The local laundromat in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, was Linda’s chapel.
It was where she first shared a prayer concern that had been weighing heavily on her mind — and on her family’s heart — to say nothing of their budget.
At the time, Linda was dealing with stage 4 cancer.
“Since I got sick, my washer and dryer can’t handle the volume of blankets and bedding,” she confessed to the pastor and volunteers from the Presbyterian Church of Waynesboro. “And the expense of doing my laundry would have been difficult to handle without your help.”
The help that had become a lifeline for Linda and other families — for whom the escalating cost of health care was threatening to drive them even deeper into poverty — was the church’s “Fresh Start: Loads of Love” laundry outreach program.
The PC(USA)’s Christian Zionism working group, which includes PC(USA) national staff, congregation members and grassroots Presbyterians connected to the Israel Palestine Mission Network (IPMN), will present its third and final webinar on Confronting Christian Zionism.
The PC(USA)’s World Mission Office of the Middle East and Europe, in conjunction with several denomination partners, is sponsoring a webinar focused on the challenges faced by forced migration. “People on the Move” is scheduled for Monday, August 5 at noon Eastern Time.
With Kenya Mission Day coming on Saturday, more than 30 members of the PC(USA)’s national staff were privileged to hear a sermon during their online Chapel Service Wednesday by the Rev. Dr. Robert Ngugi, Secretary General of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, as well as musical offerings from Kenyan choirs.
The Rev. Cheryl Barnes, Africa Area Coordinator for Presbyterian World Mission, recently delivered an engaging address on education during an in-person and online gathering of the Congo Mission Network.
Several Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers and other employees are moderating workshops and leading discussion groups at the People on the Move partner conference which convened Sunday in Rome, Italy.
The Presbyterian Mission Agency’s World Mission ministry, in collaboration with the Office of Public Witness and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations, is launching a webinar series dedicated to the current crisis unfolding in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. The first webinar, scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, Dec. 12, is titled “Jewish and Christian Voices for Peace.”
The Al Amana Centre (AAC) in Oman was founded in 1987, but its roots date back to the country’s first Christian mission in the late 19th century. Its initial iteration was evangelistic ministry, but quickly grew into medical care to serve the common good and live out a Christian witness among non-Christian people and education. It was the only modern hospital in the middle eastern country at the time and remained the only modern medical provider in Oman for nearly 80 years.
A pastor with the Presbyterian Church of Colombia talked about her official role as a government negotiator, helping to bring peace to after more than five decades of internal armed conflict in the South American nation.
Recently a group of Presbyterian Mission Agency personnel joined with ecumenical partners from across Latin America and the Caribbean and delegates from the World Council of Churches and the World Communion of Reformed Churches. They gathered in Bogotá, Colombia, at the “International Encounter for Reconciliation in Colombia: Ecumenical Experiences and Learnings in Peace Building.” The PMA delegation included Ellen Sherby, the Rev. Dr. Valdir França, Sue Rheem, and the Rev. Sarah Henken, PC(USA) mission co-worker serving in Colombia, a country seeking peace after more than 50 years of armed conflict.
