Sixteen churches, over 50 attendees, piles of handmade items and other donations totaling over 1,600 articles, and a speaker deemed great, combined to make the Northeast District UMW Ingathering meeting held at Effort United Methodist an event to remember.

In addition, fellowship and ministry, education and business were experienced as the UMW District Ingathering filled the hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.Boxes of donations already packed and waiting in the church's pavilion greeted participants while more items were on display in the church's Fellowship Hall. They were headed to Hazleton Enlarged Ministries and Salem Inner City Ministries Thrift Shop sponsored by Asbury United Methodist Church.The opening service included the hymn, "Here I Am, Lord," and a welcome and greetings by Joyce Byler, UMW District Vice President; the Rev. Bronwyn Yocum, District Superintendent; Effort UMC's Pastor Robin Fisher; and Effort UMW treasurer Dee Juris while Peg Hamilton, District Spiritual Growth Coordinator, led the devotions of the morning.A candle lighting, to remember and honor those woman and children who are trafficked or enslaved pointed to the focus of this year's overarching UMW theme as did the speaker's fantastic presentation done in the first person, on a Romanian Woman's Experience in Human Trafficking.Clad in a simple black dress, a scarf and a pair of sunglasses, Kelly Parks of Allentown told that story so well that Jean Landis of Black Creek, Sugarloaf, said, "Oh boy! That was great! She told how girls are mistreated.""It was gut-wrenching," said Rosalie Juris, of Effort UMC.Ruth Flechsig, also from Effort UMC, added, "She was wonderful; it was very emotional."The story Parks told of a young Romanian woman, complete with appropriate accent, shared how the teen was promised school in the morning, modeling time in the afternoon, visits home three times a year, and travels all over.When she finally cajoled her father to say yes to her promised dream, she and two even younger girls were taken to a ship, but were sent down into the bowels of the ship, not up into beautiful staterooms as they anticipated in light of the glorious promises made to them and their families.Her life of physical and sexual abuse began. She heard others screaming and being beaten. She learned to be mute and to submit.Taken from one bad situation to another she finally became the "property" of a husband and wife couple, suffering sexual exploitation from him but being liked by the wife.On a shopping trip, the wife gave her some coins and told her to buy a treat, some candy. She noticed a phone number that she remembered. On a following outing she called that number and was rescued.Today she is working in helping others be rescued."You have touched my heart so deeply," said Carolyn Miller, recalling two truckloads of people with many bodies that had just been in the news."I thought she was very good," said Shirley Larock of Sugarloaf of Parks, who is a Spanish and an English as a Second Language teacher in the Readington, New Jersey School District. "It made people aware (of the problem)," added Larock.The business meeting of the group included approving a proposed pledge to the Conference of $36,000, recognizing various Gifts to Missions and Reading Program participants, and recognizing retiring District officers.With hands placed on each other's shoulder, the new officers promised to fulfill their respective duties to the best of their abilities. Leading the District UMW again is Carolyn Miller.The book review included three presentations, with the first being by Kathy Parks, sharing the story of "Kiki's Hats.""Wherever people needed care, Kiki's hats were always there," said Parks in summarizing the book. She would "highly recommend it."Peg Hamilton, who admitted to being "75 years young," reported on "DIA's Story: The Hmong People's Journey to Freedom" by Din Cha but also "The Latecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir" by Kao Kalia Yang, which focuses on nurturing by community.The third book, "The Road to Lost Innocence" by Somaly Mam, which focused on social action, was Ruth Baker's.With a needlework report by Kathy Parks, District Needlework chairwoman, the recognition of Mission Today Awards for 2010 presented to various UMW units, including honorable mention to Effort UMC, the Ingathering was dismissed, with the words of the song "People Held in Bondage" they had sung. The words reminded each one to answer the question in the final stanza's words "...will their cries go unheeded, or will we intervene, and be the hands of Christ to set then free?"