Mission Memo for October 2003

BIG NEWS! Dr. Barbara Nagy and her daughters have been assigned to Malawi!
Dr. Nagy will be working at the Nkhoma Hospital, both practicing medicine and teaching. The Presbytery is responsible for $60,723.32 a year for three years, a total of $182,169.96. If every single member of every single one of the churches in our presbytery contributed $3 each of those three years, we'd have it made! Another $8,000 is needed to purchase a vehicle. If your church hasn't been involved in the Nagy's support, please consider becoming part of the effort. You can learn more about Barbara by reading her letter in this mailing.

"Sowing Seeds," a TV program on the Hallmark Channel will have a feature on Souper Bowl in Presbyterian and Baptist churches in Columbia, S.C. (Souper Bowl was begun by a Presbyterian church there.) The program airs at 6:30am on Sunday mornings and will be shown on two different date: 10/26/03 and 12/07/03. [Maybe you could set your VCR!!]

$5,000 from 2 Cents a Meal funds has been sent to New Hope Presbytery to help restock the food banks in the areas of Eastern North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Isabel. In September the Hunger Committee also voted to send $20,000 to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, $10,000 to help feed Liberians fleeing the violence and $10,000 to help in agricultural rehabilitation in Malawi. Also $10,000 has been sent to support the health ministries program in Guatemala. If you'd like photos of the international projects for a bulletin board, contact Ginnie at vestevens2@aol.com or 828-438-4217.

Mission Sites: Need help in finding a place for your church? We have the list for 2004 from CORA (Coalition on Religion in Appalachia) and can mail you a copy. We also have reports from several churches in the Presbytery about places they have traveled to. We hope to get a data base on the web site soon, but for now call Ginnie and she'll help you out.

WAYS CONGREGATIONS CAN ASSIST IN HURRICANE ISABEL RELIEF

1. Of course, sending money is at the top of the list. You can send contributions through the Presbytery; designate specifically for Hurricane Isabel. If you prefer, you can send them directly to the Presbytery of New Hope, 2309 Sunset Avenue, Rocky Mount, NC 27804. (Naturally we'd like it if you sent them through Presbytery so we can all know the total response from our Presbytery! But it's your decision.)

2. Cleanup crews and roof repair teams are needed throughout the region. Work crews in these first weeks need to be self-sufficient. Come with equipment, food and be prepared to sleep in a church or gym facility. Teams and individuals interested in responding to the needs in northeast NC should contact Jim Moseley in New Hope Presbytery (252-443-7090, x120 or e-mail: Jmoseley@nhpresbytery.org) or fill out a workgroup request form online at their website, www.nhpresbytery.org. Please leave a message with a call back number and several possible dates. For information on how to prepare to go help, contact our Presbytery office for materials. The Mission Team Working Group of Presbytery hopes to send a small group to ENC at the beginning of November to "scope out" the situation. If you'd like to know more about this trip, contact Billy Wilson (few1@earthlink.net; 704-864-1205).

3. Prepare health, school, and baby kits though the "Gift of the Heart" Kit program. More information on this important program may be found at http://www.pcusa.org/pda/help/goh.htm or by calling PresbyTel at 1-800-872-3283. They are needed to restock the warehouse in New Windsor, MD. "Gift of the Heart" flyers are available from the Presbytery office.

4. Stay informed. Visit the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) web site (www.pcusa.org/pda). Send Ginnie your e-mail address for updates as we receive them.

5. Pray for the victims and those who are on the frontlines assisting.
By the way, One Great Hour of Sharing offerings given last Easter are the reason that PDA could immediately send financial support to affected presbyteries.

FLOODING IN GUATEMALA

There has been serious flooding in Santa Ana Mixtan, the village where Bethesda Presbyterian Church, partner of FPC, Dallas, is located; and rainy season lasts another 4-5 weeks. PDA has sent $3,000 from our One Great Hour of Sharing funds to help with food and medicines. Contributions to help make up the difference ($1900) can be sent to the Presbytery; designate Guatemala Flood Relief. Pray for the brothers and sisters in this community.

REPEAT NEWS

Mission Trips - 2004

Presbytery offers several types of mission trips each year. Applications are available at the beginning of the new year and can be downloaded from the Presbytery web site (www.presbyterywnc.org/mission). .

Spring: Disaster Response Team (date and place tba)
May 4-12: Partner Church Delegation to Guatemala
May 14-26: Young Adult Peacemaking Travel Study Seminar to Guatemala (ages 19-35). Cost $1500 from a designated location. Learn more about human rights, social justice activism and the environment on Guatemala. Meet with local church leaders who are working to improve the lives of those in their congregations. Dialogue with leaders working to change conditions for people working in sweatshops. Sponsored by Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. For more information, contact Amanda Craft at 1-888-728-7228, ext. 5624 or by e-mail at acraft@ctr.pcusa.org.
June 5-15: Intergenerational Trip to Puentes de Cristo
August 12-21: "Weave Us Together", a PWNC woman's pilgrimage to Guatemala. Participants will hear the stories of Guatemalan women from a variety of ethnic backgrounds tell about their lives and faith. Accommodations will be in hotels and other similar lodgings. Cost is estimated at $1500.
Fall: Disaster Response team (date and place tba)

Mission Personnel

Rev. Ellen Dozier, Mission Co-Worker in Guatemala and a member of PWNC, will be here in WNC January through April of 2004. She would like to share her experiences and ministry with the women in Guatemala with churches here. If you would like to arrange a time for Ellen to be with your women's group, Church School Class, or to participate in a worship service, you can contact her at the following e-mail addresses: dozier@itelgua.com and ellendozier@hotmail.com.

Weekend Mission Trips

Presbytery's Mission Team Working Group has begun work to set up weekend mission experiences within the Presbytery for middle or senior high youth. If your church might be willing to host an occasional group and/or be interested in sending a group, please let Ginnie know. We will work with your church so it can host Presbytery youth teams. The goal is to get information about host churches and projects onto the Presbytery web site late this year.

"Reclaiming Christmas"

How we celebrate the Christmas season is a sure sign of how we value the wonderful gift that Jesus is for us. Finding quiet time to reflect on Advent, resisting the incessant message that we show our love best by the amount of money we spend, celebrating Christ's birth in ways that honor him. All of these take courage, persistence and planning.

If your church is planning an "alternative Christmas" festival, or in some way offering members the opportunity to purchase gifts that will honor loved ones and help those who need material support, consider gifts to improve the lives of our Guatemalan brothers and sisters: support for gardening; children's nutrition; fuel-efficient stoves, and; advanced training for community health promoters. We also are able to offer scholarship support to Guatemala pastors and lay leaders so they can attend the Presbyterian seminary. Cards are available for all of these gifts. We will be sending out a packet of information to your church soon, but feel free to call Ginnie now for more information, for samples of the cards, or other materials to help you get going.

For more info on any of the above, contact Ginnie (828-438-4217; vestevens2@aol.com).