The annual service of ordination for new ministers is one of the highlights of the church year. This year it had a decidedly international texture. Seven people were ordained; five men and two women. One of them was pastor Par Thoo, who just graduated from Burmese Bible school and has been pastoring at Utica Karen Wesleyan Church. He was wearing a bright blue plaid Karen coat. A Karen soloist named Snowbell sang in English and then partnered with a Karen tenor as lead singers with the Karen choir. Parts of the service were interpreted by Saw Kler for the members of the Karen congregation. General Superintendent JoAnne Lyon illustrated her message with powerful anecdotes from her mission travels in Africa and Asia. And after the ordinations were completed she gave each ordinand a handmade cross purchased in Sierra Leone, South Africa or Colombia. JoAnne and I, Pastor Eric and Magda, Ben Mackey and Kim attended. Nancy Zecher, Marilyn Wilsch, Brenda VanDuser, Cindy Center and her granddaughter came too because Roberta Davis of our district’s Wesleyan Women ministry was also among those ordained. The service was hosted by one of our district’s largest churches, Crosswinds Wesleyan in Canandaigua.