For as long as I can remember, every prayer has begun and ended with the sign of the cross. The sign of the cross has been the catalyst for, and the conclusion to, every Mass I have ever attended. The sign of the cross is indicative of my religious and Latina identity.
War has a human face. Every shadow, every line, every wrinkle is part of the story. In a recent visit to South Korea, a PC(USA) peace delegation witnessed firsthand the human face of war. The delegation visited the War & Women’s Human Rights Museum. There they watched video interviews with “comfort women” — women kidnapped or lured by the promise of jobs and forced into sexual slavery in what were known as “comfort stations” for Japanese soldiers during World War II. The women in the video spoke no English. There were English subtitles to help translate. The subtitles, though, weren’t necessary. The women’s faces said it all.
I still remember the first words from the first church leader I met as I first arrived in Manila: “You are welcome here, but you are not needed here.” Those words, spoken with wisdom and love almost two decades ago, would go on to shape the course of my time as a Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) in the Philippines. I didn’t know it then, but that same sentiment shaped the YAV program at its inception. And it continues to guide our current vision for the program as volunteers serve around the world and witness the holy ways the Spirit is leading them.
In March 2015, the Rev. Ed Kang and the Rev. Earl Arnold of Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery, visited the No Gun Ri Peace Park, the site of a tragic killing of civilians in the early days of the Korean War. Deeply moved, they vowed to take action. Two years later they returned with the entire Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) standing alongside them.
We disembark from the taxi with the Rev. Philip Obang, General Secretary of the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, at the checkpoint at the edge of the city. Private and public vehicles are not allowed beyond this point.
In November, 18 Presbyterians met in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico to consider the future of the Presbyterian Border Region Outreach (PBRO.) The relationship between the Mexico and PC(USA) denominations ended, major financial support had been dwindling for years, and communications between the six border ministry sites had become slack.
On Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, long-time partners, supporters, current and former staff, and donors gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Jinishian Memorial Program (JMP).
For nearly three decades the Synod of the Covenant (Michigan and Ohio) has continued to participate in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Mission to the USA program. The synod began participating in the effort which links congregations in the synod with mission partners including international church leaders as well as both clergy and lay leaders in 1989.
