General Assembly Mission Council

A letter from Kay Day in Malawi

January 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

Self Help Group at work.

Greetings from the Warm Heart. The New Year has begun with a great variety of activities that have provided wonderful opportunities to see God at work. One is a group of 17 from Eckerd College in Florida that has been visiting projects at Blantyre Health and Development Commission (BSHDC), the social ministry branch of Blantyre Synod. I have traveled with the group each day and then hosted them for lunch at my house, to save on fuel, since the BSHDC offices are just behind my house. Most of the projects the group has worked with are ones I am familiar with, but on Tuesday I had the opportunity to see in action a program I had only heard about, an SHG, a self-help group. This program is a testimony to the strength and vision of the women of Malawi.

A letter from Ingrid Reneau in Sudan

December 2011

“True Peace, blessed By God…”

Graduation Celebration

It's been a whirlwind trip to YTTC’s fifth graduation: seated now at Juba International airport, awaiting my 4:00 pm Jet Link flight to Nairobi, time flies slowly in South Sudan! As I sit here, I keep thinking about the difference that one person can make to change the quality of time or to change people’s perception of a whole group of people…This is why, I say to myself, it is OK to make a big deal sometimes about one person…Anyhow, this time I was armed for the ever-bouncing-up-and-down, dancing road trip to and from Juba to Yei: with my motion sickness tabs, I slept most of the journey, and even more blessed, the 115-mile trip takes only about three and half hours now! I’d come to witness Elijah Kengen graduate:

Elijah is a Murle from Pibor who has completed YTTC’s two-year teacher training program. When his fellow classmate returned to Pibor after one year due to his father’s illness, Kengen persevered; he’s been rewarded with his teaching certificate and a reputation for being a natural teacher by his teachers. Captain of YTTC’s football team and an aspiring artist, Kengen crosses tribal barriers to create peaceful relationships with his fellow students. He’s been a wonder to his teachers! While not doing as previous pastoralists (livestock keepers) have—he didn’t immediately become prefect or readily assume sanctioned organizational leadership; he didn’t shine as others before him had done, yet he’s been a star; he shone beyond others' expectations of him and his place of origin!

A letter from Rusty Edmondson and Sara Armstrong in Peru

December 2011

Speechless!

Maynay Presbyterian members preparing for the dedication ceremony.

The Presbytery of San Gabriel / Living Waters for the World team arrived in Peru and were on their way to completing a project/dream that was set in motion over two years ago to install a water purification system with the people of Maynay.  Like many rural, Quechua-speaking, indigenous communities in the Andes mountains, Maynay struggles with water-borne health issues such as parasites and hepatitis.  The task was clearly laid out and things were progressing well. They were highly motivated to work for clean water.

The first day of training, in three languages, went forward with a mixture of laughter and puzzled questions.  A focused group dedicated themselves to purchasing needed building supplies in small local stores.  We were grateful that all the needed supplies for the system were available nearby. Then the electricity went out and the water stopped.  This rarely happens in Maynay because the power is secure and the water is piped directly from a large lake.  Power tools, testing and progress stopped.  On Day Two the installation team with their Peruvian partners worked into the night making great headway.  On Day Three the celebration and dedication of the new system was scheduled at noon.  Clean water production from this system was moments away with lots of anticipation. Then the electric power went out again.   We could not produce clean drinking water for the dedication, and yet the celebration went ahead anyway.

A letter from Dustin Ellington In Zambia

December 25, 2011

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy  (Matt. 2:10)..

Dear Friends,

Last week our family got away for a vacation in rural Eastern Zambia, far from Lusaka. While we do enjoy our African view of the stars from the seminary campus, on the first night of this trip I looked up and could hardly believe my eyes. Before me were a thousand tiny points of light.

At one point in the trip our oldest son, Clayton, read the story of Jesus’ birth to us, including the Magi seeing the star in the east and then traveling a distance to pay homage to Jesus. As I thought about the passage, it impressed me how crucial the star was to the Magi’s sojourn. They would never have started the journey unless a star signaled that a journey was in order, and they would never have reached the goal without a star to direct them where to go.

A letter from Jeff Boyd in Cameroon

December 2011

Dear family, friends and supporters,

“Presbyterians Do Mission in Partnership” is the title of PC(USA)’s 2003 mission policy statement.  When speaking about partnerships, we tend to think of external relations with churches and groups overseas, but as a connectional church, we also have our own internal mission partners.

Presbyterians in the Congo set strategic education priorities.

While Presbyterian partnerships have for long been viewed as bilateral relationships between two institutional partners, a proliferation of mission activities has surfaced for which Presbyterians do not necessarily connect with denominational efforts. In this changing landscape, Presbyterian World Mission (WM) discerned anew its role and recognized that this phenomenon carries great potential for participatory mission engagement in support of our traditional mission partners and their programs.

A letter from Rich Hansen in Ethiopia

Chrismas 2011

Dear friends in Christ,

Last Friday at our school’s end of the semester worship service, I glanced at one point at students around me—some on their feet dancing, some seated with hands clasped to their chests, some women vocalizing the high-pitched “lelelelelelelele” exclamation often part of worship here—eyes closed, faces intense, oblivious to everything but the Lord. As my spirit was bathed in the swirling eddies of warm faith all around me, I again felt profoundly grateful that God brought Marilyn and me here to these students. Not for the first time, I prayed that some small measure of their faith would rub off on me.

But, wonderful as it was, all this was a prelude to what happened next: a talk by my colleague Ermias, our missions professor. 

Rich with Ermias

He began by telling of his father, a robber who lived out in the bush almost on the Kenyan border, preying on whoever seemed most vulnerable. By middle age, though, he decided to marry, and he chose a woman who was third wife to another man in his village (polygamy is still common in some areas). Ermias’ father and his new wife ran away from the village and started a new life in a new area.  Soon a baby son was born, but he became sick after only two months and would not nurse.  Consulting the local witchdoctor for help, his father was told the ancestors were angry and would require a sacrifice of a sheep to spare the child.  Being very poor, his father refused.  Soon after, the child died.  He never told his wife about the visit to the witchdoctor.

A letter from John McCall in Taiwan

January 2012

Dear Friends,

From a Rainy Beginning to Sun-splashed Mountains

I left in pouring rain, walking out of the seminary gate down the mountain to the bus stop.  By the time the bus arrived, I was soaked.  I took the crowded Friday afternoon bus to the train station where I took a train to a city south of Taipei.  An aboriginal pastor, one of my former students, picked me up at the train station and we headed to the high mountains of central Taiwan.

When we got to the mountain village several hours later, it was still raining and it was late, so we drank some tea to warm up.  It was cold up in the mountains and there is no heat inside Taiwanese homes.  Thankfully, the bed where I slept had three thick comforters.

When we awoke early the next morning, the sun was beginning to spread its golden rays across the heavy clouds.  It was a welcome sight.  We had a simple breakfast and then the village youth arrived at the church to begin practice for the worship band.  Five high mountain church youth groups were meeting together this morning, and I had been asked to preach at the renewal service. The other youth groups slowly began to arrive from even higher villages tucked into these rugged mountains.  Most of these junior high and high school youth attend school in the plains and come home on the weekend to see their families and to attend church activities. The church is still the center of their lives.  In their schools they are often a misunderstood minority, but back in their home churches they can be themselves and grow into the people God has created them to be.

A letter from JoElla Holman, Regional Liaison for the Caribbean

December 24, 2011

Dear Friends and Family,

It is Christmas Eve Day and here in the small town of Guayacanes, Dominican Republic, where I live, the sun is shining, the sky is blue and it is a balmy 70 degrees.  Early this morning, before daylight, I was awakened to the sound of an aguinaldo.  This is the Dominican version of Christmas caroling—early morning singers with drums go through the streets to proclaim the coming of the Christ-child.  One group or another has done this every morning for the past two weeks. In the past, I am told, they would stop before doors to sing, waiting for the occupants to get up and serve something to eat or drink, repeating the pattern throughout the neighborhood.  But houses remain dark, especially at this time of the morning when the electricity is turned off in the neighborhood, so only the flashlights carried by the singers give light.

I have been baking pumpkin bread for some of my friends in the neighborhood—have already delivered four loaves earlier this week and am baking another couple this morning, if the electricity stays on!  They have beautiful pumpkins here—just green on the outside, so I didn't recognize it at first, but orange inside and very tasty. The little children across the street from me run to hug me when I come out. So sweet.

A letter from Doug Baker in Northern Ireland

September 2011

Doug Baker with the eight new YAVS: back row Ellison Cavedo, Doug Baker, Liz Wall, Karl Heimbuck, Kendra Heimbuck, Erin Jezek Christian Tamme. Front row: Patrick Harley, Zoe Van Dyke

Dear PC(USA) supporting congregations and individuals,

For the past six weeks or so Elaine and I have been heavily involved in making preparations for the new team of Young Adult Volunteers serving in Northern Ireland, then in their orientation once they arrived, and then in the time of settling into their placements here.

Now that there is something of a pause in this flurry of activity I want to share with you about this excellent group of Young Adult Volunteers and ask you to keep them in your prayers as they continue to settle in and begin to contribute in their respective congregations and community ministries.

All eight of this year’s group, listed below along with their placements, are maintaining blogs about their experience here, which you can be follow here.

Aftermath from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti

A letter from Ken and Carline White in Haiti

July 2011

After viewing the devastation and suffering wrought by the earthquake in Haiti, we answered the call of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to participate in God's mission of reconciliation, healing, liberation, and salvation in that country. Philippians 2:3b-4 says: "Be humble, thinking of others as better than you. Don't think only about your own affairs and needs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing." This Scripture written under the guidance of God's Holy Spirit.

We were commissioned at the Big Tent gathering in Indianapolis, Indiana, on July 2, 2011, by Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) World Mission as mission co-workers to serve as facilitators of the Presbyterian response to Haiti.