A visit from Her Highness

Have any of you tried live streaming from the General Conference website. You can actually sit and watch exactly what I am seeing. You may even see me! (google General Conference United Methodist - then find the live stream icon). Tomorrow afternoon I will be sitting at microphone 4 so each time a delegate speaks at that mic I will be right next to them.Text me and let me know you are watching. I'll remember to smile.

The President of Liberia spoke to us today. She is the first democratically elected woman President on the continent of Africa and a United Methodist. She was great. The African Children's Choir was here too - they were fun to watch. I was randomly standing along the aisle as they came in and each one shook my hand and said, "good morning." They were very sweet.

I worked today on the stage with the Bishops, running messages. I enjoyed it. The women bishops got flowers delivered to them so I got to put them at their seats during a break. They were pleased when they discovered them. Some of the male bishops were jealous. I put together some packets of "Manly Mints" with lifesavers but I guess it just wasn't the same.

The conference dealt with a lot of legislation regarding the distribution of Bishops. It is a tough one to deal with because the UM in the US is losing members and we don't want to give up any bishops while the church in Africa and some parts of Asia is growing and so should have more bishops. They are distributed according to membership numbers. They are funded by the General Conference. In true Methodist fashion most of the work ended in a decision to refer for a study.

I think tomorrow is the day that Bill Gates Sr. is coming to speak about the Gates Foundation Support of Nothing but Nets. There has been a lot of support for that campaign while we have been here. One of the best fund raising methods has been by the Bishop of Kansas - he is auctioning off the basketball from the college finals won by Kansas State. So far the bid is up to $2200.

Can't think of anything else tonight. Hope all is well with ya'all.

Jan