Kentucky Missionaries

Kentucky has a connection with several missionaries all over the world.  Listed below are just a few.  To find out more about them and how you can help them in doing God's work follow their links. Download the Criteria for Submission of Mission Ministries for consideration to be included on the Pathways to Missions web page. 

Lynn & Sharon Fogleman

After ten years of medical missionary service in Maua Methodist Hospital in Kenya and fourteen years at Red Bird Clinic in Beverly, Kentucky, these two United Methodist family physicians have felt God’s call to serve as cross-cultural witnesses for Jesus Christ in the new country of South Sudan. They opened a Mission Society field in South Sudan in 2012, where they partner with the East Africa Conference of the United Methodist Church. They teach a Community Health Evangelism program in South Sudan, which has one of the poorest health care situations in the world. Their vision is to help train Sudanese community health workers to educate villagers in basic health practices. Lynn and Sharon expect these village health workers to pass on life-saving skills for many years to come. In relationship built through Community Health Evangelism, the Foglemans seek to make disciples of Jesus who will, in turn, become disciple-makers. Lynn and Sharon have three grown children.  For more information about the Foglemans you can go to their blog.

Mike & Sherri Morrissey

Mike and Sherri Morrissey, ordained elders in the Kentucky Annual Conference, serve as Directors of the Thailand Now.  They were the first UM Elders appointed to serve in Thailand. 

Thailand Now has four branches of ministry.

To learn more go to our blog at:  Blogspot 

You can also visit the Thailand Now website at thailandnow.org for more information.

Shelby Gillespie

Shelby Gillespie with the Thailand Methodist Mission as Director of the Blessing Home Isan Center.  Blessing Home Isan is located in a region where many young teens are sent by their parents to make money for their family by serving as sex workers in the brothels in the large cities like Pattaya.  Shelby administers the scholarship and education programs of Blessing Home Isan and provides spiritual support to the families of the children so they are able to remain in school and be safe from traffickers.

Please visit the Thailand Methodist Mission website at thailandmethodist.org for more information.

  Gulu Methodist Partnership, Inc. (GMPI)

In 2009, Gulu Methodist Partnership Inc (GMPI) began its work among the United Methodist Churches (UMCs) of Gulu, Northern Uganda following a devastating twenty year civil war between Joseph Kony's LRA rebels and the Ugandan army. The LRA destroyed villages, killed people and forced children into prostitution and warfare. The government herded villagers into government Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camps. Many died of disease and malnutrition, leaving thousands of orphans. In 2007 peace came to the region, and people returned to their villages. The UMC established in the IDP camps moved back to the villages to form five churches in Gulu.

GMPI is a 501c3 non-profit mission governed by a Board of Directors which include a physician, a judge, pastors and educators. GMPI partners with the Gulu district superintendent, pastors and churches to make disciples for Jesus and to minister to their respective communities. This is done with the approval of the East African Conference and under the guidance of the Gulu District church leadership. The Gulu District Superintendent and leaders have provided GMPI with exceptional fund accountability including receipts, progress reports and pictures. To find out more click here.

GMPI provides a monthly stipend for 15 pastors and church planters, as well as the District Superintendent. GMPI has purchased properties for churches, provided funds for micro-financing small business loans, purchased bicycles and motorcycles for leaders, and bibles and mosquito nets for church members. Recent initiatives include CHILDERO, which supports more than 60 vulnerable children with educational assistance, as well as spiritual formation, and the Water of Life ministry, which helps dig bore holes, and fix broken wells around the District. As of 2020, more than 50 wells have been repaired, providing thousands of people with access to clean water.

GMPI coordinates Volunteers In Mission (VIM) teams to serve alongside the Gulu brothers and sisters in construction, seminars, health care, and children's ministries. GMPI has collected funds to build the Gulu District Conference Center (GDCC) and currently, funds are being raised to complete the District Hospitality House.

To learn more about current actives and needs, visit Gulu Methodist Partnership Inc. or visit their Facebook page.

"Mr. X" in India

India sits squarely within the 10/40 window, an area of the world where the majority of unreached peoples live.  Out of the country’s 1.2 billion people, roughly 95% do not know Christ.  In fact, as a nation it has the largest number of unreached people in the world, unreached meaning that they have no active body of believers operating in their community, and few if any present to share with them the Good News of Jesus Christ.  It is my passion and one of the callings on my life to work in an area of the world where unreached peoples exist.  This is why God led me to India, to serve those Christian nationals who are in the minority, and to share the good news of Jesus Christ with neighbors, friends, and others who do not know Him. 

Returning to serve with a Christian counseling agency in a major city in India, I am committed to a five year term of service.  My background includes working as a licensed counselor for 8 years, as well previous experience overseas and advanced degrees in both theology and counseling.  I will be training pastors, lay persons and parachurch workers in Christian Counseling, providing counseling to nationals at the home office, and supervision to counselors desiring to grow in their skills. 

Discipleship opportunities available through teaching Christian counseling take on added significance in a country where few people are believers in Christ.  Conversations around topics like the Trinity, suffering and healing, and forgiveness and reconciliation are incorporated into greater understandings of counseling theory and technique.  Furthermore, training counselors to operate from a faith based perspective means providing the skills and knowledge needed to serve others in the name of Christ, many of whom are struggling with issues ranging from suicide to marital conflict and depression to the overarching effects of globalization and a changing society.    

Living and serving in this city of several million people also means being open to those “divine appointments”, opportunities God arranges where conversations with those who don’t know Christ can lead to seeds being planted and lives being changed forever.

Because of the secure nature of my work in India, my name and other details have been left off the above information for my safety and the safety of those I minister to.  If you are interested in learning more, or possibly arranging a time for me to come visit your church, please contact The Mission Society at 800-478-8963 and ask for missionary #0320. Or visit their website. They will pass along your information to me and I will be in touch as soon as possible.  I welcome the opportunity to share more with you, and hope you can support me with your gifts and your prayers.