Between Freetown and Kenema, Sierra Leone, there is an old dirt road off the main highway that winds its way further and further into the wilderness. Sometimes the holes in the road are half as big as the cars that drive around them. At the end of the 20-minute ride is the village of Makai Sanka, one of the groups in the so-called central cluster of the West Africa Initiative (WAI).
Three ministries with Compassion, Peace and Justice are in Sierra Leone this week to see first hand how work is progressing for the West Africa Initiative, a collaboration of Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP), Self-Development of People (SDOP) and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA).
A week’s worth of heavy rains has northern California residents on edge. Forecasters warn as much as 10 inches of rain could be recorded by the end of the day this Wednesday as flood warnings remain in effect.
A week after an EF2 tornado tore a path through parts of New Orleans, disaster officials and volunteers are still trying to determine the extent of damage. The National Weather Service confirmed that 12 tornadoes struck seven states on February 7.
For diehard fans of acronyms—of which Presbyterians surely have more than their fair share—the Rev. David Gill has mined something of a GEM. Gill, who will retire on January 31 as executive director of Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center, says that throughout his 20-year tenure at the PC(USA)-related camp he has always “looked for things that can be financially self-sustaining for the long haul.”
Residents along the deep south and Gulf Coast have begun to dig out from the damage left behind following an outbreak of tornadoes over the weekend. From January 21 through the 23, as many as 29 tornadoes swept across six states, leaving as many as 20 people dead, hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed and scattered power outages through out.
LOUISVILLE – Fire officials in Inglewood, Tennessee, are still trying to determine the exact cause of two separate fires at Eastminster Presbyterian Church on Sunday. The first fire was extinguished quickly, according to Pastor Gilbert Varela.
In an apparent random act of violence, the education wing of St. Stephen Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, Texas was extensively vandalized last Saturday evening. Officials believe the vandals gained entry to the building by breaking windows around 8:00pm and then continued their rampage until 4:20am Sunday when a church steward arrived and startled them away.
Presbyterian churches located within a few miles of the Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport are still trying to wrap their minds around last Friday’s shootings that left five people dead and several injured. The suspect, Esteban Santiago, 26, appeared before a federal magistrate judge on Monday and could possibly face the death penalty.
It’s been over a month since fire broke out in an Oakland, California warehouse, known as Ghost Ship, killing 36 people. Just before Christmas, members of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance’s National Response Team, were invited to visit the community and meet with faith leaders.
