Friday, September 30, A Season of Peace

When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don’t take advantage of him.
Treat the foreigner the same as a native.
Love him like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt.
I am God, your God.
Leviticus 19:33–34 (MSG)

What started as a fun family outing became my first summer job. I was the slowest blueberry picker those fields had ever seen.

For me, I split slim earnings between a college fund and gas money. For them … it did not occur to me that families working in those fields could remotely live on what they made. It never occurred to me that they moved to work other fields, or how they managed dreams for their children’s college education. I never asked.

Our culture makes it so easy to not ask about our neighbors. Loving the migrant, as God calls us to do, means overcoming our prejudicial tendencies. It means honoring economic refugees, in their work, in their person and in the beauty they bring to a diverse beloved community.

Our system makes it so easy to not ask about the immigrant experience. Loving the refugee means creating peace for those who flee violence, only to find layers of fear and frustration, xenophobia and housing insufficiency. It means effecting merciful and meaningful change through your actions and political voice.

Our world makes it so easy to not ask about the millions who shuffle across borders and through camps. Loving those who are displaced means advocating for a reverse of climate crises and military aggression. It means supporting holistic resettlement programs.

Loving the sojourner means praying to de-center the comfort of native identity. We all have been given the grace of welcome and we are all called to extend that grace to others, including migrants, with radical compassion.

Action: Learn to say “Thank you” in as many languages as you can. A simple dhanyabad (Nepali) or motshakeram (Persian) can brighten someone’s day more than we might ever expect.

Prayer: God of the wandering Aramean, God of the displaced Savior, shine comfort on those who are finding new lands. Give us the courage to welcome sincerely and the strength to demand that of our cultures and leaders. Amen.

 

The Rev. Hansen Wendlandt serves as the pastor for Community of Grace Presbyterian Church in Sandy, Utah. When he is not climbing up rocks or skiing down mountains, he dreams about working a big garden and weekends camping in a van down by a river.

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This year’s Path of Peace reflections are designed to help participants explore peacemaking efforts addressing some of the major issues of our time. The theme for the 29 days of the 2022 A Season of Peace is Led Forth in Peace: Critical Areas of Engagement for Peacemakers. With these daily reflections, we are invited to reflect upon ways to practice peace by engaging the following critical areas:

1. 1. 1. Climate change
      2. Nonviolence
      3. The intersection of poverty and racism
      4. Immigration/migration

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Congregational vitality

Returning to discipleship

September 30, 2022

The Rev. James Gatdet Tang, Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus-West Gambella Bethel Synod president (Contributed photo)

West Gambella Bethel Synod, found in the Gambella region of Western Ethiopia, is a member of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. It was founded in 1962 as a result of the gospel preaching of the missionaries from the PC(USA) after Dr. Thomas Lambie and his teammates erected the first Nuer-Christian church in Nasir in present day South Sudan.

This church (synod) has 156 congregations with 84 pastors who are nurturing the believers. With that many congregations, and it being a growing church, there have been challenges on effective engagement of members, and congregations as a whole, in discipleship ministry and stewardship training that would enable the members to live according to their call as the disciples of the Lord.

One thing that we Christians forget and do not look at is a living that reflects Christ’s likeness. We are called to bear witness as disciples but at the same time, we are expected to live an exemplary life that reflects our call as the followers of the Lord Jesus. We normally look at 1 Corinthians 11:1 to find the pattern of life that Christ demands of us. This is why we, at West Gambella Bethel Synod, have taken the initiative to bring back our members to a biblical understanding of discipleship.

It has been difficult supporting this initiative as the majority of the membership is economically poor and had not been given training that whatever they have is a gift to share with others. These gifts can be food, music, leadership, funds or other things. They are being encouraged to use God-given resources wisely in God’s purpose to sustain the ministry of the living God.

It has been a priority of this synod to strengthen and empower the knowledge of the congregations’ leaders to understand the importance of supporting the church through giving and doing effective discipleship ministry. We have already begun seeing the fruits of trainings we have provided by increased giving and a better understanding of Scripture. There is hope for the members of this synod to continue to grow in the knowledge of Scripture and to be more involved in the church using the gifts God has given them.

I would take this opportunity to encourage congregational leaders to see the importance of engagement in discipleship and using God-given resources to do the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ before he returns.

The article first appeared in Mission Crossroads. Find it and other articles here.

Sharon Kandel, Regional Liaison for the Horn of Africa, South Sudan, Presbyterian World Mission

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Ashley Gibson, Human Resource Assistant II, Human Resources, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Sharon Dunne Gillies, Managing Editor, Presbyterian Women

Let us pray

Gracious Lord, sustain and nurture us that we may have a deep and vital faith. Through Christ we pray. Amen.

Ministry Matters - Growing toward holiness | Build from the outside in

What is the role of good works in Christian life? From grace to good works: growing in holiness by Laceye Warner   While many people are finding renewed interest in this new era of space exploration, those within the Christian tradition have special reason to embrace this news. The Christian tradition and its focus on a creating God who engages with creation has long incentivized people developing skills of observation, and the sciences that arose out of deploying such skills on the natural world. Read here

How do we move back into our neighborhood? Build from the outside in by Audrey Warren   I’m a big fan of All Saints’ Day which John Wesley called “a day I peculiarly love.” Charles Wesley taught us to sing: “Let saints on earth unite to sing with those to glory gone, for all the servants of our King in earth and heaven are one.” It’s also the day that points toward the promise of that day when God’s kingdom will fully come and God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Read here

Maybe we've all been losing ever since that fateful General Conference? The clause, the controversy, and the church's future by Wesley Bros   Our coverage of "incompatibility" with Wesley Bros continues, getting to the inclusion of that (in)famous phrase. Here in 2022, with the denomination splitting over this language, with the ever-increasing polarization of American culture, it’s easy to look for villains and heroes in a story like this one. But Wesley Bros argues that this is not a story of true heroes or villains.  It’s a story of siblings in Christ. Read here

Treasures, mustard seeds, and your sermon this Sunday Helping kids engage in worship this Sunday

Elements for what matters most in worship this Sunday

We're looking for congregational leaders like you. Our mission is to offer resources and content that can help you in your work—and we want to know how you are putting those resources to use. We're looking for congregational leaders to review books and other resources for MinistryMatters, helping orient our readers to the resource and explaining how the resource has influenced your practices in ministry. If you are interested in becoming a published reviewer, please contact our editor here.

Thursday, September 29, A Season of Peace

You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 22:21 (NRSV)

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,
for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 13:2 (NRSV)

Displacement as part of immigration is one of the important lessons that we have learned since leaving the United States of America and moving to the Netherlands. Ours is a self-imposed displacement where so many in our world (especially with what is going on in Ukraine) are being displaced because of circumstances beyond their control.

With displacement comes a certain amount of loneliness — saying goodbye to what is familiar and to those with whom you are accustomed to seeing on a regular basis. Saying goodbye to those you love.

The loneliness can be exacerbated by not knowing the language. Most Dutch people speak English and yet you are in their country, so learning the language is important and polite. Having to learn a different language has given us a new respect for people who move to a new country and catch on to the language quickly. All of these things tie together with being vulnerable and open to asking for help. One thing that we have noticed is our privilege.

We are white immigrants in a predominantly white country and sometimes are treated differently, more respectfully than people of color. We have always had respect for other people and cultures, and this respect has grown since we have chosen to live in another country and to be immigrants ourselves.

Action: Take time to reach out and have a conversation with someone who is from another culture/country. If you are unable to have a conversation, then take time to look up something you are curious about another culture/country.

Prayer: God of all nations, help us to welcome and embrace the stranger. May we not look at one another as “other,” but as children of God, one and all. Amen.

 

The Rev. Dr. Debbie Carl is a retired Presbyterian clergy who is now a professional life coach specializing in mental fitness. She has lived in the Netherlands for three years and has two grown children. She is married to Noël.

Lindsay Freeman is a social media content expert working with the Synod of the Sun. She has lived in the Netherlands for four years. Her partner is Mitchell and she is mom to Delilah, a perky Maltipoo.

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This year’s Path of Peace reflections are designed to help participants explore peacemaking efforts addressing some of the major issues of our time. The theme for the 29 days of the 2022 A Season of Peace is Led Forth in Peace: Critical Areas of Engagement for Peacemakers. With these daily reflections, we are invited to reflect upon ways to practice peace by engaging the following critical areas:

1. 1. 1. Climate change
      2. Nonviolence
      3. The intersection of poverty and racism
      4. Immigration/migration

Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘Mission in reverse’

Immigrants from African countries are joining PC(USA) congregations and planting new ones

September 29, 2022

The Ghana Mission Network at its last in-person meeting, June 2019. (Contributed photo)

Around the world, international partners of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) often invite our mission personnel to share in the ministry of their local congregations. The Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Synod of Zambia, for example, expressed to Sherri Ellington, a mission co-worker who coordinates the Young Adult Volunteer program in that country, how they appreciate the presence of YAVs in their communities as it enriches their life of faith. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana has welcomed me to serve as an associate pastor of one of their church districts in Ghana’s capital, Accra, where I live.

To what extent, then, are we ready to welcome our partners into the life of the PC(USA), to embrace and learn from the gifts that God has given them?

In years past, western churches sent missionaries around the world, and while these efforts were far from perfect, partner churches took the message that missionaries brought them and shaped it to speak to their local cultures and histories. Today, vibrant and faithful churches have taken root, and these churches are now eager to share with us how they worship and live as disciples of Jesus Christ.

In what has been called “mission in reverse,” immigrants from African countries are coming to the United States, and they are joining existing PC(USA) congregations and planting new ones. Some of our African church partners have also expressed an interest in sending missionaries to us, to help our denomination grow and thrive.

Like cold water to a thirsty soul is good news from a distant land. — Proverbs 25:25

The Ghana Mission Network (GMN) started 20 years ago, largely as a forum for PC(USA) congregations and presbyteries engaging in mission in Ghana to come together and share experiences. Over the past several years, as it has welcomed more and more people into its midst, the network has been greatly enriched by “mission in reverse.”

The Presbytery of Lake Huron installed as moderator the Rev. Philomena Ofori-Nipaah in December 2019. (Photo by Staci Percey)

GMN members like the Rev. Philomena Ofori-Nipaah, who was born and raised in Ghana and studied for a Master of Divinity at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, now serves as the interim pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Saginaw, Michigan. When I visited a Presbytery of Lake Huron meeting several years ago to speak about PC(USA) partnerships in West Africa, many people shared with me how the presbytery was strengthened by Philomena’s presence. She is also a nurse and continues to support the Presbyterian Midwifery Training College in the Ghanaian town of Duayaw-Nkwanta.

In their new book, “Freeing Congregational Mission: A Practical Vision for Companionship, Cultural Humility, and Co-Development,” former World Mission Director Hunter Farrell and co-author Bala Khyllep mention GMN member the Rev. Ben Nti, a Ghanaian-born pastor educated at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary who served First Presbyterian Church in rural Brooklyn, Iowa. Farrell and Khyllep write that Ben and his family “had a crystal-clear understanding of themselves as missionaries: imperfect people called to cross lines of difference to share God’s love with a particular group of people — the people of Brooklyn. They sought to do that following the model of Jesus Christ, and their missionary strategy can perhaps best be described as a theology of companionship.”

Philomena and Ben have been wonderful gifts to the GMN, to their local congregations and to the entire PC(USA). Together with other pastors and members with roots in our African partners, they are actively helping to make to make the PC(USA) a denomination of vital congregations in which all of God’s children are welcome — a central focus of the Matthew 25 vision.

The article first appeared in Mission Crossroads. Find it and other articles here.

Joshua Heikkila, Regional Liaison to West Africa, Presbyterian World Mission

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Kristen Gaydos, Communications Director, Presbyterian Historical Society 
Michael Gehrling, Associate, Northeast Region & Assessments, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

God of all people, your care for each of us strengthens us to go out and tell others the good news. We trust in your call to be disciples of Jesus and to be instruments of your mission wherever we go. We pray that our eyes and ears are open to answer your call every day of our lives. Amen.

Wednesday, September 28, A Season of Peace

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
Matthew 25:35 (ESV)

I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2006–2008. During that time, I formed and developed relationships I still carry with me to this day. My time in Ukraine developed my call to service and care for other people. Since this most recent invasion of Ukraine began, my family and friends have been displaced, struggling to survive. Some made it out. Some are still moving as internal refugees. On March 15, my host father, Vova, was killed by Russian artillery.

This war rages on and I still struggle to keep in contact. The week of May 7, my host mother and my youngest host brother joined other family members in a city of relative refuge. Yet we do not know how long they will be safe. We do not know how long this war will last.

Like any other conflict, we are often left wondering what good we can do. How can we save more lives like Vova’s? Why could we not save them before? As a church that holds Matthew 25 as a central tenant, we are called to welcome the stranger. Sometimes that looks like donations. Sometimes that looks like hosting foreigners. Sometimes, it is a prayer such as the one below.

Action: Aside from praying and donating to our Presbyterian funds for refugees, here are other organizations that continue to help people in conflict zones and displaced persons in Ukraine: United Help Ukraine: unitedhelpukraine.org. If you are interested in sponsoring Ukrainian refugees: uscis.gov/humanitarian/uniting-for-ukraine. You can also learn more about what the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is doing and donate through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance at pda.pcusa.org/situation/ukraine.

Or, if you want to be of direct aid to a Ukrainian family who sheltered a stranger in their own land, you can reach out to me at cameron.highsmith@gmail.com, or through my Twitter account @ReformedCam.

Prayer: Holy God, War rages and people are dying. It is hard to see all of your creation suffer from these injustices. In this continuing time of confusion and uncertainty, guide our hearts that we may make a difference. Guide us in your justice, love and mercy so we may care for your people. Help us to be vulnerable and strong for those who are relying on us. Amen.

 

The Rev. Cameron Highsmith is a lifelong Arkansan and Presbyterian. After graduating college, Cameron joined the Peace Corps where he served as a youth development volunteer in Ukraine from 2006 to 2008. After working at a Presbyterian Camp, dabbling in the fine art of customer service, Cameron gave into God’s calling and earned his M.Div. at San Francisco Theological Seminary and then discerned a call to chaplaincy. He currently serves in that capacity at Saline Memorial Hospice in Benton, Arkansas. In his free time, you can find Cameron spending time with his girlfriend, Lauren, enjoying all Razorbacks sports, brewing beer, reading and on the fields during the Little Rock Kickball Association seasons.

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This year’s Path of Peace reflections are designed to help participants explore peacemaking efforts addressing some of the major issues of our time. The theme for the 29 days of the 2022 A Season of Peace is Led Forth in Peace: Critical Areas of Engagement for Peacemakers. With these daily reflections, we are invited to reflect upon ways to practice peace by engaging the following critical areas:

1. 1. 1. Climate change
      2. Nonviolence
      3. The intersection of poverty and racism
      4. Immigration/migration

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Learning from our siblings in the Church of Scotland

A Young Adult Volunteer serving in Dundee, Scotland, discusses her work with the hosts of ‘A Matter of Faith’

September 28, 2022

Victoria Alexander is a Young Adult Volunteer serving in Dundee, Scotland.

A Young Adult Volunteer working this year with a youth group at a church in Dundee, Scotland, sees parallels between an aging Church of Scotland and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — with both churches having an opportunity to pivot in order to appeal more broadly to people of all ages.

“Anything we do, it’s not going to work forever,” Victoria Alexander, who calls Greensboro, North Carolina home when not stationed abroad serving a YAV year in the cradle of Presbyterianism, said recently on “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast,” which can be heard here.

To help the youth she serves make faith more relevant, Alexander hit upon a service project they can do that works both to feed people and to reduce the impacts of climate change: the youth are reducing food waste by running a larder for the community. “We get food from stores and businesses that would be thrown out otherwise,” Alexander explained to A Matter of Faith hosts Simon Doong and the Rev. Lee Catoe. “We are able to get the food out to people almost immediately so they can use it before the sell-by date.”

The declining membership Alexander and others are seeing in the Church of Scotland “is what the PC(USA) could look like in a couple of decades if we don’t change the way we do things,” Alexander said. “I 100% respect tradition and I know that holds a place in our church, but I also think we have the opportunity to create new traditions. We have so many capable, powerful, enthusiastic young people in our church that we can really tap into.”

“Just ask them, ‘What matters to you? Where do you see God in this work?’” Alexander said. “For some people, sitting in a church pew for an hour on Sunday, that’s not active faith to them. It’s not being the hands and feet of God. Don’t get me wrong: I need my Sunday sermons. They give me food for thought, and all week I’m chewing it over in my head,” Alexander told Catoe and Doong. But “I need to be active in my faith and not sitting in church for an hour and saying, ‘That’s my religion for the week. Great job, everyone! See you next Sunday.’”

“Thinking about taking our faith outside the church and having our faith be active during the week is an exciting prospect. … It won’t mean trying something just once. You’ve got to give it a solid try … before deciding it’s not for me — and it may not be, and that’s fine. I think that if churches can diversify the ways that they worship, that’s really important.”

This spring, Alexander was an online participant and part of the PC(USA)’s delegation to the 66th Commission on the Status of Women, which focused on gender equity and the empowerment of women and girls in the context of climate change.

From the very start of the two weeks of CSW, Alexander said, “the PC(USA) delegation welcomed me with open arms. They were so excited, so encouraging, and it wasn’t performative at all. … I felt like they truly valued the voices of young people in our church.”

During one talk, Alexander heard a speaker say church leaders have two specific powers: the power of convincing and the power of convening.

Church leaders “have a voice of authority. The church is one of the few intergenerational institutions we have left in the country,” Alexander said. “It gave me an appreciation for the role faith leaders can play. … God has brought us together for a reason. Also, God has given us the tools we need to address these crises — whether it’s Covid, racial justice, economic justice — we have the tools to address all these every day.”

“Every church member has their own little passion projects that they love, and that’s wonderful,” Alexander said. “It’s one of the strengths of the church. We all have this commonality where we believe in God. I think if we start there and then we work through that to address all these other issues, we’re unstoppable.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Kevin Garvey, Funds Development Specialist, Presbyterian Foundation
Margaret Gay, Associate, International Property, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Lord our God, we thank you for calling us to be your people. We pray that we may in gratitude extend your love to the many who still need your touch. We ask that you reveal your will for us daily and grant us the grace to yield to the prompting of your Spirit and to walk in your will. Amen.