Stop Hunger Now

A Stop Hunger Now food packaging event will be held Sunday, November 20, 2011, at 2:00pm in the Sharon Presbyterian gym. With the donation from the filming on our campus of the television show, Homeland, Sharon Presbyterian Church will package 10,000 meals in 2-3 hours for desperately hungry people in third world countries. Families, groups, Sunday School classes, and friends can participate in this outreach project. Sign up will start this coming October!

Charlotte CROP Walk

Sign up today to either walk or sponsor a walker in the Charlotte CROP Walk to Fight Hunger. It will be held on Sunday, October 16, 2011, begining at 2:30pm on Elizabeth Avenue. Join with the Sharon Presbyterian group to walk with thousands of other Charlotteans to help stamp out hunger. For more information, contact Mike McGarity at (704) 553-7270.

Pastor Arana's Visit

Due to unforseen circumstances, Pastor Arana will not be able to vist Charlotte.  His wife has had an accident at home and has broken her leg. The doctor said she needs to rest completely for some weeks, no traveling allowed at all.

We hope that he and his family will be able to visit in the near future.  We will keep you posted of any future plans.

César G. Carhuachín

P.A.T Ministries At Sharon Presbyterian Church

On the 2011 Perú mission trip, we we able to share the results of the hard work of a few wonderful ladies from Sharon Presbyterian Church.  As in years passed, we took prayer shawls for a few special ladies in many of the churches of Perú.  This year we also took a few "pillow case" dresses for several young girls and with loving and heavy hearts we carried burial gowns to help ease the burden of a lost infant.  Many, many blessings to the gifts and to the givers.

Rev. Pedro Arana Visit

Hi friends,

Thanks for your faithful yearly mission trips to Perú.

I want to let you know that the Presbytery of New Covenant in Houston (TX) have invited to the Rev. Pedro Arana, one of the well known Presbyterian leaders in Latin America to speak at their Presbytery meeting and other gatherings.  The Hispanic/Latino Ministries of the Presbytery of Charlotte have invited him as well to visit the Presbytery of Charlotte and speak at different meetings and churches, from October 14 to 16, 2011.  Pedro has been the President of the Peruvian Bible Society for many years, founder of the Latin American Theological Fraternity and is currently pastor of “Pueblo Libre Presbyterian Church” in Lima.  Probably you already know about him since you travel to Perú often.

I want to let you know about his visit to the Presbytery of Charlotte.  If you would like to invite to Rev. Arana, feel free to call me or email me, so we can include your church in his schedule.

César

Dr. César G. Carhuachín
Coordinator for Latino Ministries
Presbytery of Charlotte
5700 Executive Center Drive - Suite 200
Charlotte, NC 28212
Tel (704) 535-9999, ext. 5216
Fax (704) 537-3476
http://www.presbyofcharlotte.org/

Compass Readings

Paul Hanneman works for Urban Ministry Center educating folks about homelessness and writes these "Compass Readings" from time to time. This one hit home. Hope it does for you.

David Beers

In a remarkable column published in the NEW YORK TIMES, David Brooks writes from Nairobi Kenya , “Many Americans go to the developing world to serve others. A smaller percentage actually end up being useful. Those that do have often climbed a moral ladder. They start out with certain virtues but then develop more tenacious ones.

The first virtue they possess is courage, the willingness to go off to a strange place…
The second virtue they develop is deference, the willingness to listen and learn from the moral and intellectual storehouses of the people you are trying to help…
The greatest and most essential virtue is thanklessness, the ability to keep serving even when there are no evident rewards — no fame, no admiration, no gratitude..
[The] final virtue is what makes service in the developing world not just an adventure, a spiritual experience or a cinematic moment. It represents a noncontingent commitment to a specific place and purpose…people willing to embrace the perspectives and do the jobs the locals define…

David Brooks' entire column

I wish he’d write another column on usefully serving people in poverty here in this country. It might go something like this: Many Americans go to the soup kitchens, shelters, and streets of their cities to serve others. A smaller percentage actually end up being useful. Those that do have often climbed a moral ladder. They start out with certain virtues but then develop more tenacious ones.

The first virtue they possess is courage, the willingness to move out of their comfort zone and go to a place which serves people whose lives are very different from their own. They have moved beyond simply writing a check to getting personally involved.

The second virtue they develop is an awareness that they can’t map over from their own assumptions about how the world works to the lives of those they seek to serve, that the actions and attitudes of people in poverty arise from a different worldview than their own. This can lead to suspending judgment and seeking to understand what living in survival mode is actually like. One way to learn is through seminars such as Bridges Out of Poverty; another way to learn is to develop a relationship with someone who is living in poverty and listen with open ears, mind, and heart.

The third virtue they develop is a willingness to serve the other instead of helping or fixing. Rachel Naomi Remen writes, “Service rests on the basic premise that the nature of life is sacred, that life is a holy mystery which has an unknown purpose …When you help you see life as weak, when you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. From the perspective of service, we are all connected: All suffering is like my suffering and all joy is like my joy.” Serving is centered in relationship, not outcomes. It is soul work, not ego work. It is about you, not me; it is about your needs and dreams as you articulate them, not my solutions. It is about the wholeness and sacredness of life.

The fourth virtue they develop is persistence - a commitment to stay engaged for the long haul. There are few quick fixes for people wanting to move out of homelessness and poverty. It takes a long time for people to become homeless, and it takes at least as long (if not longer) for them to gain and attain economic stability. Effective people stay with the relationship, stay with the process, offering assistance and insistence / encouragement.

The fruits of all these virtues? Patience. Gratitude. Thanksgiving. Joy.

Blessings,

Paul A. Hanneman
Program Director
Urban Ministry Center
945 North College Street
Charlotte, North Carolina 28206

Our greatest need is to feel that we have value, are worthy, and can do beautiful things. Jean Vanier

Back To Normal?

After returning from our recent Perú mission trip, most of us are already planning and counting the days until our 2012 trip.

Life here has returned to normal.  The grass that was knee high in our yard has been mowed several times and the idea of us purchasing a goat to deal with the grass and weeds has dwindled.  (I couldn't figure out how to hide a goat from the neighbourhood association anyway and I just didn't have the heart to paint it like a dog).  The natural areas of the yard that look like a botanical experiment of weeds of the southeastern U.S. will have to remain for awhile.

Each of the participants have memories of our recent trip that we will glady share (upon request):

• Brad Clayton preaching (with just 5 minutes notice) to the Light & Life Church...  about the Tumbling Monkeys game?
• The mental snapshot of Brenda Paredes' face when she realized she had to translate the phrase "Tumbling Monkeys" in Spanish.
• Sleeping in the New York airport.
• Rob Wolf and John Magee serving communion at Cristo Rey church in Huanta.
• Kay DuMond flying first class...  ugh
• Delta holding our plane from Atlanta to Lima for 2 hours!  Our luggage was left on the tarmac and the paperwork had to be sorted out.
• Visiting the new Amen church in Lima.
• Visting the Church of The Good Shepherd in Huaycán, Perú of which Adrian Fernandez is pastor.
• Celebrating John Magee's birthday...  5 times!
• Shea Chambers playing soccer.
• Sharing this year's trip with the Paredes and Laura family.
• Missing Sara Armstrong.
• Spending much too little time with Samuel Montes.
• Walking with Rob Wolf down the road from the BWJ.
• Early morning walks around Huanta.
• Kay DuMond not suffering in the airport with us.
• Repaying old debts.
• Meeting a local woman in the market (with a butcher knife in her hand) shouting Gringos, Gringas... have a good day!
• Reconnecting with all the kids of Huanta. 
• Giving glass crosses to new churches.
• The unending questions about how Theresa Wolf, Hunter Garbee, DeAnna Booth and previous mission members are doing.
• Reconnecting with old friends in Huanta and Lima.
• Church members being baptised at the Cristo Rey church.
• Watching our luggage being loaded on our plane in New York.
• Seeing our luggage on the tarmack in Atlanta...  not on our plane!
• Rob Wolf attempting to drive Gamaliel Berrocal's motorcar taxi.
• The joy of Brenda Paredes returning to the U.S. with us.
• Rose Boelke fitting reading glasses that she brought to Huanta.
• Being folded into a taxi for the trip to the Ayacucho airport.

These are just a few of the memories that will remain with me for a long...  long time.

wvd

Trip Followup

As Randy said;

I'll be happy to post any views about the trip this year.

Also, thanks to each of you that has sent me their pictures and videos.  I have been loading a few each night into the 2011 Peru album (albeit the maps and captions are not completed yet).  The picture album can be accessed anytime through the link on this blog page or use this link  We have much more to come!

Mission videos are being added too!  They are being loaded into the Mission Videos album.  It can also be accessed anytime using the link on this blog page or by using this link.

wvd

Hola Mission Trip Participants

Dear Mission Team:

I trust that you are well and that you are getting adjusted to being back in the United States. For those of you that flew to New York before arriving back in Charlotte, I hope that particular part of the trip is fast becoming a fading memory!

It was an honor and privilege to have spent eleven (11) days with each of you. I am particularly grateful for the sacrifices that you and the members of your family made in order for you to participate in the trip. I hope the trip met or exceeded your expectations and that you were also surprised or enlightened in some form or fashion. I hope you were struck by the realization that God is indeed present with our brothers and sisters there.

I am filled with mixed emotions about our time in Peru. Working through these emotions is increasingly difficult after each trip. I plan to share these with you in a week or so through a post to this blog.

If you would like to share an experience or thoughts on the trip through the blog, Van would be more than happy to post it. Van's e-mail address is wvandale@yahoo.com.

Have a great week!

Blessings to you all.

Randy

Samuel Returns Back To Huanta Safely

Dear brothers and sisters, I hope in the Lord, his homecoming has been no major setbacks for my part as I arrived at 8 am, so good by the grace of God.


Greetings from me, Julia, Yesenia and Denil.

Regards

Samuel Montes.

Scholarship Fund

Scholarship Fund for Mission Partners established at Sharon Presbyterian.

The Session recently approved a new Scholarship Fund for Mission Partners. The primary purpose of this new scholarship is to grant annually an undergraduate or graduate scholarship to an international student from an economically-challenged family identified through Sharon Presbyterian Church’s mission connections. 

The first recipient of this new scholarship is Brenda Paredes of Lima, Peru.

Brenda is known to many in our church through her invaluable assistance with our Peru Mission Trips and her two recent internships with our congregation. Brenda has been accepted to Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, and will begin her studies later this month. Watch for more details in the next church newsletter. 

Gifts to the scholarship fund should be made payable to Sharon Presbyterian Church and clearly earmarked “College Fund.”

Monday

Sorry we have not posted earlier.  Internet problems again here in Huanta. Everyone arrived and we are in fair health.  A few stomach problems are beginning to pop up.  We will post again as soon as possible.  Chao for now.

Perú Blessings

Hope you all have safe travels, a great trip, and come back with lots of new spiritual insights and great stories to share. May God’s blessings be with you all!

Grace & Peace,

Ron E. Nelson
Associate Pastor
Sharon Presbyterian Church
5201 Sharon Road
Charlotte, NC 28210
704.553.0869

We Are Blessed

Colossians 1:6
“… All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing…”

It has been said before, it needs to be said again, again and again. The rewards of foreign missions are undeniable!  We have been blessed by the spirit of a giving and loving God.  Lifelong relationships have been formed and we have the memories of being immersed in other cultures.

Over the years, we have been blessed by: 

• The joy and excitement of being asked by a friend, relative or church member of "how was the trip?"
• A Peruvian young man quietly and humbly asking to borrow a Spanish Bible for an evening.
• Spanish Bibles given as gifts one year and worn out by use, the following year. 
• A young adult maturing by seeing other parts of the world.  Realizing how hard many have to work for freedom, safety, food, clothing and housing.
• The mental picture of people carrying church benches for 6 hours...  to their home church.
• Prayer Shawl Ministry of Sharon Presbyterian Church - The ladies of this ministry amaze us with their talent, love and giving.
• Witnessing the depth of God's spirit in a small church in Nuevo Ayacucho, Gallito, Maynay, Huanta or Lima greater than any grandiose cathedral.
• Caleb Ministries - 2011 will be our first year to minister and comfort families that have lost an infant in Perú.
• The opportunity and challenge for Brenda Paredes to translate the Caleb Ministries booklet in Spanish...  for the first time!  Because of Brenda's translation and the work of many others, Caleb Ministries can minister to our Peruvian families and to the Latin community here at home.
• The unending giving and collection of donations of clothes, luggage, toys and crafts by members of our church.
• The blessing of having the diversity of mission trip members.  Young and old, worshiping and gaining understanding together.
• In 2010 Sharon Presbyterian women shared study information with the women of Cristo Rey Presbyterian Church.
• Meeting Brenda Paredes.  2011 will be Brenda's third mission trip with us.  At the end of our trip, she will return with us.  Because of her hard work and dedication, she will be attending Winthrop University this fall.
• Meeting Sara Armstrong, Rusty Edmondson, Samuel Montes and Pastor Santos Buendia.  With relationships so strong, we can't imagine our lives without them.
• Sharing foreign mission trips with members of :
• Amen Presbyterian Church {Lima, Perú}
• Avondale Presbyterian Church {Charlotte, North Carolina}
• Bryson City Presbyterian Church {Bryson City, North Carolina}
• Charlotte Christian School {Charlotte, North Carolina}
• First Presbyterian Church {Kissimmee, Florida}
• John Knox Presbyterian Church {Marietta, Georgia}
• Light of Christ United Methodist Church {Charlotte, North Carolina}
• Port Orange Presbyterian Church {Port Orange, Florida}
• Steele Creek Presbyterian Church {Charlotte, North Carolina}
• Stevenson Presbyterian Church {Monroe, North Carolina}
• Westminster Presbyterian Church {Durham, North Carolina}
• Meeting members of the Perú Mission Network with churches over the entire United States.  The opportunity to host the 2010 Perú Mission Network Conference at Sharon Presbyterian Church.  Also, the chance for Samuel Montes to travel to the United States for the first time and join us.
• The creation of relationships with Amen Presbyterian Church, Lima, Perú and Cristo Rey Presbyterian Church, Huanta, Perú.
• Peruvian kids, kids, kids!

Did we have any idea of what this would become when we left for Iquitos in 2002?