Participants' Bios

UMCOR Representatives:

The Rev. R. Randy Day
Bishop Edward Paup
The Rev. Sam W. Dixon
Marc S. Maxi

Muslim AID Representative:

Saif Ahamad MBA MCIH
Farooq Murad
Amjad Mohamed Saleem

The Rev. R. Randy Day

Day, a native of Illinois, has a strong commitment to peace, justice, the rights of children, and ministries with persons who are pushed to the economic margins in contemporary societies. He has led the General Board of Global Ministries in a renewal of health ministries, especially those directed toward the elimination of preventable diseases. His mission agency incorporates programs of professional missionary service, voluntary mission activities, church development, community ministries, health and welfare ministries, and humanitarian relief and rehabilitation. It includes the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and the Women's Division, the administrative unit of United Methodist Women.

Day and his wife, Emily, are the parents of five children.

(top)

Bishop Edward Paup

Born Dec. 21, 1945, Paup is a native of Oil City, Pa. He earned his bachelor of arts degree from Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pa., in 1967, followed by his master of divinity degree from Iliff School of Theology in Denver in 1970. He received a doctor of divinity degree from Lycoming in 1999.

During college, he preached at two-point charges in Pennsylvania, and in 1968, he was ordained a deacon in the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference. The following year, he transferred to the Rocky Mountain Conference, where he was ordained an elder in 1970. He served churches in Colorado as an associate pastor or pastor from 1970 to 1989.

From 1989 to 1993, he was superintendent of the Utah/Western District, then served for four years as assistant to the bishop and liaison for ministerial services. He was elected bishop in 1996 and assigned to the Portland Area. During both his Portland and Seattle assignments, he has also overseen the denomination's Alaska Missionary Conference.

Active at every level of the church, Paup served as a delegate to General and jurisdictional conferences in 1988, 1992 and 1996, and he has held leadership posts on Western Jurisdiction committees and in the jurisdictional college of bishops.

He has also served on the governing commissions or boards of United Methodist Communications (1992-96), the General Council on Ministries (1996-2004), and the General Board of Global Ministries (2004-present). He was president of GCOM during the council's final quadrennium, 2001-2004, and is currently president of the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

Paup was a member of the World Methodist Council Executive Committee from 1996 to 2001 and a team leader for The Advance for Christ and His Church from 1996 to 2000. He is on the board of trustees at the University of Puget Sound, and is a former board member of Alaska Pacific University and Northwest House of Theological Studies.

His awards have included being named Honorary Lifetime Citizen of Pueblo, Colo., in 1989; Iliff's Alumnus of the Year, 1995; a recipient of the Barrier Breaker Award, Rocky

Mountain Annual Conference, 1996; and a recipient of Iliff's Excellence in Ministry Award, 1996.

He and his wife, Carol, were married in 1965. They have three children and five grandchildren

(top)

Sam W. Dixon

United Methodists know the Rev. Sam W. Dixon as a person who encourages the development of warmer hearts and more willing hands in reaching out to others. Rev. Dixon has returned to United Methodist Committee on Relief after nine years in other national church assignments. "UMCOR represents one of the primary ways through which United Methodist people live out their faith as caring, generous members of the human family," he said.

In his new role as interim deputy general secretary, he oversees programs that range in scope from international development and peacebuilding to long-term disaster recovery and special ministries to marginalized people. UMCOR is the relief and development unit of the General Board of Global Ministries, a United Methodist agency. Rev. Dixon is also serving as interim deputy for Mission Volunteers.

Rev. Dixon's 24 years in pastoral ministry and special assignments in the North Carolina Annual Conference led him to Global Ministries in 1998. In his first turn with UMCOR he led the field operations unit (nongovernmental organization), overseeing community based health care, refugee resettlement, agricultural and small business development, micro-credit, opportunities fostering peace and reconciliation, and a youth house ministry for children and youth recovering from the traumatic experiences of war.

He also served as head of the United Methodist Development Fund and most recently was deputy general secretary assigned to the Evangelization and Church Growth unit. He continues in that assignment concurrently with his new post.

Rev. Dixon was educated at the University of North Carolina and Chicago Theological Seminary, "The church has a mission to reach out to all people-our sisters and brothers-no matter how near or far," he said. "UMCOR is a path for transformation because it provides tools and techniques for living in difficult circumstances and for anticipating a better future."

vision for each congregation and works to help individuals develop the tools and techniques for living God's vision in a changing world through the Church.

Sam is married to Cindy Leapley of Wilson, North Carolina and they have four adult children and two grandchildren.

(top)

Marc S. Maxi

Marc S. Maxi, an international development expert and peace negotiator, was UMCOR NGO's regional director for Africa and the Caribbean prior to becoming executive director in February 2006. "Throughout life I've always liked idea of being useful to others," he said. Most recently he led the negotiation that resulted in UMCOR's startup in South Darfur, Sudan. Agency aid workers are now on the ground and will be providing seed, tools, and training to farm families and distributing emergency supplies to refugee camp residents.

Mr. Maxi's work touches a constellation of activities that bear witness to complex politics, conflicts, and infrastructure needs in developing countries. He spent ten years in field assignments in Africa and before joining UMCOR in July 2004 managed American Red Cross operations in Africa. Educated at the Northeastern University, Boston, and St. John's University, New York, he taught at the high school and university levels. He is fluent in several languages.

"Striving to improve the human condition is often a difficult task," he reflected. "But I take solace and great pleasure in knowing that every little bit I do is affecting humanity for the good."

(top)

Saif Ahamad MBA MCIH

He has been a member of the following boards and committees:

• Policy Action Team of the Social Exclusion Unit of the Cabinet Office
• National Young People's Learning Committee of the Learning & Skills Council
• Federation of Black Housing Organisations
• Regeneration Practitioners' Group of the Home Office
• Federation of Students Islamic Societies of UK and Eire (FOSIS)
• Housing Advisory Group, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

I have worked for over 25 years in Britain in the private and voluntary sectors as well as with local and central government. However my desire to be at the frontline of helping humanity has not been satisfied. Coming to Muslim Aid has opened the door for me to directly help disadvantaged and marginalised people. Throughout my career I have tried to portray the compassionate, caring and inclusive nature of my faith as I feel that the Muslim tradition is often misunderstood in the West. Through Muslim Aid, I want to demonstrate to the world at large that Islam is a tradition of giving, caring and standing by those who are excluded and exploited."

(top)

Farooq Murad

For well over a decade, Farooq has been working as a consultant in the field of community development, training and research. Currently he is heading his own consultancy, providing cross-cultural training and IT solutions to public service and voluntary organisations. He is a board member of the University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan, and a member of the Muslim Chaplaincy Training Board at Markfield Institute of Higher Education, Leicester. Farooq is also a founding member of Muslim Council of Britain and has been a member of the Central Working Committee.

Farooq takes as his inspiration the saying of the Prophet, Muhammad, that the "humanity is the family of God."

(top)

Amjad Mohamed Saleem

After the Tsunami of 2004 and having lost several family members to it in Sri Lanka, Amjad joined the development field as a volunteer. He officially joined Muslim Aid in April 2005 as a Tsunami Liaison Officer, where his primary role was overseeing tsunami reconstruction work in Sri Lanka. Prior to this, Amjad had experience working in various sectors including engineering, event management, media and public relations.

Since joining the relief agency, Amjad has been appointed Country Director of the Muslim Aid Sri Lanka Field Office. Furthermore, he recently oversaw the Bangladesh operations and coordinated global disaster responses.

When not travelling between Dhaka, Colombo or London, Amjad is working on completing his MBA. He also dedicates his spare time to supporting and mentoring youth and students in Sri Lanka.

(top)