Bishop Ough: The essentials—What I have learned from Southeast Asia
View photos of Southeast Asia trip here
Char and I have just returned from my last official trip to Southeast Asia as the episcopal leader of the United Methodist Missions in Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. The Council of Bishops will soon designate two other bishops to oversee these missions—one for Vietnam and one for Thailand and Laos.
Photo: Char Ough visits with children in Southeast Asia. Photo by Melissa Hinnen, Global Ministries.
This is a difficult, but necessary, transition for me. My new responsibilities as president-elect of the Council of Bishops (I will become president in May 2016) and my first priority as resident bishop of the Dakotas-Minnesota Area simply make it impossible to continue to also provide leadership in Southeast Asia.
During my visit, there were tender goodbyes and some expressions of anxiety about what the future holds. I have grown to love the people of Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. I have deep appreciation and respect for our pastors who serve these missions at great sacrifice and often personal risk of persecution and imprisonment. I have formed wonderful partnerships with each of our seven General Board of Global Ministries missionaries serving in the region.
In the midst of the emotional leave-taking, and in response to generous and insistent invitations to visit them, I did promise to return. (Every place Char and I have been privileged to serve has found a home in our hearts, and it is good and important to return home from time to time.) These are promises I plan to keep, either in support of the newly assigned bishops, or as part of Volunteers in Mission Teams from the Dakotas-Minnesota Area.
