Read letters from Rebecca Lawson
2015
May - Mary Jane Veloso's Story
March - Defending Ancestral Lands
May 2013
September 2008
July 2007
January 2004
March 2002
For older letters, contact Mission Connections
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 249
Rebecca Lawson
Mission co-worker in the Philippines 1999-2015
Rebecca ended her service with PC(USA) in 2015 - Thank you for your support of her work
About Rebecca Lawson's ministry
Rebecca Lawson is a mission co-worker seconded to the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), which has assigned her to work in the area of partnerships, ecumenical and external relations. As part of UCCP General Assembly staff, Becca supports the national and international partnerships between the UCCP and other churches, NGOs and people’s organizations. She makes her home in Manila, Philippines.
“Our work is most easily be visualized as a bridge—we help UCCP connect with others,” Becca explains. “Primarily, we work with ongoing partnerships, but we also help set the framework in which partnerships are developed. This sets the stage for new programs and partnerships to be developed.”
Country context
More than 7,000 islands comprise the Philippines. However, its population of more than 90 million is concentrated on about 11 of these islands. Forecasters predict that the population of the country could double in three decades due to its high birthrate. The Philippines was a Spanish colony for more than 300 years until the United States took over the country in the early 20th century. It gained self-rule in 1935 and full independence in 1946. Though a democracy, the country has had little political stability. More than 80 percent of the population of the Philippines is Catholic, nearly 3 percent is Protestant, and about 5 percent is Muslim.
About Rebecca Lawson
Becca's current assignment is not her first with the UCCP. She went to the Philippines as a long-term volunteer in August 1996 and spent a year as an ecumenical intern in the UCCP’s national offices in Manila. Feeling deeply called to minister with the UCCP, she stayed on as a mission intern for another year before returning to the United States in August 1998.
The year prior to her current assignment was a year of discernment. Becca took part in Catholic worship with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and also visited several different churches, learning about the different denominations and worship styles. These experiences helped her realize she was being called to participate in God’s mission in the Philippines.
“I was spurred on to think about how I could be more involved,” Becca recalls. “I learned that I actually resonated with active persons in most of these churches and realized that I belong with all of God’s children. The challenge that I experienced from God was to learn how to really ‘be’ with people in their struggle and journey toward more righteous and just lives.”
Becca worked as a Jesuit volunteer in the rental department at St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center for very low income families in Baltimore, Maryland, from August 1995 to August 1996.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and music from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. She attends Ellinwood Malate United Church of Christ in the Philippines.
Birthday: December 2
