by Frank Dimmock
On this day in 1989, world leaders came together to make a commitment to children. Today marks the 30 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The attention to child rights has transformed the lives of children around the world. It remains the most widely ratified rights treaty in history.
Read Moreby Ebralie Mwizerwa for the team
Empowering children for a bright future has been much in the talk for this day from beginning to end.
This Sunday, November 17, 2019, is historic in the life of the Riamukurwe Parish and Tumaini Children’s Home. Her Excellency Dr. Joyce Banda, former President of Malawi and her family visited the home!
Read Moreby Alice Jensen
The day started out with a devotional by Pam Douglas about the name of God, El Rio. Jehovah sees us. Our two teen girls came down the aisles with giant eyeballs (bouncy plastic balls). They made masks to show off their eyes to remind them of God’s eyes are always on us. They decorated them with stickers and jewels. The children wore the masks all day.
Read Moreby Pam Douglas
Wow! What a day!!! Tumaini children’s energy was limitless. The mission team’s resilience and compassion was truly provided by our Heavenly Father. And we all needed an abundance today! But we were reminded that God is able to do this and even more than we can imagine at our morning devotional given by Alice Jensen. She told the children about one of the many names for our God, Jehovah Jireh, which means The Lord Will Provide. And, true to His nature, God was faithful to her family at a difficult time.
Read Moreby Daryle Lynn Cornelison, for the team
Today was our first full day at Tumaini Children’s Home for our Mission Team. We are all staying at the Baraka house and the clinic apartments about 10 minutes from the home. It has very comfortable sleeping and facilities! After a very special devotion called “Shine like the Stars” and an art project, Imani Hall had walls filled with decorated stars.
Read Moreby Malia Lewis
The good Lord brought us safely to Nairobi where we were lovingly greeted at the Milele Nairobi by Lauren Scharstein, deputy director of mission for the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA). The Milele Hotel is nestled among the beautiful, flowering greenery on the grounds of the PCEA headquarters, where we toured the executive offices and met the gracious staff. As we learned about the various projects, it became clear the love and gracious giving through the hands of God’s servants is growing in East Africa!
Read Moreby Frank Dimmock
It was such a joy to share in worship with South Sudanese Presbyterians of the Biathin congregation in Gambella on Sunday, 10 November. One hundred thirty-five adults and MANY children were present. It was “Orphan Sunday”, and I shared a message from James chapter 1. First, we focused on faith and the tests of faith -- then the final verse where it is clear what is acceptable to God. That is, “to look after orphans and widows in their distress…”
Read Moreby Marilyn Borst
On my 7 hour layover in Paris on the way home, I had a lot of time to reflect, with gratitude, on the excellent team of The Outreach Foundation who shared the journey together in Egypt, meeting family-by-faith in numerous churches of the Synod of the Nile, celebrating the good work of the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC), taking deep dives in the rich history of the place, praying together, laughing together, and taking care of one another over long days.
Read Moreby Peen Hardy
We left our hotel at 7:30 am to travel two hours to the Presbyterian church in Dendera, Egypt. Normally, the church services begin at 8:30 am because Christians are allowed by Egyptian law to come to work two hours late (10:30 am) on Sundays. Sunday is the first day of the workweek in Muslim countries like Egypt.
Read Moreby Brian Stewart
Months ago when I first saw the itinerary for our trip, the name jumped out at me: Nag Hammadi. Just about everyone who has studied early Christian history knows this is the site of the 1945 discovery of a collection of 3rd and 4th century Coptic manuscripts called the “Nag Hammadi Library.” These documents reflect a system of thought called “Gnosticism” which draws a hard distinction between the spirit and the body. I chuckled to myself and thought, “I wonder if I’ll see any Presbyterian Gnostics when I visit Nag Hammadi?” Instead, what I found were a bunch of heroes who are deeply committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Read Moreby Frank Dimmock
Greetings in Christ from Gambella. Yesterday was a busy day of meetings with partners from the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan who are living and working in the refugee camps here. There are over 400,000 South Sudanese refugees here in six camps. More than 80% are women and children and the vast majority come from a Presbyterian background.
Read Moreby Juan Sarmiento
During one of the many rich conversations, a wise and influential Korean pastor shared with me his long-term view of God’s faithfulness towards and through the Church. “There have always been winters,” he said. “They come and go, but we have faced them year after year.”
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