A Note From Rob ...
Week of August 9, 2009
Wilma Burren Dunbar is a missionary with the Board of Global
Ministries of The United Methodist Church serving as the Circles Coach
for Circles of Hope for Anson County, North Carolina. Circles of Hope is
sponsored by Hands of Hope Coalition, First United Methodist Church,
Wadesboro, and Albemarle District of the Western North Carolina
Conference. Circles of Hope is a community-based initiative that creates
relationships across class and race lines, matching people of low income
with middle or upper income allies. As the Circles Coach, Wilma’s
primary role is to “coach” or support these relationships to thrive and to
contribute to the efforts to engage the community in the Circles program.
Wilma’s previous assignments include four terms in Liberia: as an educational consultant from 1988-1990; 1989-
1990 she served as business manager/treasurer for Gbarnga School of Theology. She served as Area Financial
Representative for the Liberia Annual Conference from 1990-1995, although the outbreak of civil war in May
1990 forced Wilma to leave the country and carry out her assignment from the U.S. until it was safe to return to
Liberia in 1992. She then served as a MIIR for the Southeastern Jurisdiction from 1995-1997, and returned to
Liberia in 1998 where she was assigned as coordinator for the Adult Literacy Ministry in the Department of
General Education and Ministry of the Annual Conference until 2000. She also served as the Missionary-
Interpreter-in-Residence in the South Central Jurisdiction, interpreting the mission of the General Board of Global
Ministries, particularly as it relates to mission personnel and their support through The Advance with annual
conferences, districts, and local churches. Wilma served as the Business Manager and Bookkeeper for Gulfside
Assembly in Waveland, Mississippi from May 2001 until June 26, 2009.
Born in Waco, Texas, Wilma is a graduate of Prairie View A&M College and Central Michigan University. She
holds bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and a master’s in Public Administration. She worked for the U.S.
Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Social Security Administration from 1971 until 1978, holding
several positions, the last as Claims Authorizer. In 1978 she transferred to the Department of Education, Office
for Civil Rights, in Kansas City, Missouri, where she worked until 1987 as first an Equal Opportunity Specialist
(EOS), then senior EOS, Branch Chief, and finally Division Director. Wilma is a member of Centennial United
Methodist Church in Kansas City, Missouri.
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