Presbyterian Mission Agency

A letter from John McCall serving in Taiwan

September 2015 - A Taiwanese Retreat

Dear Friends,

Thursday morning I walked out of the seminary to the road heading down the mountain to the bus stop.  As with so many people who take public transport around the world, you never know exactly when a bus will come, so you have to plan extra time.  It was already hot and humid, so when I got on the bus, the air-conditioning felt good.  I took the 15-minute bus ride to the subway station, where I caught the subway to the Taipei main train station.   There I took the high-speed rail to the most southern station.  I was met by a pastor from Pingtung, the southernmost county in Taiwan, who last year had invited me to speak at the retreat for Pingtung Presbytery's pastors, elders, and deacons.

We drove south along the Taiwan Strait and the calm waters calmed my spirit after a morning of travel.  We stopped in a harbor town for lunch and had wonderful sashimi and other delicious fresh seafood.  We continued our journey and arrived at the inn where the retreat was to be held.

A letter from John McCall serving in Taiwan

September 2014 - Outreach and Renewal

Dear Friends,

I've been back in Asia for about a month-and-a-half, and it's been wonderful to reconnect with friends here and also catch my stride as I serve with the church in this vast continent.

Earlier in September I flew to Malaysia, about a five-hour flight, to teach with a long-time Taiwanese friend and colleague. Most Christians in Malaysia are ethnic Chinese, so we can teach in Mandarin.  Malaysia is a wonderful culturally rich country with different people groups: Malay (who are almost all Muslim), ethnic Chinese, ethnic Indian, and the aboriginal Malaysians.  While there is not perfect harmony among these groups, it is inspiring in our divided world to see these people groups living together and also keeping their ethnic traditions and languages. 

We first taught in Johor Bahru, a city right next to Singapore.  Each night from the inn in which I was staying I could see cars lined up to go to Singapore and/or see hundreds of Malaysians driving home in cars or on motorcycles after working all day in Singapore.  What most impressed me in the Presbyterian Church of Malaysia was the number of first-generation Christians.  I would often ask folks how long they have been Christians, and so many said they are the first Christian in their family.  There seems to be a real natural evangelism among these Christians.  It is against the law to evangelize an ethnic Malay, and it is against the law for them to convert from Islam.  But it is legal to share the gospel with both ethnic Chinese and ethnic Indians.  I was also impressed with the numbers of youth who came to our classes.  They sat on hard pews in the church for hours, listening and participating with a real hunger to grow.  They are both an ethnic minority and a religious minority, so they want to know how to grow in their faith and how to be the fragrance of Christ with their friends, family, and classmates.  The second half of the week we taught in a fairly new church in the capital of Kuala Lumpur.

A letter from Mark Hare in Haiti/Dominican Republic

June 2013

Hey Friends,

I am sitting here looking at a list of donations for the month of May, and I just feel like I need to give a shout out to all the folks who support Jenny, Keila, Annika and me in this "thing" that we are doing—Jenny serving here in the Dominican Republic with the Dominican Evangelical Church (“IED” for its initials in Spanish), working on community health, and me serving in Haiti with resource-limited farmers through the farmers' organization known as Peasants Movement of Papay (MPP, for its initials in Haitian Creole).

A lot of the people who support us aren't on this list, and never will be. They are the people here in the Dominican Republic who bring us safely home from the supermarket on motorcycles, make food for us in our kitchen, watch our daughters so that we can "get things done," welcome us in the churches we visit and especially in the church up the road in the Cacique barrio where we attend more regularly. Our support people are also the folk who meet me at the border in Haiti when I get across, the ones who make space for me to sleep and make sure there is food to keep me going while I work, the ones who work alongside me, guiding and inspiring me. They are the people in the churches in the States who write us notes and send us cards, with all the kids in the church signing them, or everyone on the mission committee. They are also our families in the States and in Nicaragua who worry about us and pray for us and make sure that we are able to stay connected with their lives, and when they can, visit us. The value of all of this support is utterly immeasurable.

The Holy Spirit

We trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel,
whom alone we worship and serve;
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
—“Bief statement of Faith,” lines 5-6, 80

This triune God is the creator of the universe the savior of the world who has been revealed as the perfect model of humanity in Jesus Christ and is the ongoing presence and power of God in the world.

Biblical references

On Pentecost, the seventh Sunday after Easter, Christians commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit to …

Theology

Some of the principles articulated by John Calvin remain at the core of Presbyterian beliefs. Among these are the sovereignty of God, the authority of the scripture, justification by grace through faith and the priesthood of all believers. What they mean is that God is the supreme authority throughout the universe. Our knowledge of God and God’s purpose for humanity comes from the Bible, particularly what is revealed in the New Testament through the life of Jesus Christ. Our salvation (justification) through Jesus is God’s generous gift to us and not the result of our own accomplishments. It is …

Study Guide for “The Trinity: God’s Love Overflowing”

The 217th General Assembly (2006) commended for study "The Trinity: God's Love Overflowing." 

The Office of Theology and has produced study materials in addition to this brief, four-part study guide.

The Trinity: God’s Love Overflowing

This resource from the Office of Theology and Worship is based on “The Trinity: God’s Love Overflowing,” A General Assembly report for study in the church.  An accompanying study guide enables groups to delve deeply into the gift that is the Trinity:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Sessions will focus on the Trinity and the Gospel; what …

Conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary

Heidelberg Catechism

Heidelberg Catechism Question 35. What is the meaning of: “Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary”? That the eternal Son of God, who is and remains true and eternal God, took upon himself our true manhood from the flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary through the action of the Holy Spirit, so that he might also be the true seed of David, like his fellow men in all things, except for sin.

Heidelberg Catechism Question 36. What benefit do you receive from the holy …

The Holy Ghost

Heidelberg Catechism

Heidelberg Catechism Question 53. What do you believe concerning “the Holy Spirit”? First, that, with the Father and the Son, he is equally eternal God; second, that God’s Spirit is also given to me, preparing me through a true faith to share in Christ and all his benefits, that he comforts me and will abide with me forever.

Study Catechism

Study Catechism Question 54. What do you believe when you confess your faith in the Holy Spirit? Apart from the Holy Spirit, our Lord can neither be loved, nor known, nor served. The Holy Spirit …

The Holy Spirit

What difference does the Holy Spirit make in Christian life and liturgy? How does the Spirit empower and enliven our praise and prayer? Where, when, and how do we experience the Spirit’s work in worship? Theologians and practitioners will address these questions drawing on a range of Christian traditions, including Reformed, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Pentecostal perspectives. February 2012.

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In this issue

Articles
Starting with Epiclesis, Martha Moore-Keish
Holy Places, Holy Things, and the Holy Spirit, John P. Burgess
“. . . and the Holy …