Presbyterian Mission Agency John McCall Archives

A devotion for the fifth Sunday in Lent

Posted April 5th, 2019

About 25 Taiwanese pastors and several Guatemalan pastors would be arriving the next day to live together in a big old house at the PC(USA) conference center Montreat in Western North Carolina. I had visited the house shortly after the male collegiate summer staff had vacated. It looked pretty grim, with mildew in the bathrooms and carpets that had seen better days. So, when I went back to see how the house looked on Sunday afternoon, I was delighted that two folks were just beginning to clean the house.

Good news of great joy for shepherds, cab drivers

Posted December 21st, 2018

I was in a cab headed to the high-speed rail station, on my way to preach at a Taiwanese wedding. While the groom is a Christian, he had told me that his parents were not. The vocabulary we use in Taiwan, when preaching to Christians, can often be language that non-Christians don’t understand. As soon I got into the cab, I saw that the cab driver, Mr. Jwang, had a small statue of Buddha on his dashboard. So, I thought to myself, it might be good if Mr. Jwang could listen to my sermon and tell me which parts he did not understand. That way I would be sure that the groom’s family was able to understand.

Invisible guests in Malaysia

Posted June 21st, 2016

You may not see them, but they pick the crops, sweep the floors, care for the children and elderly, build infrastructure, labor in factories, cook and serve. They often have to leave their home countries and families to find a job. They send much of their earnings back home to their families.