PMA provides way to honor Hunter Farrell for 30 years of mission service

‘Second Mile’ contributions continue legacy of Presbyterian mission leader

by Kathy Melvin | Presbyterian News Service

Hunter Farrell washes his hands with clean water brought to the small village of Tsamiakatra in Madagascar with the help of Presbyterian World Mission. (Photo by Kathy Melvin)

LOUISVILLE – The Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) is suggesting a “second mile” contribution in honor of Hunter Farrell’s 30 years of mission service to Presbyterian World Mission.

Farrell leaves his post as director of World Mission, a ministry area of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, Friday, October 14. He recently announced he has accepted a call to serve as the director of the World Mission Initiative (WMI) of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. The work will include teaching mission at the Seminary and connecting students with global mission.

“A donation to the World Mission ministry is a wonderful way to honor Hunter’s faithful service,” said Tony De La Rosa, PMA’s interim executive director. “He has been an excellent leader for the last nine years and he leaves World Mission well positioned to move into the future. In 2017, we celebrate the 180th anniversary of Presbyterian mission and give thanks to God for Hunter and all those who have gone before him as well as those who will accept the call to mission service in the future.”

“In so many ways, Hunter exhibits incredible humility,” said Douglas Tilton, mission co-worker and regional liaison for Southern Africa. “He is truly a servant leader, in that he does not seek the limelight, but tries to encourage and empower others. Just as in his relationships with global partners, he acknowledges and lifts up the gifts of each, recognizing that it takes all of these, working together to honor God and achieve fullness of life for the entire human family.”

Tamron Keith and Rachel Yates will act as co-directors for World Mission during the search for a new director.

In his 30-year career, Farrell served in Africa and South America as well as on the national staff of the denomination.

His work as a mission co-worker in Peru with lead-poisoned children in the La Oroya community in the Central Andes mountains above Lima drew international attention. La Oroya is on a list of the world’s most polluted communities due to lead smelting operations that have poisoned an entire generation of children.

From 1991 through 1997, Farrell worked in the General Assembly Council staff as coordinator of Presbyterian mission work in East and West Africa. Prior to that, he spent five years as a mission co-worker in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he taught Greek, New Testament exegesis and theology, and community development at the Faculty of Reformed Theology of the Kasai in Kananga (Ndesha).

Through his work with the World Mission ministry, Farrell gained fluency in three languages—Spanish, French, and Tshiluba (a language spoken in south central Congo).

Farrell received his BA in political science and Latin American studies from the University of Texas at Austin, his MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary in cross-cultural studies and a postgraduate diploma from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris. In 2007 he received a PhD in cultural anthropology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.

In a letter to colleagues, Farrell said, “I look forward with great anticipation and hope to all God has in store for Presbyterian World Mission and for me in the coming chapter.”

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To honor Farrell with a donation online, please visit this link. To send a gift: Presbyterian World Mission, P.O. Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700. Please make check payable to Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), account code E132192 and include “Thank you Hunter” in the memo line.