By the Rev. John Oda
Aug. 3, 2020 | SAN FRANCISCO (UM News)
About four months ago, the Asian American Language Ministry Plan began to hear about some urgent needs that churches were facing because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The plan’s committee quickly came together and created the AALM COVID-19 Resiliency Fund. As soon as the resiliency fund was launched, grant applications began to pour in from all corners of the country.
The Asian American Language Ministry Plan is one of the six National Ethnic Plans of The United Methodist Church. This plan works with all of the Asian American United Methodist churches across the U.S. to support and strengthen their ministries.
One COVID-19 Resiliency Fund grant went to the Laotian and Thai community in the Upper New York Conference. The Rev. Sonexay Chanthasone, or Pastor Sean as is he also known, heard about the fund early on and knew he had to apply for a grant to help his church members.