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The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stressed that zero carbon emissions must be achieved by 2050 by the world if we are to avoid catastrophic climate impacts such severe and recurrent droughts and record-breaking storms as well as the inundation of small island states and coastal cities.
Glory Banda was born in Malawi. She was also born deaf. Soon after her parents realized that 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.
Strong hurricanes, record flooding and massive wildfires have taken their toll on volunteer groups aiding in cleanup and recovery in recent years. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance says groups have been working hard to help communities rebuild, but the number of powerful hurricanes and other natural disasters is making it harder to find enough people to meet the need.
It’s one thing to see or read about the struggles of people living in poverty, stretching every nickel or dime. It’s another to get a true sense of what the daily struggle is like. First Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth, Texas, recently gave young people a small dose of what many low-income residents in their community deal with when it hosted a camp for students in fourth through eighth grades.
Founded in 2011, South Sudan is the world’s youngest country. But infighting among its two largest tribal groups — friction that dates back to the 19th century — has plunged the country into civil war and forced many of its young citizens to become soldiers instead of doctors, teachers or farmers. The Rev. Michael Muot Put, from the Nuer tribal community, is working to educate communities about the importance of peace among different ethnic groups and to provide a platform based on peace and unity.
It’s a far cry from 2014 in the Presbytery of Nevada. This past year 12 of its 21 congregations experienced numerical, and spiritual, growth.
Just a few years ago, churches were leaving the presbytery and the remaining congregations were resistant to paying per capita.
The director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness recently found out what life is like behind bars. The Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, along with other clergy, was arrested earlier this summer while praying outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C.
Madagascar, which sits off the southeast coast of Africa, is the fourth largest island in the world. More than 90 percent of its flora and fauna are found nowhere else on Earth, including more than 8,000 plant species. Yet for all of its natural resource richness, Madagascar is among the world’s least-developed countries, according to the U.N. Nearly 90 percent of its residents live on less than $2 a day and only one-third have access to safe drinking water.
In response to the prevalence of hunger, local congregations are making an impact on hunger in their communities by going beyond traditional food pantries and community meals. They are now establishing things like “blessing boxes” on church property and offering nutrition classes, often by partnering with other organizations.
Tomorrow Presbyterians will join in prayer with other Christians worldwide to observe the Day of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula.
