We broke into small groups. With a translator and a Home Based Care worker, we visited two homes. Each of the Home Based Care patients we visited on received a cross from Pittsburgh.
Some of the nurses in the intensive care unit at Allegheny Hospital Suburban Campus in Belleview in the North Hills of Pittsburgh started a project in which they made and sold handcrafts. The proceeds are saved and used for mission efforts dear to their hearts. They provided over $2,000 for a group from Presbyterian churches in the area when they went on a trip to rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Linda Robertson had been thinking of a small gift to bring on our travel study seminar. The week before we left, she thought of her colleagues. Among their creations are crosses made of ribbon. When she asked if she could purchase some crosses, the reply was that there were none. But the craftspeople said they would make crosses and she could have them for free.
As we broke into groups to visit in the homes of persons received Home Based Care through the program at Kapaza Presbyterian Church, each set of visitors was given a cross for each person we would visit. These simple gifts were gratefully and graciously received—profound reminders of the grace and love of God in Jesus Christ who brings us hope and profound symbols that in Christ we are one.
Photo by Linda Robertson. Note: the woman wearing the blue wrap is a Home Based Care volunteer through the program at Kapaza Presbyterian Church.