Give, Act, Pray

Central Florida Presbytery

As part of this information please find a letter from Linda Valentine and Hunter Farrell on the situation in Haiti and the different ways that we are able to respond.  We would love the opportunity to know what each of your congregations is doing to contribute to the efforts around the world to aid the people of Haiti.  Please send me an email with a description of the particular efforts being made in your Congregation.

Joe Raymond, a member of First Presbyterian Lake Mary, is on his way to Haiti.  Joe’s father who passed away shortly before the earthquake hit started a church in Petion-Ville, Haiti and First Church, Lake Mary is supporting this congregation.  Hugh Lackey, CLP at First Lake Mary will join him next week with supplies and financial support for this area.  If you are interested in joining forces with First Lake Mary please send support to First Presbyterian Church 128 W. Wilbur Ave, Lake Mary, FL 32746.

Please contact the Presbytery office if you have any questions regarding how you can be a part of the amazing efforts being done through out this Nation and the world to help the People in Haiti.

Blessings,
Your Presbytery Staff

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Greetings to members of the General Assembly Mission Council, Middle Governing Body executives and friends.

We have watched with horror the devastation in Haiti.  Our colleagues in Presbyterian Disaster Assistance have been engaged in assessment and response by contacting partners on the ground and ecumenical partners in disaster relief since Tuesday night, January 12, immediately after the earthquake struck.  We are grateful for the incredible outpouring of prayer and support shown thus far by Presbyterians toward their sisters and brothers in such great need.  PDA is making a special appeal, so that we can continue to respond to the enormous needs.

In a joint statement issued by Gradye Parsons, Bruce Reyes-Chow and myself, we have called upon all Presbyterians to give, act, and pray for Haiti.

Give – Financial support for relief efforts can be made online and designated to DR000064.  Gifts can also be made by phone at (800) 872-3283 weekdays between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. (EST) and checks can be mailed to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, P.O. Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700.  Your gifts, combined with those of others, provide a visible and tangible demonstration of God’s care in the midst of this tragedy.  Recovery will be a difficult and long process, but Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has time and time again modeled a faithful response over the long haul.

Act – Congregations and individuals can put together hygiene kits and baby kits to be distributed through Church World Service.  For information, visit the PDA Web site.

Pray – Join with others in lifting up the people of Haiti and those seeking to provide aid in this critical time.

I hope that in the wake of this tragedy, you will find great hope and inspiration in the message below from my colleague, Hunter Farrell, director of Presbyterian World Mission, who has provided an update on the safety and status of our Presbyterian mission workers and speaks of the seeds of hope being planted in the name of Jesus Christ both in Haiti and elsewhere throughout the world.

Faithfully yours,
Executive Director

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Dear Friends in Christ,

Words can barely express my gratitude for the outpouring of prayer, concern and support in response to this week's earthquake in Haiti.  One of our mission co-workers there, Sharyn Babe, was injured in the quake and has been airlifted to a hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she is undergoing treatment.  Her husband Rodney was not injured, and is making his way back to the United States to be with her.  Mission co-worker Mark Hare and his wife live well outside Port-au-Prince and were not harmed in the disaster.  Pix Mahler, who serves under mission appointment as the partnerships facilitator for Haiti, was not in the country at the time of the earthquake.

Our colleagues in Presbyterian Disaster Assistance already have personnel in Haiti assessing the need and working with our ecumenical partners to begin a coordinated response.  Thank you again for your prayers and support for the people of Haiti, and for the mission workers who serve alongside them.

It is indeed heart wrenching to see the images of such total devastation in what was already one of the poorest countries in the world.  Among the countless buildings destroyed Tuesday evening was the Hôpital Sainte Croix (Holy Cross Hospital) in Leogane, a major focus of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission in Haiti for decades.  As in so many countries around the world, Presbyterians have offered a visible witness of Christ the great physician through ministries of healing there.

I was reminded of another such ministry last week in a letter from Bill Yoder, who recently retired from a distinguished career as a Presbyterian mission co-worker in Thailand.  Even in retirement, Bill continues to live in Thailand, nurturing "seeds" planted decades — even centuries — ago.

"I'm on the board of McCormick Hospital," Bill writes.  "McCormick was begun by the Presbyterian Church here in Chiang Mai in 1885 with a grant of $5,000 from Mrs. Cyrus McCormick of Chicago.”  The hospital daily serves hundreds of people who could not otherwise afford quality medical care.  Bill continues, “ I'm also serving as the only foreigner on the board of the E.C. Cort Foundation.  E.C. Cort was the Presbyterian missionary doctor who worked over forty years at McCormick Hospital up through the second World War.  The foundation in his honor provides care for those unable to meet medical expenses of their own.”  All this is done as a gracious and respectful witness to Jesus Christ.

Bill's story caused me to think also of the Yodagawa Christian Hospital in Japan, which honored us with their tribute and major gift for ongoing mission at the last General Assembly Mission Council meeting.  Another one of those "seeds" which have grown into the "greatest of shrubs."

Add to that Forman Christian College and the many primary and secondary schools in Pakistan planted by Presbyterians.  And the Nile Theological College in Sudan, a place of peace, education, and witness in the midst of a troubled land.  And the Good Shepherd Hospital in Congo which saved my own life several years ago, when I worked as a Presbyterian mission co-worker there.

Wherever your travels may take you, you don't have to look far to find the fruit of Presbyterian mission work.  Today, 296 mission co-workers and volunteers serve the Presbyterian Church in more than 50 countries around the world.  We work alongside partner churches to share the gospel, tend the sick, feed the hungry, accompany the vulnerable, and labor together for a more peaceful and just world.

As we look to the months and years ahead, I'm eager to see what God will do with the seeds being planted today.  What fruit will new mission networks like the Central Asia and the Syria & Lebanon Mission Networks bear?  What of the seeds planted in the recent World Mission Challenge, when 46 mission workers visited 734 congregations in 152 presbyteries and shared the story of mission with more than 45,000 Presbyterians?  What impact will congregational mission work have as a result of the new "God's Mission Matters" podcasts?  What miraculous ways will work for good in the rubble of Port-au-Prince?  The possibilities are beyond imagination!

On behalf of all of my colleagues in World Mission, I thank you for your part in nurturing these seeds.  Even as we enjoy the fruit of generations of Presbyterian mission workers, we labor together for the harvest still to come.

Blessings in Christ,
Hunter Farrell