In recent trip to South Korea, Nelson cites ‘the hope upon which we stand’ December 31, 2017 War lives on in the pain of its survivors and their families long… Read more »
War has a human face. Every shadow, every line, every wrinkle is part of the story. A PC(USA) peace delegation visited the War & Women’s Human Rights Museum during their recent visit to South Korea.
Reconciliation is a sacred space where weary bodies are refreshed and troubled souls are soothed, where the roar of oppression is silenced and the calm of compassion resounds. The pathway to reconciliation is long and grueling with setbacks, detours and delays. Along the journey lie ambushes of criticism and alienation, yet those on the journey press on like flocks of birds surging through cold winds for warmer homes. Reconciliation is a distant place — far from the battlefields of South Sudan — yet not beyond reach.
The Presbyterian Mission Agency’s office of Interfaith Relations invites you to join Rick Ufford-Chase this Thursday, June 15th at noon eastern time, for a Facebook Live event as he interviews Susan Smith, a Muslim resident in the Community of Living Traditions at Stony Point Center, about her recent trip to Iraqi Kurdistan with Christian Peacemaker Teams.
While violence and fear pervade war-torn Syria, Presbyterians across the United States are helping those displaced by the conflict rebuild their lives.
Since the war began in 2011, at least 13.5 million people have had to leave their homes and seek safety in Lebanon, Europe and the United States. More than 250,000 others have been killed.
In a recent visit to Lebanon and Syria, a delegation from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) had an opportunity to see firsthand the devastation caused by years of conflict. The group also got an up-close view of efforts to breathe new life into Syrian neighborhoods and cities.
For the general overseer of the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) there is trauma and hopelessness in his country, and the only institution that can offer hope at the moment is the church.
Several ministries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have issued alerts and provided information on their activities in response to the ongoing conflict in South Sudan. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 1.61 million people are internally displaced and another 751,000 people have escaped into neighboring countries, including Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, since conflict broke out in 2013.
In a besieged corner of Aleppo, Shahe, a victim of sudden blindness lost his only source of income as a dental technician. He and his wife, Talin, struggled to stay in their home when the monthly payments became impossible. While their oldest son was excelling in school, the younger boy’s autism required special care, and the wonderful Armenian institution on which they had relied closed, another casualty of war.
In Lebanon these days, there is one Syrian for every four citizens, which doesn’t help the delicate economic and sectarian balance of the small country. Unless that one Syrian is Mardig, a young man quietly putting diapers on the elderly or nursing them after surgery. When Mardig first walked into the Jinishian office, he did not look the part. He was covered in tattoos and had no possessions at all, no home and nothing to eat.
