Border mission worker emphasizes reconciliation

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission worker Mark Adams brings people together around issues of migration and faith. As a young mission volunteer in the border region 15 years ago, Adams sensed the kind of inclusive Christian community he had been seeking for years. Now Adams is a mission co-worker in the U.S./Mexico border area near Douglas, Ariz., and Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico. He continues to emphasize a ministry of reconciliation. One of the ways he brings people together is over a cup of Just Coffee, a product of a grower-owned cooperative in Mexico. Read more.

Kinslers celebrate return of humanitarian aid to North Korea

After spending some months denying permission for humanitarian aid shipments to North Korea and then allowing just food aid to be sent, the South Korean government is now releasing more than $2,800,000 in grant aid to 10 NGOs. Mission workers Art and Sue Kinsler report that the Lighthouse Foundation, an NGO in Seoul with whom they work, received the largest grant -- almost $500,000. The Kinslers believe it was given priority because of its focus on providing food for young children and help for people with disabilities while maintaining a record for effective accounting and aid monitoring. Read more.

Christian camping in Russia

Mission worker Ellen Smith believes the Christian camping ministry in Russia is important. After a recent visit to the camp in Kursk she wrote: "There were 100 children at the camp, many from families of non-believers. Twenty-seven of the children were Roma. Given the relations between Russians and Roma, this is no small thing. It is a witness to the children, staff, and families that we are indeed one body in Christ. The Christian camps are profoundly important outreach to non-believers. It is often through children that parents come to Christ.  Even when the children do not begin attending church their lives are changed by having spent time in Christian community.  Presbyterians have helped with camps all over Russia this summer through gifts to Russian ministries. Read more.

Presbyterians urged to be agents of Middle East peace

U.S. Presbyterians must rediscover the church's role in bringing peace to the troubled Middle East as the key means to strengthening the Christian community there, a delegation of PC(USA) partners from Syria and Lebanon said Sept. 9."There must be a conviction from local churches that they are agents of peace," said Salim Sahiouny, president of the Supreme Council of the Evangelical Community in Syria and Lebanon. That support, he said, will bolster Presbyterian World Mission's efforts to strengthen churches in the Middle East and other places. The six-person delegation was in Louisville for the inaugural meeting of the PC(USA)'s Syria-Lebanon Mission Network.  "This network will strengthen the bond between our two churches," said George Mourad, moderator of the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon. "So far we have engaged the leaders but we want grassroots participation both ways." Read more.

Mission briefs

Embangweni Hospital was praised on CNN "Vital Signs" Web site in a story about the nursing "brain drain" in Malawi. "The hospital - operated by a PC(USA) partner, the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian - has made impressive strides in the past five years preserving mothers' lives during pregnancy, as well as cutting the number of deaths due to malaria among children and adults." Read the full article.

World Mission Challenge will send mission speakers into more than 150 presbyteries Sept. 25 to Oct. 19. Check the schedule for information about your presbytery's dates. World Mission Celebration '09 will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, Oct. 22-24. Register now.

The 2010 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study will be available in October. It features stories around the theme "Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). To download an order form, visit the Web site.