Missions
The following is a brief description and the addresses of current ministries supported by Faith Presbyterian Church through its Board of Deacons:
The Blyths (S.I.M., Nigeria)
Mike and Barb Blyth are field missionaries in Nigeria. Mike is a pediatrician
and works directly with the local people as he serves their medical
needs. His caseload is always full of children with numerous tropical
diseases, but has increased with the increase of AIDS in Nigeria. He
also teaches and supervises Nigerian residents and interns. Barb works
with families as she teaches them in the areas of reading, hygiene,
and family interaction skills. She also serves as surrogate mother for
children who are abandoned at the hospital. Mike and Barb have three
grown children: Jon, Sara and Lisa.
ECHO (North Fort Myers, FL)
Education Concerns for Hunger Organization
ECHO fights world hunger by strengthening and supporting the work of
missionaries, and national churches who work with subsistence farmers
and urban gardeners overseas. ECHO gathers and distributes technical
information, sends seeds of under-utilized or hard to find tropical
food plants, and provides training opportunities in tropical agriculture.
From its small farm base in Florida, staff answers questions, makes
referrals, and provides a network of people who are also linked to each
other for information and encouragement. ECHO was founded and continues
to "equip God's people for the work of service, to the building
up of the body of Christ." Visitors are welcomed to take a tour
of ECHO Farm.
Eternal Promise Ministry
Eternal Promises Ministries is a local ministry that serves persons
residing in or affiliated with Greater Lafayette nursing facilities.
Several Bible study groups are conducted in several nursing facilities
weekly. Special interest groups and one-on-one spiritual instruction
are provided for residents, family, and staff members..
Habitat for Humanity of Lafayette
Using volunteer labor and donated funds and materials, Habitat builds
or rehabilitates simple, decent houses and sells them to low-income
families at cost with no interest added. The Habitat ministry in Lafayette
began in 1984, and over 100 houses have been completed through 2002.
Potential homeowners devote several hundred hours of labor to their
houses. Many Christian churches and other agencies help provide this
service.
The Hursts (S.I.M., Bolivia)
Greg and Faith Hurst are working in La Paz, Bolivia, in areas of evangelism,
discipleship, and leadership development. They have a large program
for youth in their urban church to develop leadership and discipleship
and to help the youth reach out to others. They are expanding their
work and support for several rural Aymaran churches. Their ultimate
goal is to provide education and support for local church leadership.
Greg and Faith have three daughters, Kayla, Hannah, and Mariah.
Lafayette Urban Ministry
Lafayette Urban Ministry (LUM) was established in 1972 by several local
congregations to promote interest and involvement within and between
member churches to meet the following goals: to care for the emergency
needs of low income people, to increase church involvement in social
concerns, to improve resources within the low income community, and
to address the root causes of poverty. With these goals in mind, LUM
continues to minister to the needs of the local community through over
20 programs and services which include: the LUM Homeless Shelter, the
Avery Afterschool Program, the Volunteer Advocate Program, Summer LUM
Camp, St. Johns/LUM Food Pantry, Grow-A-Row (for the food pantry), Jubilee
Christmas, and more. All their programs and services are made possible
by financial and volunteer personnel contributions from 44 member churches,
numerous non-member churches, civic groups, businesses and individuals.
LifeCare Services
LifeCare Services, Inc., is crisis pregnancy ministry. LifeCare's mission
is to provide emotional, spiritual, and physical support to assist women
who are confronted with unplanned pregnancies. The mission is accomplished
through counseling, Bible studies, and the generous provision of physical
needs.
Adoption services can be coordinated through LifeCare. LifeCare also
offers post-abortion grief counseling for those who have been wounded
through this choice. LifeCare Services, Inc., is located near the Purdue
University campus in West Lafayette and serves a wide variety of clients.
The Livermores (Campus Crusade)
Scott and Kristin Livermore are affiliated with Student Venture, the
high school division of Campus Crusade for Christ. They are located
at the national office in Orlando, Florida. They are involved with training
people, both adults and students, to win high school students to Christ
and to disciple those students. Their ministry involves students throughout
the U.S. through personal and phone contact. They provide help and encouragement
for people who are trying to bring high school students to Christ. Scott
and Kristin have four children, Melissa, Jessica, Daniel, and Jonathan.
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army provides a variety of humanitarian services to the
Greater Lafayette community, including an emergency and homeless shelter.
They also provide food and clothing for the homeless.
Sheldon Jackson College (Alaska)
Sheldon Jackson College has served the Native People of Alaska since
1878 as a training center for Tlingit Indians. The College continues
to preserve its Christian heritage through a relationship with the Presbyterian
Church (USA). As the oldest educational enterprise in Alaska, it now
attracts students from widely diverse backgrounds, locally and nationally.
Its mission is to provide high quality undergraduate instruction in
major fields of study directed to the socioeconomic needs of Alaska
and the Pacific Rim.
The Stuebings (THETA, Zambia)
Richard and Kathy Stuebing are two of the original faculty members of
the Theological College of Central Africa (see separate description
of TCCA), in Zambia. Richard, a Gordon Conwell Seminary graduate (M.Div.,
D.Min) teaches New Testament Greek as well as other courses. He also
is the Business Administrator and Secretary Treasurer of the umbrella
organization of numerous such colleges and seminaries in Africa. Kathy,
who earned a doctorate from Harvard University, teaches courses designed
to encourage Zambians to think through problematic aspects of tribal
culture in terms of the faith of Jesus. She teaches student spouses
as well as students. She is also involved on the national and international
stage as her research is widely respected. Since the Stuebings did not
go to Zambia under a mission board, a board of oversight has been established
called THETA, an acronym for Theological Training in Africa. Churches
and individuals who desire to support their work contribute through
THETA.
The Theological College of Central Africa (TCCA, Zambia)
T.C.C.A. was established in 1982 under the auspices of the Evangelical
Fellowship of Zambia, an arm of S.I.M. (Society for International Missions).
Its goal is to train African Christian leaders in their own culture
for service in Churches and other Christian organizations in southern
Africa. It offers a 4-year B.Th. degree (Bachelor of Theology), and
a 3-year diploma. The students have come from twenty denominations,
and the faculty includes Presbyterians, Anglicans, Baptists, Brethren
in Christ, Pentecostals, and Wesleyans. Five Zambians, two of whom are
T.C.C.A. alumni, presently serve on the faculty. Pastor Robertson spent
six weeks teaching there during the summer of 2001. The college, accredited
by the University of Zambia, is recognized as one of the leading evangelical
theological colleges in Africa today. The student body is exceptional.
Many have given up successful positions in business and government service
to prepare for the ministry. The financial need is staggering, but the
spirit of the college is astounding. Faith Church provides funds for
student scholarships and Zambian faculty support.
Trinity Mission
Trinity Mission serves the less fortunate people in our community. Their
facility offers temporary housing while clients become self-sufficient.
The residents are offered counseling and life skills to help them reach
this goal. On-going contact is made to help assure a client's success
after they leave the mission.
University Church (W. Lafayette, IN)
The University Church is a unique ministry seeking to help students:
find a vital, relevant and dynamic faith in Christ; develop authentic
relationships with God and each other; express faith in worship; express
faith through the arts; explore the questions of faith, values and justice
in society; and express the concerns for others in missions at home
and abroad. University Church offers regular worship services, study
groups, fellowship activities and service projects. University Church
is a Christian Life Center sponsored by the Church of the Brethren,
Church of Christ (Disciples), Presbyterian Church (USA), Society of
Friends, United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church.
The Voelkels (IVCF)
The Voelkels have been missionaries in South America for many years.
At the present time they are serving with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
at their headquarters in Wisconsin. They returned to the U.S. to participate
in the Urbana Student Mission Convention of 2000. Jack has been writing
a question and answer column on the Urbana Website called "ASK
JACK". (See page of addresses.) He continues to teach two months
of the year in the seminary in Colombia (where they were professors
for 10 years), and he helps with plans for future Urbana Conventions.
Mary Anne has been instrumental in promoting prayer and intercession
in InterVarsity since the Urbana 1990 convention. The InterVarsity leadership
is eager for participation in prayer and dependence on God through prayer
to be a hallmark of the organization. As such, Mary Anne heads up a
Prayer Committee made up of staff from across the U.S. to promote and
model this vision.
Yucatan Presbytery (Mexico)
In 1970 two dozen people from Faith and our pastor made a trip to the Yucatan
to build a small worship center. Today the following operate from Merida, Yucatan.
Hope Clinic provides healthcare to the Mayans at less than the average cost for the
country. It has become the provider of choice for these poor people--thousands of
procedures and births per year. Priscilla Bible School trains men and women to lead
in the villages' churches and communities by providing music, home economics and
family life skills.
World Concern: Jonathan & Ali Nichols
World Concern is a Christian humanitarian organization that provides emergency
relief and community development in some of the most neglected areas of the world,
Jonathan & Ali are with the Seed and Harvest program of World Concern
organization. They are currently in France learning the French language, which is
the language in Burkina Faso where they will be working. Jon and Ali's goal is to
contribute agricultural understanding and administrative help to a small Bible school,
which is growing to meet the increasing demand for pastors.
Missions' Addresses
|
|