Today in the Mission Yearbook - Mission co-workers share post-pandemic travel tips

Pack your bags!

October 17, 2022

When Expedia, an online travel site, released its 2022 travel trends report earlier this year, it discovered that not only was there a pent-up demand to pack one’s bags and take off on adventures unknown, but also the trips being planned were “GOATS” — “the greatest of all trips.”

Expedia polled 12,000 travelers across 12 countries and found that 41% of U.S. travelers are embracing the GOAT mindset by seeking out excitement and exhilaration and 40% are embracing the feeling that they have made the most out of their trip. The study also found that 40% of travelers are more willing than ever before to splurge on their future travels.

While excitement and exhilaration might be leading to fuller planes and longer check-in lines, the easing of travel restrictions have many churches excited as well, as congregations can start thinking about long- and short-term mission trips.

Recently, a group of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission leaders, Presbyterian Mission Agency World Mission staff and mission co-workers joined together on Zoom to talk about how to be thoughtful travelers when visiting global partners in the aftermath of the pandemic.

No. 1 — Do your homework before leaving

 Christi Boyd, a mission co-worker living in the Democratic Republic of Congo, along with her spouse, Jeff, said it is important to approach visits with a “high level of intentionality by discerning the meaning, purpose and desired outcomes of our journey.”

“This process starts well ahead of making travel plans and evolves in consultation with our receiving counterparts. It also includes identifying any necessary preparatory work to be done to be mindful of our intentions. During the visit itself, we would, as thoughtful travelers, develop a greater awareness through our sensory perception of the context, our mental and spiritual reflection on the experience, and our prayerful and conscious effort to adequately respond to situations that can seduce us to unintended but still harmful acts,” she said.

No. 2 — Take all health precautions and medications

 The Rev. Elmarie Parker, regional liaison for Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, encourages travelers to be vaccinated for the Covid virus as well as for other illnesses that are prevalent in areas of travel. Also, travelers should have all necessary medications with them.

“Our hospitals will make way for Westerners. This is one of the ways in which we are privileged in the world. And the challenge with that is that it means that local people who have no other options for medical care are pushed aside,” Parker said. “So, this is a way that we can be considerate, also, to simply not travel if there’s any risk that we may be taking medical care away from local people.”

No. 3 — Be mindful of others’ emotional well-being

 “Peru has one of the highest Covid fatality rates in the world,” said the Rev. Jed Koball. He said the way to be a good traveler is to provide a space where people can share what’s on their heart because there’s a lot weighing on people’s hearts and minds right now.

 No. 4 — Be thoughtful of what you call the trip

 Hyeyoung Lee, a mission co-worker in South Korea, recommended to those embarking on a mission trip to think about how what you call the trip can have an impact on those participating. She said naming the journey something that implies learning can shape the mindset of the participants, helping them understand they are going to the country to learn from and hear from locals.

No. 5 — Nothing replaces the human touch

 While there were discussions around in-person visits versus virtual visits, with Tracey King-Ortega, regional liaison for Central America, saying global partners have become better at navigating the virtual world, the consensus was that nothing replaces the benefit of being in person with others.

Kathy Melvin, Retired Director of Mission Communications for the Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Robert Hay, Senior Ministry Relations Officer, Presbyterian Foundation
Ben Hayden, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray

For those you have called to lead your church, O God, we give you thanks. Be with those who teach, preach and care for the least of these. And to all of your children, give the peace of Christ and the community of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘The sensitivity of the people I met for these refugees was just really impressive’

Checking in with global partners in Eastern Europe coping with the refugees fleeing Ukraine

August 2,  2022

Following worship, the Evangelical Reformed Church of Poland held a fundraising concert to aid refugees. (Photo by Ellen Smith)

Ellen Smith, World Mission’s regional liaison for Eastern Europe, recently returned from a visit with partners in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland to see firsthand how they are coping with the enormous task of caring for refugees fleeing Ukraine and how the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) can accompany them.

“What I saw was heart-wrenching, but also filled me with hope,” she said. “I saw ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They were completely overwhelmed, but receiving people with open hearts, compassion and love. No one had an abundance of resources, but they were focused on what they could do by working together.”

After landing in Berlin, she took a train to Bonn, Germany where she met with an Orthodox theologian from Minsk. The theologian is living in Germany while finishing her doctoral degree and spoke last year to the BURM (Belarus Ukraine Russia Poland) Mission Network about the ongoing unrest in Belarus. Smith said she is part of a network of people working together to help Ukrainians in exile. With her extensive contacts, she was able to give Smith a true picture of what is happening on the ground.

The theologian is one of several involved in reconciliation and peacemaking in Ukraine, people who are “deeply wise, deeply compassionate.” She said even though the war has caused them to scatter, they continue to stay in touch and look for ways to help.

Smith said she was impressed with the way Germans are handling the large influx of refugees.

“The Germans are receiving people with compassion,” said Smith. “They’re very organized, and that’s wonderful. And they’re very protective. There were signs in Russian and Ukrainian everywhere. They were doing a great job, but they’re overwhelmed.”

Deutsche Bahn, the German train system, is offering free tickets to Ukrainians for any destination in Germany they choose.

Smith, who lived with her family in Russia for a decade, worries about friends who are part of the Moscow patriarchy in Ukraine because they think of themselves as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchy, not as Russian Orthodox. She said they are the subject of hate now due to association.

“It’s sad because their metropolitan came out more boldly than anyone against the war and called on Russia to withdraw. “I don’t know if there will ever be enough forgiveness. They are just under the patriarchy. It’s just so painful for me, personally, because there are people I care about in that church and in other churches.”

Ellen Smith

In Prague, Smith met with members of the Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren, a PC(USA) global partner. Although small in area, the Czech Republic has received 300,000 refugees. By dispersing refugees into smaller places, they have been able to provide emergency shelter, but realize it’s only a temporary solution. They have begun thinking ahead to long-term shelter solutions, realizing there is no end in sight for the conflict.

“The refugees are women and children and the elderly, a very vulnerable group,” said Smith. “They realize it is important to take good care of them and protect them. Often, the refugees are confused, and not sure what to do. The men have stayed behind to fight.”

Smith met a young volunteer in charge of fundraising for ECCB who spearheaded a special fund drive to buy toys and games to keep children occupied while their parents are being registered. They often have to wait in line for hours. They also had to find 400 volunteers, far beyond ECCB’s capacity, so they reached out to every church and civic organization all over the country, and they got the 400 volunteers and a huge number of needed emergency supplies.

“The sensitivity of the people I met for these refugees and watching them and caring for them and understanding their needs was just really impressive,” said Smith. “They were phenomenal.”

Smith said these churches are small without a lot of capacity, but they have been creative about finding ways to help. One church that previously operated a day care has opened its doors to educate Ukrainian children. Churches around the country have opened their doors to refugees and church members are taking refugees into their homes.

Kathy Melvin, Former Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Vernon Broyles, Volunteer, Office of the General Assembly
Laura Bryan, Coordinator, Financial Aid for Service, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Today we pray for all those who have been forced to leave their homes, their homelands and all they hold dear that you may grant them safe passage, wisdom and courage. And we pray for host communities around the world to have open hearts and eyes to see God’s servants in the faces of those seeking refuge. In the name of our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - With a foot in each of two worlds, international human rights attorney has a unique perspective

Together We Welcome conference closes with poetry and priorities

July 15,  2022

Jonathan Kuttab (Photo courtesy of Friends of Sabeel North America)

Jonathan Kuttab is a well-known international human rights attorney who splits his time between Israel-Palestine and the United States.

Recently named the executive director of Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), he still maintains a law office and home in East Jerusalem. Having a foot in both worlds gives him a unique perspective.

After spending an extended period in the U.S. because of Covid, Kuttab has returned to Israel-Palestine.

Kuttab said that tourism accounts for about 60% of the Palestinian economy, which has been all but nonexistent during the pandemic. He also said there is a growing call for new leadership in the Palestinian Authority, which has not held elections since 2004.

“People are saying we need new blood, new leaders,” he said. “They think the Palestinian Authority is doing only one thing well, and that’s protecting Israelis, not protecting the Palestinians or their interests.”

Kuttab is also spending time leading discussions around his book, “Beyond the Two-State Solution,” which has just been translated and printed in Arabic and Hebrew. He describes it as “a vision for a shared common homeland that addresses the needs of common people, Israelis and Palestinians, because the two-state solution has indeed collapsed.”

He admits it is a visionary solution.

“I proposed something that doesn’t fit Zionism and doesn’t fit Palestinian nationalism, that gives every side everything they want except for exclusivity,” he said. “It says this is mine, but it is also yours. And it creates structures, laws, constitutions and procedures that address and ensure the hopes and fears of both sides, including demographic fears and security concerns. For me as a Christian, it’s one step closer to the kingdom of God than the present ideologies that exist.”

Kuttab said there are now 700,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, which was originally supposed to be the Palestinian State. He believes that’s one of the many reason that the two-state solution is no longer a viable option.

“In 1967 there was an historic opportunity for a compromise where you maintain your Zionism and we maintain our Palestinian nationalism, but we limit it geographically. Palestinians were to get 22% of Palestine and Israel would get the rest and that would be our resolution. But that solution was systematically undermined by all the successive Israeli governments by creating Jewish settlements throughout the occupied territory. They have their own infrastructure, their own roads, their own institutions, their own courts and their own laws that apply to them and that’s not about to change.”

Kuttab recently visited the Nassar family, who are Palestinian Christians living on their 106-year-old organic farm in the hills southwest of Bethlehem.

Their slogan, painted on a rock found at the entrance to the farm, says simply, “We refuse to be enemies.”

The Nassar family holds a legitimate deed to the land, which is surrounded on all sides by Israeli settlements. The family has been fighting in the Hight Court of Israel to be recognized as legal owners of the property for more than 30 years, racking up more $200,000 in legal fees.

The family’s dedication to peace was tested on Jan. 28, when Daoud and Daher Nassar were attacked by fellow Palestinians from a nearby village and spent several days in the hospital in critical condition. They were attacked with iron bars and large sticks by 15 masked individuals. Yet they remain committed to the principles on which the farm operates.

“Without registration they can’t get licenses, and without licenses every other day they get a new stop work order or destroy order,” Kuttab said. “This is a family that loves peace and reconciliation and nonviolence. They should be allowed to build structures for peace, not animosity.”

As difficult as things are today in Israel-Palestine, Kuttab said he thinks it is important to maintain hope.

“We need to maintain our energy and our witness, and to lift up a vision for a possibility of justice, equality, human rights and human dignity, even in the most difficult situations,” he said. “The message of Jesus was never an easy one, but it was a hopeful one.”

“Beyond the Two-State Solution” is available for free download in English, Hebrew or Arabic by clicking here.

Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Monty Anderson, Vice President, COO & Corporate Treasurer, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
Rachel Anderson,  Mission Specialist, Africa Office, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

O God, with open hearts and clear thoughts we hear the calls for healing and the cries for justice. Keep us mindful of opportunities to bring awareness, to end wrong actions and to create peace. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Children’s Enrichment Center at the U.S.-Mexico border shows children a different way of life

More than 70 children are enrolled in two sites, and the program is growing

June 8,  2022

Children work in the permaculture garden near the U.S.-Mexico border. (Photo by Ammi Robles)

The Rev. Mark Adams, a mission co-worker at the U.S.-Mexico border, tells an unsettling story about Jaciel, a 6-year-old boy at Frontera de Cristo’s New Hope Community Center.

The children were being divided into groups for activities, G-1, G-2, G-3. But Jaciel wanted the grown-ups to know that G-2 meant something very different to him and to the children who live around the Community Center.

It means “sicario,” or “hitman.”

“When the response of a 6-year-old community member is ‘hitman,’ we know that we are in the right place,” wrote Adams in a recent letter. “Jaciel taught us what we did not know and confirmed once again both the importance of the ministry we have with the children who are at risk of dropping out of school in elementary school and the importance of our continuing to immerse ourselves in the life of the community and to learn.”

Adams said that in conversations with the children about what they wanted to be when they grew up, “sicario” was a possible career path for them.

“Organized crime not only targets younger and younger children to consume and traffic drugs, but also to become hitmen,” he said. “And children who drop out of school are more likely to enter more directly into this violent environment. A recent article in the Arizona Daily Star highlighted that there are 37,000 children in juvenile rehabilitation centers after having been arrested and convicted of violent crimes, including murder, on behalf of organized crime. Children as young as 12 trained to murder.”

That’s one of the many reasons he believes in the importance of and need for the Children’s Enrichment Center, which was created to provide academic, nutritional, emotional and spiritual support to children who are at risk of dropping out of school and being consumed by a culture of violence.

In 2021, the center expanded to work with DouglaPrieta Trabaja (DPT), the women’s cooperative. Mission co-worker Miriam Maldonado Escobar taught the children about permaculture. DPT donated a piece of land to build a classroom for the children.

Permaculture is a form of agriculture based on ideas such as crop diversity, natural productivity and sustainability.

Adams talked about Matilde, one of the leaders of the cooperative who teaches hands-on permaculture classes to the children. Matilde’s initial reaction was somewhat guarded, knowing the land, which initially wouldn’t even grow weeds, was not producing enough chard, squash, beans, corn, tomatoes and peppers to share.

“But I am happy because we are now going to dedicate this space to cultivate the intelligence, talent and creativity of the children of the community,” Adams quoted Matilde, “and we are also going to teach them to cultivate food in their homes. This piece of God’s Creation will no longer grow vegetables, but it will be a place where our children grow, and they will bear fruit in our community and our community will be transformed.”

Currently New Hope has 70 children enrolled in two sites, partnering with neighborhood schools.

The need for the enrichment center shows itself to Adams and Escobar on a daily basis.

Recently, they dropped off their 14-year-old son, Nathan, at CATPSIC, the drug rehab center they have partnered with for years. A woman named Esthela and her children were also there to attend the same birthday party. She is a graduate of the drug rehab center and has been sober for more than seven years. She dropped out of school and started using drugs at 12.

“One of the most humbling, moving and sobering moments of our ministry here was when Esthela asked us to help lead her quinceañera (15th birthday) worship service in the rehab center,” said Adams. “When she was early in her recovery, she participated with others in the permaculture class that Miriam led at DouglaPrieta. She said, ‘I wish I had an opportunity when I was a kid; perhaps I would not have gone through the horror I went through.’”

Adams said life for children in the shadow of the drug culture is dark. But they are grateful for the prayers that help them sustain this life-changing ministry.

Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Fred Tangeman, Communications Specialist, Office of the General Assembly
Allison Taylor,  Art Director, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray

Gracious God, we thank you for your transforming power through our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. We pray for your protection for those in need and strengthen us through your power. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Exploring the tensions between faith and security

Expert panelists offer webinar on militarism

June 2,  2022

Photo by Jakob Owens via Unsplash

The Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Militarism Working Group recently scheduled a 90-minute webinar on Gun Violence & Militarism.

This was the second in a series of educational webinars called “Connecting the Dots.” Read a report on the first in the series here.

This webinar explored the tension between faith and security, and our relationships with each other on personal, local and international levels as they relate to guns, weapons, and militarism. Webinar organizers also suggested what Presbyterians can do to unmask the false narrative of “security through might” and take action for true peace.

In the general description, the working group writes, “We are taught in the United States that security must be enforced through might.”

“Weapons, and specifically guns, are marketed to us with the promise that they will bring security,” the working group said. “During the pandemic, gun sales and gun violence have soared. But the truth is that our security lies in Jesus Christ; weapons as security is merely a myth — a profitable myth — that brings about more violence. The U.S. intentionally exports these weapons of violence to other countries for gain, further practicing and perpetuating militarism even without waging war. This use of and profit from weapons is only one expression of militarism.

 “As people of God, we are called to love one another. Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, calls us to live in community with love, justice and mutual understanding.  How can we do this with a culture of guns and militarism that harms people in the U.S. and our siblings in other countries?”

Panelists included Shailly Gupta Barnes, policy director for the Kairos Center and the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Her background is in law, economics and human rights. She has spent more than 15 years working with and for poor and dispossessed communities impacted by poverty, systemic racism, ecological devastation and militarism. She has worked with policy experts, impacted groups and lawmakers to develop reports, policy briefings, articles, fact sheets, testimonies and other resources. She’s helped organize hearings on Capitol Hill, including a hearing on poverty for the House Budget Committee.

John Lindsay-Poland is a writer, activist, researcher and analyst focused on human rights and demilitarization, especially in the Americas. He coordinates Stop U.S. Arms to Mexico, a bi-national project that seeks to make transparent and ultimately reduce U.S. legal gun sales to Mexico to what they were before the U.S.-sponsored war on drugs began in Mexico a decade ago. He is working to incorporate Mexico into the narratives and agendas of the U.S. gun violence prevention movement. He has worked with the PC(USA) Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy.

Jocabed Gallegos has been the Mexico coordinator for Frontera de Cristo since 2014. She first came to the border in 1990 when her father accepted the same position. She was born in Gómez Palacio, Durango, Mexico, and attended seminary in Mexico City (as one of only three women studying theology) graduating in 2002. She worked as youth counselor in her presbytery, served in a church in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, and assisted with health ministry in South Carolina before becoming an intern at Frontera de Cristo in 2010 and later facilitator for mission delegations.

The militarism working group includes the Compassion, Peace & Justice and World Mission ministries and the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship.

Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Tim Stepp, Associate Director, Internal Audit, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Angie Stevens, Communication Specialist, Office of the General Assembly

Let us pray

Gracious God, thank you that your children can receive hope for a better life. May your Holy Spirit guide and strengthen leaders to your glory and praise. In Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Discovering a pandemic silver lining

Mission co-worker gets a performance of a lifetime

May 24, 2022

Zoey Moe, left, shows off her poster autographed by Leslie Odom Jr., while her father, Eric, top left, plays on stage. Betsey Moe

While Guatemala was struggling with the global pandemic, mission co-workers Eric and Betsey Moe were working remotely from Spokane, Washington.

“It’s feels like we have been standing at the top of a high dive with one foot extended, waiting to jump,” Eric said. However, infection numbers in Guatemala are improving, and the couple finally moved to Guatemala at the beginning of 2022.

As a longtime professional musician, performer and teacher of trumpet, staying in Washington state did give Eric the opportunity to keep practicing with the Spokane Symphony. It also gave the mission co-worker the chance to appear on stage last October with Leslie Odom Jr., the actor, author, musician and vocalist best known for his Tony award-winning performance as Aaron Burr in “Hamilton.”

Eric admits that the pandemic was in a way “a perfect storm” that allowed him the “amazing chance to solo with a great musician,” adding that Odom’s “whole group was just phenomenal.”

As for Eric’s part, “it was an easy little solo, 16 bars of a jazz standard, not too tricky, but at that level it’s really exciting.”

Odom’s performance was sponsored by Whitworth University in Spokane, an institution with historic ties to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Both Eric and Betsey are Whitworth graduates. A few select alums were asked to participate in the program.

“When I finished, I felt good about my performance, but the crowd just went wild,” Eric said. “I haven’t had a reaction like that maybe ever. People loving Whitworth, loving the Symphony and loving Leslie Odom. That’s my crowd.”

Also in the crowd were the Moes’ 11-year-old daughter, Zoey, and their 19-year-old son, Henry, who came home from college to see his father perform. Eric said Zoey is a huge Odom and “Hamilton” fan. At the reception afterward, she got her “Hamilton” poster signed by Odom, the only one who got an autograph. Henry’s special moment came during the third encore.

According to Eric, Odom “came out with just his guitar player and played ‘You’ve Got a Friend,’” a song written by Carole King and recorded by King, her friend James Taylor and others.

“That was the first song Henry learned to play on the guitar. There’s a spot in the opening where Taylor has changed the note from an ‘A’ to a ‘C.’ He never leaves his songs untouched,” Eric said. “Henry was listening intently to this phenomenal guitar player, and he heard the ‘C,’ so he knew this guy really knows the song. He’s away at his first year of college, so the lyrics were special as well. All those little details, the song, that moment and Leslie Odom just being such an amazing musician — it was memorable.”

In preparation for this once-in-a-lifetime performance opportunity, Eric did a deep dive into Odom’s music.

“He did a song he wrote called ‘Foggy,’ about lying in bed wanting to have a lazy morning with his family when work is still calling. It’s a beautiful ballad. That one really touched me. He has an amazing voice,” said Eric.

The Moes will continue their work with the PC(USA)’s longtime global partner, the Protestant Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America (CEDEPCA). CEDEPCA provides North American church groups, theological seminarians and college and university students the opportunity to discover the beauty and diversity of Guatemala and to experience the everyday life of Guatemalans through immersion programs. Betsey is part of the team that receives visiting groups, plans and facilitates their educational program and itinerary, and leads reflection discussions.

Betsey tells the story about the semester she spent in Central America with 25 other students from Whitworth. On that trip, she heard stories that would change the way she understood herself as a Christian, and she saw that the actions of her own government had a significant impact on the people in Central America.

Having served churches in the U.S. for 16 years and leading people on short-term learning and service trips, Betsey feels ready to do similar work alongside Guatemalans to help people grow through intercultural encounters. Eric hopes to find ways to use his music to connect with the people of Guatemala.

Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Ashley Smalley-Ray, Assistant VP/Trust Officer, Trust Services, Presbyterian Foundation
Kim Smith, Operations Administrator, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray

Gracious God, by your Spirit, you inspire our efforts to feed the hungry, preach the good news and share your love. Your people, all your children, are hungry for food, for friends, for peace and for the good news. As you have fed us, bless our efforts to feed each other, for we serve in your name. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - PMA global partner celebrates 50 years of helping the people of Nicaragua

CEPAD helps communities take charge of their own development

May 7, 2022

Maura, a mother and grandmother who lives in La Esperanza, Nicaragua, has benefitted from a family gardening program put on by CEPAD, a partner of the Presbyterian Mission Agency celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022. (Photo courtesy of CEPAD)

This year, a longtime global partner of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, the Council of Protestant Churches of Nicaragua (CEPAD), will celebrate a significant milestone — 50 years of service to the people of Nicaragua.

In response to a major earthquake that hit the country, Dr. Gustavo Parajon founded CEPAD in December 1972 to provide emergency response. CEPAD is an organization composed of 70 denominations and churches in Nicaragua focusing on helping communities and individuals be in charge of their own development.

Tracey King-Ortega, who has served for 16 years as World Mission’s regional liaison for Central America, has worked closely with CEPAD during her entire tenure.

“What was unique about the response Dr. Parajon organized was that it was ecumenical,” she said. “It was different denominations coming together to serve their community in need. Working across denominational lines was so enriching that as the emergency response work wrapped up, those involved wanted to keep it going. They shifted their work to development, have been going strong for almost 50 years and have walked alongside more than 4,000 communities in the country.”

CEPAD’s mission is focused on providing faith-based training for rural Nicaraguans through programs in leadership, sustainable agricultural practices and economic development, allowing Nicaraguans to support themselves and their families in breaking the cycle of hunger and poverty.

CEPAD helps rural farmers adapt their farming techniques to combat climate change through tools such as reforestation. Long-term, these agricultural techniques also help the land become more resilient.

Jose Acosta, a teacher who supplements his income by farming when there is enough rain, lives in one of the 40 villages that train with CEPAD. The village is surrounded by water and there is no bridge. During the rainy season, it can become too dangerous for his students to cross, so they miss school. Those rivers are also the only source of drinking water. He hopes that by learning better agricultural techniques they can better retain water during the dry season.

Maura, a mother and grandmother who lives in a village called La Esperanza, took part in CEPAD’s Family Gardening Program. In the past she assisted her husband as a laborer, planting corn, beans and sorghum in the traditional way. They also used harmful pesticides and burned land to clear it.

Since learning about CEPAD, she has attended workshops on planting, diversifying her crops and producing her own seeds. She was also taught how to make her own pesticides and compost by using available resources.

One of her accomplishments was building a micro-reservoir on her land. She collected stones, sand, clay and stakes. Her family helped her purchase 6 yards of black tarp to hold the water, which she used to collect 220 liters of water. Later, she and her husband invested in building a concrete water tank that holds 3,750 liters of water, giving her enough water to irrigate her crops during the dry season. Before the tank was built, she would have to walk to the river with 20-liter buckets she used to water her crops.

“In my ongoing accompaniment work with partners like CEPAD, ‘hope’ remains central to our conversations — not just the nature of hopes for the future, but how and where — and if — hope can be found in situations that engender despair,” said King-Ortega. “CEPAD continues to be a source of hope in situations of despair. I am excited to continue to walk and celebrate with them throughout their golden anniversary year. The fullness of life they bring to Nicaraguan communities, and by extension us, is a blessing and a gift and indeed a reason for celebration.”

King-Ortega considers her work with partner churches, seminaries and development organizations in Central America to be a gift.

“Their work is a testimony to the depths of despair and to signs of hope in a region whose destiny is closely intertwined with our own,” she said. “Learning about their realities and walking with them is an important way we, as U.S. Presbyterians, can be in solidarity.”

To support the ministry of Tracey King-Ortega, a gift can be made in her honor. Click here to give to mission personnel support. Mission co-workers are notified when a gift is made in their honor.

 Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Kathy Riley, Associate for Hurricane 2017 Season, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Kelly Riley, Executive  Vice President, Plan Operations, Board of Pensions

Let us pray

Gracious God, you have taught us to celebrate with those who are celebrating and to cry with those who are crying. May our eyes be open to see and distinguish between the two. Keep us mindful of all those who need your Spirit shining through us as much as they may need our monies and our labors. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Global partner planting seeds in good soil

Growing fruits and vegetables helps lift Madagascar out of hunger and poverty

April 18, 2022

Dan Turk works with students at the Ivato seminary. (Photo by Kathy Melvin)

Seeds planted by mission co-worker Dan Turk and the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), a longtime global partner of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) World Mission, are beginning to bear fruit.

In August, the FJKM General Assembly (Synoda Lehibe) voted to extend the work of the Fruits, Vegetables and Environmental Education program (FVEE) to all of FJKM’s synods in Madagascar, affirming the work to promote growing fruits and vegetables as means of reducing poverty and malnutrition.

Madagascar has one of the world’s poorest economies, with nearly 90% of its population living on less than $2 a day.

For the past 14 years, Turk and FJKM colleagues have taught seminary students how to grow vegetables and fruit trees. After graduating, most new pastors serve rural communities, where they not only grow fruits and vegetables to feed their own families but also teach the skills to others to help lift the community out of poverty.

When the seminary students graduate, they take with them a piece of paper from the FVEE that says, “Good for 10 fruit trees, redeemable any time in the next three years.” Many wait until their families are settled in their new communities before returning to the Ivato Seminary near Antananarivo to get their trees.

“My colleagues and I have long recognized that a shortcoming in our training program is that follow-up with the new pastors is insufficient,” said Turk. “The problem is that travel in Madagascar is very expensive (fuel costs over $4 per gallon), and the pastors are dispersed far and wide.  So, it is just not feasible to visit all the pastors who have received trees. But we keep our ears open and take advantage of opportunities to meet with pastors to learn about what they are doing.”

Turk said FVEE has spent years laying the foundation for the program, gathering a collection of promising fruit tree varieties, developing propagation techniques, setting up nurseries and planting orchards.

At a recent meeting of FJKM’s evangelism department in Southeast Madagascar, one of Turk’s FJKM’s colleagues, Rolland Razafiarison was invited to speak. While there, he connected with several former students, including Pastor Tafita from southwest Madagascar who had been influenced by a video Razafiarison made about the program to successfully grow tangerines in Beambiaty. Tafita received seven grafted citrus trees from FVEE. He started growing rootstocks using seeds from a locally available citrus and began grafting his own trees from the seven original trees. He eventually grafted 1,500 trees.

Though he has struggled to get the trees enough water and fertilizer, 700 of these trees are now producing fruit, with lemons and oranges the most productive of the trees. He is now sending fruit to be sold in Toliara, a large city 200 kilometers to the south.

Another seminary graduate who applied what he learned about growing trees is Pastor Laurius Velondeha from Dabolava in western Madagascar. He received four trees from his seminary allotment in 2017. He got more trees from the FVEE in January 2020 and additional trees from other sources. Now there are about 20 trees growing around the church. The mayor of Dabolava has asked Laurius to do trainings for people in the community and to provide trees for others to grow.

A few days after Razafiarison spoke at the meeting in Manakara, many of the same pastors went to the Mango Palace at Mahatsinjo for another training Sept. 28–30 for 28 pastors and 24 volunteer technicians. The goal was to train the group from the evangelism posts in areas of the country where mangos grow well.

“Many of the participants are from southern Madagascar, where many people are currently severely malnourished from lack of food,” said Turk. “Pastors Tafita and Laurius were among those who took part in the training. The trainees learned to grow and propagate fruit trees. They practiced grafting mangos and citrus. Each of the trainees took home six trees: three grafted mangos, a grafted avocado, a citrus and one other fruit tree. Many left the training with enthusiasm for doing more to use the potential of fruit trees, especially mangos, to help alleviate hunger.”

Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Scott O’Neill, Communications Strategist, Communications Ministry, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Mary Oxford, Senior Administrative Assistant, Leadership Development for Leaders of Color, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Gracious God, we thank you for the witness of the church. We ask that your mighty hand would uphold us and guide us as we seek to serve you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - An incredibly rare opportunity for a lifelong musician

Mission co-worker Eric Moe performs on stage with Leslie Odom Jr.

April 11, 2022

Trumpeter and Mission Co-worker Eric Moe performs with Leslie Odom, Jr. and the Spokane Symphony. (Photo by Betsey Moe)

While Guatemala has been struggling with the global pandemic, mission co-workers Eric and Betsey Moe have been working remotely from Spokane, Washington.

“It’s feels like we have been standing at the top of a high dive with one foot extended, waiting to jump,” Eric said.

A longtime professional musician, performer and teacher of trumpet, staying in Washington state did give him the opportunity to keep practicing with the Spokane Symphony and the chance to solo on stage on Oct. 15 with Leslie Odom Jr., the actor, author, musician and vocalist best known for his Tony award-winning performance as Aaron Burr in “Hamilton.”

“It was a perfect storm because it was an amazing chance to solo with a great musician. His whole group is just phenomenal,” Moe said. “It was an easy little solo, 16 bars of a jazz standard, not too tricky, but at that level it’s really exciting. Everyone is nailing their part and it’s this dance of making room for one another, listening to what people are doing and interacting. It was an incredibly rare opportunity.”

Odom’s performance was sponsored by Whitworth University in Spokane, an institution with historic ties to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Both Eric and Betsey Moe are Whitworth graduates. A few select alums were asked to participate in the program.

“When I finished, I felt good about my performance, but the crowd just went wild,” Eric said. “I haven’t had a reaction like that, maybe ever. People loving Whitworth, loving the Symphony and loving Leslie Odom. That’s my crowd.”

Also in the crowd was the Moes’ 11-year-old daughter, Zoey, and their 19-year-old son, Henry, who came home from college to see his father perform. Eric said Zoey is a huge Odom and “Hamilton” fan. At the reception afterward she got her “Hamilton” poster signed by Odom, the only one who got an autograph. Henry’s special moment came during the third encore.

According to Eric, Odom “came out with just his guitar player and played ‘You’ve Got a Friend,’” a song written by Carole King and recorded by King, her friend James Taylor and many others. “That was the first song Henry learned to play on the guitar. There’s a spot in the opening where Taylor has changed the note from an ‘A’ to a ‘C.’ He never leaves his songs untouched,” Eric said. “Henry was listening intently to this phenomenal guitar player, and he heard the ‘C,’ so he knows this guy really knows the song. He’s away at his first year of college, so the lyrics were special as well. All those little details, the song, that moment and Leslie Odom just being such an amazing musician. It was memorable.”

In preparation, Eric Moe did a deep dive into Odom’s music.

“He did a song he wrote called ‘Foggy,’ about lying in bed wanting to have a lazy morning with his family when work is still calling. It’s a beautiful ballad. That one really touched me. He has an amazing voice.”

At the age of 17, Odom made his debut on Broadway, playing Paul in the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “Rent.” His role beginning in 2015 in “Hamilton” rocketed him to stardom, garnering him a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.

His self-titled debut album was funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign and released in 2014. In 2016, the album was re-released with additional material and made it to the top of the Billboard Jazz chart. In 2017, he re-released “Simply Christmas” as a deluxe edition with new arrangements. It hit No. 1 on iTunes and the Billboard Jazz charts. Moe said his family fell in love with the album and plan to play it often during the holidays.

Most recently, Odom has received great reviews for his portrayal of the 1960s singer Sam Cooke in the 2020 film “One Night in Miami.”

Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Mary Nebelsick, Interpretation Assignment Support, Equipping for Mission Involvement Team, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Lorie Neff LaRue, Director, Wholeness Education, Board of Pensions

Let us pray

Holy god, provider of our daily bread, fill us with grace and use us for good, until we feast with all your saints in glory, through Jesus Christ, the bread of life. Amen.