¹   O LORD my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,
²   or like a lion they will tear me apart;
they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.

³   O LORD my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
⁴   if I have repaid my ally with harm
or plundered my foe without cause,
⁵   then let the enemy pursue and overtake me,
trample my life to the ground,
and lay my soul in the dust. Selah

⁶   Rise up, O LORD, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake, O my God; you have appointed a judgment.
⁷   Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you,
and over it take your seat on high.
⁸   The LORD judges the peoples;
judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.

⁹   O let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous,
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God.
¹⁰  God is my shield,
who saves the upright in heart.
¹¹  God is a righteous judge,
and a God who has indignation every day.

¹²  If one does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and strung his bow;
¹³  he has prepared his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
¹⁴  See how they conceive evil,
and are pregnant with mischief,
and bring forth lies.
¹⁵  They make a pit, digging it out,
and fall into the hole that they have made.
¹⁶  Their mischief returns upon their own heads,
and on their own heads their violence descends.

¹⁷   I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
and sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.

From The Mission Year Book

After the first day of the Vital Congregations virtual facilitator training, the Rev. Neil Ricketts spoke with elders at the church he serves.

“I told them that we — our church — and denomination are in good hands,” he said. “How we had heard from God and were implementing a plan for a healthy vital church.”

Ricketts, pastor at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Apopka, Florida, was one of more than 40 people being trained to help facilitate the two-year Vital Congregations Initiative in their respective presbyteries.

The initiative helps congregations build authentic relationships of faith as they work together on Seven Marks of Congregational Vitality. As congregations assess both their strengths and areas that need work, they begin to discern what God’s Spirit is calling them to do — and faithfully join Christ in the new thing, or change, that’s taking place.

Ricketts said the seven marks are core values for healthy congregations. As he heard more about how Vital Congregations is tied to the PC(USA)’s Matthew 25 invitation for churches to strengthen congregational vitality and reduce racism and poverty, he got even more hopeful about the future of the PC(USA).

“We can address these issues that are troubling the world and our country. We’ve studied the Word and heard from the Spirit,” he said. “God loves justice.”

The Rev. Carla Jones Brown, pastor and head of staff at Arch Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, was impressed with how well the facilitator training went. She especially liked getting into small groups — and doing a case study of a church around one of the seven marks.

“It made you feel like you weren’t lost on the screen all day,” she said. “It was so practical and nice to have different geographical perspectives on how one might lead them — and what questions they’d ask.”

The Rev. Tamara Leonard Lara of Nuevo Camino at Beth-El in the Presbytery of Tampa Bay appreciated that the facilitator training lifted up voices traditionally not listened to and recognized the diversity of gifts in a faithful community. Nuevo Camino, a new worshiping community in Wimauma, Florida, is made up of migrant agricultural workers and immigrants who have a deep need to access materials in Spanish and English to support leadership training for all church members.

“The VC process is providing me helpful tools to use,” she said. “I am hopeful about leaders within my presbytery meeting together to share what we are learning within our own congregations and ministry sites.”

The Rev. Kymberley Clemons-Jones, pastor of Valley Stream Presbyterian Church in Valley Stream, New York, said she feels better equipped after the two-day training to engage congregations in taking a deep look at themselves as the church, discerning God’s plan for their lives as a community of faith.

Hearing what it takes to engage the adult learner from Dr. Phyllis Sanders was extremely helpful for Clemons-Jones — Especially when the Vital Congregations coordinator for Trinity Presbytery said that “adult learners want to use what they hear.”

“That was eye-opening for me,” Clemons-Jones said. “In all my years of teaching I never learned specifically how to teach adults.”

She too finds herself hopeful of what the VC process will help churches accomplish. She said the many resources and the supportive staff leave her feeling like she can work at her best.

As Brown participated in Zoom worship during the training, she said she realized how much she missed worshiping — without having to lead it. As she facilitates VC training in her presbytery, she plans to provide pastors with the same opportunity that she received — to be in worship together without the responsibilities of leadership.

“We didn’t do this over the two days of training, but I just love that Vital Congregations sends out coloring books around the seven marks,” she said. “To just play with different colors helps my brain out — to be open, to let the Spirit in and try to not control.”

Ricketts said that Vital Congregations is addressing the denomination’s membership decline by getting back to the values of the early church: discipleship, evangelism and outreach, and the raising up of Christ-centered disciples.

“I can’t think of anything more valuable to give my life to,” he said.

Paul Seebeck, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Today’s Focus:  Vital Congregations

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Omar Chan, Office of the General Assembly
Cathy Chang and Juan Lopez, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

Christ, we thank you for being the Word made Flesh. As you ministered to those around you through touch, sight and sound, teach us to make use of our whole selves — body, mind and spirit — to do your work. Give us the courage to take action and the grace to welcome all with a loving spirit. Amen.

¹   I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
²   I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

³   When my enemies turned back,
they stumbled and perished before you.
⁴   For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.

⁵   You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
⁶   The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;
their cities you have rooted out;
the very memory of them has perished.

⁷   But the LORD sits enthroned forever,
he has established his throne for judgment.
⁸   He judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with equity.

⁹   The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
¹⁰  And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

¹¹  Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion.
Declare his deeds among the peoples.
¹²  For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

¹³  Be gracious to me, O LORD.
See what I suffer from those who hate me;
you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death,
¹⁴  so that I may recount all your praises,
and, in the gates of daughter Zion,
rejoice in your deliverance.

¹⁵  The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.
¹⁶  The LORD has made himself known, he has executed judgment;
the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah

¹⁷  The wicked shall depart to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.

¹⁸  For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the poor perish forever.

¹⁹  Rise up, O LORD! Do not let mortals prevail;
let the nations be judged before you.
²⁰  Put them in fear, O LORD;
let the nations know that they are only human. Selah

¹   O LORD, God of my salvation,
when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
²   let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry.

³   For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
⁴   I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;
I am like those who have no help,
⁵   like those forsaken among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.
⁶   You have put me in the depths of the Pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
⁷   Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves.               Selah

⁸   You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a thing of horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
⁹        my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call on you, O LORD;
I spread out my hands to you.
¹⁰  Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the shades rise up to praise you?                                   Selah
¹¹  Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
¹²  Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?

¹³  But I, O LORD, cry out to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
¹⁴  O LORD, why do you cast me off?
Why do you hide your face from me?
¹⁵  Wretched and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.
¹⁶  Your wrath has swept over me;
your dread assaults destroy me.
¹⁷  They surround me like a flood all day long;
from all sides they close in on me.
¹⁸  You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me;
my companions are in darkness.

How a Mission Yearbook prayer and other unexpected prayers helped turn me around

January 29, 2021

The Rev. Donna Frischknecht Jackson

Just how powerful is prayer? On Sunday morning I was greeted by an email from a colleague at the Presbyterian Mission Agency with these words: “May you feel the love and receive strength from all the prayers coming your way this day.”

It turns out my name was listed on Friday’s Mission Yearbook devotional — which features short stories on the work Presbyterians are doing and asks for prayers for the ministries being done. I was surprised, touched and then thankful, for I didn’t realize how much I needed this. In an instant, I felt the stress leaving me and my energy returning. As the day progressed, several other emails came from all around the country from people I did not know, all reaching out and telling me that I was in their prayers.

The last email I received was from a new worshiper of my virtual worshiping community, Old Stone Well Farm, telling me how she woke up with me on her mind and that she has been thinking about me and praying for me all day. Her prayers carried me through the rest of my day.

I will always remember the first time I experienced how strong and powerful the connection is between brothers and sisters in Christ when we pray for one another. I was going through a rough patch in life, facing many decisions as to what my next steps would be. Specifically, where was God was calling me to serve next? Was it time to leave a congregation? What did God really want from me? What if I made a mistake? What if I was listening more to my wants and desires? I was making myself sick with all the questions swirling in my head.

One night, after tossing and turning for what seemed for hours, I shot up in my bed to grab my iPhone to see what time it was. Ugh. It was only 9:30 p.m. I kept staring at the illuminated numbers in front of me. They were starting to blur a bit as tears of frustration began to form. But as the time went from 9:30 to 9:31, the tears retreated. I felt this strange warmth wash over me. It was nothing I had ever felt before and, for a second, it unnerved me. It was so unreal.

I soon surrendered and allowed my soul to sink into a sea of calm. A certainty of God’s guidance settled my mind. For some reason, I just knew I wasn’t alone. That was the first night in a long time where I actually slept soundly.

The next day, I went to the gym to get a quick workout in before starting yet another over-scheduled day. As I jogged on the treadmill, I kept thinking about the strange peace that fell upon me and how mysterious it was — dare I say, it was heavenly, divine? This wasn’t just a stressed-out body finally caving in to long-overdue sleep. This was different.

My thoughts were interrupted when one of the gym owners appeared in front of the treadmill, smiling at me. I slowed my pace down a bit and turned down the music playing on my iPhone. What he said next made me come to a complete stop: “We prayed for you last night.”

I stared at him in disbelief. My legs grew weak as I stammered, “What?”

“We prayed for you last night,” he repeated, explaining that for some reason he had a strong nudge to lift me in prayer during Bible study at his church. I couldn’t help but ask what time this was. It was about 9:30 p.m.

Yes, it was that time. I remember well — and always will remember — how in that moment when 9:30 became 9:31, a peace passing all understanding came to me, tucking me in tightly, holding me closely and whispering to me a soothing bedtime story of how God is with me. There is nothing to fear. Nothing to fret.

“We prayed for you last night.”

Yes, I know, I told him. I felt those prayers. I really felt them.

Donna Frischknecht Jackson, Editor, Presbyterians Today

Today’s Focus:  Mission Yearbook Prayers

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Jennifer Cash, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

Teach us to be faithful, O Lord, in hearing your call day by day and in responding with heartfelt obedience, that we may help establish your kingdom in every heart, within each community and all around the world. Amen

¹   Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed,
²        O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come.
³   When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
you forgive our transgressions.
⁴   Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
to live in your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
your holy temple.

⁵   By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
⁶   By your strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
⁷   You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
⁸   Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

⁹   You visit the earth and water it,
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
¹⁰  You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
¹¹  You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
¹²  The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
¹³  the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.

Let us pray:

Lord, strengthen, guide and bless us as we labor together to bring your love to those who need it most. We thank you for those who serve. May their obedient efforts continue to bear fruit in the lives of many. In your name we pray. Amen.

¹   To you, O LORD, I call;
my rock, do not refuse to hear me,
for if you are silent to me,
I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
²   Hear the voice of my supplication,
as I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
toward your most holy sanctuary.
³   Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who are workers of evil,

who speak peace with their neighbors,
while mischief is in their hearts.
⁴   Repay them according to their work,
and according to the evil of their deeds;
repay them according to the work of their hands;
render them their due reward.
⁵   Because they do not regard the works of the LORD,
or the work of his hands,
he will break them down and build them up no more.

⁶   Blessed be the LORD,
for he has heard the sound of my pleadings.
⁷   The LORD is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.

⁸   The LORD is the strength of his people;
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
⁹   O save your people, and bless your heritage;
be their shepherd, and carry them forever.

From The Mission Year Book

Charles and Melissa Johnson: “We’re still working. It’s just harder”

January 26, 2021

Charles and Melissa Johnson served as ruling elders in their home congregation, Northwood Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, and now as mission co-workers in Zambia. In both places they found joy and strength in the strong sense of community that surrounded them. Now sheltering in place in Atlanta at Mission Haven, short-term housing for mission co-workers, they are busy staying connected to partners, supporting churches and finding that sense of community in new places.

“We join a different worship service virtually each Sunday,” said Charles Johnson. “We have also participated in Bible studies, minutes for mission, and even a story hour for children. We asked what we can do for them and offer our prayers of support for their community. We tell them, ‘We are all in this together.’”

The Johnsons serve in Zambia at the invitation of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) Zambia Synod, working to expand the Church’s efforts in its holistic ministry of community development, food security and improved health. Charles serves as a development specialist and Melissa is a health education program facilitator.

With a degree in agronomy from Texas A&M University and years of experience in farming, Charles’ work is focused on developing an agricultural income — farming for profit to help sustain Chasefu Theological College in Zambia. He is also an instructor in sustainable agriculture at Chasefu, teaching students to feed their own families and providing them with knowledge of new farming techniques to lift up their new congregations and communities. He also works with Chasefu’s model farm project, a training center for small farmers.

Melissa is working with the CCAP Zambia Health Department to facilitate the development and implementation of health education programs that have been identified to improve maternal and child health, to address hygiene issues of girls and women, and to raise awareness about nutritional needs of children and adults.

In late January 2020, the Johnsons began hearing about the new virus hitting China. By late February, the virus was beginning to take hold across the globe. On March 13, even though there were no cases yet in Zambia, the Johnsons made the three-hour trip to Chipata to stock up on groceries with the intention to shelter in place. They had received word from a Peace Corps friend that there were rumors that the Peace Corps was pulling volunteers out of certain countries. They soon received word that the Peace Corps was immediately evacuating all volunteers from Zambia and an email from PC(USA) asking about their thoughts about the situation.

Although they wanted to stay in Zambia, Charles has a medical condition that puts him in a high-risk category, so they made plans to leave.

Charles has been unable to send lessons to students but has been working via WhatsApp with the CCAP/Zambia General Secretary in areas such as harvest of crops at Chasefu and construction of the storage facility. Melissa has helped the CCAP Health Department learn to navigate Zoom so they were able to participate in the rollout of a new strategy for Days for Girls, an international health and hygiene program. The CCAP program temporarily quit making hygiene kits and started making masks. They donated 150 masks and 40 washable, reusable feminine hygiene kits to the Lundazi Correctional Facility. An additional 1,000 masks were made and distributed to several CCAP/Zambia secondary schools.

Melissa worked with the CCAP Health Department to help craft a proposal to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to help provide COVID-19 brochures and education, handwashing stations in some of the most vulnerable families and personal protective equipment and sanitation supplies for the three CCAP rural health centers.

Melissa said CCAP has been working to educate Zambians about truth vs. myths about coronavirus through a WhatsApp group. Some of the false information circulating among the community were that only white people could get COVID-19 and that the virus is caused by 5G networks.

The Johnsons are grateful that they’re able to be near family. Their daughter and son-in-law graduated from Georgia Tech and decided to remain in the area.

“We are still doing the work that is important to us,” said Charles. “It’s just a little more difficult right now.”

 Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Today’s Focus:  Charles and Melissa Johnson, Mission Co-workers in Zambia

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Olanda Carr, Presbyterian Foundation
Darla Carter, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

O God, when the world’s needs seem to overwhelm our ability to help, let us remember that you ask us to give what we have, not what we do not have. By your Spirit, we can do more than we ever dreamed. Give us faith to trust your Word and obey your commands through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.