As Christy Foster stood on a hillside overlooking the Guadalupe River at the Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly, she remembered all at once just how much—and for how long—she had wanted to be in camp and conference ministry. Read more »
November 22, 2016
Presbyterian camp partners with Methodist neighbors toward shared future
As Christy Foster stood on a hillside overlooking the Guadalupe River at the Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly, she remembered all at once just how much—and for how long—she had wanted to be in camp and conference ministry. Read more »
While Black Friday elevates the urgency of shopping over the Advent of the arrival of Jesus, #GivingTuesday offers a time to support the timeless values he taught. 
In a besieged corner of Aleppo, Shahe, a victim of sudden blindness lost his only source of income as a dental technician. He and his wife, Talin, struggled to stay in their home when the monthly payments became impossible. While their oldest son was excelling in school, the younger boy’s autism required special care, and the wonderful Armenian institution on which they had relied closed, another casualty of war. 
When a mobile medical clinic arrived in the tiny village, offering free health screenings to women, they found Karine Petrosyan. Day and night, pain gripped her abdomen. Massive fibroids were silently consuming her uterus. Karine needed emergency surgery. In this remote corner of Armenia, there was little to no access to basic health care until Jinishian began the reproductive health program in 2016. Without early screenings, breast cancer is deadly, making mortality in Armenia is among the highest in the world—a devastating toll that Jinishian is determined to reverse one village at a time. 
As many as 200 people are reported injured at Standing Rock, North Dakota following an incident with law enforcement at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline construction overnight. 
In Lebanon these days, there is one Syrian for every four citizens, which doesn’t help the delicate economic and sectarian balance of the small country. Unless that one Syrian is Mardig, a young man quietly putting diapers on the elderly or nursing them after surgery. When Mardig first walked into the Jinishian office, he did not look the part. He was covered in tattoos and had no possessions at all, no home and nothing to eat. 
The election earlier this month revealed deep divisions in our country and raised many important questions for Christian people of faith as we look to our future as the Church. For many faithful Presbyterians, one of the questions facing us this week has a particular urgency: How can we navigate the tensions surrounding the Thanksgiving dinner table with friends and family who voted differently from us? 
Today’s lectionary text from the letter to the Ephesians reminds us that the love of God anchors and sustains us. It is the firm ground underneath our feet. It is the fertile soil in which we are rooted, allowing us to grow and flourish. Scripture is full of images from the agricultural world that describe God’s kingdom. 
Rebuilding continues for thousands of people in South Louisiana whose homes were damaged or destroyed by flooding when the Amite River crested at 46.2 feet near Denham Springs in mid-August, breaking the previous record of 41.5 feet set in 1983.