We write to you as former Moderators of the General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its predecessor churches, as disciples of Jesus Christ committed to the Gospel’s witness and promise of reconciliation, and as agents of God’s transformative justice in the church and in the world.
Rachel Kahindo’s calm demeanor concealed the distress in which she had left behind her family. Just 24 hours earlier, some 50 children, women and men had been hacked to death a mile up the road from where she lives in Beni, a rural town in the volatile East of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It was the deadliest attack since the militia had stepped up its activity two years before. Despite the traumatic events, Rachel had traveled to the provincial capital of Goma to be trained as a facilitator for trauma-healing in children. The nine-day event, which included a camp for 50 youngsters age 8 to 18, was organized by the Protestant Council of Churches in Congo (ECC) in collaboration with the DRC Bible Alliance. Rachel, the coordinator of women’s ministries of the Baptist church in the Beni district, met up with 28 ECC women leaders and schoolteachers from five provincial synods, who together represented 12 ECC member denominations.
For the Rev. Kevin Johnson, the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and its aftermath became a turning point in his life. Raised in Washington, D.C., Johnson climbed the stairwell of a high rise under construction after the shooting and witnessed a city in anger as riots broke out in the nation’s capital.
One evening Dr. Anthea Butler was stopped for driving while black in her late-model luxury car. As a flashlight shone on her boyfriend’s pale face, the police officer asked, “Did you pick her up somewhere?”
A statement by J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the PC(USA) General Assembly, a response to the violence on America’s streets after the election of Mr. Donald Trump as President–Elect of the United States of America.
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.
For the Rev. Howard Dotson, the decision to become a chaplain and crime victims’ advocate began when two young men he was talking with were gunned down within a half hour of his meeting. The two were on a street corner raising money for a friend that had been shot and killed two days before.
In conjunction with the Women’s Department of the Church of Christ in Congo, Presbyterian World Mission co-worker Christi Boyd recently helped facilitate the first Healing Hearts training event in the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This week, Presbyterian World Mission co-worker, Christi Boyd is helping to facilitate the Church of Christ’s (ECC) Women’s Department’s first Healing Hearts training event in Goma, North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo.
The recent shootings in Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights and Dallas have prompted the Interfaith Coalition to appeal to U.S. lawmakers to “mend divisions” between communities and law enforcement. In a letter to congressional leaders, the coalition, including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), says the shootings are another reminder of the “great harm caused by unaddressed racial injustices and divisions in America.”
