LAKELAND — Providing ministry and discipleship training in the many different languages spoken by United Methodists in the Florida Conference can be a challenge, but the Florida Conference’s Lay Speaking Ministry (LSM) is accepting that mission with help from the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD).

LSM will use a $19,200 grant received last year from GBOD to train church leaders who are bilingual in English and Korean, Creole, Spanish or Vietnamese to offer the Lay Speaking training in those languages to others at the local and district levels. A second grant for $5,240 will be used to translate the "Lay Speaking Ministry: Basic Course" book into the four languages.

Glenna Brayton, the conference’s LSM director, said the effort to include other cultural groups in the Lay Speaking training began in 1996 when former conference lay leader Mary Alice Massey asked her to lead the lay ministry.

"…part of our vision was to reach out to Haitians, Koreans and Hispanics," Brayton said. The two also wanted to increase participation by African-Americans and decided to include Vietnamese after the formation of a Vietnamese fellowship in the St. Petersburg District this year.

During a 1999 trip to Nashville, Brayton shared her vision to provide the basic Lay Speaking course to ethnic congregations with Dr. Sang E. Chun, GBOD’s director of racial and ethnic ministries. He encouraged her to apply to GBOD for a grant to cover the cost of that ministry.

When Brayton again met with Chun last April, he urged her to submit another grant to cover the cost of translating the basic course book.

A member of the Alabama/West Florida Conference has translated the Spanish material, and the Rev. Jacques Pierre, pastor of Lakeland’s Highland United Methodist Church, completed the Haitian translation. Joseph Ha, a member of South Florida Korean Untied Methodist Church in Ft. Lauderdale, is working on the Korean translation, and Sabrina Tu, pastor of the Vietnamese Fellowship in Tarpon Springs, is translating the material into Vietnamese.

Brayton said Discipleship Resources agreed to update the four translations to make them compatible with the 2000 Book of Discipline, provide layout and printing services, and include the four translations in its spring catalog for international distribution.