Missouri Conference News Kreamer to Retire continued from page 1A


covenant relationship already existed between Missouri and Mozambique, and a new church- to-church covenant partnership program had just been established. The new partnerships, which had previously been handled through the bishop’s office, created the need for a new position. Kreamer was on staff at


Webster Hills UMC, and had never been to Africa when Ken Lutgen, who was pastor at Webster Hills and chair of the Mozambique task force, encouraged her to become Missouri’s mission- ary to Mozambique. A few days later she was on a plane on her way to Africa. On that first trip she visited about 30 churches in Mozambique. That was the first of what came to be an annual, or more if needed, journey to Mozambique for Kreamer. Kreamer started out as


a General Board of Global Ministries missionary through the 10/10/10 program. In 2002 Ezequiel Nhantumbo came onboard as the Missouri MI repre- sentative. A lot has changed in


Mozambique since Kreamer start- ed, with communications becom- ing much stronger. “Nearly all the pastors there


have cell phones now,” Kreamer said. “Even small pieces of infor- mation that Ezequiel can gain from a phone call makes coordi- nating hundreds of projects pos- sible.” Kreamer has also seen infra-


structure developments, most notably better roads, and more


ent in many ways, but they had three common denominators: 1. They loved Jesus. 2. The people in the pews could talk about their faith in beautiful, simple terms.


3. The leaders, pastors and lay people, have a laser-like focus for people outside of their walls.


After a thousand interviews,


the one thing I heard time and time again was that the hardest thing they did was to keep focused on the people outside the walls. “What’s holding us back? Jesus


has told us. We know we’re sup- posed to do it,” Reese said. She cited Jesus last words to his dis-


children in school. Likewise, there are more pastors with higher education, including seminary degrees. When the relationship was


first established between Missouri and Mozambique, the primary concern was that pastors and their families have sustenance for their very survival. Many were suffering from malnutrition. Now churches are working to become self-sup- porting, and some churches are meeting all of their basic needs from giving within their own con- gregations. Partnership covenants


have been formed between churches, groups and individu- als in Missouri with churches in Mozambique, and a covenant part- nership program was developed to support seminary students. Since this program started in 2004, there have been 156 seminary students supported by Missouri Conference partners, including 45 who are currently attending seminary. The United Methodist Church


has been growing in Mozambique. When Kreamer started there were 139 churches, currently there are 180. Tom Mitchell, chair of the


Mozambique Initiative, noted that Kreamer’s day often starts very early in the morning due to the time differences between Missouri and Mozambique, as she works with people in Mozambique via email and Skype, an Internet- based video chat service. He appreciates her faithfulness and diligence. “The Mozambique Initiative


Converge continued from page 1A


ciples in Matthew 28, when he commanded them to go forth and make disciples. She noted that we have heroes


in the Wesleys, Harry Denman, Saint Paul, and so many others, but these heroes shouldn’t hold back the rest of us by their great works. “It takes tiny steps at first to


become heroic,” she said. The Converge event also had time set aside for Pastor Leadership Development, or PLD, groups to meet. Karen Hayden, director of the Center for Pastoral Excellence, reported that 90 per- cent of the pastors in the Missouri Conference have participated in


some form of PLD. She said one request that she and Bob Farr have heard from people as they travel is that they need a way to stay involved in the PLD process after they’ve been reappointed to a dif- ferent part of the state, which may be in PLD 2 while they are ready for PLD 3. “To address that we’ve come up


with PLD Next, the next phase for anyone after you have taken PLD 1,” Hayden said. “In 2011 – 2012 we will have 200 pastors involved in PLD/peer mentoring through- out the conference.” PLD Next is also being re-


tuned to be more organic, and have year-long rather than month-


to-month goals. Next year


Converge will be September 11-13 at Wood’s Chapel in Lee’s Summit. The keynote speak- ers will be Mark Batterson and Shante Buckley. Kriston Killion will be the worship leader. To register go to www.the- converge.com.


has blossomed and been very fruitful under her coordination. Carol is a great communicator and motivator, and extraordi- narily organized and reliable (and persistent) in follow-through,” Mitchell said. “She has gone to Mozambique more times than I can count, and worked through more struggles with program operations than I could name. The Mozambique Initiative would be a shadow of what it is doing now without her skill and dedication. And, most of all for me, she has become a good friend and is fun to work with. She will be missed.” Max Marble, director of the


Office of Creative Ministries, agreed that Kreamer has been instrumental in building the Mozambique Initiative into what it is today. “The Mozambique Initiative


would not be the vital mission program that it has become without the leadership and organizational skills of Carol Kreamer,” Marble said. “Her cul- tural sensitivity and passion for building relationships bridging Mozambique and Missouri has enriched congregations in both countries.” Missouri Bishop Robert


Schnase has a strong appreciation for Kreamer’s work as well. “Carol Kreamer has been


a leader and bridge in the Mozambique Initiative from the beginning. Her passion for this ministry and keen organization and communication skills and her continuous perseverance and patience has blessed this ministry


September 30, 2011


7A


Carol Kreamer and Ezequiel Nhantumbo at the location of new church in Zimpeto.


tremendously,” he said. “I’ll miss Carol personally as a colleague in ministry but have every hope that the Mozambique Initiative will continue to be a blessing to people in Mozambique as well as churches in Missouri.” Through the years Kreamer


has been rewarded with stories of wells for safe water being drilled, new churches being built, men and women going into minis- try, and lives being changed as a result of the partnerships between Missouri and Mozambique. “Reading messages from


Mozambique with good news stories has been very rewarding,” she said. But perhaps the most reward-


ing experience Kreamer had in relation to Mozambique was trav- eling there with her 17-year old granddaughter, Celia Lamprecht, last April. “For her it was the experi-


ence of a lifetime…but she is just starting that lifetime, so it helps to frame the meaning of her life,” she said. “She experienced life in a


country that she never imagined. And she saw the church at work, with youth and beyond, and has great respect now for the youth of the United Methodist Church in Mozambique. She pumped water from a Missouri safe-water well. She slept under a net so that she would not get bitten by mosqui- toes at night. She learned the con- text of life in one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. All of that will go a long, long way through- out her life.” Kreamer does not like talking


about herself. She says, “The min- istry has never been about me – it has been about relationships of many, many people and churches, making the world a better place through Christ’s love and compas- sion. I like to think that I helped to connect them!” Kreamer is retiring so that she


can spend more time with her aging parents, her children, grand- children, and her husband, who retired in 2008. The process for hiring Kreamer’s replacement will be announced soon.


Karen Hayden and Jim Downing


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