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mission co-workers
Living relatively close to China with three young children, mission co-workers Jonathan and Emily Seitz feel comfortably safe in Taipei, Taiwan.
Charles and Melissa Johnson served as ruling elders in their home congregation, Northwood Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, and now as mission co-workers in Zambia. In both places they found joy and strength in the strong sense of community that surrounded them. Now sheltering in place in Atlanta at Mission Haven, short-term housing for mission co-workers, they are busy staying connected to partners, supporting churches and finding that sense of community in new places.
Until in-person visits can resume safely, there has never been a better time to invite mission co-workers to visit your congregation virtually than right now.
After 15 weeks in total lockdown in their apartment in Lima, Peru, mission co-workers Jed and Jenny Koball and their now 3-year-old son Thiago are finally able to go outside again.
Just this week, North Korea announced it had suspended but not canceled military action against South Korea. That action would have sent armed North Korean soldiers back to the demilitarized zone (DMZ). At the Pyongyang Summit in 2018 South Korea and North Korea agreed to remove armed guards along the border to decrease hostilities.
The border is not just a physical place. When you open your heart to it, it’s a place of encounter.
I recently had the opportunity to participate in a small-group Bible study with other Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers serving throughout Africa. We were invited to read closely Matthew 25:31–46, where Jesus speaks of when he comes again and is like a shepherd separating “sheep from goats” at the final judgment. We were also invited to ask the questions: “What word or phrase stands out? How does the text resonate with or challenge you? What might the text be calling you to do, be or change?”
It’s a universal theme among mission co-workers that they often learn more from the people in the cultures they serve than they could ever hope to give. That’s exactly the lesson mission co-workers Richard and Debbie Welch, serving in Guatemala, learned from their longtime partner in ministry, Julian.
An April survey by Research Services of nearly 1,100 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations and mid councils revealed some surprising responses on how they’re dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic:
A few weeks ago, before coronavirus took over our thoughts in South Sudan, I joined a meeting of women to talk about community development. Women gathered in a circle after the church service, many of them holding young children on their laps. I started the discussion by reflecting on John 10:10, where Jesus expressed his intention to give us “life, and have it abundantly.”
What does that mean?
