Transforming the World with the Three Washing Ton D.C.’s #gypcla14

Transforming the World with the Three Washing Ton D.C.’s #gypcla14
By Amanda Tobey with Jesse N. Love | Photo by Amy Pazan

During Opening Worship at the Global Young People’s Convocation and Legislative Assembly, Bishop Pedro Torio presented an important message to young Methodists from around the world challenging them to consider the three Washing Ton D.C.’s in servant leadership

Bishop Pedro M. Torio, Jr. (Baguio Area, Philippines) sent the message of needing to make a difference. As United Methodists, it’s our call is to create disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Torio shared that when the British government did a survey, every 22 minutes a woman is raped and about 40% of the world lives off of under $2 a day. Data shows, women are most at risk for human rights violations. These are all problems that plague the world and need to be changed.

Bishop Torio told a story about how he had to wash his son, Ton, everyday. He learned a lot by being responsible in washing Ton everyday. He called this the Washing Ton D.C.’s.

In order for us to be missionaries to transform the world, there are three D.C.’s to be effective for change.

• The first D.C. is having Disciplined Commitment. It is necessary to be committed because if there is no devotion, nothing will get changed. Vice-versa, there needs to be discipline. Without discipline, there is nothing to keep your attention to get things done.
• The second is Dedicated Competence. Dedication and competence come hand-in-hand. It is ridiculous to be just competent – but not driven to do anything. It is equally ridiculous to be dedicated – but do everything incompetently.
• Lastly, we have to have Distinctive Character. God made people the way they are because he wanted them that way, and it is important to embrace the gifts that are given. Each gift given is there to help us be missionaries, to make disciples and transform the world.

The three Washing Ton D.C.’s for young people working to make change in the world are vital since the role of the church is really important to those people who are vulnerable. High-risk populations vulnerable to drug use and prostitution are a part of the world we need to transform.

In the midst of global change, we are called by Bishop Torio to nurture our relationships in all forms (if they are defined by faith, region, or family). We also need to help share the stories of God’s people, including migrant stories. From 1990-2013, the number of migrants has jumped to 154 million to 232 million. The stories of migrant people are some we can share with United Methodist Young People, today.

Changing the world will require our ability to be faithful and fearless, playful and purpose driven, truthful and trustworthy. Fortunately these qualities are in the Methodist DNA.

The future (and present) of our church must consider, as Bishop Torio calls us, “…to raise the relevance of the call and to be pure of heart in order to fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith.”

Embrace your call and be pure.