Our friends at City Church in Lithuania have been hard at work responding to the urgent needs of people fleeing Ukraine. The situation has been quite fluid and The Outreach Foundation has been following their efforts closely. We are pleased to provide you with a substantial update on their work.
Read MoreAs the world watched in horror, Ukraine was invaded by Russia on February 25. In less than a month, more than 3 million Ukrainians have joined millions of other refugees in Europe. On the nightly news, we have witnessed the tragic fallout from this catastrophe including bombings and sniper attacks, deprivation of basic necessities, the terror of families being separated. Heartbreaking.
But we have also witnessed hope. The Outreach Foundation is blessed to have relationships with several partners in Eastern Europe.
Read MoreFor many, a simple card of prayer is a wonderful and understandable expression of love and support from American Christians. Yet for the generation of Ukrainians and other Eastern Europeans who were alive before 1990, other reactions rise to the surface, mainly fear and PTSD.
Read MoreUpheaval and Renewal
Over the 24 years I have known the Presbyterian Church in Iraq, I have been continually inspired by its faithful presence and witness through many trials: life under Saddam Hussein, the American invasion in 2003 which toppled the government (along with its ability to care for and protect its own people), the reign of terror by ISIS and the assorted sectarian conflicts which have destabilized the country and hindered its peace and prosperity. Two of the five churches I knew well from when I first traveled to Iraq in 1998 would, eventually, be shuttered: the Assyrian Presbyterian Church in Baghdad (isolated in what became a dangerous neighborhood) and the historic Presbyterian Church in Mosul, located in the Old City Center (“ground zero” for ISIS).
Read MorePoland is an emotional place. Despite what people may tell you, that people generally keep to themselves in Europe, there is no sense of an aloof attitude or one where people don’t seem to care, not in Poland. It is quite the opposite. I have found people in Poland kind and helpful. They are warm and at times funny. Yet there is an emotion that I have felt since my arrival that I have tried to ascertain. Its best name is pain. Pain is front and center in the collective memory of the people here. It enters into many conversations. Pain seems to be in the DNA of people. It is even on display in the architecture.
Read MoreIn February, I was pleased to lead a small team back to Egypt to be “mutually encouraged” by our partners there. A member of our team, Rachel Segars, was making her third trip with Outreach. In this excerpt from one of our trip blogs, she beautifully reflects on our visit to ETSC. Marilyn Borst, Associate Director for Partnership Development
Read MoreGod has told us to focus on the orphans of this war. Pastor Saul of City Church in Lithuania joined The Outreach Foundation’s team visiting Iranian refugees in Liverpool. While with us, he shared that the elders of City Church have discerned its war relief focus will fulfill the call issued in James 1:27, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
Read MoreDeep in the lush tropical landscape of the Mexican Gulf state of Tabasco is the campus of Sureste Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Sureste, founded in 1985 and a long-time Outreach partner, is committed to equipping the next generation of pastors and servant leaders for the Presbyterian church in the southern states of Tabasco and Chiapas where the church is growing rapidly. Most students are studying to complete a bachelor’s degree in theology. Outreach partners provide partial scholarships for many of the students studying for this degree.
Read MoreHaving just returned from Egypt (with a small team) after a pandemic-induced 18-month hiatus, it was a joy to reunite with our partners from the Synod of the Nile and to be able to visit 10 churches that are active in the church planting movement. Many of these churches are fairly recent church plants themselves, like these two in some of the newer “satellite cities” outside Cairo….
Read MoreThe Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) supports a ministry rescuing girls who might be forced into early marriage by providing rescue centers for them. The Outreach Foundation partners with the PCEA and civil authorities in this ministry. All of the rescue centers are connected to a PCEA boarding school, offering the girls a hopeful future. Lauren Scharstein, Outreach global worker and Deputy Director of Mission for the PCEA, shared the current major needs of the rescue centers:
New Dorm for PCEA Mother Esther Girls' School and Rescue Center
We currently have 175 girls under our care ranging in age from 6 to 17 years old. Our dormitories are at full capacity, some girls already sleep two on the bottom of a twin bunk bed. The big need for a new dormitory is also due to the fact that we have 25 girls who will finish 8th grade in March and move into high school.
Churches across the USA and even some in Europe have been responding with generosity to The Outreach Foundation’s Ukraine Appeal. Through our partners, we have the privilege to bring a more personal face to the now 2 million refugees who have been unsettled from their homes. One of our fantastic partners doing miraculous work in Eastern Europe is City Church from Lithuania. The following comes to us directly from the Pastor, Saul Karosas. City Church has congregations in three Lithuanian cities, including the capital Vilnius, each of which are receiving refugees from Ukraine.
Read More“We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.” 2 Corinthians 8:1-2
If Kyiv is the “head” of Ukraine, Lviv is its heart. Lviv is the center of Ukrainian culture and although Russia has had a great deal of influence on the East, Ukrainian identity has been well preserved in Lviv. Also, as the heart of Ukraine Lviv has historically been much more tolerant and understanding of various ethnic minorities modeling that to live together well people must be at peace together. During this war, “heart” has taken on another dimension of compassion and today we want to tell you of this special work and the priests seeing it done.
Read MoreSebber Banda serves as Project Director for the Holistic Evangelism Project in Tete Province, Mozambique. Her work has transformed the health of thousands of people through programs such as lay leadership training, drilling wells, and constructing new churches in Tete Province. We recently received this exciting news from Sebber and Outreach trustee Berry Long:
Today, was a big day at Madzimaera!! It marked the groundbreaking for a shelter at the clinic for women to use after arrival before having their babies.
Read MoreThe Church of Ukraine is diverse, though more heavily populated by the Ukrainian Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic, and Ukrainian Greek Catholic traditions. On Friday morning, March 4, the Institute of Ecumenical Studies of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv held a round table discussion between key representatives of these major traditions. Tom Boone, our Associate Director of Mission and staff point person for our European Initiatives, was honored to be invited to this dialogue.
The purpose of the round table was to present how their various traditions are responding to the war. Also, each provided insights into their traditions’ official positions regarding Moscow. It was inspiring to see these leaders take time to express their views openly even as they are enmeshed in this war. One of the leaders was delivering humanitarian relief to Kyiv and showed us the traffic crossing a bridge and activity at a checkpoint.
Read MoreParents the world over are concerned about meeting the needs of their children for love, shelter, food, clothing, and education. Whether in a church school in western North Carolina or under a tree in a refugee camp in western Ethiopia, preschools are helping to meet some of these basic needs.
Read MoreClean drinking water is a much sought-after commodity in East Africa. The Outreach Foundation and the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) have partnered to bring water to thirsty villages. East Africa Mission Consultant Stu Ross recently sent a report on this life-changing partnership:
Water is life! Over 50% of Kenyans don’t have piped water. It has to be fetched, mainly by women and children, in 20-liter cans. The water may be up to 15 km (10+ miles) away, which makes this an all-day job, two-three times a week. Consequently, mothers are not at home and children miss school. In Maasai land, where water is far away in many villages, children and adults aren’t able to wash regularly and skin disease is common. Diarrhea and dysentery are also widespread diseases where water is either not available or not clean.
Read MoreMore than 1.7 million Ukrainians have joined millions of other refugees in Europe. Among them, God has planted many Christians who are being faithful witnesses to the gospel of Jesus Christ. They do so even as they cope with their own fear, exhaustion, and want to do something, but are unsure about what is next. The Outreach Foundation has partnered with City Church in Lithuania to provide shelter for families who have fled Ukraine, and we are pleased to share the story of one family.
Meet Sergii, Nataliya, and her mother Evgeniya.
To see their selfie from a few months ago they could be any of us! Today they are refugees of this war.
Read MoreFebruary 28, 2022
When it’s darkest, that is when we can see the stars—a story from the front lines of the war in Lviv, Ukraine.
“It’s hard to imagine” Father Oleh reflects on what has become his daily routine. Oleh serves as a parish priest in the Ukrainian Catholic Church of Lviv and is Professor of Philosophy at the Ukrainian Catholic University of Lviv. His story is one of many stories of faithful church leaders helping people experience God’s love in their darkest of nights.
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