As the world tilts towards chaos and we stare down global uncertainty, it is not the mighty armies that make that make me feel safe. Nor does the knowledge coming out of universities bring me peace. Instead, I take solace in the fact that at this very moment, summer camps are preparing to open for business.
Nearly 700 people of all ages will descend upon a small town in Iowa July 23-28 to sing, study, worship, and play. Synod School, offered by the Synod of Lakes and Prairies at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, is thriving — and unusual, since it is the only such Presbyterian program left in the country.
Peals of laughter and lively chatter mingled with the whirring and humming of busy sewing machines in the small, makeshift classroom that STITCH volunteers and students now call their temporary hom
One day, while taking a break from studying in the Duke Divinity School library, I got into a conversation that would change the course of my family’s life. As I talked with a stranger, I learned he was the only person in the world with a Ph.D. in New Testament, which is also my field of study, who could speak the particular language of the country where he was training Christians for ministry. This really struck me.
Presbyterians Organized in Nurture and Teaching (POINT) is a volunteer network of Christian educators who offer education expertise and curriculum interpretation skills to churches in their area. POINT training, hosted by Congregational Ministries Publishing (CMP), provides in-depth training on denominational curricula.
A Sierra Leone resident recently said that the drive from Kenema to the Liberian border is like riding six hours inside of a concrete mixer. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) delegates visiting the region agreed with this assessment after making the trip on the all-dirt road.
Maryville College, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-related school, is one of 82 institutions nationwide that has received funding as part of the Lilly Endowment Inc.’s High School Youth Theology Institutes. It is the only PC(USA)-related school awarded the grant.
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.
The lives of nearly 80 young adults were transformed recently as the 2016–2017 Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) class gathered at Stony Point Conference Center in New York to begin their YAV experience; each had signed up for “a year of service for a lifetime of change.”
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.
