Mission Yearbook: YAV joins program to help advocate for Peruvian state violence victims

Well-known Peruvian documentarian Javier Corcuera hosted a special screening over the summer of his newest documentary, “Escuchar,” about the state violence that took place in Peru between December 2022 and March 2023, resulting in the deaths of 49 protesters.

It’s a story about people like Marco Antonio Samillán, a young doctor who was shot in the back while attempting to offer medical care to protestors. It's a story about Marco’s sister, Milagros, who was thrust into the role of justice advocate and activist for victims’ families after her brother’s murder. And it is — in a way — a story about the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer program in Peru in which Milagros participates. 

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The Peru YAV site coordinator, Jenny Valles, stands with eight of the nine YAV program participants for 2025-2026. (Contributed photo)

A few years ago, even the most gifted prognosticators would have been unlikely to predict that Milagros Samillán and the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer program would cross paths. Prior to her brother’s assassination, Milagros was a young university student, still living in Juliaca, the rural Andean context where she’d grown up.

“I was just another citizen of this country, living my own life — business, university, and family life — trying to share as many moments as possible with my siblings because we had already lost my mother and were dealing with a very heavy loss for the family,” Samillán said.

Meanwhile, participants in the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer program have historically been from the United States. The program offered them a disruption to “regular life” — a chance to encounter a different context in another city or another country and spend a year living in intentional Christian community while serving the church and the world. Currently, the program offers sites in four U.S. cities and cities international locations.

When Covid made it impossible for the YAV program in Peru to accommodate young adults from the U.S., site coordinator Jenny Valles made an innovative shift: She brought on two Peruvian young adults instead. What began as a creative solution born of necessity became a new vision for the YAV program, and Valles continued to invite volunteers from Peru and other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean alongside U.S. young adults.

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Milagros Samillán talks with pastor and AETE professor, Efraín Barrera. 

“I believe having a more diverse YAV community is a more faithful approach to meeting the needs of the global church and addressing the challenges of the world today,” Valles said, noting that the diversity among volunteers also includes faith traditions, social location and life experiences. Samillán is one such example.

As state violence erupted in late 2022, Samillán and her family weren’t oblivious to the escalating situation, but they were focused on their own grief at their mother’s death. Then, on Jan. 9, police in Juliaca killed 18 people in a single day. 

Samillán’s brother Marco was a doctor who had heard that protestors were being injured by police and went to offer medical care. Instead, he became one of those murdered, and Samillán’s life changed forever. 

In the months after her brother’s death, Samillán felt a growing responsibility to speak up for her brother and the others who were killed, as well as 1,500 survivors, and the family members of those murdered with whom she had bonded.

“I had two options: lie in bed and cry for my brother's death or use my brother's memory and my brother’s name to help and support the family members’ struggle, which is also my struggle, which is not only Marco’s, but also part of the 49 families who are demanding justice today.”

Family members of the victims, including Samillán, came to Lima in the spring of 2023 and slept on the streets — a demonstration that became known as the “Lima Occupations” according to Efraín Barrera, a pastor and professor at an ecumenical theological school in Lima called AETE. Barrera said that, in response to the murders and victims’ families coming to Lima, AETE formed the Evangelicals Presente Collective made up of students and faculty who provided material support to the families and also organized a work of “prophetic denunciation” of the violence done by the government. Through this work, Samillán became involved with AETE and Barrera. 

AETE has been in relationship with the PC(USA) since 2000 through various Presbyterian faculty members as well as the Joining Hands Network in Peru. 

Layton Williams Berkes, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Andrew Kang Bartlett, Associate, Presbyterian Hunger Program, Interim Unified Agency
Dwayne Batcho, Production Clerk, Presbyterian Distribution Service, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

Holy God, upon you we depend. Help your church to stand strong — shining the light of your goodness in a troubled world and our often-troubled lives. Empower us to proclaim your salvation and new life in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: New class of Young Adult Volunteers is commissioned

Forty-five Young Adult Volunteers for 2025–26 were recently commissioned during a worship service held online and in the Chapel at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville. Those worshiping in person laid hands on the young adults, committing themselves “to support this class with prayer, encouragement and resources, so that Christ’s reign of peace, justice and love will be known in all our communities and throughout the world, until Christ comes.”

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The 2025-26 group of Young Adult Volunteers were commissioned Wednesday in the Chapel at the Presbyterian Center. (Photo by Teresa Mader)

The scriptural basis for the commissioning was, not surprisingly, Matthew 28:18–20, the Great Commissioning, where Jesus disperses the disciples throughout the world and promises to be with them to the end of the age.

James Martin, a YAV alum who’s the site coordinator at the U.S./Mexico Borderlands in Douglas, Arizona and Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, offered a reflection during the service.

During his own YAV years in San Antonio, Texas, and at the Borderlands, “I spent most of those two years trying to figure out what was coming next,” Martin said. Go to medical school? Teach in his native Washington state? Neither prospect stirred Martin with much excitement.

Especially at the Borderlands, “I spent a lot of my energy figuring out where I was supposed to be. I realized in the end I did not want to do any of those things. What I wanted to do was what was around me,” Martin told the current class of YAVs, some of whom, like Martin did, shared in the worship experience online. “On the Borderlands, I felt more connected to a community than ever before.”

 

Marin said faith became even more relevant as crosses were planted to remember migrants who perished in the Sonoran desert on their way to the United States. He found community in marching together and enjoying meals with neighbors.

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The Young Adult Volunteers Class of 2025-26 displayed a playful side following Wednesday's commissioning service at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Teresa Mader)

“My traits and gifts — adaptability and flexibility — were much more useful here,” Martin said. “I think I was conditioned by society that life should be more determined by who society thinks we should be rather than who we actually are as beloved human beings.”

“Where you feel the most life and happiness is perhaps where God wants you to be,” Martin said. “Even today, what I do as a YAV coordinator is what I was learning during my YAV year.”

“Everyday life turned out to be more important than what I thought I should be doing instead,” Martin said.

Shortly after Martin’s reflection, YAV Coordinator Destini Hodges asked the YAVs who were present in the Chapel to come forward for their commissioning. “Today we have the honor of recognizing the YAV Class of 2025–26, joining in God’s mission all over the world,” Hodges said. “They have accepted Christ’s call into mission service, but they do not serve in isolation.”

Barry Creech, deputy executive director for Administration in the Interim Unified Agency, said it’s the YAVs’ calling not only to share the good news of God’s love exemplified in Jesus Christ, but “to address the root causes of poverty, and to seek reconciliation of people with one another. … As God’s people connected in effective mission, we can indeed be a compelling witness to Jesus Christ in our world.”

“This class of YAVs is being sent by God through the church to serve around the world,” Hodges noted. “God calls each of us into the world, not alone but to minister as a community of Christians.”

“As we surround the YAVs,” Hodges told those in worship, “we will lay hands on them and offer a prayer.” Those worshiping online were asked to extend their arms as well.

The Rev. Dr. David Gambrell, associate for Worship in the Office of Theology & Worship, offered a prayer asking God to “establish them in your truth, and guide them in your Holy Spirit, that in your service they may grow in faith, hope and love, and be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Joel Townsend, Desktop Support Analyst, Administrative Services Group
Cuong Tran, Mail Clerk, Mail & Print Services, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

Almighty God, on the steep path of our calling, we ask that you keep us faithful. Lead us to weep with those who weep and to rejoice with those who rejoice. We praise you for the gift of your Holy Spirit, who is alive in all that is good. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Serving her young adults during a global pandemic

New York Young Adult Volunteers site coordinator recovers from COVID-19

December 15, 2020

Maureen Anderson with New York Young Adult Volunteers Christina Hogan, Ana Bintinger, Ross Hartmans, and Trevor Merrifield. (Contributed photo)

Each year, site coordinators of the Young Adult Volunteer Program expect challenges. There are new participants, new personalities, new issues each year. But Maureen Anderson, site coordinator for New York City, faced some truly unique challenges this year serving at the U.S. epicenter of a global pandemic.

She focused on staying present with her YAVs while not being able to be present. She facilitated getting them back to their homes to shelter-in-place, where all are safe and working remotely with their partners. She was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and admit to herself that she did not feel well.

She had contracted COVID-19.

“It was difficult to breathe. My chest felt like it was caving in. I started to cough,” she said. “I couldn’t even talk on the phone for five minutes. My goal was to give my YAVs what they needed, and they didn’t need me on the other end of a Zoom call looking like I was suffering.”

Anderson has a strong board of directors and one of them was more than willing to step in for two weeks while she recovered. She said she is nearly 100 percent now, but still doing breathing exercises to strengthen her lungs. She believes, because of her asthma, it may have taken her a little longer to recover. Both of her adult sons were sick too, and both have recovered.

This is Anderson’s second year as a site coordinator. She had previously worked as a compliance officer and professional trainer in international banking. When she became a casualty of downsizing, she wanted to take the time to discern her next steps.

A friend told her about the YAV opening and it appealed to her because she was active in several church ministries and felt, as a mother, she had an affinity to working with young people.

“I asked myself, how can I translate my experience in training and education to become a site coordinator? It has been a great fit, an amazing journey so far,” she said.

The New York YAV site hosted four young adults this year.

One YAV is working with Presbyterian Senior Services, assisting those who may be suffering from Alzheimer’s or dealing with dementia. Another is working with Broadway Presbyterian Church, helping to operate clothing and food pantries. One night a month they take all the pews out of the church and turn it into a community table with restaurant-setting tables and chairs, lights hanging from the ceiling and a menu from appetizers to dessert, as well as musical entertainment. People have a chance to connect as a community or meet new people.

Another YAV works at the Kairos Center assisting with events related to the Poor People’s Campaign. The Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice is self-described as “working to raise up generations of religious and community leaders committed to the unity and organization of the poor as the leading social force in the building of a broad transformative movement to end poverty.”

The fourth YAV works with New York Disaster Interfaith Services, which assists individuals, families and businesses affected by natural disasters such as hurricanes. They did a backpack drive for children who arrived from Puerto Rico after the disastrous hurricane. They also helped provide supplies for the temporary hospital at the Jacob Javits Center.

Anderson said she was comfortable and confident with the partners, always knowing they put the safety of the volunteers above all else.

Although they are now remotely serving their partners, they still have YAV nights where they get together and have discussions around the two pandemics in the U.S. today, coronavirus and racial injustice, as well as supporting one another through the challenges.

“I believe that as challenging as this was, there is something good coming next,” Anderson said. “This is the rain before the rainbow. I have high hopes I’ve also been in a place where I was in pain and under a dark cloud and have been brought out into light. I am encouraged that these young adults still want to be a part of the program and realize how much their service is needed. We are going to grow from this.”

Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Ashley Winn, Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program
Jung Ju Winner, Presbyterian Women

Let us pray:

Gracious God, thank you for testimonies of your life-changing power at work in the world. Continue to empower your church to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, so that all may receive the abundant life he freely offers. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Prayers and determination bring Peru YAVs home safely

With a lot of help from their friends, here’s the story of their arduous return to the U.S.

September 16, 2020

The three Peru Young Adult Volunteers, Juliana Bernier, Andrew Avram and Rachel Adams. (Photo by Jed Koball)

When the State Department recommended that U.S. citizens return home in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Rev. Everdith Landrau, working with the World Mission crisis management team, followed the directive of the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, to close the five international YAV sites for the remainder of the year. Most of the YAVs were able to obtain flights quickly because they were near major airports. YAV Juliana Bernier, who was serving in Moyobamba, Peru, was able to leave April 2 with a group of American tourists who were staying in the area.

But YAVs Rachel Adams and Andrew Avram were serving in Huánuco, Peru, a 10-hour drive from Lima, in the mountainous central Andes. Adams was working with Casa del Buen Trato, a shelter for female adolescent survivors of sexual abuse. Avram was at Granja Lindero Ecológica, an ecological farm run by the nongovernmental organization Paz y Esperanza, a member of the Peru Joining Hands Network.

On March 15, Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra called for a 15-day lockdown for the entire country. No one was allowed outside unless they were going to a doctor, pharmacy or grocery store. Violators would be jailed. The lockdown was announced that day at 8 p.m. and went into effect at midnight. Adams and Avram had no choice but to shelter in place in Huánuco with their host families. They began making travel plans to leave for the U.S. as soon as the restrictions were lifted.

After two weeks, the lockdown was extended; it’s still active today. Those travel plans had to be scrapped. Heightening the anxiety for the YAVS and for site coordinator Jenny Valles Koball, they were being told the U.S. Embassy would be ending repatriation flights to the U.S. on April 10, just a few days away.

And “we had been told we were very unlikely candidates to be repatriated since we’re young, were far away from the embassy and had a safe place to stay,” said Adams. “At the same time, we were seeing other YAVs arriving home and it was hard. Juliana and I were first to ask to return home because we felt we were an additional burden on our host families and our work sites. We were crushed.”

Koball and her husband and fellow mission co-worker Jed called embassies, police and transportation authorities. It was a 10-hour drive to Lima. They needed transportation waivers and they had to be at the embassy by a certain time or they would lose their seats.

Moffett and several members of World Mission’s crisis team were on the phone and wrote letters to government officials in the U.S., as well as both the U.S. and Peru embassies.

Finally, on the afternoon of April 5, Adams received a call that she and Avram had seats on a flight out the next day. They had to be in Lima at 10 a.m. Monday. As they were saying goodbye to their host families and finishing their packing, the embassy called back and said they didn’t realize they were so far away and wanted them to give up their seats since they might not be able to make it to Lima in time. They still didn’t have the transportation waiver they needed. Adams asked for 15 minutes. She called Koball for help.

Koball was able to reach a Peruvian transportation official who connected her with another official. That person knew how to get the necessary documentation from the embassy. He offered to forward it to the checkpoints they would have to clear on their way to Lima.

At 11that night, Avram’s host father, Johony Rosas, picked them up in a borrowed car to begin the journey to Lima.

They were stopped three times at police barricades. At the fourth, their passports and car were photographed, but for the next several hours they had a police escort most of the way to Lima.

Rosas, who only had a 24-hour travel pass and would be jailed if he violated it, slept one hour and then headed home to Huánuco. Koball said he asked for nothing except a little help with gas money.

Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Rosemary Mitchell, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Lee Mitchum, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Dear God, thank you for showing us such great love through sending your one and only Son. Help us to remember the true meaning showing loved to one another. In your name we pray. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Celebrating Young Adult Volunteers

August 2, 2020

Young Adult Volunteers visit No Gun Ri. Photo credit: Hyeyoung Lee

“It was a very painful but meaningful time to think again about what it means to live as a Christian and as an American in this world.” This was a comment from Dia, one of the Young Adult Volunteers (YAVs) from 2016–17, after we visited No Gun Ri, the site of a massacre of Korean civilians committed by U.S. soldiers at the beginning of the Korean War. Believing the civilians to be communists, the U.S. military killed 250–300 people, mostly women and children, from July 26 to 29 in 1950, attacking them as they sought shelter under a railroad bridge. Visiting this site is always painful for me. As a site coordinator who is also a Korean, learning about my own history that is related to the U.S. along with YAVs is a powerful and meaningful experience. Stories like these are often ignored or well-hidden, even though there are people who are still suffering from the wounds of these incidents to this day. Learning stories like this may lead to discomfort as we come to face a distorted tragedy. Nevertheless, I believe that we must uncover and retell the stories like this. History can teach us not to repeat gruesome mistakes and it can also teach us how we can live our lives more responsibly in our present day. 

The motto of the YAV program is “a year of service for a lifetime of change.” Young people (ages 19–30) volunteer across the U.S. and around the world as they accompany agencies/partners working to address root causes of poverty and reconciliation. Alongside this work, I, as a site coordinator, work with YAVs to deeply explore the meaning of their Christian faith and accountability in our communities. One of the unique features of the YAV program is that each site has a different approach of designing our own program according to the local context. As for the Korea site, we emphasize learning about the ripple effects of Japanese colonization, Soviet and U.S. occupations, the Korean War, and the continued division and conflict between many competing systems. As we learn about this, YAVs meet with Koreans and church partners who are following God’s call for peace and reconciliation.

After our trip to No Gun Ri, we sat down together to reflect on our experience with a question like: “Where do we see God in this?” This is an essential question that we ask throughout the YAV year to learn about God. God is among us in the midst of tragedy and hardships. We witness God’s work throughout the Korean community that has been working tirelessly to uncover the truth and work for peace and the reconciliation of the Korean Peninsula. It is my seventh year working with YAVs. Similar to what Dia mentioned, working with YAVs has been painful sometimes, but it has also been profoundly meaningful.

Hyeyoung Lee has been a mission co-worker in South Korea since 2013 along with her husband, Kurt Esslinger. They serve with the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, the National Council of Churches in Korea and the Presbyterian Church of Korea, and are the site coordinators for the Korea YAV site.

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
So Jung Kim, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Shawn Kang, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

Dear God, help us to be your agents of change. Help us to hear the voices from uncovered stories and retell the story to be reborn again. We pray that you give us the power of the Holy Spirit to restore the brokenness of the world so that we may go forward into reconciliation and peace. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. 

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Young Adult Volunteers rising to lead in a time of crisis

YAVs prove able to shift, adapt and learn on the fly

July 15, 2020

Luke Rembold on top of the Sandia Crest Mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico, during local orientation. (Photo by Nathaniel Williams)

While Luke Rembold isn’t grateful for the circumstances of the current COVID-19 crisis and the pain and fear it is causing, he is grateful for the way he sees his Young Adult Volunteers (YAVs) responding.

Rembold is site coordinator for the Albuquerque YAV site and youth and young adult ministry coordinator for the Presbytery of Santa Fe. A former YAV himself, he is currently walking alongside four YAVs and is finding strength, resilience and opportunities for them to take leadership roles they might not otherwise have.

“I think this crisis is a rich learning opportunity for YAVs,” he said. “As someone who has worked with young adults for most of a decade, I’m constantly advocating that we carve out more space for our young people to lead us and I think this is a time for that to happen.”

Rembold says that in some congregations, young adults have been able to use their knowledge of technology to help their congregations think digitally and help with new ways of worshiping, including livestreaming.

“It’s a fairly seamless transition for young folks to go to a virtual and digital world, something we’ve given them a bad rap for a long time because they are always on their phones,” he said. “Now it’s reality for everyone and we’re realizing: Hey, they really know what they’re doing. Suddenly, we see that knowledge as valuable. It always has been but it’s such a shift in the way that we have traditionally done things that we couldn’t quite see before.”

Two of the Albuquerque YAVs are currently working remotely from the home the YAVs share together. Another was working largely in an office providing important data about the homeless population. Their entire administration building has been shut down, so he has shifted to working in the field.

“It’s been fascinating to watch him and see how excited he is about what he is doing. Rather than responding with fear or wishing he was able to do his old job, he’s been thrilled to learn something new and engage with people in a new way. He has shifted from a more digital platform to a more people-based platform. He’s learned a lot about safety and hygiene protocols as well. He has been able to let go of what he was doing and move into a new reality. It’s inspiring to watch,” he said.

Rembold says he believes that many of the core tenets of the YAV program have helped the YAVs make a smooth transition because they have been enacting practices like intentional community all along. They must learn to work out problems together, such as who gets to set up their home workspace in the dining room and who must work in their bedroom.

“It takes a lot of hard conversations and very direct communications and that is only amplified when those are the people you are spending that much more time with now,” he said. “Watching them work through that as a community, how to meet their own needs and work to accommodate one another in stressful times, requires them to offer a lot of grace and understanding at a time when they may not feel they are at their best.”

Through the YAV program, site coordinators strive to engage YAVs in questions around identity. Questions include: “How do I define myself by the work I do? How do I define myself by the community that surrounds me? How do I define myself by my productivity?” The current crisis has many people asking these same questions of themselves. Rembold said he believes YAVs can be leaders in this conversation as well.

Rembold, a former Tucson YAV, is a cradle Presbyterian raised in the Pacific Northwest. Family members for generations have been Presbyterian pastors.

“Ministry is something that is in the family, but my parents are educators, and I continue to learn from them,” he said. “In terms of my own vocational discernment, I’ve found an intersection of ministry and education. My folks remind me, you can have the same curriculum every year, but it’s always going to look different. The question is how we shift and adapt and learn on the fly.”

 Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Michael Hilliard, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
Matt Hinkle, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Loving God, thank you for leading your children in new directions. Unstop our ears so that we hear your call to ministry wherever it is. In the name of the Good Shepherd. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Korea YAVs share highlights from their year of service

Compassion and kindness help bridge the language gap

March 9, 2020

Student begin a four-day trek to the top of the first national park in South Korea. (Photo courtesy of Susannah Stubbs)

Living in intentional Christian community has been looking different for Young Adult Volunteers (YAVs) in South Korea. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s two Korea YAVs — Susannah Stubbs and Amanda Kirkscey — have lived in a school dormitory and a church guest house instead of the previous site model where they lived together, next door to the YAV site coordinator.

“Korea YAVs are exploring intentional Christian community alongside the Korean partners with whom they are living and working this year,” said Hyeyoung Lee, YAV site coordinator in South Korea. “This way, YAVs will rely upon their partners as guides and teachers from whom they will learn about life in Korea.”

Lee said the YAVs will learn much from their partners through community immersion, from simple things such as where to buy city-approved trash bags to understanding what it means to live in one of two countries divided in 1945.

The new form of intentional Christian community means YAVs will need to be more proactive in asking questions of their Korean partners, Lee said, and learning from their newly adopted community. Ministry partners are also becoming more active partners with the YAV program in Korea as a result of this new housing model.

Young Adult Volunteer Susannah Stubbs earned her bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. Stubbs, who is also a singer-songwriter, sees writing as a tool to help people claim their own stories and develop understanding and compassion for the stories of others.

Stubbs teaches conversational English classes at Late Spring Moon Ik-hwan School near Gangjin in South Jeolla Province, and takes part in farming activities, tea ceremonies, yoga, cooking, weaving and pungmul, traditional Korean drumming.

Stubbs recently joined some of the third-year students at Late Spring School on their end-of-year journey to climb the highest peak at Jirisan National Park in South Korea. The teacher, 11 students and Stubbs had all completed shorter hikes to prepare for this four-day trek of more than 23 miles.

In order to advance to the next grade after winter break, the students were required to complete the entire Jirisan course, as well as additional reflections and a presentation. Despite anxiety, upset stomachs and the huge physical challenge before them, the 13 adventurers communicated in a mixture of Korean and English as they bonded over the shared aches in their legs.

“Getting to be part of the community at Late Spring School has been great,” Stubbs said. “The nature is beautiful, and the community is beautiful, too — it’s founded on the ideas of the Rev. Moon Ik-Hwan, who fought long and hard for the reunification of Korea.”

Amanda Kirkscey, a graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in marketing, previously served two years as a Global Mission Fellow in Frankfurt, Germany prior to her YAV year of service in South Korea. Her mantra for the past several years has been “Love God. Love People. Serve the World.” She is passionate about human rights and spreading the love of God through relationships.

The Korean-English language differences are a challenge, yet Kirkscey is learning ways to communicate with others at Jumin Church and in her work placement at the Welfare Center. Each day the meal team provides small, generous, compassionate acts of service, like serving lunch to about 100 elderly people in the community.

“Part of the YAV program is ‘Embracing the Ambiguity,’” Kirkscey said. “At first, I thought this meant not having a set schedule, not being told where you’re going when you get in a car, not understanding instructions.”

More importantly, she wrote, it also means “being open and engaging. Trying. Allowing your actions to speak for themselves and trusting that other people have good intentions behind their actions as well.”

Tammy Warren, Communications Associate, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Anne Walker, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Donald Walker, Board of Pensions

Let us pray:

Gracious God, thank you for human connection as a window into your ways. Help us carry each other’s burdens. Strip away the barriers we build to protect ourselves from being vulnerable. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.