Home of Hope in Zimbabwe - April 2021 Update

Dear family in Christ Jesus,

How wonderful that God loves us so much that he gave us his most precious gift, his only begotten son Jesus. Through Jesus, we are forgiven and given everlasting life. In Jeremiah 31:34 we hear God’s word speaking, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

What an amazing message to share with those who think they have no hope, especially now when many are unemployed, have lost loved ones, and see no future for themselves except for life on the street. What a joy to share the Good News with those who must fight for survival, sharing with them that despite living in a fallen world, our hope is not of this world but in God who has compassion and has given us a heavenly home.

We thank all who support us so that we may help those living on the street with food, clothes, medicine, soap, and the Good News of Jesus. We pray that the Lord will be with you always.

COVID-19 Appeal Mexico

We recently received the following COVID Appeal update from our partners in Tabasco, Mexico. The Rev. José Juan Garcia Hernandez, rector of Sureste Presbyterian Theological Seminary, recently shared this information . The first two photos are Sureste professors who had COVID. The remaining photos include seminarians affected by flooding.

Sureste Presbyterian Theological Seminary - April 2021 Update

Dear friends,

My name is Francelia. I am married to Christopher McReynolds. We live in Del Rio, Texas located five minutes from the border city of Cd. Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico. I was born in Mexico City in 1977 but moved to Villahermosa, Tabasco in 1985. There, at age 21 while I was still in college, the Lord saved me at an evangelistic campaign on March 28, 1998. I then started my walk in the Presbyterian Church.

I am amazed by God’s grace, thankful for where I am, and thankful for The Outreach Foundation for playing such an important part in the story – God’s story. Here is how I was called to do what I am doing today, thanks to sponsors like The Outreach Foundation.

Namumu Orphanage Center - April 2021 Update

The Outreach Foundation has been in partnership with Namumu Orphanage Center (NOC) for nearly 20 years. Located in the Kariba lakeshore area in the district of Siavonga, Zambia, Namumu has provided vulnerable children with food, clothing, shelter, and education to help them reach their potential. Children who have “graduated” from NOC have trained as pastors, teachers, and clinical officers, and many have returned to serve in the community where they grew up. In response to the health needs of the area, a clinic was built in 2005, with the help of The Outreach Foundation, to provide essential primary health care services to the children and the surrounding community.

Over time, it became clear that there was a need for more and better health and clinical services. So two years ago, in collaboration with the Government of Zambia, the clinic expanded services and increased staffing. Currently, there are two volunteer clinical officers, four nurses, an environmental officer, a psychosocial counselor, and several community health workers and clinic assistants. They provide a full range of primary services to the community and local businesses. And the community has, in turn, helped to provide for and maintain these services.

Africa, Partnership, Projects, Vulnerable ChildrenThe Outreach FoundationApril 21, 2021Namumu Orphanage Center, Zambia

Bill and Bette Bryant Crisis Nursery - April 2021 Update

We recently received this update from our partners serving vulnerable children and families in Lusaka. Their critical ministry is changing the lives of children, mothers, and families in Jesus’ name.

During the COVID pandemic, the Bill and Bette Bryant crisis nursery has continued to provide shelter for children five years or younger who are victims of the current weakening extended family system, neglect, abandonment, early marriages, unplanned pregnancies, gender-based violence, and poor parenting skills. While the children await reunification with their parents, original guardians, or other permanent family-based care, the children have access to food, clothing, shelter, and early childhood education.

CCAP Church Construction in Zambia - April 2021 Update

The CCAP Synod of Zambia, an Outreach partner, was constituted in 1984 with four ordained ministers, two presbyteries, and 16 congregations. The church has grown rapidly and today has 16 presbyteries throughout Zambia. There are now 104 congregations with 95 ministers and a membership of more than 85,000. As the church has grown, the need for more places to worship has also grown. The need for training additional pastors and evangelists is also critical.

The Linda congregation, in Lusaka, has about 150 members and is led by Rev. Joseph Kaluba. The construction of the new church has now reached an advanced stage and requires funds to complete the roof. The Linda Church also hosts a CCAP community school.

Syria Lebanon Partnership - April 2021 Update

Of Peppers and Praise

For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up amongst the nations… Isaiah 61:11

Spring is here and many of us are delighted to anticipate the planting of our gardens. I live in an urban townhouse but my small balcony allows for a long, narrow planter that will soon be overflowing with basil, thyme, and rosemary. If your context is suburban, fast-growing zucchinis and tomatoes are likely in your plans. Have a bit of acreage? Sweet corn and lettuce will enliven your summer picnics' enjoyment, no doubt.

Garden analogies, like the one from Isaiah, are quite numerous in Scripture because this was the ubiquitous context for the original audience. In fact, the book of Genesis had not even completed its second chapter before God is planting a garden and dropping “man” in it to tend to it. But what is a “hobby” for us can be life-sustaining for others. Recently, our major partner in Lebanon---the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon---wrote to ask for help in funding a project which would assist 250 middle-class families from their congregations in Lebanon in planting vegetable gardens because they could no longer afford the cost of food. This once thriving nation had been brought to the verge of economic collapse by a convergence of the pandemic, government corruption, and the explosion in the port of Beirut last August.

New Church Development in Egypt - March 2021 Update

A Pastor with a Mission Heart

Pastor Manassa Nesem Sadek graduated from the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC) in 2008. As a student, Manassa’s heart was captured by the mission classes that he took. Then ETSC arranged for him and another student to do a mission internship, twice, in Sudan. Traveling throughout Sudan and South Sudan, preaching, teaching, and encouraging the churches there, was deeply impactful to him.

Upon graduation, Manassa received a call to be the pastor of the village church of Al Tayeba, located in Minia Province, about 150 miles south of Cairo, and quickly led his congregation to be missional. He discipled many young people in mission, evangelism, and church planting, and within a short time, the congregation had planted three new churches in other villages in the nearby desert.

Manassa’s congregation began offering literacy classes and health care to the needy in the community. Manassa and his congregation are helping the village of Tayeba and other small villages greatly during the pandemic by providing medication, oxygen tanks, masks, sanitizers, and food supplies for the poor.

CCAP Community Schools in Zambia - March 2021 Update

The CCAP Community Schools Program in Zambia exists to help vulnerable and orphaned children receive an education. The daycare and nutrition centers, which began in 2001, have evolved into early learning centers for thousands of children who would not be able to attend schools otherwise. Demand for education is high as 52% of Zambia’s population are under the age of 18.

Like so many programs, the Community Schools Program has suffered under the restrictions of the government’s efforts to control the spread of COVID-19. There are 30 still-functioning schools in three provinces (Lusaka, Copperbelt, and Eastern) that are operating on a reduced schedule. Some schools have temporarily closed as parents and guardians have withdrawn their children to work, and there are no funds to pay the teachers’ allowances. Teacher training workshops have been suspended, and home life has also been challenging.

Africa, Projects, PartnershipThe Outreach FoundationApril 1, 2021CCAP Community Schools in Zambia, Zambia

Daniel and Elizabeth Turk - March 2021 Update

The FJKM Church’s Response in a time of COVID: Urgent Appeal for Southern Madagascar

Dear friends,

It is hard to believe that we are in Lent and Easter is around the corner! As we head into the second year of uncertainty in this time of COVID-19, we remember God’s presence and our blessings which gives us hope. We have been blessed to be close to family as we wait for the time when we can return to Madagascar. Our daughter Frances graduated from college in December and has now started teaching first-grade in person in Orlando. Our son Robert is in his 2nd year in a master’s program in art therapy and counseling in Chicago. It is a blessing to work in partnership with the FJKM (Fianangonan’i Jesoa Kristy eto Madagasikara), The Outreach Foundation’s partner church in Madagascar. We give thanks for the technology that enables us to be in frequent contact with our FJKM colleagues.

The contracted economy and lack of tourist revenue because of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to bring daily hardships for the vast majority of Malagasy people. The cases of COVID are now increasing. In the midst of these struggles, there is some encouraging news coming from our Malagasy colleagues. Things to be thankful for in Madagascar include:

Pakistan Christian Recording Ministries (PCRM) - March 2021 Update

PCRM is an interdenominational ministry reaching out to the people of Pakistan and neighboring countries with the message of the Gospel through Bible-centered audio and video programs via radio and social media. God gave the vision of the ministry to Rev. John W. Wilder in 1978. In 1982, a recording studio was built with the technical assistance of For East Broadcasting Association, UK which includes a recording room, music production hall, library, offices, and additional small studios.

In a 97% Muslim country with an estimated literacy rate of only 25%, radio, DVDs, and social media are the only ways many of Pakistan's 220 million can hear the message and learn about things they never heard before.

We are on the air every day with two thirty-minute programs on shortwave radio, local FM stations, and social media. Our programs incorporate general interest features/talks and four fifteen-minute Bible teaching programs i.e. Bible reading and discussion. Christian songs are aired on social media every week.

Asia, Partnership, ProjectsThe Outreach FoundationMarch 29, 2021Pakistan Christian Recording Ministries, Pakistan

Dustin and Sherri Ellington - March 2021 Update

Dear friends,

We usually speak of Justo Mwale University as a place for preparing pastors. Indeed, JMU has trained many pastors for seven countries throughout Southern Africa. But additionally, JMU plays a key role in equipping scholars who themselves go on to train pastors in other African theological schools.

For instance, Rev. Bannet Muwowo, whom I (Dustin) advised during his master's program, now trains pastors himself as the principal at Chasefu Theological College in eastern Zambia. Rev. Agnes Nyirenda Nyondo, who graduated a few years ago, is a new lecturer at the University of Livingstonia’s School of Theology in Malawi. We also have former students teaching in seminaries in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

José Carlos Pezini - March 2021 Update

Dear brothers and sisters,

The Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil, like any Christian denomination of historical tradition, has faced difficulties in its healthy growth in the fulfillment of the Great Commission. There are hundreds of stagnant local churches whose pastors and leaders are calling for a path of awakening and new life for these churches.

The coronavirus pandemic that has persisted for more than a year has only made the struggles and difficulties of the survival of these local churches even more evident.

Since 2013 the SARA Institute has supported pastors and churches of various denominations both in church planting and church revitalization. SARA has now partnered with IPI do Brazil's theological seminary and they are offering a master's degree in Church Revitalization. The program aims to be a promoter of ideas and also offer strategies and tools to students to cooperate with their local churches in strategic actions of revitalization.

Lauren Scharstein- March 2021 Update

The Rev. Lauren Scharstein is Deputy Director for Mission with the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA). Lauren began this call in Kenya in 2017 when the PCEA leadership invited her to serve as a lecturer in theology and biblical studies at the Presbyterian University of East Africa. During the same period, she was invited to come alongside the PCEA Mission Department in ministries of compassion, empowerment, and evangelism.

In early 2019, the PCEA leadership asked Lauren to accept a new position as the Deputy Director of Mission for the denomination, and she officially began this role in June 2019. The PCEA Mission Department has responsibility for PCEA mission schools and rescue centers, sustainable water projects, evangelism, church-planting, and global partnerships. Lauren has been particularly involved in ministry with vulnerable women and girls, providing training, administrative leadership, and program development for schools and rescue centers. She recently shared this update:

Naretoi Women’s Co-op Update
“Naretoi” means “a place of help” in the Maasai language, and the Naretoi Women’s Co-op is a group of Maasai women who came together to help and support one another. These women live in a semi-arid area of Kenya where the main economic activity is livestock herding.

Forman Christian College - March 2021 Update

Education is very important because it has made me a better person in all areas – I have gained consciousness of the world. It has made me learn to take care of not only myself but the world around me, my family, and the people who depend on me. To me, education is not something just for me, I want to use it to give it back and help people in the context of my specialization, which is psychology.

Children's Bible Ministry in Guanabacoa, Cuba - March 2021 Update

The Children’s Bible Ministry of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Guanabacoa, Cuba, began as a pastor’s dream shared with a group of visiting American missionaries from Thomasville, Georgia. Guanabacoa, a suburb of Havana, is a poor but proud and bustling community teeming with young families with children. Pastor Yoelkis Sierra Gonzalez knows this neighborhood well, and he saw firsthand the great need for a safe place for young children while their parents are at work. Pastor Yoelkis imagined the day when his church would welcome those children, feed and care for them, and teach them about Jesus.

Now, nearly three years later, Pastor Yoelkis’ dream is becoming a reality. Soon after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, construction began on the building that will house this ministry, and fall 2020 was set as the projected launch date. Unfortunately, the plan and timetable did not factor in the effect of a worldwide pandemic.

Pakistan Bible Correspondence School - March 2021 Update

Pakistan Bible Correspondence School (PBCS) was started in 1957 with a vision to reach out to people all over Pakistan with the message of God’s love for mankind through Bible correspondence courses, and a variety of other holistic programs and projects.

We are pleased to share an update that we recently received from Adeel Samuel, PBCS Principal:

Greetings in the Lord who is our refuge, strength, and very present help in trouble!

I am thankful to God that he sustained us in 2020. Though it was challenging, his mighty hand surrounded us with his grace and mercy.

We were able to visit several different churches and schools for promotions. We distributed our Urdu and English correspondence courses to the new students. I was able to meet with pastors, key leaders, and young emerging leaders. We discussed how to reach out to people by using new and effective methodologies. In 2020, we sent 63 Torahs to non-Christians in the Urdu language; 112 Urdu Bibles, and 562 New Testaments, certificates, and other books for gifts.

COVID-19 Appeal Pakistan

The Outreach Foundation is in regular contact with partners around the world, many of whom are sharing with us the upheaval that they are experiencing as the COVID-19 virus and the response to it burdens their ministries of medical outreach and compassionate service. We recently received the following COVID Appeal update from our partners in Pakistan and we were able to quickly release $5,000 from our COVID-19 Appeal because of your generous gifts!

Friends of Forman Launches COVID Relief Assistance

The effects of COVID-19 have been felt in many different ways all over our world. For some, it was the swift loss of a job in a shutdown. For others, it was the devastating news of the passing of a beloved relative. There was even the loss of touch with a church family that stopped meeting in person or enduring school from home with faulty internet service. Every change was a challenge, every loss was magnified by this pandemic.

Partner Updates