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World Mission
At the 223rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) one of the Middle East resolutions that was approved in record time was a Commissioners Resolution (12-10) “On Gaza Violence,” expressing “profound grief and sorrow for the families of all Palestinians killed in the Great March of Return protests at the Gaza border.”
Congregants at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Madison, Wisconsin are getting a snapshot of four countries around the world this month through the lens of Presbyterian mission work. The ministries of Presbyterian mission co-workers in Guatemala, Peru, Indonesia and South Sudan are being highlighted in worship during the first four Sundays in July.
Two months ago, peaceful protestors in Nicaragua were brutally attacked by forces loyal to the government. The ensuing unrest has resulted in the death of nearly 300 people and many Nicaraguans won’t leave their homes for fear of being shot. A special commission of the Organization of American States is investigating the government’s involvement in the violence.
Glory Banda was born in Malawi. She was also born deaf. Soon after her parents realized their child couldn’t hear, her father divorced her mother. Glory’s mother, desperate and brokenhearted, returned to live in her parents’ home. A child, who should have been a blessing, became the source of grief and pain.
Last Wednesday rival factions in South Sudan signed a peace agreement to end the country’s devastating civil war. The world is holding its breath. Sharon Kandel, Presbyterian World Mission regional liaison for South Sudan, along with her husband Lynn, who have been living in the war-torn country as mission co-workers for more than four years, are praying fervently for a lasting peace.
Two years after South Sudan gained independence in 2011, civil war erupted in 2013. The conflict has displaced more than 5 million people, leading to massive human suffering and widespread famine. As part of its response, the 223rd General Assembly (2018) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) passed a comprehensive overture that provides a robust platform for the denomination’s Office of Public Witness to advocate for an end to this war.
The 113th New Wilmington Mission Conference (NWMC), regarded as the oldest annual mission conference in the U.S., will be held on the campus of Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, July 20–27.
More than 1,000 people representing churches around the world recently met in Arusha, Tanzania, for the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) Conference, which is held roughly every decade.
Coffee is a major agricultural product of Mexico, the beverage of choice among millions of people in the U.S., and a link in a mission partnership that transforms people in both countries.
You won’t go to India to do something an Indian cannot do,” the Rev. Thomas John told me. He was the site coordinator for the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program in India, and I was a college senior, interviewing to serve as a YAV on the other side of the globe. I don’t think I had any delusions of single-handedly transforming the world, but I was surely guided by a desire to help, to contribute, to be of service. That was in 2002. Today I serve as site coordinator for the YAV program in Colombia, and I encounter those same motivations again and again in current applicants.
