Unable to focus on their education while they work long shifts for below minimum wage, teenagers in Beirut are vulnerable to abuse, with little hope of escape. Thanks to the Kurkjian family and your ongoing gifts, the Jinishian Memorial Program (JMP) has created a safe space where teens can study, get counseling and take part in vocational training to work toward their dreams, and grow in the confidence of knowing they are loved by God.
When a mobile medical clinic arrived in the tiny village, offering free health screenings to women, they found Karine Petrosyan. Day and night, pain gripped her abdomen. Massive fibroids were silently consuming her uterus. Karine needed emergency surgery. In this remote corner of Armenia, there was little to no access to basic health care until Jinishian began the reproductive health program in 2016. Without early screenings, breast cancer is deadly, making mortality in Armenia is among the highest in the world—a devastating toll that Jinishian is determined to reverse one village at a time.
In Lebanon these days, there is one Syrian for every four citizens, which doesn’t help the delicate economic and sectarian balance of the small country. Unless that one Syrian is Mardig, a young man quietly putting diapers on the elderly or nursing them after surgery. When Mardig first walked into the Jinishian office, he did not look the part. He was covered in tattoos and had no possessions at all, no home and nothing to eat.
Presbyterians have a long history of helping those in need and have shown time and time again that they are willing to roll up their sleeves and go to work. Presbytery of the Peaks is a good example of people in action. Denise Pillow is the Hunger Action Advocate (HAA) for the presbytery, which includes 125 congregations across Central Virginia.
Niger has consistently ranked at the bottom of the United Nations Human Development Index. Indicators that
reflect that ranking include the following:
• Only 40 percent of men and 20 percent of women are literate.
• There is one doctor for every 50,000 people.
• One in seven women dies in childbirth.
• 40 percent of children under age five are malnourished.
• 20 percent of children die before their fifth birthday.
• Up to 90 percent of the population is involved in subsistence agriculture.
David Greene had a vision. The woodworker, a member of Echo Hill Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids, dreamed of developing a team of church congregants to construct quality wooden toys for less fortunate children of all ages. The toys would be non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and creatively constructed to spark the imaginations of the children playing with them. Remembering fondly the hours of fun and creative play with their favorite childhood toys prompted a group of congregants to take a leap of faith to begin the Toy Club.
After a year of meetings, collaboration and recommendations, the White House Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships has released its final report to end poverty in the U.S. The report, entitled Strengthening Efforts to Increase Opportunity and End Poverty, provides recommendations to the President to increase opportunity while reducing inequality.
One of our planet’s worst earthquakes leveled Managua, Nicaragua, in December 1972. A medical doctor and missionary, Gustavo Parajón, raced to action. Within hours he had mobilized others to feed those left homeless. This ecumenical, Jesus-loving, outward-looking group called itself the Council of Protestant Churches of Nicaragua (CEPAD). Today and for most of its more than 40-year history, CEPAD has helped people feed themselves and avoid the need to emigrate.
This article is from the Fall 2016 issue of Mission Crossroads magazine, which is available online and also printed and mailed free to subscribers’ homes three times a year by Presbyterian World Mission. The issue was printed before Haiti was devastated by Hurricane Matthew.
