A Long-Distance Relationship

A Letter from Betsey and Eric Moe, preparing to serve in Guatemala

Summer 2021

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To watch a video of this letter click on this link:
https://vimeo.com/626697046

I never thought Eric and I would be in a long-distance relationship, but here we are. Eric and I aren’t living apart from each other; quite the contrary, we spend most of every day together. In fact, we just celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary on August 5, 2021, and spent a fun, few days in San Diego, letting our hair down with walks on the beach and even surfing lessons.

No, our long-distance relationship is with the Protestant Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America (CEDEPCA), our dear friends and colleagues in Guatemala. In our last letter, we said that we would be moving to Guatemala in September. We were so excited to finally be able to be physically close to the people with whom we minister and work. However, plans have changed, as plans do during a pandemic. COVID numbers are rising rapidly in Guatemala, systems (especially healthcare) are overly stressed, and it is simply not an appropriate time to move. We have set January as a new target date.

To say this was a difficult decision to make would be a gross understatement. We have been ready – in heart, mind, and body – to move to Guatemala for over a year. Each postponement brings heartache and doubt and long conversations of “what now?”

Our response is that we will continue to work remotely with CEDEPCA – putting together Virtual Journeys to Guatemala; arranging online adult Sunday school classes that unite CEDEPCA staff in Guatemala with church members here in the States; taking classes through CEDEPCA, and learning more and more about the country’s context; meeting on Zoom with mission committees who want to explore the possibility of bringing groups to Guatemala in the future or how to design meaningful virtual connections in the meantime.

The fact is that practicing solidarity is possible from a distance. You all show us that truth every day as you stand with us as partners from every part of the United States. Our Guatemalan colleagues at CEDEPCA are following strict protocols of sheltering in place, yet they are still powerfully standing in solidarity with the vulnerable through online classes, phone calls, and workshops. We take heart that from the earliest days of the church, Paul and other missionaries were standing in solidarity with churches and individuals through the unifying Spirit of God.

Someday, face-to-face collaboration will be possible. Until then, we pour ourselves into our precious long-distance relationships with CEDEPCA and with you.

In the meantime, I am excited to announce CEDEPCA’s next Virtual Journey coming up at the end of October on the topic, “Re-Imagining Masculinity: Challenging a Culture of Violence.” Below you’ll find a blurb that may be used in church bulletins, social media and e-news formats; feel free to shorten it for your needs. Let me know if you have any questions about the program, registration, etc. Thank you for helping to get the word out!

Virtual Journey to Guatemala:
“Re-Imagining Masculinity: Challenging a Culture of Violence”
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
4:30 p.m. Pacific/5:30 Mountain/6:30 Central/7:30 Eastern

“What about the men?” is a question many people ask when hearing about CEDEPCA’s commitment to empower women and girls. This year, CEDEPCA has begun equipping young men to embrace a “new masculinity” to challenge the dominant culture of chauvinism and violence. Come along on our next Virtual Journey to Guatemala to meet some of these young men and their program leaders and hear about the culture change that the Spirit of God is inspiring. This virtual travel opportunity, designed for an English-speaking audience, will include travel footage, powerful stories, and breakout room discussions.

Featured Speaker: Rev. Kevin Frederick, author of “Men in the Mirror: Constructing and Applying a Christ-Centered Masculinity to Interpersonal Relationships.”

Registration is required:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcqcO2hqz4rEtbcyolBSdces5TB7Ip-5FDO

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Thank you again for partnering with us – financially and in friendship and prayer. May Christ be our hope as we get through this pandemic together!

Grace and peace to you,

Betsey and Eric Moe

Please read the following letter from Sara P. Lisherness, the interim director of World Mission:

Dear partners in God’s mission,

I don’t know about you, but daily my heart grows heavier. News about the pandemic, wars, wildfires, gun violence, racism, earthquakes and hurricanes cloud my vision. It’s hard to see hope; our world is in a fog. Yet we trust that God’s light and love transcend the brokenness of this time.

God is at work transforming the world, and you, through your prayers, partnership and encouragement, are helping us share this good news. Thank you for your faithful and gracious support of our mission personnel.

How can we see through the fog? What will the church be after the pandemic? Could it be that God is doing “a new thing” and is inviting us to perceive it?  Through all the uncertainty we know that God’s steadfast love and care for all creation will prevail and that God’s Spirit is at work in each of us.

We all have an integral part to play in fulfilling God’s mission. As we seek to grow together in faithfulness there are three important steps I invite you to take in supporting our shared commitments to God’s mission:

Give – Consider making a year-end financial contribution for the sending and support of our mission personnel. Your support helps mission personnel accompany global partners as together they share the light of God’s love and justice around the world. Invite your session to include support for mission personnel in its annual budget planning.

Act – Visit The Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study to delve deeper into the work God is doing through the PC(USA) and its partners in ministry around the globe: pcusa.org/missionyearbook.

Pray – Include our mission personnel, our global partners, and our common commitments to share God’s grace, love, mercy and justice in your daily prayers.

Thank you for your faithfulness to God’s mission through the Presbyterian Church. It is my prayer that you will continue to support this work with your prayers, partnership, and financial gifts in the coming year. We hope you will join us and our partners in shining a beacon of hope throughout the world.

In the light of hope,

Sara P. Lisherness, Interim Director
World Mission
Presbyterian Mission Agency
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

To give please visit https://bit.ly/PCUSAmission

You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16