{"id":1976,"date":"2022-05-23T06:00:29","date_gmt":"2022-05-23T06:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.presbyterianmission.org\/weekly-offerings\/?p=1976"},"modified":"2022-05-16T19:00:23","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T19:00:23","slug":"pentecost-living-a-life-through-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2022\/05\/23\/pentecost-living-a-life-through-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentecost: Living a Life Through Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

The branches of their family trees are filled with Presbyterian pastors and elders, so it\u2019s no wonder that Akilah Hyrams and Noah Westfall \u2014 both alums of the PC(USA)\u2019s Youth Adult Volunteer or YAV program \u2014 have lives rooted in their faith-building experiences.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0YAV program<\/a>\u00a0is an\u00a0ecumenical, faith-based\u00a0year of service\u00a0for young people ages 19\u201330 in sites across the United States and around the world. YAVs accompany local agencies working to address root causes of poverty and reconciliation. Alongside this work, volunteers explore the meaning of their Christian faith and accountability to their neighbors in the community with peers and mentors.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Akilah Hyrams at her white coat ceremony.<\/p><\/div>\n

Akilah spent her 2016\u201317 YAV year serving in the Philippines. She expressed interest in pursuing a medical career and the YAV site coordinator was able to customize her experience based on her vocational aspirations and interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cVolunteering in health clinics was an amazing opportunity which I am so grateful for,\u201d she said. \u201cWorking in the clinics solidified for me that medicine was where I was being led.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Noah Westfall<\/p><\/div>\n

Noah spent his 2018\u201319 YAV year serving Texas Impact, an interfaith organization that works on issues that impact the most vulnerable and helps people move their faith community from charity to justice. Working at Texas Impact was excellent preparation for his current role as program coordinator for the Primary Care Collaborative, a Washington, D.C.-based health-care advocacy nonprofit that advances comprehensive primary care to improve health and health care for patients and their families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe YAV program walks alongside young adults like Noah and Akilah to help with their vocational discernment in areas such as race, poverty and church vitality, the three foci of Matthew 25,\u201d said Destini Hodges, the YAV program coordinator. \u201cLearning the complexities of structural racism and systemic poverty through a Christian faith perspective allows them to develop skills and apply them wherever the future calls.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The YAV program is supported, in part, through the Pentecost Offering. The offering also supports the Youth Triennium and the \u201cEducate a Child, Transform the World\u201d national initiative. Forty percent of the offering is retained by individual congregations for local ministries with young people, while the remaining 60% is used to support children-at-risk, youth and young adults through ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.<\/p>\n

When it comes to what our gifts to the Pentecost Offering can do, perhaps Akilah says it best. \u201cWhen you donate, you\u2019re supporting someone through a life-changing experience, which looks different for everyone,\u201d Akilah said. \u201cThese experiences open our eyes and broaden our horizons. Thank you for any support you can give. You\u2019ll never know how much it truly means to each and every one of us!\u201d<\/p>\n

Let us pray<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Great physician, heal our communities by your grace, and raise up leaders in every field, who seek your hope, wholeness and well-being for this, your world. <\/em>Amen<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n

Join us<\/h4>\n

For more information and resources related to the Pentecost Offering, please visit pcusa.org\/pentecost<\/a>.
\nThis post is based on a Minute for Mission which can be found here as a script<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Please give generously to the Offering:<\/p>\n