from the email newsletter of the Presbytery of Wabash Valley
by Phyllis Wezeman, First Presbyterian Church of South Bend & Malawi Mission Network
“Malawi: The Big Picture,” a three-day seminar co-sponsored by the Malawi Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Presbyterian Ministry of the United Nations, was attended by twenty-two people from the Presbytery of Wabash Valley. Members of First Presbyterian Church of Peru, First Presbyterian Church of South Bend, and Westminster Presbyterian Church of South Bend traveled to New York City to learn more about the United Nations work in Malawi, Africa.
Speakers included staff from the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UNAIDS, UNICEF, and the Presbyterian Ministry at the U.N. The event also included a tour of the United Nations and a meeting with the Ambassador/Permanent Representative and staff of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Malawi to the United Nations.
Coordinators for the event were Rev. Mark Koenig of the Presbyterian Church’s UN office and Phyllis Wezeman, a members of First Presbyterian Church of South Bend and of the leadership team of the Malawi Mission Network.
Local participation in the event was due to the fact that Michiana has the largest number of Malawian residents of any location in the United States and First Presbyterian Church, South Bend has the largest number of members from Malawi of any congregation in the PC(USA).