THE SPIRIT

CONNECTING MISSION IN OUR LIVES

Christ Presbyterian Church

Mission Committee Newsletter

March 2008

Friends of Los Ninos

By Betsy Barnhart

During the recent Mission Impact Sunday last fall, several members of our church signed up to visit the orphanages of Friends of Los Ninos.  In January, President of Friends of Los Ninos, Claude Wilson was our guide as a group of us went to Tijuana to visit the orphanages we support.  Claude travels across the border every week to deliver supplies to the impoverished and orphaned children in the Tijuana area and is happy to take people with him on his trips and to show us where our donations go.

We had an exciting and enlightening day, visiting 4 orphanages (over bumpy and dirt roads) and interacting with the staff and children.  At Hogar Infantile (La Gloria) we played with the 13 babies in the nursery while the older children were at a nearby school.  The babies were eager to be held, reaching up their arms for us to pick them up.  It was hard for us to say goodbye but we left with a good feeling that they were in a safe, loving environment at La Gloria and grateful that we could help support them, with food, clothing, blankets and other supplies needed.

Our last stop of the day was at Los Angelitos, a small orphanage with 22 children, ages 3 to 18.  There we spent time with the children and with Eduardo, their grandfatherly director, in the warm family atmosphere.  Some of the children followed us around their home, playing hide-and-go-seek with us and showing off their meager toys.  The older girls help care for the youngest children and they all act like a big happy family.  How Eduardo manages so well with only two helpers, one only part-time, is a miracle.

It is our hope that CPC join with both Village and Grace Presbyterian Churches in serving Los Angelitos through work projects and with supplies.  Be on the lookout for future outreach and project announcements. 

Communion Sunday Outreach:  Where Hungry Souls Are Fed

On designated Communion Sundays we will be reaching out for Christ by bringing designated food and other items for specific ministries.  As we celebrate the Kingdom of Christ at the Lord's Table we also participate in God's Reign where good news comes to the poor, healing to the brokenhearted, and freedom to captives (Isaiah 61.1).

Military Outreach Ministry Food Collection

Sunday  May 4

As usual, our MOM small group will hand out empty collection bags on the two prior Sundays, April 20 and April 27.  Your continued support in helping our young Marine families is very much appreciated.

"Through the Storm Chorus"  Jubilee at CPC

By Betsy Barnhart

As a Jubilee Congregation, CPC is part of a worldwide movement to end extreme poverty through debt relief and cancellation.  We are pleased to bring "Through the Storm" Chorus, an international group of gospel and spiritual singers, to CPC Saturday May 3, 2008.  The concert will be in Fellowship Hall from 2:00 - 4:00 with a free will offering to benefit the Jubilee cause.

Since its inception in 1997 the Jubilee Network has seen debt relief granted to 28 nations through the work of people of faith internationally.  Today a Jubilee Act is moving through both houses of the US Congress that would extend debt relief beyond  those 28 nations which now offer free education, health care, clean water and new hope for their people.

The former President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, asked, "Must we starve our children to pay our debts?"  Today, in Haiti, this is the reality.  Of Haiti's $1.3 billion debt, more than $500 million went directly into the pockets of the Duvallier dictatorship, which ruled Haiti for 30 years.  Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, yet it is still waiting to see this debt cancelled.  Meanwhile, the children of Haiti are starving.

Let's join Jesus, the prophets of Israel, and all people concerned for the poor of our world to "proclaim the year of the Lord's favor", a Jubilee year when new beginnings happen and the wrongs and injustices of humanity are set right.

Upcoming Workshop

Race & Reconciliation:  Save the Date

The Mission Committee of CPC is co-sponsoring a workshop on Race and Reconciliation on Saturday, June 7, with Grace Presbyterian Church in Vista.  The goal of the workshop is to provide an opportunity to affirm our diversity and seek common ground through dialogue.  The workshop will be led by Dr. Henry Payne, a Human Resources and Organizational Development Consultant who conducts workshops in South Africa, New York, and San Diego where he is a member of the Pacific Beach Presbyterian Church.  Here is a golden opportunity to meet with people of "other" backgrounds and explore our understanding of each other.  Look for details in May or call Betsy Barnhart for further information.

Missionary Connections

Portions of a letter from Sue Kinsler in South Korea

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.                                                                                           ~Isaiah 9:2

Dear Friends around the world,

After participating in Mission Challenge '07, we returned to Seoul on November 9, and from November 13 to 29 Sue is on an extended visit to North Korea. She is verifying delivery of equipment for the North's disabled persons. The shipment includes canes, school supplies, wheelchairs, walkers, and a Braille typewriter computer and embosser for producing literature for the blind. These will be used by disabled persons and the eleven special schools for hearing impaired and vision impaired persons in the North.

A highlight of the Lighthouse work in 2007 was the May opening of the Potonggang Welfare Center for the Disabled, and as of the end of this year a third soy-milk plant and bakery has been added within the welfare center sponsored by a 3,000-member church of the Presbyterian Church of Korea. With those being fed in the two other plants in Sariwon and Pyongyang a total of 25,000 souls now receive soy milk and bread

We need to report on our participation in Mission Challenge '07. This was a concerted effort to have PC(USA) missionaries visit as many PC(USA) churches during the month of October in order to raise mission awareness and support for sending missionaries. Sue was thrilled by the response when she gave talks to 30 churches or groups mostly in southern California and Art to 20 churches in Kentucky and Tennessee before joining Sue for a week visiting four churches in the Chicago area. Mission Challenge was a fine effort trying to close a gap caused by fewer visits to congregations; it moves toward a goal to have most of the denomination's churches related to a missionary by letter, prayer, and support. We give our deepest thanks to those involved in inviting us for these visits.

Yours in the light of Bethlehem's star,

Art and Sue Kinsler