August 15, 2008  

PCUSA WORLDWIDE is a monthly e-mail newsletter about the international mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). You are invited to share this newsletter with others interested in the world mission of the church such as newsletter editors, mission committees and Christian educators. Free subscriptions are available at http://www.pcusa.org/worldwide/list.htm. Submit story ideas to patrick.cole@pcusa.org.

 

IN THIS ISSUE:   

• CANDIDATES SOUGHT FOR INTERNATIONAL SERVICE

  Critical needs have been identified

• NEW MISSION APPOINTEES BEGIN SERVICE

  Assignments stretch from the U.S.-Mexico border to Korea

 

• NEW WILMINGTON MISSION CONFERENCE

  1,000 gathered again at Westminster College in Pennsylvania

 

• THE FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS IN MADAGASCAR

  Peer educators are playing a significant role

 

• SINGLE MOTHERS FACE HARDSHIP IN HONDURAS

  Abandoned, they fend for their families with few resources

 

• "ANOTHER HOME" TRANSFORMS YOUNG LIVES IN KOREA

   Pray for Nami and Sumi . . .

 

• AND BRIEFLY . . .

  PDA responds to crisis in Georgia, video resources,  October mission network meetings, Bread for the World newsletter, breaking ground in Malawi, health grants, changed life in Germany

CANDIDATES SOUGHT FOR INTERNATIONAL SERVICE

Critical needs have been identified

PC(USA) mission leaders are asking the church to help them identify qualified candidates for international mission service. Eighteen international "critical needs" are posted on the PC(USA) ministry opportunities Web site http://www.pcusa.org/msr/mission.htm. Scattered around the world, they call for a variety of skills and gifts. 

World Mission is asking individual Presbyterians to consider their own call and giftedness for mission service and encourage others to do likewise.

"Many times people hear a call to service after somebody has affirmed their giftedness," says Hunter Farrell, World Mission director.  "I would like Presbyterians to think about individuals who worship in the pew behind them on Sunday mornings, who serve on the congregation's Mission Committee with them, or who work with them on presbytery projects and in other areas of ministry."

Nancy Cavalcante, coordinator of the Mission Service Recruitment office, says her staff looks for candidates first within the Presbyterian family, but Christians from other traditions may also serve under PC(USA) appointment.

The church is seeking to reverse a 50-year trend of decline in the number of mission co-workers who serve internationally. The General Assembly Council developed a budget, which the General Assembly approved in June, that will enable the number of mission co-workers to climb from fewer than 200 today to 215 in 2009 and 220 in 2010.

In addition to recruitment help, Farrell says, "we need the prayers and financial support of Presbyterian individuals and congregations." An additional $4 million needs to be raised over the next two years to fund the General Assembly–approved increase in mission personnel. Financial support can be given through a Web site dedicated to receiving gifts for mission personnel salary and benefits. Visit http://www.pcusa.org/mission.

For more information about mission service, e-mail the Mission Service Recruitment Office at msr@ctr.pcusa.org or call toll-free (888) 728 7228, ext. 2530.

NEW MISSION APPOINTEES BEGIN SERVICE

Assignments stretch from Ethiopia to Poland, Korea and the Mexico–U.S. border

Twelve new Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission appointees completed orientation last month and have begun their international assignments

K. J. Bae joins his wife, Sook Hee, in Seoul, Korea, and assists her work with the Women Ministers Association (WMA) of the Presbyterian Church of Korea.  The WMA offers a ministry of compassion to battered women and teenagers and empowers female clergy by offering them counseling and continuing education.

After taking early retirement as a chemist from Crompton Corp. in Tarrytown, N.Y., in 2005, K. J. moved to Korea to accompany his wife. He now will be working alongside her under PC(USA) appointment.

Paul and Darlene Heller are serving with the Ministry of Hope, a crisis nursery in Mzuzu, Malawi, Paul as director and Darlene as matron. The Ministry of Hope, based in Lilongwe, Malawi, operates a nursery in that city and feeding centers in six villages. The nurseries care for children born with AIDS or who have been abandoned in other life-threatening situations. Paul has been a PC(USA) pastor for 35 years, most recently at First Presbyterian Church in Plattsburgh, N.Y. Darlene is a registered nurse.

After taking a study leave to pursue doctoral studies in Germany, Jane Holslag is returning to her service as a professor of theology and English at LCC International University in Klaipeda, Lithuania. She also works with congregations in the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania and with the theological faculty of the University of Klaipeda.  She is a member of the Presbytery of Los Ranchos 

Amy Robinson is U.S. coordinator of Pasos de Fe, one of six ministry sites along the U.S./Mexico border that are part of the Presbyterian Border Ministry (PBM). A joint mission of the PC(USA) and the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico, PBM's ministries include evangelism, new church development, and community health and development. Amy supports the work of short-term mission teams from U.S. congregations, She is a former PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer and a graduate of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Doug and Liz Searles are consultants and evangelists working in church growth, small group development, music ministry, and an English as a second language (ESL) program with the Evangelical-Reformed Church in Poland. They have previously served in international mission with Global Ministries, a joint agency of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ, as English teachers in China. They also have served on the staff of Woodstock School in India. Doug is an ordained American Baptist pastor who holds ministerial standing with the United Church of Christ. He has served congregations in Illinois and Iowa. Liz has experience as a newspaper reporter, editorial writer and college English teacher.

Lora and Bruce Whearty are working in educational mission in schools related to the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, based in Addis Ababa. Earlier they served in Vanuatu as educators and also in the national offices of the PC(USA) in Louisville. Lora chaired and Bruce was on the team that organized Mission Challenge ’07, the nationwide effort to reconnect Presbyterian congregations with mission workers. Bruce also helped missionaries plan their interpretation assignments. Both Lora and Bruce were public school teachers in their native Montana prior to entering mission service. They are members of Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church in Louisville.

Three other PC(USA) mission workers now serving overseas participated in the July orientation, but their names and specific assignments are not being released because of security concerns. Two are serving in educational ministry in Asia and one is working in health care in the Middle East.

Also attending orientation was Bob Louer, a recent seminary graduate who is being sent to Zambia by Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City. He is the congregation’s second global mission fellow 

NEW WILMINGTON MISSION CONFERENCE

1,000 gathered again at Westminster College in Pennsylvania

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me . . ." was the theme of the 2008 New Wilmington Mission Conference (NWMC) in July, an annual gathering that offers programs for all ages, but with a focus on youth ages 12–25. Participants were invited to "be challenged to impact the world."

Among the speakers and worship leaders at the conference were:

• Rodger Nishioka, associate professor of Christian education at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, who served for 12 years as denominational staff in youth and young adult ministry.

• Corey Nelson, a mission pastor at First Church of Lake Forest in Illinois. who served as a young adult volunteer in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Ghana, West Africa, and was on the staff of the former Worldwide Ministries Division as a mission educator and worship leader.

• Kenneth Bailey, research scholar and lecturer in Middle Eastern New Testament studies, who spent 40 years teaching New Testament in seminaries and research institutes in Egypt, Lebanon, Jerusalem and Cyprus.

•  Hunter Farrell, PC(USA) World Mission director, who with his wife, Ruth, served in PC(USA) mission in the Congo and Peru.

Read the "chatter" (news), see photos, listen to podcasts from the 2008 Conference at http://nwmcmission.org/blogs/announcements/default.aspx

 

THE FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS IN MADAGASCAR

Peer educators are playing a significant role

The Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), PC(USA)'s partner church, has a peer education program in 14 locations around the country. At each location 10 youth are chosen from FJKM schools and churches for training. They are committed Christians who are trained in positive life skills (saying "no" to drugs, drinking, pre-marital sex; choosing good friends; staying away from dangerous situations; etc.) and about HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases and how these can be prevented.

The whole training is taught from a Christian perspective and encourages and equips youth to follow biblical standards. The peer educators then share with their peers at school and church.

The project also involves equipping each school with a learning center that includes a television, games, books, and good videos to promote positive recreation outlets for youth. Most of these communities have very few positive recreational outlets for their young people, which puts the youth at higher risk for engaging in risky behaviors.—Elizabeth Turk, Madagascar

Read Elizabeth's letter at http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/letters/turkd/turkd_0806.htm

SINGLE MOTHERS FACE HARDSHIP IN HONDURAS Abandoned, they fend for their families with few resources

Single motherhood is common in Honduras. Women are abandoned all the time. Clearly the social fabric wears thin in situations of poverty, causing family disintegration. Over the last decade chronic poverty in Honduras and lack of opportunities have led to massive migration. Ten percent of the population is said to reside outside of the country.

Twenty-six percent of the country's GNP comes from money sent home from abroad. So the country becomes dependent on this for survival. Then the male immigrant often forms a new family and eventually leaves the first wife and children to fend for themselves. When the mother has to provide for her children, grandparents have to raise the children at a time in life when they have physical and economic limitations.

Read more about how traditionally machismo, or male domination, has caused single motherhood and family disintegration in Tim and Gloria Wheeler's letter: http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/letters/wheelert/wheelert_0804.htm

And view the photo of Floridalma, mother of four, who was abandoned by her husband when her youngest son was 8 days old. The family's survival depends on a single cow—kept under lock and key—that they received through a community development project.

 

"ANOTHER HOME" TRANSFORMS YOUNG LIVES IN KOREA Pray for Nami and Sumi . . .

 

PC(USA) mission worker Sook Hee Bae works at YeJi Church in Seoul serving survivors of domestic violence and runaway juveniles on behalf of the Women Ministers Association (WMA) of the Presbyterian Church of Korea. She writes about two young girls who came to the WMA shelter called "Another Home":

 

Nami and Sumi (not their real names) are sisters—Nami is 15, a high school freshman, and Sumi is 13. Their parents are divorced, and about a year ago their father, with whom they were living, sexually abused Nami and physically abused Sumi. Nami couldn't tell anyone, not even her sister. She was deeply depressed.

 

Eventually a teacher found out what was happening. Thanks to her teacher's and the school counselor's efforts, Nami and Sumi were admitted to Another Home.

 

At first both Nami and Sumi kept themselves separated from the other girls and were very cold. However, it seems they're beginning to adjust well to their new school life. They had never been to church before, but now come to YeJi Church every Sunday to learn about Jesus Christ.

 

Nami and Sumi have been receiving special psychiatric counseling. Nami will stay at our shelter for next two years, and Sumi will stay for four years. They have not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior yet, but I hope that in the next couple of years they will become positive, bright, new people and grow as God's children.

 

I am grateful to God that we are used as God's tool to transform these young lives. I pray that "Another Home" is a turning point for Nami's and Sumi's lives, and I ask you to pray for these sisters and other young persons in need.

 

Read about Sook Hee Bae's ministry at http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/letters/baes/baes_0803.htm

 

 

AND BRIEFLY . . .

 

• PRESBYTERIAN DISASTER ASSISTANCE is supporting humanitarian relief efforts to help refugees and those displaced by fighting in the embattled former Soviet republic of GEORGIA. Read the PNS story at http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2008/08587.htm

 

• New SHORT VIDEOS on several World Mission Web pages can be viewed and added to your Web site or blog.  One of these is the 10-minute "International Health Ministries—Building Healthy Communities for Christ" video on the IHM Web page http://www.pcusa.org/health/international/. Information about ordering this DVD also is available on the IHM Web page.

 

• MISSION NETWORKS meeting in October:

    Russia Network, Oct. 2–4, Columbia, S.C.

    Mexico Network, Oct. 7–10, Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico

    Congo Network, Oct. 9–11, Charlotte, N.C.

    Ghana Network, Oct. 24–25, Stony Point, N.Y.

    Colombia Network, Oct. 24–26, Oak Park, Ill.

For more information contact the related area office. See http://www.pcusa.org/worldwide.

 

• The PC(USA)'s anti-hunger partner BREAD FOR THE WORLD (BFW) has launched a new e-mail newsletter for "busy pastors" and other church leaders. “Bread for the Preacher” features preaching aids and worship resources surrounding issues of hunger and poverty. To sign up visit BFW's Web site: http://www.bread.org

 

• BREAKING GROUND IN MALAWI. "Thanks to gifts from partner churches, we will soon break ground on a hostel for female students," writes Debbie Chase, PC(USA) mission worker at the College of Theology, University of Livingstonia, in Mzuzu, Malawi. "We hope that the new hostel will open doors for more women to answer the call to the ministry of the Word and Sacrament. In the past, five Synod of Livingstonia female candidates for ministry, two now ordained, have gone to Zomba Theological College, in Zomba, which can accommodate only five Synod of Livingstonia students each year."

 

• HEALTH PROGRAMS of PC(USA) church partners in 11 countries received $1.1 million in grants from International Health Ministries and the Medical Benevolence Foundation in 2007. The specific grants are listed in the Spring 2008 issue of Health & Development News, downloadable from http://www.pcusa.org/health/international/pub.htm

 

• Sadegh Sepehri, mission worker in GERMANY, shares this testimony of a woman from IRAN: "I lived many years in ignorance and with no knowledge of the loving God. I had no inner peace and happiness. . . . [Then] I attended worship services. I listened to the Word of God. In that atmosphere I was freed from my worries and concerns. God's love and peace permeated all my life. It was an inner peace that I had never experienced before. I am afflicted now with breast cancer [but] even the cancer cannot take my inner peace away from me." http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/letters/sepehris/sepehris_0803.htm

 

• PAST ISSUES of the PCUSA WORLDWIDE newsletter are available in PDF format from http://www.pcusa.org/worldwide/newsletter.htm