The Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Gutiérrez, who served the Presbyterian Church as a mission co-worker, along with his wife, Ernestina “Tina,” in Ecuador; as joint field secretary, associate for mission design, and liaison with Latin America and the Caribbean; and as area coordinator for South America, passed away November 2 in Texas at age 87.
Marie ‘Breezy’ Lusted, a Presbyterian mission co-worker and long-term volunteer, served as a nurse and Bible translator in Ethiopia for 56 years. She passed away in North Carolina on October 29 at the age 85. Her sisters, Ruth and Anita, a niece, Cindy, and a close friend were at her bedside.
A Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) peace delegation will travel to South Korea in November in response to Overture 12-01 and Committee Referral 12-13 that focus on the reunification of the Korean Peninsula and the need to build upon the increasing momentum toward peace. They were adopted at General Assembly 222 (2016) in Portland.
At the end of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, 16 Presbyterian pastors had been killed, many had been wounded and some had fled the country. The churches that remained were empty.
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.
Applications are now being accepted for the 2018-2019 Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) class. This is the 25th anniversary of a program that is helping to shape the next generation of globally aware, faithful and passionate leaders.
Presbyterian mission co-workers Jeff and Christi Boyd developed a floor and board game several years ago to help U.S. Presbyterians appreciate the joint efforts of students, parents, communities and churches to improve education in Africa. The game also prompts players to ponder the plight of African children.
During the past year, over one million people have fled their homes in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo because of military activities. As political unrest has spilled over into ethnic violence many villages were burned and health centers and schools were destroyed in the process.
The hymn, “Here I am Lord,” floated through the sanctuary at Las Placitas Presbyterian Church in New Mexico Sunday, and just moments later, Dori Kay Hjalmarson walked down the aisle into her ordination and her new role as a mission co-worker in Honduras.
