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.

¹   Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
until the destroying storms pass by.
²   I cry to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
³   He will send from heaven and save me,
he will put to shame those who trample on me. Selah
God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness.

⁴   I lie down among lions
that greedily devour human prey;
their teeth are spears and arrows,
their tongues sharp swords.

⁵   Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.
Let your glory be over all the earth.

⁶   They set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my path,
but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
⁷   My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast.
I will sing and make melody.
⁸        Awake, my soul!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn.
⁹   I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
¹⁰   For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens;
your faithfulness extends to the clouds.

¹¹   Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.
Let your glory be over all the earth.

From the mission year book

Immanuel is one of several Pacific Presbytery churches meeting growing need with support from Presbyterian Hunger Program, Disaster Assistance

January 25, 2021

The Westminster Chapel at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles has been transformed into a food storage facility to meet increasing demand due to COVID-19. (Photo by MarAnthony Aparicio)

As June turned to July, Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles needed a place to store food.

Its direct food service to people in need had skyrocketed from 120 households a week before the COVID-19 pandemic to more than 2,000 a week as the virus staged a resurgence in California that has resulted in it being the state with the most coronavirus infections in the country. Immanuel, in L.A.’s Mid-Wilshire/Koreatown area, was running out of space to keep food – at one point jerry-rigging cooling ducts in a hallway to create improvised, temporary cold storage. Then church leaders cast their eyes on its Westminster Chapel.

Immanuel’s Session expressed openness to making it a storage space before, and the morning of July 3 it approved removing the pews.

“By 4 o’clock that afternoon, half the pews were gone,” transitional co-pastor the Rev. Andrew Schweibert said. “It was like, ‘Boom! Move it.’ By Monday, they were all gone.”

The church also had electrical outlets in the chapel converted to accommodate the needs of refrigerator equipment, and has made other modifications to the facility so that it can help the community experiencing health and economic calamities from the coronavirus that have been particularly hard on Southern California.

“We are all-in right now, all-in,” Schweibert said.

Immanuel has been all-in since the early days of the pandemic.

In an application for a Congregational Emergency Food Grant from the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP), the church detailed its direct food service going from one morning a week, serving around 120 families, to six days a week, serving 1,700. In addition to regular clientele —primarily of people who were homeless, low-income, immigrant and elderly — the church was seeing more people who were gainfully employed just a few weeks before the pandemic took hold. Most households being served were between four and nine people.

The church relied on numerous local partnerships to keep its food pantry going through the influx of need.

It’s a situation that is replicated in a handful of churches around the Los Angeles area: Congregations that were serving a few hundred people with their food programs were now faced with more than 1,000 people in need.

“It’s people who have never stood in food lines before,” said the Rev. Heidi Worthen Gamble, mission catalyst and hunger action advocate for the Presbytery of the Pacific. “It’s heartbreaking. It’s devastating.”

In May, the presbytery held a virtual concert that raised more than $10,000 to address hunger in the area. Worthen Gamble says the presbytery and churches have actively sought support in numerous ways to address the overwhelming need in Southern California. Immanuel Operations Director Virginia Beaboa said there have been days during the crisis they did not know where food would come from for the next day — and then an unexpected donation came through.

The Presbyterian Hunger Program grant helped supplement the local donations and partners.

“The work that congregations are doing to feed and house people is so important, especially now,” said Andrew Kang Bartlett, PHP Associate for National Hunger Concerns.

It takes numerous volunteers to keep the pantry at Immanuel Presbyterian Church going. Volunteers load up reusable tote bags with content including fresh produce.

“We all have to practice social distancing,” Schweibert said. “The staff and volunteers know the risks, but they see this as an essential service. They are choosing to be here and work, and work as volunteers.”

Immanuel is partnering with other churches in Presbytery of the Pacific’s Homelessness and Housing Task Force, including Hope on Union, Wilshire, St. Mark’s, First Hollywood, Calvary Hawthorne, and Bel Vue Presbyterian to share resources in the area. Worthen Gamble said that finding volunteers can be a challenge for churches with older congregations more vulnerable to COVID-19 or in lower-income areas where the majority of members work multiple jobs to make ends meet. A number of those workers have also contracted coronavirus, she notes.

 Rich Copley, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Tim Cargal, Office of the General Assembly
César Carhuachîn, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

Guide, nurture and sustain, O God, all those whom you call into your ministry and service. May they, in whatever calling of yours they follow, find in you the direction to lead your people faithfully in and to your will and purpose for their individual and communal lives. Amen.