Together in God’s Mission

A Letter from Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri and José Manuel Capella-Pratts, serving as regional liaisons in the Caribbean

Fall 2023

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Dear friends,

Since 2003, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been affirming the concept that mission is lived in partnership.¹ The models that understood the mission as something that we do for other people have been left behind. The missiologist, Rev. Dr. Carlos Cardoza Orlandi, indicates that “mission is any activity where the church discerns and participates in the activity of God in the world” (Una introducción a la misión {An Introduction to Mission}).² From this perspective, the mission is from God (Missio Dei), and our duty consists of discerning and collaborating with what God is doing in all parts of the world.

One of the ways to collaborate and participate in God’s mission is to contribute to support the work of sister denominations and organizations – a practice that dates back to the beginnings of the Christian Church, as evidenced by the words of the apostle Paul inviting the Church of Corinth to support the Church of Jerusalem:

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.” (2 Corinthians 8:13-15 NIV)

With the financial support of the PC(USA), JET has been able to train 47 young people on political advocacy actions and on the awareness of the challenges that affect denationalized people. In addition to political advocacy, the training workshops included topics of leadership, public speaking, management of social media and alternative media. Messages with educational content were also published with the goal of generating conversations about the struggle for the right to nationality, problems related to this, and proposed solutions. The aim is to make Dominican people of Haitian descent visible as citizens who contribute and deserve to be supported to end a chapter of discrimination and social exclusion.

We express our gratitude to all our siblings who, with their faithful offerings, make it possible that – in a spirit of mutuality, together with our partners in mission – we can “discern and participate in God’s activity in the world.” We count on your prayers and support throughout our journey. Know that you are also in ours, dear siblings in Christ.

If you wish to support the ministries of our region, your donations can also be made to the account #E864600 – Latin America & Caribbean General Support. Make your check payable to Presbyterian World Mission, note the number E864600 in the memo, and send it to the following address:

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700

If you wish to donate online, please visit https://pma.pcusa.org/donate/make-a-gift/gift-info/E864600 and designate your offering as indicated above.

Together in God’s mission,

José Manuel y Vilmarie

Please read this important message from Director of World Mission Rev. Mienda Uriarte

Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Matthew 25:34-36

Dear friends,

Great things are happening in World Mission! As you know from the letters you’ve been receiving, our mission co-workers are at the forefront of showing us what Matthew 25 looks like in the U.S. and in the wider world. They are addressing issues related to eradicating systemic poverty, building congregational vitality and dismantling structural racism. Together with our partners, mission co-workers are engaged in life-transforming ministries in 80 countries around the world. Here are just a few examples:

As an education consultant in the Democratic Republic of Congo, José Jones assists the Presbyterian Community of Kinshasa (CPK) education department in the development, implementation and evaluation of strategic plans to strengthen the church’s primary and secondary education programs for more than 350 schools.

Based in Manila, Rev. Cathy Chang works closely with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and other partners in ministry to engage programs and networks across Asia that advocate for people vulnerable to forced migration and human trafficking.

Nadia Ayoub works alongside our Greek partners as they faithfully hold to the biblical call to welcome the stranger. Nadia serves with Perichoresis, a ministry of the Evangelical Church of Greece that provides housing and support to refugees; most of whom have come to Greece from Arabic-speaking countries.

Joseph Russ strengthens and supports a network of partners working in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to address migration issues in the Northern Triangle. Based on the needs people on the ground identify, Joseph empowers U.S. congregations to engage in advocacy related to Central America and immigration reform.

Revs. Drs. Noah Park and Esther Shin serve as professors at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC). ETSC graduates work toward revitalizing congregational ministries in Egypt and work with refugee and peace ministries in various countries in the Middle East.

Please consider giving an extra gift this year to support our mission co-workers as they walk alongside our partners and help shape a more life-giving, equitable and hopeful world!

Prayerfully,

Rev. Mienda Uriarte, Director of World Mission
Presbyterian Mission Agency
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

To give online, visit https://bit.ly/23MC-YE.

Honorary gifts can be made by checking the box and writing the mission co-worker’s name in the comment field online.