The Shining Path And The Ripple Effects Of Violence

This Is Ayacucho

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Smithsonian Folklife Festival

College Scholarship Fund For Mission Partners

Several years ago, the Session of Sharon Presbyterian Church approved a Scholarship Fund for Mission Partners based on the following in order of priority:

• An international student from an economically challenged family identified through Sharon Presbyterian Church’s mission connections who is enrolled for study at an accredited college in the United States
• A member of Sharon Presbyterian Church who is enrolled in one of the PCUSA’s seminaries
• A member of Sharon Presbyterian Church who is enrolled at an accredited college or university who is preparing for a church vocation (i.e. Christian Education, Youth Ministry, Church Music, etc.)
• A member of Sharon Presbyterian Church who is enrolled in a college or university affiliated with the PCUSA

This award is also based upon scholarship, community involvement, and strength and determination of character. For Spring Semester 2015, the recipient of this award is Brenda Paredes. Many in our congregation know Brenda through her extensive volunteer work with our annual Adult Mission Trip to Perú, including interpreter since 2009, and primary group leader during the 2013 and 2014 trip. She will again be working as our interpreter during the 2015 trip.

Brenda has completed three and a half years of study at the University of Caesar Vallejo in Lima, Perú, two semesters at Winthrop University, and just completed one semester at UNC Charlotte. During her semester at UNC Charlotte, she had five challenging classes and earned an A in each one. Look for her on the Dean’s and Chancellor’s lists when published.

From her application: “My long term goals are to perfect my English skills and become stronger in French and Portuguese. I hope to pair these skills with my Christian beliefs and perhaps work in missions.”

Scholarship funds are based on availability and are paid directly into the recipient’s college account. The congregation is encouraged to support this fund by making checks payable to “Sharon Presbyterian Church” clearly earmarked “Scholarship Fund for Mission Partners”. Applications are being accepted for 2015-2016 school year.

Questions may be directed to David Beers, Chairperson of the Serving Committee.

Congratulations to Brenda Paredes for her continued dedication and hard work!

2015 Perú Mission Meetings Update

The 2015 Sharon Presbyterian Church Adult Mission Trip to Huanta, Perú promises to be one of witness and service to Jesus Christ. Do you feel God’s call to participate in this year’s trip?

There will be several informational meetings available for you to choose from.  All will be held at Sharon Presbyterian Church (5201 Sharon Road, Charlotte, NC):

• Sunday, February 8th at 11:30 AM (Heritage Room of the Sanctuary)
• Sunday, February 8th at 5:00 PM (Heritage Room of the Sanctuary)
• Sunday, February 22nd at 11:30 AM (Parlor of the Charles Little Building)

The 2015 trip is open to adults and a limited number of youth participants. Youth participants must be at least a rising high school junior in 2015 and accompanied on the trip by a parent or legal guardian.

The trip is scheduled to take place from Friday, July 31st through Monday, August 10th.

Trip information/application forms will be distributed at each meeting. Forms will also be available in the Adult Mission Trip mailbox (located on the top row of mailboxes in the hallway outside the Sharon Church office) beginning Sunday, February 8th, or by contacting Randy Ross (704-552-5573 or mrandallross@aol.com).

Trip applications, deposits and passport copies are due Sunday, March 15th. Please contact Randy if you are unable to attend any one of the meetings but are still interested in participating or learning more about the trip.

Called To Be A Bible Translator

Calvin Hubbard, 90, Still Works With The JAARS Group

Resource: The Charlotte Observer
By John Anderson

The JAARS family celebrated Calvin Hibbard’s 90 birthday Nov. 14.

Hibbard is among the few remaining living members of an early group that worked on Bible translation.

That work continues to be supported by the former Jungle Aviation and Radio Service, now known as JAARS, which has its headquarters on Davis Road, five miles south of Waxhaw.

JAARS uses pilots and mechanics, software developers, media specialists, maritime workers, purchasers and shippers to support those who do translation and literacy work worldwide.

Hibbard was born in Chicago on Nov. 11, 1924. He joined the Army at 18, and went to France and Germany during World War II.

He married in 1948, and together with his wife, Cornelia, went to the jungles of Peru in early 1952, where he worked for 23 years at the JAARS base in Yarinacocha, Peru.

In a series of reflections on his life, Hibbard tells a fascinating tale of devotion and faith.

He has spent the last 64 years as a member of Wycliffe Bible Translators, about 32 of those years as administrative assistant to founder William Cameron Townsend.

“Without a doubt, the greatest call of God on my life was when he put me to work as Cameron Townsend’s administrative assistant in September of 1950, just four weeks after we joined Wycliffe,” Hibbard said. “It was none of my doing, but God brought circumstances together, with the result of my serving with Townsend over a period of 32 years.

Read more...

A Letter From Sara And Rusty

Dear Friends at Sharon Presbyterian Church

We just heard about your February gift of $500 to our ministry here in Peru.  Thank you!

A friend is headed to the U.S. today and so we are jumping on the opportunity to send you mail.  As you know, we work with teams.  This year we will travel with nine of them and assist others such as the team Randy Ross will lead to Huanta in July.  It was really good to see him here on his brief visit in March too!  We are placing volunteers in several new locations this year.  We'll be in the U.S. for five month this fall and winter.  As you can tell, it will be a full year.

We thought life would be slower in the sunny summer months so I signed up for Quechua language classes.  Many of our partner churches have members whose first (and only) language is this ancient Inkan dialect.  It has been really interesting to see how language study has opened the culture to new understandings of these people who have been our partners for 6 years now.

Our dream of a long slow summer (January to March) with beach days never really came to fruition.  We had a lot of visitors, and we finished many chores on the "to do" list.  We also attended the General Assemblies of both of our partners denominations and caught up on all their news.

Now we are readying for eight teams in ten weeks.  Six of them are new to Peru and several of the locations where there will work have never received teams.  Everything is new!  The logistics are a huge exciting challenge.  But this is our work;  to be a bridge between PC(USA) churches and their Peruvian partner churches.  We help both sides to new understandings across the gaps caused by different business, church & work cultures.  Add to that barriers caused by four languages and native cultures and it gives you some idea of why we love the challenges.

We enjoyed our last visit with the church.  We'll be back in the U.S. on interpretation mid August.  We plan to be on the east coast through the end of September.  We'll be visiting Charlotte so let us know if there is a possibility of visiting you.  We are just starting to plan our trip now.

Thank you all again for helping me in this challenging work.  You make it possible for so many Christians to work in new and unexpected ways, establishing the kingdom of God.

Saludos Fraternales de Sara Armstrong y Rusty Edmondson
dos_zapatos@yahoo.com

Microsoft Launches Quechua App For Tablets

Resource:  Peru This Week

By Rachel Chase

Proponents of Quechua hope that using the language in a technological setting will help to preserve the indigenous tongue.

Microsoft is helping to preserve the indigenous language of Quechua through a rather unexpected medium: the app.

According to Andina news agency, Microsoft is launching an application with tablet tools in Quechua for Windows tablet devices. Andina reports that the launch will take place on Thursday, Oct. 24, in the Cusco Conventions Center. The launch is part of Quechua Week, an event sponsored by the Ministry of Culture that aims to celebrate and promote the indigenous language.

Cusco writer Luis Nieto Degregori told Andina that by using Quechua in high-tech devices, proponents of its use can make sure it lives on for years to come. “Quechua should be in computers, in cell phones, in tablets— it’s very important; it’s a language of the present and of the future, and this is one of the ways to make sure Quechua doesn’t disappear,” Nieto Degregori, the author of acclaimed 2003 book “Cuzco después del amor” (“Cusco after the love”) said.

Quechua is the most widely-spoken indigenous language in South America. According to 2007 Peruvian census data, there are more than 3 million Quechua speakers in the country. There may be as many as 10 million Quechua speakers worldwide.