Speaking to the participants in the 33rd session of the Dakotas Annual Conference in Bismarck, North Dakota, Rev. Jen Huff stated, “I’ve spent some time reflecting on your theme, 'Created to Serve Joyfully,' and I keep coming back to a question: What does it mean to serve joyfully in a world that doesn’t always feel very joyful? When we hear the word joy, it’s easy to think of happiness. We think of things going well, celebrations, good news, and easy seasons.”

Rev. Jen Huff is an ordained deacon serving as the Mission Engagement Liaison for the North Central Jurisdiction with the General Board of Global Ministries and the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. She builds relationships across conferences, connects people and ministries, and help tell the stories of how God is at work through the United Methodist connection.

But scripture paints a different picture. She shared the words of Paul, who wrote to the Philippians about joy while sitting in prison. “His circumstances weren’t easy. The future was unknown. Maybe that sounds like today with headlines that induce overwhelm, and events in and out of our control happening around us, including disasters, conflict, division, displacement, and uncertainty,” Huff stated.

Jennifer described how joy provides us with moments when we catch a glimpse of God, of God’s love. A glimpse of the movement of God’s Spirit. A glimpse that gives us the strength to keep serving, to keep responding to the needs of all God’s people. We see glimpses whenever people respond to suffering with compassion, to fear with hope, and to division with love. 

The General Board of Global Ministries and the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry seek to bring glimpses of joy. Huff shared these glimpses of hope and joy:

•  With your assistance, UMCOR responded to 115 disasters and crises in 2025. Communities facing floods, storms, conflict, and displacement experienced the presence of Christ through your prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. 
• The needs of our world are complex, and this moment matters. Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry have been working differently. “We remain separate agencies, but we now work with a unified presence and integrated structure. We have learned that education, mission, leadership development, and ministry formation belong together. Mission informs education, and education informs mission,” explained Huff.
• This Moment Matters initiative involves five areas of urgent need: agriculture and food security, education, global health, migration, and peace and justice. More than $30 million has already been invested in these areas. 
• United Methodists have helped to cultivate God’s joy and see that joy reflected in ministries that are making a difference around the world: communities gaining access to food security and sustainable agriculture. Hospitals improving maternal and infant health outcomes. Welcoming migrants and refugees. Students preparing for leadership. Laity and clergy serving as missionaries. Congregations responding to God’s call in their own communities and around the world. 
• This year, twelve students from the Dakotas Conference received scholarships through Higher Education and Ministry totaling nearly $16,000. We celebrate those students and the ways God is shaping their future. 
• We celebrate 50 years of United Methodist Volunteers in Mission. For five decades, faithful volunteers have crossed boundaries, built relationships, responded to needs, and discovered that mission changes those who serve just as much as those being served. 
• In 2025, churches across the Dakotas gave more than $208,000 through the Advance. Fourteen grants totaling $36,500 supported ministry in your communities, including migration ministries, Native American ministries, and disaster response efforts. 

“'Created to Serve Joyfully' is more than a conference theme. It is an invitation,” Huff said during her talk. “An invitation to notice where God is already at work. An invitation to cherish joy, cultivate it, and share it with others—even in seasons when life feels fragile. Because joy is still worthwhile. Joy is still needed. And joy is one of the ways God gives us the strength to continue serving.”