Partners Blog: "Loved in Return"

Steve and Oddny Gumaer started Partners Relief and Development in response to the needs of refugees and displaced people from Burma, and now in the Middle East, as well. Their mission is to demonstrate, through holistic action, God’s love to children and communities made vulnerable by war in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other conflict zones.

PR&D Photo

Loved in Return

If you ask any of our team members to recall one of their most memorable meals from 2017, some would tell you about the afternoon when Syrian refugees served them tea in cracked cups they had carried with them when they fled. Others would mention the fresh coconut offered by Rohingya in an internment camp in Myanmar. Still others would tell how they were served a full meal by those who had very little ...

• read the rest of this post ...

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Partners Relief and Development is a registered charity in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States. "We’re a small, grassroots nonprofit passionate about making a big impact in communities affected by conflict and oppression, demonstrating God’s love to children and giving them the opportunity to live free, full lives." For more information aboput Partners, visit their website at partners.ngo/

In the News ... Halliburton sued for religious discrimination

KOSA Photo

• Lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court

Staff Report
• KOSA-TV

ODESSA, TEXAS - Two Muslim employees claim they were subjected to taunts and name calling over their national origin and religion while working with Halliburton, a press release from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states ...

• read/watch the rest of this KOSA report 

Invitation to Prayer from Faces of Children ... Tomorrow

Faces of Children is an ecumenical prayer ministry under the auspices of First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. Their mission is to initiate ministries of prayer for children in churches, communities, and neighborhoods. In doing so, they seek to provide an opportunity for people of God to join together, learn about children and their needs throughout the world, and celebrate Christ's love (especially as it relates to children).

Invitation to Prayer ... Tomorrow

Hi Friends,

Faces Of Children will be meeting this Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., in the gym conference room at First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. I hope you can join them to pray together for children in our community and around the world!

Warmly,

Carrie

---

Dear Intercessors,

Today the world got some good news! Twelve Thai boys and their coach were rescued from the flooded cave system. In a story that gripped the world, we waited and watched to see if diving experts could teach the boys how to scuba under treacherous and complex conditions before the monsoon rains flooded even further.

I think one of the reason this rescue has raised our spirits so much is because it brings out the best in humanity -- something we're all hungry to see. One of my friends offered this analysis on Facebook:

"It was basically 'Armageddon' with kids. But instead of teaching them to be astronauts, they taught them to scuba. And instead of an asteroid, they were in a race against a monsoon."
These three tense weeks have been a testament to humanity. When people across the planet join to solve a seemingly unsolvable problem, things that cause chills happen.
Language? Doesn't Matter.
Religion? No one cares.
Skin color? Please.
Twelve kids and a coach needed saving, and the world delivered. That's even better than Bruce Willis."

I think she describes it perfectly. It's the same feeling I had upon hearing news of the Montana Sheriff's officer discovering a buried-alive baby -- still alive! -- in the wilderness. As we praise God for these rescues, may we remember all the places in the world where we still need to see humanity pull together to bring children to safety.

AP Photo

From Syria / A new attack and the world barely blinks ...

Reuters Photo by Alaa Al-Faqir

From the United States / Unaccompanied children, including some toddlers, appearing in deportation hearings alone and unrepresented ...

Getty Images Photo by John Moore

From Bangladesh / "We've seen a lot more births in May and June than other months," said Hamida Yasmin, a Bangladeshi midwife working in the camps. "Everyone is asking if this is because of rape? We can't think of another explanation."

New York Times Photo by Rebecca Conway

Praying with you,

Carrie

Carrie J. McKean
Faces of Children Director
First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas
(432) 684-7821 x153

In the News ... "Ancient Bible displays set"

• Gutenberg Press replica to be exhibited by traveling Enduring Word Museum

Staff Report
• Odessa American

ODESSA, TEXAS - A replica of the Gutenberg Press, which printed the first copies of the Bible on moveable type in 1450, a first edition of the 1611 King James Bible and other such artifacts will be shown July 20-22 at Open Door Church at 3102 E. University Blvd.

Brought to Odessa by the Weatherford-based Enduring Word Museum, the display will be open for public viewing free of charge from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. July 20 and 21 and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, July 22, said Pastors Kathryn and Gabriel Almendarez ...

• read the rest of this OA report ...

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

The Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer.

Today in the Mission Yearbook: July 10, 2018

GROUPTHINK - One of our core beliefs as Presbyterians is that the more people involved in a decision, the more likely we are to figure out where God is leading us. That’s why so many teaching elders and ruling elders attend General Assembly. It’s also why Presbyterians spend so much time in meetings. We believe that many cooks only make the broth tastier ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

From @chinaaid : "Xinjiang officials arrest nearly half of village's population"

The China Aid Association is a non-profit Christian organization - based in Midland, Texas - with a mission to uncover and reveal the truth about religious persecution in China, focusing especially on the unofficial church. They do this, they explain in their website, by exposing the abuses, encouraging the abused and equipping the saints to advance the kingdom of God throughout China.

ChinaAid Photo

Xinjiang officials arrest nearly half of village's population
Distributed by ChinaAid, June, 2018 ...

QUARQASH, XINJIANG – Almost half of the residents of a village in China’s northwestern Xinjiang are being held in “political re-education camps,” according to an anonymous official quoted in a Radio Free Asia article ...

• more on this story from China Aid

In the News ... "Donating money: Panhandling vs. charities"

KOSA Photo

• In West Texas there are several ways you can give money to help those in need

By Samantha Medney, Reporter
• KOSA-TV

MIDLAND, TEXAS - Bert Gamble saw the same group of pan handlers on 191 and the loop. Now he's turning panhandling on its head.

This is Bert Gamble, he's making his own statement on the public roads outside of HEB.

"One day I decided to stop complaining and actually get my sign and do something," said Gamble ...

• read/watch the rest of this KOSA report 

Invitation to Prayer from Faces of Children ... Wednesday

Faces of Children is an ecumenical prayer ministry under the auspices of First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. Their mission is to initiate ministries of prayer for children in churches, communities, and neighborhoods. In doing so, they seek to provide an opportunity for people of God to join together, learn about children and their needs throughout the world, and celebrate Christ's love (especially as it relates to children).

Invitation to Prayer ... Wednesday

Hi Friends,

Faces Of Children will be meeting this Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., in the gym conference room at First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. I hope you can join them to pray together for children in our community and around the world!

Warmly,

Carrie

---

Dear Intercessors,

Today the world got some good news! Twelve Thai boys and their coach were rescued from the flooded cave system. In a story that gripped the world, we waited and watched to see if diving experts could teach the boys how to scuba under treacherous and complex conditions before the monsoon rains flooded even further.

I think one of the reason this rescue has raised our spirits so much is because it brings out the best in humanity -- something we're all hungry to see. One of my friends offered this analysis on Facebook:

"It was basically 'Armageddon' with kids. But instead of teaching them to be astronauts, they taught them to scuba. And instead of an asteroid, they were in a race against a monsoon."
These three tense weeks have been a testament to humanity. When people across the planet join to solve a seemingly unsolvable problem, things that cause chills happen.
Language? Doesn't Matter.
Religion? No one cares.
Skin color? Please.
Twelve kids and a coach needed saving, and the world delivered. That's even better than Bruce Willis."

I think she describes it perfectly. It's the same feeling I had upon hearing news of the Montana Sheriff's officer discovering a buried-alive baby -- still alive! -- in the wilderness. As we praise God for these rescues, may we remember all the places in the world where we still need to see humanity pull together to bring children to safety.

AP Photo

From Syria / A new attack and the world barely blinks ...

Reuters Photo by Alaa Al-Faqir

From the United States / Unaccompanied children, including some toddlers, appearing in deportation hearings alone and unrepresented ...

Getty Images Photo by John Moore

From Bangladesh / "We've seen a lot more births in May and June than other months," said Hamida Yasmin, a Bangladeshi midwife working in the camps. "Everyone is asking if this is because of rape? We can't think of another explanation."

New York Times Photo by Rebecca Conway

Praying with you,

Carrie

Carrie J. McKean
Faces of Children Director
First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas
(432) 684-7821 x153

In the News ... “The Way Retreat Center opens to serve faith and fellowship"

MRT Photo by James Durbin

• Versatile functionality for Christian-based retreats, and more

Rich Lopez, Reporter
• Midland Reporter-Telegram

MIDLAND, TEXAS - With more than a decade of planning, The Way Retreat Center held its opening and ribbon-cutting on Tuesday. Located at the highest geographical point in Midland, the mission-style building stands somewhat solitary but quite visible from northbound Loop 250 on 300 acres past much of the populated area. The $11 million center is the first of its kind in Midland ...

 • read the rest of this MRT report

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

The Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer.

Photo by Rick Jones

Today in the Mission Yearbook: July 9, 2018

PRESBYTERIAN COMMITTEE ON SELF-DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE, IN BELIZE - The clouds opened up, dropping heavy rain and forcing members of the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) to huddle under a thatch roof to meet with members of the Trio Farmers’ Cooperative in Belize. SDOP recently spent a week visiting villages in remote sections of the country to see how work has progressed in enterprises that have received SDOP financial support ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

Burgers & Blessings continues this week at Grace Presbyterian

Laura Up In the Clouds

Summer is here, and our annual summertime Burgers & Blessings is underway!

The dinners begin at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday evenings at Grace Presbyterian Church, 2801 N. Garfield Street in Midland, Texas ... and are very casual The members of Church on the Journey will be joining us this year.

Burgers & Blessings is a time to get together for for fellowship, mid-week. The church provides burgers, hot dogs, fixin's and drinks. You just come, bring a side-dish or desser, and the gift of youe company. The dinners will run from June 6 through August 8 (no dinner on July 4th.

We hope to see you there!

We set up 'teams' to take turns preparing. If you would like to be on a team to help set-up our fellowship hall for the meal, please contact Suzi Thompson, Judy Brown or Cheryl Truzkowski at the church - phone number (432)-684-6542. The men's study group will be taking turns doing the grilling.

Join us?

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

The Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer.

Today in the Mission Yearbook: July 8, 2018

LIVING WATERS FOR THE WORLD - Living Waters for the World (LWW), the global ministry of Synod of Living Waters, has partnered with popular all-girl singing group Cimorelli to raise awareness of the world’s water crisis and LWW’s efforts to address it. The group’s youngest members, Dani and Lauren, along with their father, Mike Cimorelli, traveled to Cuba with LWW earlier this year to meet with partners there. Their resulting awareness campaign, which includes release of the song “Thirst for Life” and an accompanying music video, has generated an enthusiastic response. The video has received over 100,000 views worldwide ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

The Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer.

Photo by Rick Jones

Today in the Mission Yearbook: July 7, 2018

PRESBYTERIAN COMMITTEE ON THE SELF-DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE - After months of unrest in Venezuela, the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Venezuela recently met in Barquisimeto, Lara, and issued a pastoral letter that “aligns with our understanding of the citizenship we are called to practice in this land of grace where we dwell and where the Presbyterian Church of Venezuela ministers.” ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

From @FWMission ...Friday Story: "The First Thing He Noticed From His Wheelchair"

Founded in 2001, Free Wheelchair Mission is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to providing wheelchairs for the impoverished disabled in developing nations. Headquartered in Irvine, California, FWM works around the world in partnership with a vast network of humanitarian, faith-based and government organizations, sending wheelchairs to hundreds of thousands of disabled people, providing not only the gift of mobility, but of dignity, independence, and hope.

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Friday Story: "The First Thing He Noticed From His Wheelchair"

I’ll never forget that feeling in the pit of my stomach when I noticed a woman with a disability, crawling along a dusty road in Morocco, pulling herself forward with clawed fingertips as others made their way past her, kicking up dust with every hastened step.

With her face that close to the ground, she must have inhaled quite a bit of dust. Every day. I had never thought about what that must be like before, but I haven’t been able to forget it ever since.

This all came back to mind as I heard about a man in Uganda named Geoffrey ...

• read the rest of this story ...

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

The Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer.

Today in the Mission Yearbook: July 6, 2018

SYNOD OF PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF VENEZUELA - After months of unrest in Venezuela, the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Venezuela recently met in Barquisimeto, Lara, and issued a pastoral letter that “aligns with our understanding of the citizenship we are called to practice in this land of grace where we dwell and where the Presbyterian Church of Venezuela ministers” ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

FBR Report: "Northern Burma Update: Burma Army Attacks a Church and Shells a Home"

The Free Burma Rangers (FBR) is a multi-ethnic humanitarian service movement. They bring help, hope and love to people in the war zones of Burma (Myanmar) and the Middle East. Groups send teams to be trained, supplied and sent into the areas under attack to provide emergency assistance and human rights documentation. Together with other groups, the teams work to serve people in need.

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FBR Photo

Northern Burma Update: Burma Army Attacks a Church and Shells a Home

Burma Army soldiers from Kamaing Byuha Base indiscriminately fired rifles and rifle grenades at a Roman Catholic church and a nearby house in Kamaing in Kamaing Kawng Ra Village, Hpakant Township, on May 30 at 1530. One bullet hit near the church door and one grenade landed without exploding in the church compound 15 meters from the church building. Burma Army soldiers spoke to the village administrator later in order to retrieve their ordnance. The second shell landed next to the home of a villager nearby, causing damage and injuring his infant daughter ...

• CLICK HERE to read the rest of this FBR Report ...

• CLICK HERE to learn how YOU can get involved in FBR and its mission ...

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Free Burma Ranger, the film ...

This film, currently in production, chronicles the journey of an American family bringing aid to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people caught in Burma's war zones, a bloody conflict that is one of the longest-running civil war's in the world.

• Learn more about the film, and hour YOUR donation can help complete its production ...

In the News ... "Searching for DNA leads to ABI on luggage for Abilene couple"

Courtesy Photo

• Opportunity to do a little ministering while on the trip

By Loretta Fulton, Reporter
• Abilene Reporter-News

ABILENE, TEXAS - Anyone who orders a DNA tracking kit, in search of heritage and possibly long-lost relatives, knows surprises may be in order.

But nothing can match the surprise that Brian and Karen Massey got after ordering DNA kits ...

• read the rest of this ARN report ...

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

The Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer.

Photo by Randy Hobson

Today in the Mission Yearbook: July 5, 2018

CUBAN PRESBYTERIAN MISSION - Abel Perviez says he talked to God and asked for 19 more years to complete his life’s work. He started the Presbyterian mission in a tiny Cuban town dominated by a large sugar mill in January 2015 with just six worshipers. The mission is now up to 30 members and is still growing ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

The Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer.

Today in the Mission Yearbook: July 4, 2018

INDEPENDENCE DAY - We pause today to remember and celebrate the brave action of the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. On that date the delegates voted to officially adopt the Declaration of Independence. A committee of five was tasked to have the text printed and dispatched across the 13 colonies as rapidly as possible. These copies departed Philadelphia on July 5 ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

Partners Blog: "Sewing persistent seeds"

Steve and Oddny Gumaer started Partners Relief and Development in response to the needs of refugees and displaced people from Burma, and now in the Middle East, as well. Their mission is to demonstrate, through holistic action, God’s love to children and communities made vulnerable by war in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other conflict zones.

PR&D Photo

Sewing persistent seeds

Last September I began teaching every week at the Seed Learning Center in Chiang Mai. When I started there were some students who I was already familiar with because I occasionally filled in for other teachers in the past. But there were also some students in my class who were new to Seed, never having studied English or any of the other courses offered there before. One such person was my student Mint. She pronounces her name Thai style, without the final consonant. Think “Min” ...

• read the rest of this post ...

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Partners Relief and Development is a registered charity in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States. "We’re a small, grassroots nonprofit passionate about making a big impact in communities affected by conflict and oppression, demonstrating God’s love to children and giving them the opportunity to live free, full lives." For more information aboput Partners, visit their website at partners.ngo/

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

The Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer.

Photo by Rick Jones

Today in the Mission Yearbook: July 3, 2018

SELF-DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE (SDOP) VISITS BELIZE - On a tiny peninsula off the southeastern coast of Belize, tourism is catching hold. As you travel the coastal roads, you’ll notice new development, including high-priced homes and hotels. In between the development is the small community of Seine Bight, a village aiming to grow as well, but with a difference. Unlike the developed areas to the north and south of this village, the residents of Seine Bight hope to keep local ownership of the land ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

From @chinaaid : "Civil servants imprisoned for dissenting to racist crackdown"

The China Aid Association is a non-profit Christian organization - based in Midland, Texas - with a mission to uncover and reveal the truth about religious persecution in China, focusing especially on the unofficial church. They do this, they explain in their website, by exposing the abuses, encouraging the abused and equipping the saints to advance the kingdom of God throughout China.

ChinaAid Photo

Civil servants imprisoned for dissenting to racist crackdown
Distributed by ChinaAid, June, 2018 ...

HOTAN, XINJIANG – Authorities in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) have arrested two Uyghur civil servants for refusing to send fellow Uyghurs to a re-education camp, according to a Radio Free Asia article ...

• more on this story from China Aid

In the News ... "Haitian-American brought back to help medical mission by San Angelo nonprofit"

Photo by Yfat Yossifor

• Envisions clinics expanding to include more acute procedures

Yfat Yossifor,, Reporter
• San Angelo Standard Times

SAN ANGELO, TEXAS - Mickaelle Germain buttoned and straightened a girl’s uniform.

“Go on, you’re done,” Germain said in Creole.

The next girl in line approached. Germain gave her a deworming pill to chew and instructions for medicine before adjusting the girl's uniform and hair and ushering her back to class.

Over the course of three days in March, Germain examined more than 300 students at the newly built David Steward Christian Institution for Boys and Girls in Onaville, Haiti. Germain, a nurse, is part of a medical mission funded by Ezra Visions Ministries, launched by San Angelo’s Ronnie Hawkin ...

• read the rest of this ARN report ...

• San Angelo nonprofit builds brighter future for Haitians as it constructs permanent school ...

• Slowly and painstakingly, Haitians building permanent community with San Angelo help ...

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

The Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer.

Today in the Mission Yearbook: July 2, 2018

MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD - During the heyday of PBS’s Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood even a lot of Presbyterians did not know that the mild-spoken host of the popular PBS children’s program was a clergyman and the most famous living Presbyterian in the world ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

The Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer.

Today in the Mission Yearbook: July 1, 2018

MINUTE FOR MISSION: IMMIGRATION SUNDAY - “If I stay in my country, my daughters will become criminals and I don’t want to raise one more criminal. I don’t want to bury my daughters,” one woman said. We met in a migrant shelter on the path north from Honduras to the United States. Her little girls, no older than 10, were sleeping soundly on a blanket at her feet ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.