Nearly nine years ago, the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People selected Belize as a focus country as a part of the new international funding strategy. After the first visits to the country, in 2011 it was decided to work mainly with grassroots communities in the southern part of the country because of the precarious poverty conditions in the region.
Melva Lowry has found joy in service where she least expected it. Lowry is one of two young women selected for the first yearlong fellowships with Hands and Feet, an initiative launched by the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Nelson’s idea is to strengthen the church’s mission efforts through partnerships and mission involvement in cities hosting the General Assembly.
Growing up in Rwanda, Joshua Karangwa often saw rural women and children carrying heavy cans of water on their heads for miles, just so their families could survive.
In 2017, when representatives from the United Nations toured the Black Belt of Alabama, one commented that the poverty there was unlike any he had seen in the First World. This area across the southern half of Alabama, once famous for its antebellum cotton production, is now well known for its difficult living conditions. These conditions disproportionately affect the African-American descendants of enslaved labor. Yet, many of these black residents also inherited an indomitable work ethic and have made incredible strides for themselves and their children.
While sitting in a committee meeting in 2004, Tom Neal asked, “How do we help all our churches get involved in mission?” Since no formal system was in place within the Presbytery of Detroit at that time, he and others worked to create the Hands-On Mission Work Group (HOMWG).
When urban design consultant Joshua Poe showed me a redlining map of Louisville, Kentucky, I saw how the intersections of racism and poverty are interwoven. More about the map, which was recently recognized by Harvard University, is available at insiderlouisville.com/government/redlining-louisville-map-wins-harvard-university-honor.
Fresh out of seminary, a pastor listens intently as the chair of the nominating committee drives around the countryside, narrating the history of a rural community that has seen better days. As she listens, she takes note of the sagging porches with faded and torn upholstered furniture. They pass sheep grazing behind a dilapidated barn, and the pastor silently reminds God that this was not what she had in mind when she said “yes” to tending the flock.
Can million-dollar donations to anti-hunger groups be a bad thing? Should Christians who are called to serve and work toward eliminating hunger and poverty in our community’s question corporate generosity as a viable tool to achieve a goal? Food activist and author Andrew Fisher presented these questions and more at a University of Louisville event on Sept. 4 that was co-sponsored by the Presbyterian Hunger Program. Fisher spoke to an audience of approximately 50 graduate and undergraduate students and a smaller number of community members interested in hunger issues, detailing the “unholy alliance” that exists between corporate America and anti-hunger organizations.
The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board (PMAB) will soon hold its first meeting since the 223rd General Assembly (2018), with new leadership at the helm. The Revs. Joe Morrow, PMAB chair, and Warren Lesane, chair-elect, along with the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, the newly elected president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA), will lead the board through their first meeting in Louisville on Sept. 27–29. In addition to Morrow, Lesane and Moffett, Ruling Elder Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri and the Rev. Cindy Kohlmann, the newly elected co-moderators of the 223rd General Assembly, will bring greetings along with General Assembly Stated Clerk the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II.
Can million-dollar donations to anti-hunger groups be a bad thing? Should Christians who are called to serve and work toward eliminating hunger and poverty in our communities question corporate generosity as a viable tool to achieve a faithful goal? Food activist and author Andrew Fisher recently presented these questions and more at a University of Louisville event that was co-sponsored by the Presbyterian Hunger Program. Fisher spoke to an audience of approximately 50 graduate and undergraduate students and a smaller number of community members interested in hunger issues, detailing the “unholy alliance” that exists between corporate America and anti-hunger organizations.
