Christ calls the church to strive for an existence where there are no exiles and everyone has a space in God’s home. The president of the United States declared a state of emergency at our southern border. What he calls a national security crisis, a use of our laws, is vastly different from the reality of those living on the border and those waiting in Mexico to seek asylum and protection in the United States.
Nearly nine years ago, the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People selected Belize as a focus country as a part of the new international funding strategy. After the first visits to the country, in 2011 it was decided to work mainly with grassroots communities in the southern part of the country because of the precarious poverty conditions in the region.
When Doug Beach’s son suffered a mental breakdown on an overseas trip, he didn’t know what to do. “We could have used a lot more help,” Beach said, recalling the event. His church was supportive, but staff and clergy weren’t familiar with the resources available to help people with mental health issues and their loved ones. Last week, Beach was part of a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) initiative working to change that.
The cautious optimism that characterized the popular mood in Zimbabwe at the beginning of 2018 had largely dissipated by the beginning of this year. In January 2019, a huge fuel price increase triggered widespread protests that were brutally suppressed by security forces, prompting concerns that Zimbabwe is returning to the repression that marked the Mugabe era. In the midst of this turmoil, the Church is working to foster national dialogue that emphasizes the sanctity of the 2013 Constitution and unity in diversity.
Each year, on a Sunday during Lent, Presbyterian churches across the denomination turn their attention to people and communities in need — and take a day to celebrate the mission and ministry of the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP). April 7 is Self-Development of People (SDOP) Sunday, an opportunity for congregations to focus on work to help disadvantaged people and low-income community groups.
In a rousing call to worship with African drums and “Fanga,” a traditional dance and rhythm of welcome in various West African cultures, employees and guests celebrated Black History Month during the Wednesday morning worship service at the Presbyterian Center.
When Mary Bowman came to Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, nine years ago as associate minister for missions, the church went through a discernment process. Active in missions, the congregation was trying to determine the best course of action for engaging with community.
“As we continue to go through discernment, we would like to have more opportunities of being with and working with our neighbors,” she said. “We seek to balance out some of the ways we are giving and standing with our neighbor. That’s how we think about mission.”
The Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) has approved grants totaling $155,000 to fund 10 self-help projects in the United States and abroad.
Looking around the Linda Vista neighborhood in San Diego, one might see poverty and deficits. But what Noel Musicha sees — what gets him out of bed every morning — is the potential that is there among the neighborhood’s young people and the homeless friends he’s made who are beginning to get jobs.
Baby Boomer Pat Baker has been working in the field of aging for 45 years — mainly with the federally funded Older Americans Act programs, which have been providing seniors with services such as meals, caregiver support and transportation since 1965. When she first started, she was seeing people in their 60s and 70s participating in the senior programs. But now, as she herself retires, she has noticed a change. Participants are now in their 80s and 90s.