Where in the World . . .?

As I begin the first blog for our church website, the question for me was where to begin. What would be a suitable first topic? Too many ideas running around in my head. Then this morning I picked up the copy of Highlights that came the other day. I had my subject matter.
Highlights is a Presbyterian publication that comes out twice a year, and informs readers of our Presbyterian international missions. Presbyterian World Mission is a branch of PCUSA that directs mission personnel, strengthens the “global church,” and equips Presbyterians for mission. There is good news: after a 50-year decrease in PCUSA co-workers, the trend has been reversed, and there are now nearly 200 mission co-workers around the world in addition to 35 long-term mission volunteers. By 2010, the number of co-workers will increase to 215. Such news reflects a “major shift in denominational mission policy,” notes Hunter Farrell, World Mission director.
Of special interest to Charlie and me is the article about a PCUSA-supported soup kitchen in Moscow, feeding elderly poor. It is operated through the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy and directed by the Rev. Bob Bronkema, who ministers to the multi-ethnic, multi-denominational congregation there. He came to Moscow in 2006 along with his wife Stacy, also a Presbyterian pastor, and their three daughters 12,10, and 8. Their responsibilities cover a wide range of ministries with MPC. About 200 meals are prepared each day for pensioners and special food items are provided for their guests to supplement the lunch meals. We have visited with, and been assisted by, the mission co-workers in Moscow, Ellen and Al Smith. They helped us arrange a Twin Church relationship in Belarus with our former church in Madison. The Smiths also greatly helped in our second trip of about 10 from Salem Presbytery when we participated in a study seminar on the nature of Orthodoxy as practiced by the Russian Orthodox Church. Gray Clark was with that group, and you have heard his accounts of the trip.
I learned that Presbyterians have an active ministry in the Sudan as well. Muslims in Darfur now receive Christian education, through teachers from the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, after a request by a Muslim sheik. He was amazed by the dedication Christians had shown in relief efforts and medical clinics. “What is it about you Christians that you are out here ready to help us?” he asked of Lee Watenpaugh, an elder from Virginia who had been with medical clinics in Darfur. Watenpaugh then recruited support from Sudan Mission Network members, mission personnel, World Mission staff, a presbytery, congregations, and a partner church and before long a two-room school began operating in one of the villages, with 273 students. They are hoping to expand the program in order to include adult students as well. Increased financial support from Presbyterians in this country has made it possible to begin expanding the school to six more rooms. These efforts are the results of a moment when Lee Watenpaugh, retired from his government position with the Secretary of Defense as an assistant for NATO policy, saw a need and responded to it, and the mission expanded into more than he ever imagined possible.
We have been hearing much about Iran as part of an “axis of evil.” There is another story, however, as described in an article about a trip last October to Iran by Presbyterians from Peachtree and Ogelthorpe churches in Atlanta. The ten travelers met unexpected welcomes from members of the Evangelical (Presbyterian) Church of Iran. That church body originated in the 19th century when American Presbyterians visited the country, and today there are six congregations with approximately 6000 members. Surprised by the near absence of any anti-American posters and encountering no hostility during their visit, the visiting Presbyterians discovered the joy of sharing with their Iranian counterparts. The generosity which was displayed in their welcome made a lasting impression upon the group. “From the moment of our arrival, people fell over themselves to welcome us,” commented one member. They attended services, visited most of the congregations, and were impressed by the numbers of young people and by the energy of the leaders. The trip illustrated something important: that when brothers and sisters in the faith come together from such wide distances of culture and location, they demonstrate the inclusive love of God for all the world.
The magazine carries other stories as well: of Presbyterians in Indonesia, Malawi, Iraq, and Columbia, for example. There are news items about new staff members, about retiring mission workers, and opportunities for service. World Mission’s website features even more stories of Presbyterians at work in Armenia, France and Spain.
When I attended my first General Assembly in Atlanta in 1983, the year the two major Presbyterian bodies united, I overheard a conversation between two retired clergy. They were discussing the work of missionaries they had known throughout the years. “I think the best kind of ministry is to be a retired missionary,” one said. And they all laughed at the thought. Perhaps today the best kind of ministry is to provide mission wherever we are. That is what we are called to be and do, as disciples.
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