From @chinaaid : "Catholic churches suffer persecution after China-Vatican agreement"

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

Catholic churches suffer persecution after China-Vatican agreement
Distributed by ChinaAid, November, 2018 ...

NANCHANG, JIANGXI – After the Vatican and China signed an agreement intended to mend their previously severed relationship, the Chinese Catholic church has been under severe persecution ...

...

• more on this story from China Aid ...

In the News ... "Midland College PTK hosting sex trafficking awareness event - THIS WEEK"

Reflection Ministries Image

• Event is open to the public

At Midland College convocation Monday morning, we got to hear from three amazing MC Phi Theta Kappa students! They have just wrapped up their College Project (resources for students to Start, Strive, Succeed), and this week will wrap up their Honors in Action project with a sex trafficking awareness event this Thursday, January 10, at 5:00 PM in room #101 (the auditorium) of the F. Marie Hall Academic Building (MHAB), on the MC main campus.

We will have a light dinner set up about 4:45 and the program will begin at 5:00 and will last about 45 minutes. You will be amazed, shocked, horrified, but well-educated as you learn about sex trafficking right here in our own backyard. We will share much of what we learned from Reflection Ministries (nondenominational), an agency in Midland that deals specifically with this issue. They work to identify victims, equip them with skills to lead productive lives, and to assist in restoring their self worth.

The PTK students felt that this awareness event would benefit our campus and the community on this heartbreaking issue.

The students have worked really hard on researching this topic and are really hoping for a great turnout. Please join us, and let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks so much!

Terry L. Gilmour, Ph.D.
Professor of Government
Honors Program Director
Phi Theta Kappa Advisor
Midland College
MHAB #160
(432) 685-6816
tgilmour@midland.edu

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,

If you're in Midland this week, we'll be meeting at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 9, for prayer. We meet in the prayer closet at First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. Please join us in lifting up the needs of vulnerable children in our community and around the world!

Blessings,

Carrie

Dear Intercessors,

Having school-age children means for me, this is the week when the holiday season feels officially over. My kindergartner and second-grader are returning to school today - equal parts eager to get into the routine and see their friends and dragging their feet at the early wake-up call. But in spite of the minor complaints, I remain incredibly grateful that they live in a place where education is a foregone conclusion.

I'm sending my girls off to school today ... but in many countries around the world, girls are pulled out of school and sold off into marriage to try to keep relentless poverty at bay, if only for a moment.

Photo by Aaron Ufumeli/EPA

I'm sending my girls off to school today ... but in many countries around the world, kids aren't able to go to school because of conflict and war -- sometimes because they've been forced to fight instead.

Photo by Nariman El-Mofty / AP 

I'm sending my girls off to school today ... but in many countries around the world, parents are taking their children on dangerous and sometimes deadly journeys of thousands of miles to try and find a better life. These smuggling operations thrust children into complex and risky situations -- overwhelming US border control and causing law-makers to dig their heels in on complicated immigration questions.

Photo by Nick Oza, Arizona Republic

In each of these situations -- child brides and child soldiers and child pawns in immigration arguments -- the only clear response we can offer is our prayers.

At the start of a New Year, I find myself aware that the contrasts of this world are not growing any less stark. And I'm less interested in resolutions and intentions and plans for a fresh start, and more interested in practicing gratitude for this enormously good life I've been given. I pray we can each center ourselves in gratitude for the many good things God has brought into our lives... and may that gratitude turn our focus upward and outward, especially to the children of the world who need our prayers, our care, our attention and our help.

Warmly,

Carrie

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

In the News ... "OCFC expansion done"

OA Photo by Mark Rogers

• Grand opening held, pastor expects attendance to grow

By Bob Campbell, Reporter
• Odessa American

ODESSA, TEXAS - The $20-million Odessa Christian Faith Center expansion that was almost five years in the making has been completed ...

• 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.

Courtesy Photo

Today in the Mission Yearbook: January 7, 2019

CAFÉ JUSTO - Coffee is a major agricultural product of Mexico, the beverage of choice among millions of people in the U.S., and a link in a mission partnership that transforms people in both countries.

Café Justo (Just Coffee) is produced by a fair-trade cooperative that is affiliated with Frontera de Cristo, a Presbyterian border ministry. Frontera de Cristo is located in the neighboring cities of Agua Prieta, Mexico, and Douglas, Arizona, and is governed by a board composed of an equal number of people from the U.S. and Mexico ...

• 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: January 6, 2019

STEWARDSHIP FOCUS - In just a little more than a decade, the Presbyterian Church of Okemos, a suburb of Lansing, Michigan, has gone from being a congregation that rarely talked about money to a church where even younger members understand the power of pledges, bequests and endowments to multiply mission and as a means to commit their life to being a part of a faith community ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

In the News ... "Lubbock Faith Briefs"

Courtesy Photo

• What’s going on in area churches

By Erica Pauda, Reporter
• Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - From the Avalanche-Journal, news of regular services, and special events and programs at houses of faith in Lubbock and across the South Plains ...

 • Read the rest of this LAJ report ...

 • More from the LAJ's "South Plains Faith Calendar" ...

In the News ... "Odessa Church News"

• Today and in the days ahead, in Odessa-area houses of worship

Staff Report
• Odessa American

ODESSA, TEXAS - Coming events include worship services, classes, Bible studies, community outreach, fundraisers, mission opportunities and more ...

• Read the rest of this OA report ...

In the News ... “Bryce Woodason mixes his faith into his spoken work poetry"

Courtesy Photo

• Bringing Life is Worth Living Tour to Midland Teen Challenge, TONIGHT

By Rich Lopez, Reporter
• Midland Reporter-Telegram

MIDLAND, TEXAS - Today’s career as a spoken-word artist with two albums under his belt is a fortuitous one for Bryce Woodason. The 23-year-old who had a passion for writing poetry since childhood found himself saved after graduating high school. This so happened to be the time he began performing his poems for the public ...

 • Read the rest of this MRT report ...

Life is Worth Living Tour with Bryce Woodason and special guest Dillon Chase
7 p.m. Saturday
Midland Teen Challenge, 6901 S. County Road 1200
Free

In the News ... Everyday Hero: "Abilene artist brings out talent in others worldwide"

EDITOR'S NOTE: Through the beginning of the New Year, the Reporter-News is running stories on Everyday Heroes, people making a difference in their communities, often without receiving recognition.

ARN Photo by Ronald W. Erdrich

• She gives no indication of slowing down

By Scott Kirk, Reporter
• Abilene Reporter-News

ABILENE, TEXAS - It’s never just art for art’s sake for Abilene artist Ruth Jackson.

She makes clear her motivation with her artist’s statement: “God gave me a talent that I can use to bless others and glorify Him.” At age 84, Jackson is still finding ways to use her gift in different avenues of ministry ...

• 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 courtesy of Ryan Smith

Today in the Mission Yearbook: January 5, 2019

PARTNERSHIPS AROUND THE WORLD - Working with decision makers looks different depending on where you are. Convincing your toddler to brush her teeth looks different from convincing your teenager to write a college admissions essay, which is different still from convincing the school board to keep funding the arts program you care so deeply about.

In our ministry in government relations and advocacy, the work looks different too. ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

From ServLife International ... "Beyond Liturgy and Song"

ServLife International is a movement defined by values of God’s kingdom, not programs built around human efforts and activities. The reign and rule of God should be made apparent to every person on the planet, despite their religion, race or socioeconomic status. We believe that issues of justice are inseparable from the good news that Jesus Christ came to proclaim. ServLife exists to take the gospel of Christ and the hope of a better, more just, world to the lives of people we touch. This happens through individual contributions of time, creativity, resources and dreams.

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Beyond Liturgy and Song

As a worship pastor in the 2000’s I loved leading the congregation in anthem praise of the Creator and Sustainer. We’d turn out the lights, light some candles, pack the room and sing at the top of our lungs. It was amazing, but it was missing something. I was missing something ...

• Read the rest of this post from ServLife ...

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From Adam Nevins
Executive Director
ServLife International Inc.


Join Our Mission

ServLife International propels reconciliation and justice by building global community to plant churches, care for children and fight poverty. Compelled by the message, life and love of Jesus Christ, we seek to care for the spiritual, physical, social, and economic areas of life in northern India and Nepal.  Learn more about our latest news, featured stories, and how to get involved at servlife.org

Support a Pastor Our church planters spread the love of Christ in some of the most difficult environments in the world. • Support Them ...	Sponsor a Child For only $30 per month you can help give a child food, education, care and, most importantly, hope. • Sponsor Now ...	Fight Poverty The HOPE Fund, our micro-finance program, provides start-up funds for a small business, paving a way out of poverty for families in need. • Learn More ...

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ServLife International, Inc.
P.O. Box 20596
Indianapolis, IN 46220
USA

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From Adam Nevins
Executive Director
ServLife International Inc.


Join Our Mission

ServLife International propels reconciliation and justice by building global community to plant churches, care for children and fight poverty. Compelled by the message, life and love of Jesus Christ, we seek to care for the spiritual, physical, social, and economic areas of life in northern India and Nepal.  Learn more about our latest news, featured stories, and how to get involved at servlife.org

Support a Pastor Our church planters spread the love of Christ in some of the most difficult environments in the world. • Support Them ...	Sponsor a Child For only $30 per month you can help give a child food, education, care and, most importantly, hope. • Sponsor Now ...	Fight Poverty The HOPE Fund, our micro-finance program, provides start-up funds for a small business, paving a way out of poverty for families in need. • Learn More ...

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ServLife International, Inc.
P.O. Box 20596
Indianapolis, IN 46220
USA

In the News ... "Guest harpist to perform"

• Sunday at Saint Andrew Cumberland Presbyterian Church

Staff Report
• Odessa American

ODESSA, TEXAS - Saint Andrew Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1415 N. Grandview Ave., has scheduled guest harpist, Vincent Pierce to perform during the morning worship service at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Pierce is the principle harpist of the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale, an adjunct instructor of harp at The University of Texas Permian Basin and Odessa College, and the harp instructor for Ector County Independent School District.

For more information, call (432) 367-8603.

From @FWMission ...Friday Story: “Monthly Recap — November 2018”

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: “Monthly Recap — November 2018”

Costa Rica Team on TV, in the News; Instagram Pic of the Month; Orange County Breakfast and Bazaar; 18 Containers of Wheelchairs Arrived; more ...

• Read the rest of this story ...

In the News ... "Blood banks experiencing donation decline"

OA Photo by Mark Rogers

• Schedule a visit to a donor center, or check for a blood drive coming to your community

By Courtney Borchert, Reporter
• Odessa American

ODESSA, TEXAS - Blood banks are combating a seasonal drop in blood donations despite widespread population growth in the Permian Basin.

Dianne Scott, Vitalant donor recruitment supervisor, said the influx in population has not necessarily led to more donors.

“I feel like every year it has just gone down,” Scott said.

Scott said Janaury is National Blood Donor Awareness Month and she wants to see more people step up and donate ...

• 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: January 4, 2019

PC(USA) MEMBERSHIP - The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) continued to lose members in 2017, extending a pattern that has persisted since the mid-1960s. At the end of the year, church membership totaled 1,415,053, a decline of 67,714 members from 2016 ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

FBR Report: "Reconnecting with Friends in Basra"

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

Reconnecting with Friends in Basra

Thank you for your prayers and helping us get into Basra, Iraq. As many of you know, Basra now has over 100,000 people sick from bad water, there are riots with many factions involved, and the Iraqi Army does not have complete control. In September, the Iranian consulate was burned down and the US consulate shut down. Different groups want control of the nearby oil fields and in the midst of this our Iraqi Army friends asked for help. This was the same unit we worked with in the battle of Mosul where together we fed over 75,000 people and treated over 4,000 people. We have continued our partnership with them and planned to go to Basra with funds to help with needed food and medicine for the local population ...

• 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 ... "Salvation Army shelter open for ‘cold nights’"

• Offering shelter and dinner

Staff Report
• Odessa American

ODESSA, TEXAS - The Salvation Army’s doors are open and ready for anyone in need of a shelter as the area gets blasted with freezing temperatures and precipitation, opening their doors for anyone until the temperatures rise.

Salvation Army Lt. Sara Gomez said Wednesday afternoon there was plenty of room for anyone in need of a place to keep warm at the The Salvation Army of Odessa shelter located at 810 E. 11th St. in Odessa ...

• 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.

Photo courtesy of John and Marcia Mount Shoop

Today in the Mission Yearbook: January 3, 2019

"STUDENT ATHLETE" DOCUMENTARY - When Presbyterian pastor the Rev. Dr. Marcia Mount Shoop saw the premiere of Student Athlete in New York City this past fall, with her husband, John Mount Shoop, she felt incredibly sad — yet hopeful ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

In the News ... "Elijah still intrigues"

The Transfiguration of Jesus by Carl Bloch

• Legendary prophet’s ministry was relatively brief

By Bob Campbell, Reporter
• Odessa American

ODESSA, TEXAS - The prophet Elijah’s deeds in First and Second Kings and his connection to John the Baptist in the New Testament make him one of the Bible’s more compelling figures.

The Revs. Roy Smith and Aubrey Jones, Rabbi Jordan Parr and Minister Taylor Robles say you can’t study Christian or Jewish theology without encountering Elijah, who lived in the Ninth Century B.C. during the reign of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel in the northern kingdom of Israel ...

• Read the rest of this OA report ...

In the News ... "Reminder: Salvation Army shelters in Midland, Odessa welcome those in need for ‘Cold Nights’"

KWES Photo

• Donations of towels/sheets/blankets/pillows will help effort

By Dana Morris, Multimedia Journalist
• KWES-TV

MIDLAND, TEXAS - The Salvation Army shelters is both Midland and Odessa want to remind the public that on nights where the temperature drops below freezing, anyone in need is welcome to a warm place to stay and a hot meal ...

 • Read/watch the rest of this KWES 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: January 2, 2019

CHILDREN IN CUBA - You would never know from the joyful exuberance of the dancing children that they live in the midst of grinding poverty ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

In the News ... "Amid Migrant Influx, El Pasoans Inspired to Help"

EPHP Photo by Steven Cottingham

• It’s an amazing thing to see firsthand

Steven Cottingham, Reporter
• El Paso Herald-Post

EL PASO, TEXAS - Over the last couple of weeks, El Paso has seen an influx of migrants fleeing to our border in order to seek safety, prosperity and a hope at the American dream.

During this same time frame, we’ve also seen the best, and worst, the Sun City has to offer ...

• Read the rest of this EPHP report ...

In the News ... "Congregation hopeful after losing church to devastating fire"

KMID Photo

• A GoFundMe page has been posted, and the community is offering help

By Caleb Califano, Reporter
• KMID-TV

KERMIT, TEXAS - In less than a year, a second church in Kermit has seen flames rip through the inside ...

• Read/watch the rest of this KMID report ... 

In the News ... "Georgetown University center joins fight against border wall on La Lomita property"

CCCT Photo by Kirsten Crow

• Wall across this land, effectively cutting off chapel from those who worship there

By John C Moritz, Reporter
• Corpus Christi Caller Times

WASHINGTON, D.C. - An institute at Georgetown University files court action supporting the Diocese of Brownsville's argument that the historic mission must be protected on grounds of freedom of religion ...

• Read the rest of this report ...>br />

In the News ... Everyday Hero: "David Feemster's volunteerism grows in retirement"

EDITOR'S NOTE: Through the beginning of the New Year, the Reporter-News is running stories on Everyday Heroes, people making a difference in their communities, often without receiving recognition.

ARN Photo by Laura Gutschke

• "The kind of person who goes when asked to assist someone in need, regardless of ..."

By Laura Gutschke, Reporter
• Abilene Reporter-News

ABILENE, TEXAS - As David Feemster talked about his volunteerism while waiting to unload Abilene Food Bank pallets from a trailer, he often talked about “we” as he looked over at nearby volunteers at the food pantry.

“I’m surrounded by Everyday Heroes,” Feemster said.

He made the observation while working with about a dozen men and women at the United Methodist Food Pantry at 2626 N. First St. a week before Christmas ...

• Read the rest of this ARN report ...>br />

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 Kristi Van Nostran

Today in the Mission Yearbook: January 1, 2019

EL SALVADOR - In 1993, during a study abroad program to Central America, I visited El Salvador, a small Central American nation that had recently signed peace accords after more than a decade of civil war. In a unique exchange with Salvadoran youth, during a Bible study on the beach, we privileged, and somewhat sheltered North American college students were interrogated about our countries’ policies and forced to reflect on our own complicity.

My eyes began to open ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.