The Rev. Edwin González-Castillo, director of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, spent most of his time on the recent Special Offerings podcast, “Between 2 Pulpits,” talking about pigs and partnerships in the Dominican Republic.
Members and friends of Second Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, Virginia, gathered for worship Sunday to celebrate the success of their Mission Build Campaign, which raised $1.7 million to construct or renovate four facilities stretching from across the street south all the way to the Dominican Republic.
This Sunday morning, members and friends at Second Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, Virginia, will celebrate an astonishing accomplishment during worship: the 1,200-member church has raised more than $1.7 million to support the capital campaigns of four of its long-term mission partners, an amount that exceeds the church’s annual budget by about $200,000.
The Rev. Zoë Garry and the Rev. Ezequiel Herrera operate in different ministry settings. But as they found out during an hour-long conversation last week, which can be heard here, they share at least two traits: both are church planters, and both serve God and new worshiping communities in the Synod of the Sun.
To end systemic poverty, we first must understand its root causes by asking good questions. In Latin America and the Caribbean, two good questions to ask are, “How is the land used?” and “How are the people who live on that land treated?”
After four years of service with the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Matanzas and the Church in Cuba, Rev. Dr. David Cortés Fuentes and Josey Sáez Acevedo have answered God’s call to serve as mission co-workers in the Dominican Republic.
When talking about his work, Mark Hare knows how to capture your attention. A mission co-worker in the Dominican Republic, he was sharing the details of his project with Mouvman Peyizan Papay (MPP), a grassroots organization in Haiti. At the heart of his presentation was the goal of introducing Community Health Evangelism (CHE) in the ecovillages built in Papaye, about 75 miles north of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
The Rev. María Bock Barett has a concise answer when asked what she wants to share as one of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program’s 14 International Peacemakers, coming to the United States in September and October.
Over the past 45 years, The Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People has reached out to communities around the world, helping them become self-sustainable. Whether it was providing access to clean water in El Salvador or supporting those impacted by the Ebola virus in Liberia and Sierra Leone, SDOP and its network of partners and volunteers have made an impact on people and their livelihood.
The need for enhanced cooperation between the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the ACT Alliance ― a partner organization of the WCC, especially in addressing the threat of climate change and a human rights-based approach to development ― was stressed at the 2nd General Assembly of the ACT Alliance in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic.