registration is now open for mission u!

Dr. Lorraine Mayfield-Brown is the treasurer of Oakhurst United Methodist Women in Seminole, FL, after serving as President for five years, and after holding various other local unit officers.  She is a life-long member of the United Methodist Church.  Prior to holding positions in her local organization, she served as Mission Coordinator for Membership, Nurture and Outreach for the Gulf Central District in Florida. As a long-term member and enthusiastic Mission u participant, she served as a youth study leader for the Food and Faith study, and adult study leader for the What About our Money? mission study and other adult spiritual growth studies, How Can We Become Community?. Dr. Mayfield-Brown is a sociologist, receiving her Ph.D. in Sociology from the City University of New York-Graduate Center and teaching at St. Petersburg College.

Praveena Balasundaram is director of communications for United Women in Faith. She has led programs at local, district, and conference events. She has taught both the adult and the children’s curricula at various United Women in Faith Mission u training events and conference Mission u events. She also equips women for leadership internationally through writers’ workshops. Praveena is a contributor to United Women in Faith’s response magazine and author of two books: Border Crossing: children’s mission u curricula on India and Pakistan and 300 Years of ISPCK: a study on Christian publishing in India. She also contributed an essay on equipping women writers for a festschrift: “Recognizing the Gift and Acknowledging Her Place in History” Development of Christian Women Writers in India: From Presence to Partnership. Praveena has a M.A in English Literature and M.A in Publishing as well as a Graduate Certificate in Biblical Studies. 

Praveena is a member of Doylestown United Methodist Church where her husband serves as senior pastor. She and her husband have two adult children, a son and a daughter, and happy grandparents to three granddaughters!