A number of you have inquired about sending support to the Church in Iraq as it responds to the displacement of Christians and others from Mosul and neighboring cities and towns. As you are aware, the situation is dire and the needs are great. The Presbyterian Church in Kirkuk, which is about 100 miles from Mosul in a stable Kurdish-controlled area, is already responding to the needs of Christians and Muslims who have fled their homes. An Iraqi Presbyterian pastor friend writes:
Read More…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age…
This familiar closing to the “Great Commission” of Jesus has taken on a deeply personal meeting to the Rev. Mofid Karajili, pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Homs. Arriving as the new pastor for 140 families, following the 37-year tenure of its previous shepherd, the Rev. Samuel Hanna, the war was beginning to make itself felt, intermittently at first, in this large city. Within a few months, the city was besieged, half of the families had fled as their homes and businesses were destroyed, and in May 2012, heavy shelling in the area brought down large sections of the sanctuary roof, knocked out all the utilities and blew apart most of the pews.
Read MoreDear Friends and Partners,
Thank you so very much for your support. We would like to share a little bit of the impact your support provides to members of PCEA congregations in various locations. We visited with PCEA Mtwapa Academy, PCEA Bamburi Academy, PCEA Kisauni Primary School and PCEA Pwani Girls’ Boarding High School.
Read MoreDear Partners and Friends of Namumu Children,
Namumu children are thriving through education! Pictured from left to right are: Yvonne Chasunkwa, grade 11, Bibian Hambali, grade 12, Charity Mwiinde, grade 11 and Prudence Simakomwe, grade 11. All attend Siavonga Secondary School.
Read MoreDear Friends,
Musalaha’s Israeli-Palestinian Children’s Summer Camp is designed to provide a framework for Israeli and Palestinian children to meet together in a fun and friendly atmosphere. Here they have the opportunity to build relationships with children from the other side who they might not have the chance to meet and learn to counter many stereotypes.
Read MoreDear Friends of Home of Hope,
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God our Father … Morning by morning new mercies we see .. All we have needed Thy hand has provided ....
We continue to distribute food to 70-80 men, who receive it gratefully each morning on the sidewalk in front of Home of Hope.
Read MoreDear Friends of Tete Province,
My wife Elizabeth, fellow Trustee Tom McDow, and I returned Thursday from leading a trip to Tete Province, Mozambique sponsored by The Outreach Foundation. The eleven team members came from Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, and South Dakota. We were joined by Nedson, Sebber, and the two Tete Province Presbyterian pastors, Carlos Faquione and Candido Macuacua.
Read MoreThe Light at the End of the Tunnel
If you have ever driven through a very long and curvy tunnel, you know that seeing that light in the distance can be a very welcome sight. Our students are counting down the days until their research papers are turned in, their exams are completed and their families have joined them in Cairo for joyful celebrations of their accomplishments.
Dear Outreach friends,
We are thrilled to share with you the news that Rev. Dr. Victor Chilenje, Moderator of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) Synod of Zambia, will be in the United States and available to share in ministry with your congregation September 29 – October 12, 2014.
Read MoreTumaini Children’s Ministries care for vulnerable children regardless of their tribe, creed, or religious affiliations. Due to the increased level of poverty in the area around the Riamukurwe parish and in rural Kenya in general, there are many children who are not being cared for properly. The Tumaini ministry helps prevent these children from becoming street children. Because of their precarious situations, these children are recommended to us either by church leaders or the Department of Social Welfare. We provide accommodation, education, healthcare, food, and clothing. We create self-reliance and opportunities through vocational training. We also provide behavioral guidance. We are encouraged by the accomplishments of many of these children and would like to share a few of their stories:
Read MoreDear Partners and Friends of Namumu Children,
Greetings from The Outreach Foundation. A group from Outreach including the Rev. Anne Hilborn, Charlotte, N.C. and Ebralie Mwizerwa, Projects Coordinator for The Outreach Foundation, recently traveled to Siavonga to assess Namumu Orphanage Center (NOC). Several partners from the U.S. have expressed concerns for the state of the buildings at Namumu and also for the care the children are receiving. We would like to bring you an update on how things are at Namumu as partners in this noble task of caring for the least of these in Jesus’ name.
Read MoreWhat are the things that might keep you away from church on any given Sunday? Perhaps, you were worn out by a long week of work, or maybe a cold or allergies have you feeling punk. Depending on where you live, weather can easily be a determinate; yet one more snowstorm or torrential rains that make getting out just too much work. And, if we are willing to admit it, there are those Sundays when our favorite preaching pastor is out of the pulpit. I, like many of you, have given myself a “pass” on a Sabbath morning, using many of these excuses. But their shadowy “validity” left me feeling a bit sheepish, as they made a review through my head on a Sunday this January when I and our team from The Outreach Foundation sat in worship in the Presbyterian Church in Damascus.
Read MoreEgyptian trains to and from Cairo came to a grinding halt in August due to the violent political turmoil that followed the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi in July. The stoppage had greatly disrupted nationwide travel for months. Only 14 out of a total of 68 trains between Cairo and Upper Egypt kept operating. This reality could have caused instruction at the Alexandria and Minya seminary branches to stop if it wasn’t for the distance learning units that the Evangelical Theological Seminary (ETSC) was ready to launch.
Read MoreDear Friends,
We want to share with you some exciting news from Rev. Rose Marie Ibyishaka, Coordinator for Women and Families for the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda:
Read MoreFor several years we have been hearing about the “university church” in Jimma, Ethiopia, and we’ve been grateful for the gifts to The Outreach Foundation in support of the congregation’s building project, but it wasn’t until visiting the congregation in January that I gained a true sense of the amazing ways that God is working through this church!
Read MoreDear Partners and Friends,
We are happy to bring to you Christian and New Year’s greetings from the Very Rev. Bernard Muindi. We give thanks to God for blessing us and allowing us to be in his service this year. He has been good to us despite the challenges of last year. As you are aware, there have been changes in the Tumaini Children`s Ministry.
Read MoreDear Friends,
The phrase “water is life” was heard many times this day! We recently dedicated the borehole at Nasoroni. This town has been without water for three years. We found out about their situation while we were building their church. The fifteen year-old generator used at their borehole died and couldn't be repaired. We teamed up with another NGO and the village to raise approximately $12,000 and bought them a new generator.
Read More“Living in a ring of fire” is the expression used by the Rev. Adeeb Awad, Vice-Moderator of the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon, to describe what it is like to be a Presbyterian pastor in Syria today.
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