The Rev. Dr. James (Jim) Bitneau Rockwood, a Presbyterian pastor and mission co-worker in the Philippines, died in St. Joseph, Missouri on May 2. He was 90.
When the COVID-19 lockdown began in March 2020, the Filipino people struggled with difficulties and challenges. They faced varying degrees of community quarantine from enhanced, general, to modified, not receiving much help from the government.
Travel study opportunities through the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program are expected to resume this year following a hiatus necessitated last year by the pandemic.
Accepting a first call to ministry and moving during a pandemic may not be ideal, but one thing is certain: the Rev. Katheryn McGinnis is following in the footsteps of a long line of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) pastors, including her grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great grandfather and great-great-great grandfather.
Migrants are one the most vulnerable groups identified in the COVID-19 crisis, but especially so in the Philippines, where about 10 percent of the 100 million total population lives or works abroad because of poverty and lack of employment.
When it comes to keeping mission co-workers safe in the face of a global pandemic, there is no one-size-fits-all decision. Each situation is different, and each decision is individual.
Lucia Santos, a young Filipino marriage migrant, lost her Korean husband in their fifth year of marriage. Their two little children awoke one morning without their father at their side. She discovered that her husband had died by suicide.
Mary Jane Veloso has 26 days to provide testimony against her traffickers who are currently on trial in the Philippines. She is the last witness for the prosecution. If she successfully testifies, she may be released from prison in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. If she doesn’t, she will remain on death row, awaiting execution for a crime she did not commit.
