He looked no more than 14 as he came forward to welcome me with a hearty handshake. Assuming he was a primary school pupil, I asked about his teacher. He responded, “Hello, ma’am. I am the teacher.” Still skeptical, I began a full-scale inquisition: How old are you? How long have you been a teacher? Which class do you teach? And finally: Are you really the teacher? Read more »
May 21, 2019
Hope through education in South Sudan
He looked no more than 14 as he came forward to welcome me with a hearty handshake. Assuming he was a primary school pupil, I asked about his teacher. He responded, “Hello, ma’am. I am the teacher.” Still skeptical, I began a full-scale inquisition: How old are you? How long have you been a teacher? Which class do you teach? And finally: Are you really the teacher? Read more »
Casting the net wide to invite and include as many Presbyterians as possible to participate in the Denominational Communications Survey, Korean and Spanish versions of the survey are now available. 
The Rev. Dr. Tom Bryson, who is part of the Vital Congregations (VC) writing team, said he was floored at what he heard at VC gatherings in Denver and Atlanta the last two weeks. 
Friends, family and former students are remembering the life of scholarship and service lived by the Rev. Dr. Henry Fawcett, who died May 11 in Dubuque, Iowa, at age 86. 
Conversion stories are usually told about the moment people accepted their faith. But Alba Rostan’s story is about the experience that deepened her faith in God. 
Tucson’s Southside Presbyterian Church is known for being a sanctuary church and for its joyous Sunday worship.
But its pastor, Alison Harrington, recently told a Presbyterian Mission Agency delegation that the other six days of the week are important for members and friends, too — as well as their pastor. 
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its appeal of a defamation case filed by a former employee of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. 
Three small Presbyterian congregations have combined the spirited competition of a fishing derby and the iconic One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) fish banks to promote giving to the churchwide offering. 
Rocio Calderon kept a Presbyterian Mission Agency delegation spellbound recently just by telling her story.
Calderon, who grew up in Bolivia, was locked away in a U.S. detention center for two years even after being economically exploited by an employer. One thing that kept her going, she said, was the compassion of the Casa Mariposa Detention Visitation Program, which encouraged her through cards and visits. 
As a college student, Lytisha Wyatt became greatly concerned when she learned about health inequalities in the United States.
She was especially troubled by data that showed that people of color die from illnesses linked to poor nutrition at a much higher rate than white people. Yet she was not at all surprised. People of color and people in lower-income communities are disproportionately impacted by a lack of access to healthier foods. “Nutritious food sources were not present in the community where I grew up, but they were in more affluent communities,” Wyatt said.