As Presbyterian World Mission celebrates its 180th anniversary this year, it’s worth noting that well over 200 years ago Presbyterian Women were organizing around mission, both domestically and internationally. In fact, these “hidden figures” first put a missionary in the domestic field in 1824. Read more »
March 24, 2017
Our ‘Hidden Figures’
As Presbyterian World Mission celebrates its 180th anniversary this year, it’s worth noting that well over 200 years ago Presbyterian Women were organizing around mission, both domestically and internationally. In fact, these “hidden figures” first put a missionary in the domestic field in 1824. Read more »
The Rev. Dr. Chip Hardwick, director of Theology, Formation and Evangelism conducted a lively interview with the Rev. Dr. Doris García Rivera, president of the Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico (SEPR) on the PC(USA)’s Facebook page yesterday afternoon. 
At Chasefu Theological College in Zambia, future pastors learn to tend the soil as well as nurture Christian faith.
“Chasefu’s introducing sustainable agriculture courses that will help seminary students better care for their families when they become pastors,” says Charles Johnson, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-worker who teaches the agriculture classes. He added that they will also be able to teach communities techniques to boost crop yields and reduce hunger. 
As the plates were being cleared after dinner, we remained seated in the living room of the senator who was hosting us for the night. We were at his home in eastern Equatorial Guinea after having visited several congregations of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Equatorial Guinea and the first of three community health centers built by the church’s Women’s Association with gracious assistance from a Presbyterian Women Thank Offering. 
From Alex Absalom’s opening assertion that discipleship and mission are completely intertwined, to the Rev. Dr. M. Craig Barnes’s closing assurance that Jesus has given his disciples—then and now—the power to be his witnesses, the speakers on the opening day of The Fellowship Community National Gathering charged over 200 church leaders to more intentionally “live on mission” to make missional disciples. 
The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) began the third and final day of its March 21–23 meeting “still riding a lovely high” from the previous night’s service of worship,” in the words of the Rev. Wilson Kennedy, COGA’s vice moderator. 
A $10,000 DREAM Grant check was presented to the Boriquen Synod in Puerto Rico to enhance the distance learning technologies at the Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico (SEPR). Tony De La Rosa, interim executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, offered the check to SEPR President, Dr. Doris J. Garcia Rivera, during the afternoon plenary of the spring 2017 meeting of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board (PMAB). 
Blessings to you on this Easter Sunday. As you celebrate Christ’s Resurrection, may you experience the hope of eternal life and lean into the promise of a world where God’s reign will be fully realized. 
After months of effort, and a mandate by the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, a comprehensive grant system has been implemented for the Presbyterian Mission Agency. The new processes have been in place since March 1, and are being further described to members of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board (PMAB) meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico this week. 
To celebrate 180 years of international mission engagement, Presbyterian World Mission has been reflecting on the changes that have taken place over the years.