December 2014: The Gift of Hope
↧
↧
January 2015: Visitors are Blessings
January 2015 Mission Bulletin Format
Enero 2015 en español
You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. Exodus 22:21
↧
February 2015: Disappeared But Not Forgotten
↧
March 2015: Making Peace Real
March 2015 Mission Bulletin Format
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15
↧
April 2015: Hope in the Sharing of Bread
April 2015 Mission Bulletin Format
When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him… Luke 24:30, 31a
↧
↧
May 2015: Connected Through Christ
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to God’s purpose. Romans 8:28
The first ten students enrolled in the Studies of Ecumenism and Social Transformation (SEST) program at the Graduate School of Theology at Hanshin University graduated last June. The students, from six Asian countries, each earned a Masters in Theology degree after writing and defending their master’s thesis.
↧
June 2015: Black Robes and Palm Oil
And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18: 2,3
↧
July 2015: Giving and Receiving
I’m a friend to everyone who honors you, O God, and to all who keep your precepts. Psalm 119:63 CEB
The Latin America Biblical University (UBL) was my home for three months as a volunteer earlier this year. The University is a shining light for Protestant students to explore innovative and challenging perspectives of the Bible. In the midst of conservative tendencies in churches throughout Latin America, students at UBL are challenged to re-encounter the Good News of the Gospel.
↧
August 2015: Akpekakaka
Let the kindness of the Lord our God be over us. Make the work of our hands last. Psalm 90:17 CEB
Akpekakaka means thank you greatly in Ghana. The students at the school are so grateful for the many ways Global Ministries has supported them in school and at home. I am teaching English in the Activity Centre, a two-year program for teenage mothers located on the grounds of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church Headquarters in Ho, Ghana. The program has 10 – 15 young women from around West Africa every year and focuses heavily on skills training and entrepreneurship so graduates can support themselves and their family.
↧
↧
September 2015: We are One Family
Every ethnic group in heaven or on earth is recognized by God. Ephesians 3: 15
Here at the YWCA of Palestine, we are celebrating the completion of our report on the international conference on Women’s Freedom, Peace, and Dignity in Palestine. The conference was attended by people from all around the world who are working on issues related to women and violence and women’s leadership. A number of staff and board members from Global Ministries as well as the Executive Minister of the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries attended this historic conference and helped contribute to its success.
↧
October 2015: Touching the Heart of the Dragon
He awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be Still! And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4:39
The second day of our church-wide retreat, we went on a sightseeing trip around the city of Trang. First was what looked like a peaceful boat ride in small rowboats. We entered a cave which quickly got smaller and tighter, and the boatman told us that we were going through the “belly of the dragon.” We needed to take off our shoes and lie flat on our backs for at least 20 minutes. The boat hit the sides of the “dragon’s belly” countless times, the boatmen were lying down, too, pulling us through by grabbing the rock above us or on either side of us. Then the dragon “bit” some of us in the stomach, including me—that is, we had to kind of scrape our bellies past the rock overhead. Just as the cave began to widen again, the boatman told us to touch a big round rock hanging down on the right side of the boat, the “dragon’s heart,” he said. Not long after that we started to feel a breeze and see a little more light, and then we glided out of the “dragon’s mouth.”
↧
November 2015: Muslim and Christian Youth Want Peace
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. I Corinthians 14:33
A Muslim man, and a Christian woman with the Interfaith Cooperation Forum (ICF) organized a three-day peace workshop. Twenty Muslim, Christian and Hindu young people met to discuss efforts that have been made to bring about peace in their communities. “People want to forgive, but not forget,” said a villager from a community where Muslims and Christians are learning to live in peace again after fifteen years of periodic violence.
↧
December 2015: Protecting Migrant Humanity
For in God we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:28a
I heard the sounds of a marimba band playing from afar and thought, “This is the Guatemala I know.” We had traveled to Tecum Uman, Guatemala, to attend the first Bi-national (Guatemala, Mexico) Conference on Migration, Children and Border. But Tecum Uman didn’t look anything like the Guatemala I know.
↧
↧
January 2016: Farming God’s Way
They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17:8
The Growing Nations project of the Lesotho Evangelical Church in Southern Africa (LECSA) is located in the hot and often arid Maphutseng valley. LECSA trains people in Conservation Agriculture (CA) or, as they say, “Farming God’s Way”: minimal disturbance of the soil (no plowing), keeping the soil covered, and crop rotation. The transition to CA is not always easy, but for those who persevere, after a few years, like the tree in Jeremiah’s illustration, they no longer fear the heat and drought for they know their crops will still bear some fruit.
↧
February 2016: Partnerships for Peace
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. I Corinthians 14:33a
Life in Israel/Palestine can often seem full of chaotic confusion. I have been working with the teachers, administrators, and staff in the schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). Schools serving Palestinians is the mission emphasis of the ELCJHL.
↧
March 2016: Through the Eyes of Children
What you have learned and received, and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9
The beauty of life can be seen through the eyes of children all around the world. Just a short walk from the Christian Hospital Mungeli is the Rambo Memorial English Medium School (RMEMS). There the vibrant energy of young people, from nursery to 12th grade, pulses. Each day the students learn to cherish life, respect each other, and embrace the unique learning opportunities that are available to them outside, as well as inside, the walls of their school.
↧
April 2016: Hearts Ablaze
…inspired by [the prophetic utterances] you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. I Timothy 1: 18b, 19a
The nation was afire with anger. People took to the streets this past summer to protest the passing of the new set of security laws proposed by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Non-violent demonstrations were also held on one day in August in 350 locations all over the country. It was the young people who stood at the forefront of this movement.
↧
↧
May 2016: Singing the Same Song
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. 2 Corinthians 13:11
Holding hands in a circle and singing “Shalom chaverim” to the starlit sky, I looked around at our group, our eyelids heavy after a busy week of games, crafts, workshops and singing. As we sang, my mind wandered to my own summer camp experiences where I first truly saw the face of God. It was there as a staff member that I felt called to apply to Global Ministries. On a different continent, in a different culture and surrounded by people I had just met, we sang this same song. There, too, I felt the presence of God.
↧
June 2016: My Justice
Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. Luke 9:16
My father, Charlie Byrd, was born and raised in the southern part of the U.S., educated up to third grade, the son of a Baptist Minister, and lived through the Great Depression. When he came home and greeted us after work, he would exclaim “my justice!” My mother’s usual response was “I made ____ for dinner.” I soon understood that “my justice,” according to the “gospel” of Charlie Byrd, meant “What’s for dinner?”
↧
July 2016: Sharing Experience
As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart. Proverbs 27:19
One warm and windy Friday afternoon, my Jordanian and American friends drove from Amman into the countryside for a picnic. The winter rains were finished, and it was time to settle into the sun.
↧
More Pages to Explore .....
