Friday, August 28, 2020

From @Presbyterian Mission Agency ... Give 8/28"

Presbyterian Mission Agency is the ministry and mission agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Founded as the Western Foreign Missionary Society by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1837, it continues to uphold, support, and raise awareness of mission efforts across the country, and around the world.

• Part of the Presbyterian Week of Action

On August 28, 2020, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be joining #Give828, a national day of giving focused specifically on supporting Black benefiting organizations. #Give828 isn’t like other fundraising campaigns. This day takes place during Black Philanthropy Month and commemorates multiple important historical landmarks in Black American’s march toward freedom.

Your Gifts to #Give828 will go to support leadership development for leaders of color by funding the Katie Geneva Cannon Scholarship and the Conference for Seminarians of Color. Donating to the campaign is one of the action steps you can take as a part of the Presbyterian Week of Action August 24 -30.

Did you know that on August 28, 1955: 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally murdered by three white men, and that became a "flashpoint in the civil rights movement?" On August 28, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C. and on that same date in 2005 Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana. The storm, which devastated New Orleans, inordinately impacted many of the city’s black residents. And, on August 28, 2008 then-Senator Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president, becoming the first Black man to ever win the nomination and bid for the presidency.

#Give828 2020 comes at a critical time. The disproportionate deaths in Black communities from COVID-19 and the recent killings of unarmed Black people that have sparked waves of protests illustrate the critical need for resources in Black communities.

Matthew 25:31–46 calls followers of Jesus to actively engage in the world so that faith comes alive and people of faith can wake up to new possibilities. It calls the PC(USA) to act boldly and compassionately to serve people who are hungry, oppressed, imprisoned or poor. The three focus areas of the resulting Matthew 25 Invitation are building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism and eradicating systemic poverty.

Show your support by donating to these important ministries, and be a part of #Give828.

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