The Outreach Foundation is pleased to help financially support the construction of the Newland – West Gambella Bethel Synod Church. This large church is being constructed with the help of youth (under engineer supervision). It will be in the shape of the Arc and will seat thousands.
Read MoreYesterday, upon arriving, I was able to process documents for permission to enter the South Sudanese refugee camps in Gambella, western Ethiopia. The Outreach Foundation has been working with Presbyterian partners in South Sudan (PCoSS) to reach thousands of their displaced members in six camps near the border with South Sudan.
Read MoreOn our last day in Cuba, we drove about an hour southwest of Havana to visit the Presbyterian church in the town of San Antonio de los Baños. To say we were greeted with a warm welcome would be a massive understatement. The leadership team there had prepared a complete Holy Week service that we were delighted to join.
Read MoreIt was Palm Sunday, and Sunday school was in full swing when we entered the church at Caibarién. The sanctuary was decorated with purple and white, and with palm fronds. About 15 children, mostly in costume, were gathered around Pastor Edelberto Valdés. They were focused on the story he was telling of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a colt, on that first Palm Sunday. The grand conclusion was a reenactment of the story – complete with Jesus riding on a real pony and both children and adults welcoming him waving palm branches. It was a Sunday school lesson these children will not soon forget!
Read MoreToday we made visits to two churches in the Central Presbytery of Cuba. And we saw Jesus.
Read MoreTwo of the elders at the Sancti Spiritus Presbyterian Church try to wear brave smiles as they tell us about their young adult children who recently immigrated to the U.S. It’s a common theme we hear as we visit Cuban churches. Large numbers of young people are fleeing Cuba due to the desperate economic conditions here. Most leave behind aging parents, . . . and their churches.
Read MoreToday we traveled to the Presbyterian Church of Taguasco, a small town in central Cuba (about four hours east of Havana). When we met with their new Pastor, Fernando Lopez, and his leadership team and heard about the challenges this church faced, we assumed they would be internally focused, just trying to survive:
Read MorePastor Josue opened up the refrigerator to show us the empty shelves. He said, “In Cuba, we say that the North Pole is like Cuban refrigerators. They are both cold and empty.” Josue, who serves the Presbyterian Church in Sabanilla was one of the pastors we met on our Outreach Foundation trip to Cuba, but it could have been any of them. Food insecurity has only grown worse and prices even higher since our visit here in December 2022.
Read MoreWorship has been a central part of our experience with our Persian friends. First, in Istanbul, the seminars were marked by joyful, heartfelt worship, filled with full-throated singing. A favorite memory was singing “O Lord our God” together in Farsi and English. But what surprised me most was coming to learn that part of the reason for the unbounded praise and willingness to make such a “joyful noise” is the reality that the “in-country” house churches must worship with muted voices lest neighbors overhear and report them.
Read MoreOne of the more quoted lines in Forest Gump begins, “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.” Going on an Outreach Foundation trip, one could say the same. You just never know exactly what you will encounter, nor how God will encounter you. Today God encountered me through the story of a four-year-old evangelist.
Read MoreThe author Donald Miller makes this observation: “Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.” In this immersive experience with faithful followers of Persian descent, I am being shown “the way” by their love.
Read MoreI am having a terrific experience with The Outreach Foundation’s immersive visit to Turkey. I have joined Tom Boone, Guy Griffith, Toby Mueller, William Pender, and Sasan Tavassoli. Together we are being immersed in what it is like to follow Christ in Iran today. We have heard a number of testimonies of how people came to understand the grace of Jesus Christ. Sasan, William, and Guy have taught on various biblical topics. Tomorrow we will hear from Toby.
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