In an age when fleeting social media messages saturate the lives of teens, Kylie Carlson treasures the lasting impact of some powerful words scrawled on tiny slips of paper.
It’s considered the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet today.
In 2018, the United Nations estimated that 14 million people in Yemen were on the brink of starvation. UNICEF estimates that 1.8 million Yemeni children suffer from acute malnutrition. Thirty thousand die each year.
Earlier this year, the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP) and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) responded to the crisis with funding geared toward providing long-term solutions to hunger and poverty in the mostly Islamic nation. PC(USA)’s Special Offerings ministry asked Presbyterians to help Yemen and three more famine-stricken countries, and they’ve answered the call by donating more than $150,000 to date.
While serving as a Presbyterian Young Adult Volunteer (YAV), Cherokee Adams learned about the heavy toll that human trafficking exacts from women caught in its clutches.
Three small Presbyterian congregations have combined the spirited competition of a fishing derby and the iconic One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) fish banks to promote giving to the churchwide offering.
As the world struggled to recover from the ravages of a global war, churches across America bore witness to their faith in a united act of generosity that helped relieve human suffering.
If Luis Ramos Salgado had tried to ride the storm out in his home, he wouldn’t be able to walk down his street on this sunny morning.
“I’d be dead,” he says through a translator, standing in the kitchen of the only home he’s ever known in San Juan’s Caño Martín Peña area.
It’s a pretty port of call.
Mere blocks from where cruise ships pull into San Juan terminal, visitors can find enticing Old San Juan, with its mix of history, shops and restaurants, all open for business, even on a warm but quiet Tuesday night. Veering right, visitors can find conveniences such as bike rentals and a CVS pharmacy, all up and running.
“People go to hotels, Old San Juan and they see the stores open, lights … and they say, ‘Oh, everything is back to normal,’” the Rev. Edwin A. González-Castillo says.
Except it’s not.