In Lebanon these days, there is one Syrian for every four citizens, which doesn’t help the delicate economic and sectarian balance of the small country. Unless that one Syrian is Mardig, a young man quietly putting diapers on the elderly or nursing them after surgery. When Mardig first walked into the Jinishian office, he did not look the part. He was covered in tattoos and had no possessions at all, no home and nothing to eat.
The Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) announced today the addition of Albuquerque as a new site for its 2017-18 program year. Partnered with the Presbytery of Santa Fe, the site has been two years in development and will be the only new YAV site added in 2017-18.
Presbyterians have a long history of helping those in need and have shown time and time again that they are willing to roll up their sleeves and go to work. Presbytery of the Peaks is a good example of people in action. Denise Pillow is the Hunger Action Advocate (HAA) for the presbytery, which includes 125 congregations across Central Virginia.
In late June, mere days after winning Pero’s presidential election by a thin margin, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski turned his eyes on the troubled community of La Oroya, where for more than 15 years Presbyterian World Mission and the Presbyterian Hunger Program have joined with partners Joining Hands Peru (Red Uniendo Manos Peru) in seeking justice for city’s residents.
Sometimes the simplest questions give rise to the most interesting conversations. That is what I discovered one morning at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Virginia.
World leaders and government officials from nearly 200 countries are gathering for the next two weeks in Marrakech for the 22nd Conference of Parties (COP22), part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
After a year of meetings, collaboration and recommendations, the White House Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships has released its final report to end poverty in the U.S. The report, entitled Strengthening Efforts to Increase Opportunity and End Poverty, provides recommendations to the President to increase opportunity while reducing inequality.
From across the United States and the world, indigenous peoples and their allies have gathered at the Camp of the Sacred Stones, north of Cannon Ball, North Dakota, near the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation’s northern border. Members of the tribe took the initiative in this witness to protect their sacred sites and waters from environmental harm and to affirm tribal sovereignty and Treaty rights.
Hurricane Matthew was like a very bad dream, watching a slow-motion bullet heading toward someone you love, unable to do anything to stop it. I kept the National Hurricane Center’s webpage open for five or six days, morning, afternoon and night; checking every few hours to see what the storm was doing.
For members of First Presbyterian Church of Jeffersonville, Indiana, reducing energy costs means more than balancing the budget. They see it as an opportunity to redirect funds to ministerial outreach.
