Without power Who could forget the devastation after Hurricane Maria swept across Puerto Rico in 2017? Certainly not Mimita Nieves. Eighteen months later she was still living without electricity. Mimita did the best she could. She got along on canned food and powdered milk, and fresh vegetables when she could get them. She cooked on… Read more »
March 26, 2020
OGHS: Long-Term Recovery from Hurricane Maria
Without power Who could forget the devastation after Hurricane Maria swept across Puerto Rico in 2017? Certainly not Mimita Nieves. Eighteen months later she was still living without electricity. Mimita did the best she could. She got along on canned food and powdered milk, and fresh vegetables when she could get them. She cooked on… Read more »
Facing drought in Somalia Before a hunger emergency struck Somalia, Hawo Abdi and her husband were successful herders near their country’s border with Kenya. However, two years of intensive drought parched the land to the point that they could no longer raise the camels, cattle, sheep and goats that supported them. As her family faced… 
From Worry-Free to Evicted For more than a decade, Monica lived peacefully in her Jersey City apartment and enjoyed a worry-free relationship with her landlord. However, when a new landlord acquired her building, Monica started getting notices summoning her to court. At different times, the landlord contended that she had been late with a rent… 
This is God’s house It is likely that some of us, when we were growing up, were told that there were certain ways to behave in the church building, because it is God’s house. Maybe it was not to run, or to keep our voices quieted, or maybe we were taught to invite others in…. 
Engaging the children of your congregation with the four churchwide Special Offerings has never been easier or more important. There are numerous ways children can connect with One Great Hour of Sharing, including the engagement placemat and fish coin banks that often arrive in your standing orders. However, were you aware there are numerous resources… 
You shall be called repairers of the breach. —Isaiah 58 Around the world, millions of people lack access to sustainable food sources, clean water, sanitation, education, and opportunity. Each gift to One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) helps to improve the lives of people in these challenging situations. For more than 70 years, One Great Hour… 
A church walks into a bar…and then what? We invite you to watch this short video and reflect on what you’ve seen by answering the questions below. Thank you to Rev. Ryan Landino, Lead Presbyter for Transformation at the Presbytery of Great Rivers, for creating this Sixty Second Sermon for One Great Hour of Sharing…. 
Do you remember losing your first tooth? Perhaps a better question is do you remember the first time the tooth fairy came to visit? As a child, having your own money, even if it is just a little bit, is a big deal. Paul, a first grader in Wyoming, has a wiggling tooth he’s excited… 
A Community Facing Displacement Even before Hurricane Maria ravaged communities along the Martín Peña Channel in Puerto Rico last year, residents were facing another threat that could have completely disrupted their way of life. Plans to dredge the polluted channel and improve the waterway promised to dramatically increase property values in this section of San… 
This piece was written by Rev. Aisha Brooks-Lytle, Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, for their presbytery newsletter originally published March 30, 2019. Our conversations around what it means to flourish continues to deepen our understanding of what it means to be a Presbytery filled with healthy congregations and innovative leaders who are…