Presbyterian Mission Agency rola al ashkar Archives

Minute for Mission: Gifts of New Immigrants

Posted August 18th, 2022

Rola Al Ashkar is a Presbyterian Christian from Lebanon. She grew up in a non-religious family, in a culture drenched in religion. Her parents took her and her brothers to church and Sunday school on occasions. When she had her confirmation class, she received her first Bible, and even as a teenager, she read the Bible with critical eyes, questioning parts of it and searching for answers. Her curiosity led her to regularly attend Sunday services, youth meetings and church summer camps, and through those experiences her faith grew, and she found a community in the Presbyterian Synod of Syria and Lebanon.

A welcoming sanctuary for every soul

Posted April 9th, 2021

In the Presbytery of Sacramento, ἴama Yoga, a 1001 new worshiping community in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will soon rise up to connect people to God and one another through the Christian spiritual practice of yoga.

A Lebanese pastoral resident talks about intercultural ministry lessons learned

Posted September 25th, 2020

Coming from Lebanon to the United States, Rola Al Ashkar knows a little something about intercultural ministry. As a pastoral resident in multicultural ministry at Parkview Presbyterian Church in Sacramento, California, she understands what it’s like to be a stranger in an intercultural church.