right? I don't think we have all the answers that maybe I set out to wanting to have, but I learned how to ask a lot better questions and what's my space and when is it my turn to make space for others.
Carl (22:30)
So we got some folks here in Detroit. They're getting ready to take some of their final exams, maybe graduate in December, maybe graduate in May. How do people find out more about the programs? How do they apply? What do they need to get in place in order to do so? Where would you send the eager young person who's looking to go and surf?
Hannah Hanson (22:49)
We'd love to talk to you directly. I know just going to a website isn't super exciting, but you can go to a website. If you go to umcmission.org slash gmf, you'll get taken to all of our information. And you'll also, we have some info sessions that are still happening. If you go to gmfellows at umcmission.org and send us an email, we'll always make sure that you can connect in with an alum. If there's a particular area of work, if health, if climate, if communications.
If different rights and work really stand out to you, we can connect you with a fellow that's doing that work and making sure that you can talk about it now. So explore early and often. We'd love to talk to you. We'd love you to fill out an application as a discernment process as well and just realize that you've got a lot of gifts and abilities beyond doing great on your final exams. You're going to do great. You've got this.
that you are gonna do great and the world really needs places where we can thrive and we can come together creatively and you probably have more of those ideas than you realize. So put yourself out there. I know it's a hard time right now. Ask those tough questions and we'd love it if you wanna do it with us. And if not, Carl's gonna help you find some other places and ways to do it. But there's so much to learn from being in a different community.
And we really welcome you to try to explore that with us.
Carl (24:12)
love it and I'm sure that people could make gifts if they went to that website that you mentioned as well. We'll put in the show notes so can find it easy.
Hannah Hanson (24:17)
You can and pray with one of these other young people. If this isn't something that you want to do, but you're passionate about someone, then do it. And some of our projects that have existed for a long time, we've got fellows that are coming from those projects and serving. So we're trying to flip on its head how resources work, but we could use those resources so we can keep sending people from all different backgrounds, especially from communities that.
don't have the ability to help somebody fundraise to go, we do ask that you are part of that. But if you go on that same page, you could pick a young adult to support or support the whole program.
Carl (24:54)
nice. Always nice to be able to kind of support somebody by name, particularly if they have their lovely faces right there to choose them. Hannah thanks so much for telling us about Global Mission Fellows at Motor City Campus Ministry and some of our in-person gatherings, our online discussion guides and things we're going to be focusing on all the different ways that people can go and serve. It's something that our faith calls us to and there's actually lots of great organizations that we're going to be featuring here to
to find your place to do that in the best way that works for you. Hannah, is there any kind of blessing that you send your folks out with at the end of training or as they get on the planes to go wherever they're gonna go?
Hannah Hanson (25:29)
We do, we try to do it based on kind of each person, but we sort of do a prayer of letting go. I don't have it memorized on here, but we use our hands so everyone can't see me. Do want me to work on that? Right, palms down, right? God grant us the ability to let go of that that is keeping us from connecting with you.
Carl (25:42)
Yeah, I'll follow you.
Hannah Hanson (25:51)
Pacing our palms up, God, let us receive your blessings and your grace as we move forward. On your head, bless the knowledge and the time that we've learned from one another. And on your heart, bless the stories and the people that make it possible to serve you. Amen.
Carl (26:11)
Amen. Thanks Hannah. Peace.
Hannah Hanson (26:14)
You're welcome.
