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 Soul Fire Farm

Today in the Mission Yearbook: June 25, 2019

ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING - As a college student, Lytisha Wyatt became greatly concerned when she learned about health inequalities in the United States.

She was especially troubled by data that showed that people of color die from illnesses linked to poor nutrition at a much higher rate than white people. Yet she was not at all surprised. People of color and people in lower-income communities are disproportionately impacted by a lack of access to healthier foods ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

From West Texas to South Africa: "God’s House and His Masterpiece”

On this trip, we will be part of an thirteen-member team of volunteers. We will be working with the Teichert Family who have been working in South Africa for many years with One Challenge and have been supported by First Presbyterian Church of Midland through the Missions Ministry. We will be seeing their work first hand through participation with the projects and missions work they do with children and people affected by HIV. We will also travel to Cradock, South Africa to work with the Amy Bell Foundation which has been and continues to be instrumental in establishing schools and children’s homes for orphaned and disadvantaged children in the rural area of South Africa. We are excited about this opportunity to witness first hand the work being done by these two worthwhile ministries. In addition, we are trusting that God will use this trip to expand our vision for the world and use us to help those we encounter.

God’s House and His Masterpiece

Our team began the day with a devotional on Psalm 67 led by Walter. Here is the beginning of this beautiful Psalm:

“May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face shine on us-
    so that your ways may be known on earth,
    your salvation among all nations.

May the peoples praise you, God;
    may all the peoples praise you.”

What a fitting chapter for what we would be experiencing throughout the day ...

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Burgers & Blessings ... THIS WEEK at Grace Presbyterian-Midland

Image by Laura Up In the Clouds

June is almost here, and thus our annual Burgers and Blessings get-togethers are about to commence!

Please join us this Wednesday, June 26th - THIS WEEK - at Grace Presbyterian Church, 2801 N. Garfield Street in Midland, Texas. The dinners begin at 6:00 p.m. and are very casual.

Burgers, hot dogs and "the fixings" will be provided by the church; you just come, bring a side dish or dessert, and the gift of your company.

We hope to see YOU there!

In the News ... "It took a while but Wylie UMC pastor Hatcher takes 'final step'"

Photo Provided

• “Our people really have a heart for the city”

By Loretta Fulton, Reporter
• Abilene Reporter-News

ABILENE, TEXAS - After spending parts of 14 summers at Duke Divinity School, Cisco College, McMurry University and Asbury Theological Seminary, Jeff Hatcher finally has made it.

On June 7, Hatcher, who is pastor of Wylie United Methodist Church, was ordained as an elder in full connection — a United Methodist clergy classification — during the annual meeting of the church’s Northwest Texas Conference. The ordination, presided over by Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe, capped a 17-year journey for Hatcher ...

• 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 Provided

Today in the Mission Yearbook: June 24, 2019

EDUCATION IN GUATEMALA - Drawn to the ruggedness, remoteness and greenness of rural Guatemala, Richard and Debbie Welch have, for the past six years, worked with that country’s indigenous population to build literacy and educational attainment in a country increasingly in the news because of the Trump administration’s concerns over the number of immigrants entering the United States from Central America ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

From West Texas to South Africa: "Shifting Gears”

On this trip, we will be part of an thirteen-member team of volunteers. We will be working with the Teichert Family who have been working in South Africa for many years with One Challenge and have been supported by First Presbyterian Church of Midland through the Missions Ministry. We will be seeing their work first hand through participation with the projects and missions work they do with children and people affected by HIV. We will also travel to Cradock, South Africa to work with the Amy Bell Foundation which has been and continues to be instrumental in establishing schools and children’s homes for orphaned and disadvantaged children in the rural area of South Africa. We are excited about this opportunity to witness first hand the work being done by these two worthwhile ministries. In addition, we are trusting that God will use this trip to expand our vision for the world and use us to help those we encounter.

Shifting Gears

Today started a tad earlier than our last few days but it was with excitement and anticipation that we boarded our van to head to the airport. We flew from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth to begin our journey to Cradock and the Amy Bell Charities ...

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From West Texas to South Africa: "Servant Leaders”

On this trip, we will be part of an thirteen-member team of volunteers. We will be working with the Teichert Family who have been working in South Africa for many years with One Challenge and have been supported by First Presbyterian Church of Midland through the Missions Ministry. We will be seeing their work first hand through participation with the projects and missions work they do with children and people affected by HIV. We will also travel to Cradock, South Africa to work with the Amy Bell Foundation which has been and continues to be instrumental in establishing schools and children’s homes for orphaned and disadvantaged children in the rural area of South Africa. We are excited about this opportunity to witness first hand the work being done by these two worthwhile ministries. In addition, we are trusting that God will use this trip to expand our vision for the world and use us to help those we encounter.

Servant Leaders

Our morning started off going to jail…kind of. Harold and Jim were provided the opportunity to meet and give their testimony to Kruegersdorf Correctional Facility guards EARLY this morning. Harold has experience with prison ministry through Kairos. Jim and Harold interacted with women and men who have the rare and difficult task of bringing light and love to those who know the darkest sides of society ...

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In the News ... ""Houses of Faith: Greater St. Paul AME Church paved the way for black churches in San Angelo"

Editor's Note: The Standard-Times will spotlight a different San Angelo house of faith each week during 2019.

SAST Photo by Matthew McDaniel

• Pastor was a Buffalo Soldier at Ft. Concho, as well as a preacher

By Matthew McDaniel, Reporter
• San Angelo Standard Times

SAN ANGELO, TEXAS - According to the history of Greater St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, 217 W. 3rd St, the congregation was founded by the Rev. J.W. Walker in May of 1883, when Fort Concho was still a few year’s away from being abandoned by the Army ...

• Read the rest of this SAST 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 Elizabeth Turk

Today in the Mission Yearbook: June 23, 2019

PC(USA) WORLD AIDS SUNDAY - How would you celebrate your 50th anniversary? Last year, the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), a PC(USA) partner church, promoted free HIV testing at all of the events celebrating its 50th anniversary. FJKM President Irako Andriamahazosoa Ammi was tested publicly last August. Over 40,000 people were educated about HIV and AIDS, and 2,000 were tested during six events ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

From West Texas to South Africa: "Travel Day”

On this trip, we will be part of an thirteen-member team of volunteers. We will be working with the Teichert Family who have been working in South Africa for many years with One Challenge and have been supported by First Presbyterian Church of Midland through the Missions Ministry. We will be seeing their work first hand through participation with the projects and missions work they do with children and people affected by HIV. We will also travel to Cradock, South Africa to work with the Amy Bell Foundation which has been and continues to be instrumental in establishing schools and children’s homes for orphaned and disadvantaged children in the rural area of South Africa. We are excited about this opportunity to witness first hand the work being done by these two worthwhile ministries. In addition, we are trusting that God will use this trip to expand our vision for the world and use us to help those we encounter.

Travel Day

We’re on our way from Johannesburg to Cradock. We’ll update today’s events soon ...

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In the News ... "San Angelo Faith Briefs"

• Here's what's going on at church near you

By Matthew McDaniel, Reporter
• San Angelo Standard Times

SAN ANGELO, TEXAS - From the Standard-Times, news of special events and programs from Concho Valley houses of faith ...

• Read the rest of this SAST report

In the News ... "Lubbock Faith Briefs"

Courtesy Photo

• What’s going on in South Plains 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" ...

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: June 22, 2019

JESUS REDEEMS - We are bombarded by news in our nation and around the world of the manifold ways the rich prey on the poor, the strong oppress the weak, and racism and religious intolerance erupt in horrific acts of violence. Moreover, the leaders of nations continually conspire to create international conflict in their reach for power.

Do you remember the Kingston Trio? While the group is known for the revival in folk music in the ’50s and ’60s, their music is still played across generations. One of the most striking and still relevant of their songs is “The Merry Minuet,” in which they set to music the reflections of Sheldon Harnick, a songwriter best known for his collaboration on musicals such as “Fiddler on the Roof.”

It goes like this ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

From West Texas to South Africa: "Walking Side by Side”

On this trip, we will be part of an thirteen-member team of volunteers. We will be working with the Teichert Family who have been working in South Africa for many years with One Challenge and have been supported by First Presbyterian Church of Midland through the Missions Ministry. We will be seeing their work first hand through participation with the projects and missions work they do with children and people affected by HIV. We will also travel to Cradock, South Africa to work with the Amy Bell Foundation which has been and continues to be instrumental in establishing schools and children’s homes for orphaned and disadvantaged children in the rural area of South Africa. We are excited about this opportunity to witness first hand the work being done by these two worthwhile ministries. In addition, we are trusting that God will use this trip to expand our vision for the world and use us to help those we encounter.

Walking Side by Side

The team had the opportunity to walk the roads of Finetown today with an amazing group of Home-based Caregivers. These compassionate and enthusiastic women go out into the community of Finetown and visit chronically ill and homebound clients to offer support, simple wound care, medicinal supervision and companionship ...

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From @FWMission ... Friday Story: “Unbridled Joy”

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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FWM Photo

Friday Story: “Unbridled Joy”

Doris lives in a small village just outside of Malindi, a once-booming resort town in Kenya where the crystalline waters of the Indian Ocean gently lap at white sand beaches.

It’s always sunny in Malindi—and so is Doris. This ebullient 12-year-old radiates pure joy. She loves people and always yearns to be around others, even if she cannot speak to them.

When Doris was an infant, she developed hydrocephalus, a condition in which excess fluid puts pressure on the brain and can cause a range of impairments ...

• Read the rest of this story ...

In the News ... "Abilene's Highland Church of Christ names new pulpit minister"

ARN Photo by Greg Jaklewicz

• Just one of several new ministers who will be moving to Abilene this summer

By Loretta Fulton, Reporter
• Abilene Reporter-News

ABILENE, TEXAS - Shane Hughes is the new preaching minister at Highland Church of Christ, joining a long list of new clergy moving to Abilene to serve various churches.

Hughes currently is preaching minister at Campbell Church of Christ in San Jose, California. In Abilene, he will replace Jonathan Storment, who left Highland last June for a position in Little Rock, Arkansas ...

• 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.

Today in the Mission Yearbook: June 21, 2019

2019 PRESBYTERIAN PEACEMAKING PROGRAM - We see headlines every day from nations around the world telling us about crisis and conflict — and stories of people living in and overcoming extraordinary circumstances.

This fall, your church or presbytery can hear directly from Palestinians working for peace and justice in Israel-Palestine, a church worker in the Democratic Republic of Congo helping people who have HIV/AIDS, a Korean minister working for reunification of the Korean peninsula, a minister of Latvian and Russian-German descent based in Moscow, a social worker in South Sudan who lived through her own trauma and is now helping people in her nation live through theirs, and many more ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

FBR Report: "Life After ISIS: Revisiting Baghouz and Al-Hol Refugee Camp"

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

"Life After ISIS: Revisiting Baghouz and Al-Hol Refugee Camp"

Dear friends,

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. In April, I and some of our team spent time visiting friends and seeing the aftermath of ISIS in Baghouz. We had good meetings with Christian leaders in Qamishli and then continued to Al-Hol the next day.

Al-Hol is a refugee camp that now holds over 73,000 people, mostly ISIS families. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are doing a good job caring for these people even though the needs are great ...

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

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

From West Texas to South Africa: "A Fine Day in Finetown”

On this trip, we will be part of an thirteen-member team of volunteers. We will be working with the Teichert Family who have been working in South Africa for many years with One Challenge and have been supported by First Presbyterian Church of Midland through the Missions Ministry. We will be seeing their work first hand through participation with the projects and missions work they do with children and people affected by HIV. We will also travel to Cradock, South Africa to work with the Amy Bell Foundation which has been and continues to be instrumental in establishing schools and children’s homes for orphaned and disadvantaged children in the rural area of South Africa. We are excited about this opportunity to witness first hand the work being done by these two worthwhile ministries. In addition, we are trusting that God will use this trip to expand our vision for the world and use us to help those we encounter.

A Fine Day in Finetown

Whoa!

What. A. Day!

First and foremost, the FPC team is doing a spectacular job. FPC and all who have been praying for, supporting and following the trip so far would be so proud of this group of volunteers. Karl and Jenny Teichert are truly doing some wonderful work integrating the many ways God works through the people within and around Johannesburg.

The team began the day making their way to the Zenzele Education Center in Finetown for a “Zenzele Fun Day” morning ...

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In the News ... "Vicar assigned to local churches"

• Effective July 1

Staff Report
• Odessa American

ODESSA, TEXAS - Bishop Michael Sis of the Catholic Diocese of San Angelo announced Tuesday that Monsignor Robert Bush of Abilene had been assigned to serve as parochial vicar of the St. Joseph and St. Anthony Parishes in Odessa, effective July 1.

“Monsignor Bush is currently pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Abilene,” Sis said in a news release. “He recently celebrated 50 years of priestly service.”

St, Joseph’s Catholic Church is at 907 S. Dixie Boulevard, and St. Anthony’s at 1321 W. Monahans Street.

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• Related story ...

ARN Photo by Ronald W. Erdrich

In the News ... "50 years a priest: Abilene's Robert Bush called 'a man of prayer'"

By Loretta Fulton, Reporter
• Abilene Reporter-News

ABILENE, TEXAS - The first time Robert Bush served as priest of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, it was for eight months.

The second go-round has lasted considerably longer ... ...

• Read the rest of this ARN report ...