Today in the Mission Yearbook - Connection Shelter welcomes homeless people in Minnesota

Ministry also connects dozens of congregations

June 21, 2024

Connections Shelter (provided)

The Connection Shelter at historic First Presbyterian Church in downtown Mankato, Minnesota, has welcomed homeless people to spend the night from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. in their second-floor adapted facility from October through April since the fall of 2020. Homeless guests must sign up in advance. Dinner is provided by volunteers from sponsoring churches and from the community at large. When the guests depart from First Presbyterian at 8 a.m., they walk a few blocks to Centenary United Methodist Church for breakfast served by Holy Grounds staff and volunteers and then proceed to the nearby Salvation Army for shelter during the day if needed.

This Connection Ministry program was established in October 2017 in a combined effort begun in 2016 by the Centenary United Methodist, Bethlehem Lutheran ELCA, St. John’s Episcopal and PACT ministries under the leadership of the Rev. Erica Koser from Centenary Methodist and the Rev. Collette Broady Grund from Bethlehem Lutheran.

The Connection Shelter first opened on Oct. 29, 2017, as a rotating seasonal overnight shelter housed alternating weeks at five Mankato churches: Bethlehem, Centenary, Grace Lutheran, St. John’s Episcopal and Crossview Covenant. Intake was at Centenary Methodist every evening, then guests were walked or transported to that week’s host site. The official capacity was 25.

By the fall of 2018, nine churches had agreed to host, with some paired. The rotation model involved moving beds and supplies weekly to the next site, so Covenant Family Church’s agreement to rent their space for a full season starting in the fall of 2019 was very welcome.

Connections Shelter (provided)

In March 2020, as the Covid pandemic hit, all guests were moved out of Covenant Family Church and into the Hilton Garden Inn, where services and case management were provided throughout that summer.

First Presbyterian Church offered to rent second-floor space for the shelter in the fall of 2020. Adequate restrooms and a theater room allowing for television or movie viewing were already in place for the guests. Grant funding allowed the needed addition of a kitchen and expansion of capacity to 30 beds (with Covid spacing). Since then, the services have expanded. Two rooms are now dedicated to dining, and eight rooms house 40 beds. Expansion to 40 beds was afforded when a Blue Earth County government funding grant paid for office space in an off-site building and funded an outreach specialist.

The current director as of May 2024 is Jennifer Echevarria, whose advanced schooling and past experience with homeless people in San Antonio before moving to Mankato made her the ideal candidate. The Rev. Erica Koser had guided the program as a full-time Connections Ministry director from 2020 until her resignation due to family medical issues in 2024 and had played a leadership role since its inception.

The Connection Ministry now has over 30 supporting congregations, 25 business partners, and more than 500 supporters donating time and money. Three full-time year-round employees and 8–10 seasonal employees staff the shelter. In the 2022–23 shelter season, 117 guests were served. Since the outreach office opened in September 2022, more than 200 unique family units have been served.

Sally Coomes, First Presbyterian Church Member; Rev. Erica Koser, Connections Ministry Director 2020–24

Today’s Focus: Connection Shelter at historic First Presbyterian Church in downtown Mankato, Minnesota

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Maha Kolko, Project Manager, Community Outreach and Volunteerism, Human Resources, Administrative Services Group (A Corp) 
Karla Ann Koll, Mission co-worker serving in Costa Rica, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency 

Let us pray

Heavenly Father, thank you for your love, which is a wellspring of life for us all. You are a shelter and a strong tower for those who need refuge. We thank you for your enduring grace that covers those who cannot take care of themselves.

CCA Podcast - Summertime Blues - Is There a Cure?

OFFICE HOURS All calls are confidential. Clinical coordinators are available. Monday – Friday 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM (724) 396-1510 Check Out CCA's Podcast: Ask Christian Counseling Associates With CCA Podcasts, you will receive sound clinical advice, inspiration, timeless wisdom to face daily challenges, and information to help others along the way. For our listeners: please click the buttons below to watch or listen to the CCA podcast. Then subscribe to our podcast on YouTube, and give us a thumbs up. This will make a big difference! On this episode of Ask Christian Counseling Associates: Who is Dr. Joe Maola, and why does he have the Summer Time Blues? Answer: Dr. Joe is a counselor at CCA who thought he could "chill" online but missed the podcast scheduled onsite. That’s what happens when we have a case of mixing up virtual rays with real-life delays. But seriously, are you having symptoms of restlessness, dissatisfaction, or frustration during the summer months? You might be struggling with the summertime blues! Join us with special guests Kiley Henehan and Josh Ricketts of CCA, as we share the cure for how to beat these blues this summer. Click Here to Listen to Our Podcast! Click Here to View Our Podcast on You Tube! Don't Face the Struggle Alone, Reach Out to CCA Today! We hope you like our summer podcast episode. Whatever you face this week, we hope and pray for God's blessing to follow you! If we can be of service, please reach out to us today. God Bless! Richard Hoffman, Ph.D.   Clinical Director Christian Counseling Associates SERVICES....WHY CCA....LOCATIONS....ABOUT Christian Counseling Associates   Serving Pennsylvania, Arkansas New York, Ohio, West Virginia, and Internationally in Liberia, West Africa Stay Social With Us:

Minute for Mission: World Refugee Day

June 20, 2024

Outside U.S. District Court to support

resettlement.

You cannot turn on the news these days without hearing about violence and displacement. We live in turbulent times. According to the United Nations, we are witnessing record high numbers of forced displacement and migration — over 100 million globally.  The causes are many — civil wars, the rise in autocratic governments who violate human rights with impunity, drug wars and even domestic violence. Natural disasters, too, such as hurricanes, droughts and flooding. And when asked, most migrants will tell you that they have left home for a combination of these factors. Their destinations are often determined by where they have family or friends and the financial resources to get there. 

June 20 is World Refugee Day. A day to remember and acknowledge all those who have had to seek safety outside their country. We take time to remember and pray for the situations that caused them to leave in the first place. We pray for their safety as they journey and where they settle. We recognize the many gifts they bring with them and the contributions they make to their new homelands. We pray for our own communities to be a place of welcome, comfort, joy and new possibilities for all of us. 

A Rally for Resettlement at District Court.

June 20 is also a day to recommit ourselves to living into the type of world that God envisions for us. As Christians living in the United States, we have a particular responsibility to speak up with our elected officials. To speak out against xenophobia, racism and hatred. To speak for the dignity and rights of every human being — in our foreign development policies and in our immigration policies. 

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has compiled World Refugee Day resources from across our denomination and from our ecumenical and interfaith partners to offer a number of ways that we can honor refugees and displaced people. How will you honor this day?

Susan Krehbiel, Associate for Migration Accompaniment Ministries, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance

Today’s Focus: World Refugee Day

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Mark Koenig, Communications Associate, Administrative Services Group (A Corp) 
Jed  and Jenny Koball, Mission co-workers serving in Peru, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency  

Let us pray

O God of the sojourner, today we remember those who have set out on journeys not of their own choosing. We pray that you may guide them to safety and give them courage to face the challenges that lie ahead. And may our hearts be open to meet Jesus in each encounter. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Juneteenth

June 19, 2024

Juneteenth, the official freeing of enslaved people on June 19, 1865, in Texas, is one of the most important events in American history — but most students haven’t even been taught it. Maybe that will change now that Juneteenth is a national holiday.

It makes sense to acknowledge the day when Union troops arrived in Galveston a full 2½ years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation — it is the start to remedying one of this country’s darkest sins.

However, it also sets in motion the maintenance of Black subordination in the country’s postbellum society. Yes, Black people were no longer enslaved, but white supremacy ideology is still openly and unapologetically killing Black people and people of color because of extreme ignorant terrorist cells of hatred and silently approved all around this country.

Yet, more than 20 states are moving to strike aspects of American history and anti-racist teaching from public school curricula. Their argument is that examining our history of racism breeds contempt that is racially divisive. On the contrary, discussing history truthfully and using its lessons to inform our future breeds empowerment and is racially unifying. Instead of seeding anger and blame, it allows us to approach solutions to current and future problems with the greatest insight and it helps build trust and accountability within our systems.

A white supremacist, neo-Nazi, mass murderer and domestic terrorist was convicted for perpetrating the Charleston church shooting on June 17, 2015, in South Carolina. During a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the terrorist killed nine people, all African Americans, including senior pastor and state senator Clementa C. Pinckney, and injured one other person.

And recently, a white adult male gunman entranced by a white supremacist ideology known as “replacement theory” opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. He methodically shot and killed 10 people and injured three more, all of them Black, in one of the deadliest racist massacres in recent American history.

Knowledge of our history is essential to inform solutions to future problems.

Gunmen have referenced the racist idea known as “replacement theory” during a string of mass shootings and other violence in recent years. It was once associated with the far-right fringe, but has become increasingly mainstream, pushed by politicians.

Knowledge of our history is necessary for accountability – not retribution or atonement.

Without a clear understanding of what led to these boiling points through an examination of history, we cannot create systems of accountability that are strong enough to maintain order. Studying history does not involve retribution, revenge or atonement. It involves an understanding of why one inciting event can lead to such outrage and mistrust that we need to examine the efficacy of the system itself.

That is what anti-racist teaching does: It does not retroactively place blame on the perpetrators of negative acts. Instead, it examines the role of different systems in allowing repeated negative acts and offers solutions to strip away some of the negative relics of the system that causes these acts to occur. In this case, it is examining the criminal justice system’s history of police brutality in Black communities and adjusting laws and policies that intentionally targeted these communities, while holding wrongdoers accountable in the moment.

Knowledge of our history is empowering and can shift entire narratives about people.

Learning history can be extremely empowering: It provides a portal into what we can achieve, while helping us put current, often negative, conditions into better context. It also provides a crucial opportunity to change the narrative for entire populations of people.

Michael Moore, Associate for African American Intercultural Congregational Support, Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Today’s Focus: Juneteenth

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Lara Kirwan, Administrative Project Manager, President’s Office, Administrative Services Group (A Corp) 
Yveshia Klingman, HR Coordinator, Presbyterian Foundation 

Let us pray

Eternal and Divine God, we honestly lament how disheartening it is to still not be free from the bonds of the sin of racism. We lament that the ever-present pain of injustice is like an anchor around the necks of Black people since our enslaved presence in this land. God, help us to see you as the God of the oppressed and savior of those who seek liberation. We ask that you empower those in positions of power to be positive and vocal agents of change instead of silently complicit in the pain of those most marginalized in our world. We thank you for the freedoms obtained and yet we pray for your guidance to achieve that which is still yet not reality. In Jesus’ name we pray this solemn prayer. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Like a mustard seed

How minority churches in Asia prepare for a time of harvest

June 18, 2024

A church service in Nanjing, China, is pictured. (Contributed 

photo)

Christians are minorities in Asia and the Pacific. The area is known to be home to the most Buddhists in the world, with a projection of 476 million followers in 2050. Nonetheless, the Christian population may rise by about 33% and reach 381 million in 2050.  The highest growth in church membership occurred between 1970–2020. In countries like China, the phenomenon of house churches continues to grow, which is in direct contrast with the global North, where church membership is declining.

With house churches, believers are authorized to worship from their home, usually in one large room that fits 20 to 50 people. They may have several gatherings during the week. Some of these groups are still considered “underground,” and the government may close the venue for the slightest misunderstanding or violation of the law. This happens when the group is not affiliated to the “mainline” denominations recognized by the government. The state has the right to control the activities and all businesses of a “legal” house church.

Church growth is due partly to the success of local Chinese missionaries. The leaders have an influence on their fellow worshipers. Thanks to the basic ecclesial and Scripture training they receive, these leaders easily captivate new members.

The state closely follows this expansion, but that does not prevent those groups from obtaining more and more of a following. The regulations imposed by the state are supposedly aimed at restricting the influence of the West. Church leaders would permanently try to balance legislation, morality and culture. They claim that they achieve better outcomes as they consider this growth along with their civic loyalty rather than nurturing a cradle for civil disobedience.

Chinese Protestants are organized in two groups: the Three-Self Patriotic Movement created in the 1950s and close to the Chinese Communist Party, and the informal house churches. The house churches are believed to have between 45 million and 60 million members. The latter benefits from an affiliation that is younger and better educated. That is only one facet of how a minority and “underground” movement navigates a dominant and repressive regime.

It is no secret that in the past 40 years, Christianity has been declining in the global North. Surprisingly, evangelism continues to win people in many Asian countries like India and China.

A study of world Christianity forecasts that by 2050, 77% of all Christians will live in the global South, but our institutions are not fully aware of the implication of such shift on the future of global missions. As the world is shrinking, churches have not yet realized the impact of such repositioning in their activities. On the contrary, churches continue to organize themselves as self-subsistent and egocentric. Many themes will change drastically, as the context and environment evolve. How would we train our leaders?

The way we do mission will change radically: What kind of ecosystems will prevail 25 years from now? What will be the impact of economic wealth in our relationships as groups and nations?

 In an attempt to respond to these questions, the Rev. Prof. Dr. Jerry Pillay, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, addressed the 15th General Assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia last October in India. He described the signs of the times through the “poly-crisis,” or shocks being faced around the world today, such as geopolitical problems, and crisis in the domains of energy, economics and the climate.

Pillay said: “Human beings, as moral agents and agents of social change, possess the power to make positive moral choices and engage in liberating actions aimed at the transformation of society in accordance with the moral norm of justice. Justice demands that we focus especially on meeting the needs of the poor and oppressed both domestically and globally. Justice must also be extended to non-human life. Thus, economic policies and systems must also be evaluated socially and ecologically on the basis of their benefits and harms to the well-being of all in our interdependent relationships. In harmony with divine purpose, the human being (especially the Christian) must be radically involved in the struggle for justice, and willing to suffer courageously for the redemption of the human community.”

Hery Ramambasoa, Presbyterian World Mission’s Area Coordinator for Asia and the Pacific

Today’s Focus: Time of harvest in Asia and the Pacific

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Jim Kirk, Associate, Disaster Response USA, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Mission Agency 
Mike Kirk, Director & General Counsel, Legal Services, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)

Let us pray

Lord Jesus, thank you for inviting all of us, both young and old, to participate in your mission. Guide our congregations as we disciple our people, giving them opportunities to see your work in and through them in the world. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - North Carolina youth ask the important question, ‘¿Cuándo te vimos?’

Bilingual youth conference ‘When Did We See You?’ was made possible through the Pentecost Offering

June 17, 2024

The “When Did We See You?” conference (“¿Cuándo te vimos?”) 

included participation by local emergency medical services 

personnel in Fayetteville, North Carolina. (Contributed photo)

If given the choice, most people would rather not ride on a hospital gurney.

Except for Hector Cardenas.

In fact, the 17-year-old senior at SandHoke Early College High School in Raeford, North Carolina, said that getting onto “an ambulance bed and being picked up to be placed inside of the vehicle” was his favorite activity.

At a 2023 youth conference, that is.

Last April, Cardenas was one of 85 youth, ages 11 to 22, and 20 adult chaperones who gathered at the Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana Hispana de Fayetteville (North Carolina), for a daylong conference titled “When Did We See You?”| “¿Cuándo te vimos?” [kwan.do te veemos].

The unique event — which attracted participants from five Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations in the Presbytery of Coastal Carolina and one church in the Presbytery of New Hope — was conducted in both English and Spanish using the event planning guide available through the Office of Presbyterian Youth and Triennium (PYT), which also provided the organizers with generous grant support.

Offering innovative, creative and collaborative ways to bring Presbyterian youth together is one of the primary objectives of PYT. To support congregations and mid councils in programming such events as “¿Cuándo te vimos?,” PYT has published four free online resource guides with the Matthew 25-inspired theme “When Did We See You?,” so that youth and their leaders across the PC(USA) can contextualize the theme and make it their own.

Held both in Spanish and English, the unique 

conference attracted participants from churches in 

the presbyteries of Coastal Carolina and New Hope. (Contributed photo)

“The ‘When Did We See You?’ resources were originally intended to be a part of a new endeavor called PYT BEYOND,” said Gina Yeager-Buckley, mission coordinator for PYT. “This program is a way to expand the reach of the excellent content, learnings and conversations that happen at the Triennium but can really be experienced everywhere. BEYOND is a way to open the doors on the event and welcome in so many others; and, more importantly, to share and reshare an important gospel message about faith grounded in and surrounded by justice, awareness and faithfulness.”

Creating opportunities for the Good News to reach young people — wherever they may be — is what the Pentecost Offering, one of the PC(USA)’s four Special Offerings, is all about.

Among the Offering’s most enthusiastic supporters is Jerusalén Martínez Zarco, who has served as associate for Youth Ministry for the Presbytery of Coastal Carolina for the past four years. A native of Mexico where her parents were medical missionaries, Martínez heard God’s call to work with children at a very young age.

“My ministry started with playing music, but I also worked on the medical side, serving with my parents in the rural areas and helping them by bathing the kids, giving them what they needed and teaching them guitar songs,” she said. “I also started a youth conference and invited all my middle school friends to come to church. They really enjoyed it.”

Her passion for youth ministry only continued to grow after the family moved to the U.S. in 2014 when her father was called as pastor of the Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana Hispana de Fayetteville, where the “¿Cuándo te vimos?” conference was held.

Because the presbytery youth council that Martínez staffs was charged with planning and organizing the one-day conference, she counted on both resources and funding support from the national church.

“At the time the [2022] Triennium was going to happen, our youth were so excited to go, and it was canceled,” she said. “So, I asked myself, ‘What’s another thing we can do? Let me figure it out. I’m pretty sure that PYT has materials they can provide to us.’ That’s how it started.”

Cardenas, who is a member of the Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana Hispana and the presbytery youth council, is already busy both studying and serving.

“My favorite subjects in school have always been math and science because English has always been the hardest for me,” he said. “Right now, I am in early college trying to get an associate’s degree in science to then go on to do a two-year promise program with free tuition before transferring to a university to complete my bachelor’s. I want to get a bachelor’s in the medical field because I want to go on and become a physical therapist.”

Emily Enders Odom, Associate Director of Mission Communications

Today’s Focus: Youth gathered at the “When Did We See You?”| “¿Cuándo te vimos?” [kwan.do te veemos] conference

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Tracey King-Ortega, Mission Coordinator II, Mission Partners & Program, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency 
Oweeda Kinnaird, Trust Associate, Presbyterian Foundation 

Let us pray

Fathering and mothering God, you guide our steps. Continue lighting our paths, so that we might reflect and radiate that light wherever we are. Let your church see not just the future but also the present that is already serving you. Amen.