A letter from Bob and Julie Dunsmore in Bolivia
October 2, 2007
Dear Friends,
Tomorrow signals the beginning of Mission Challenge ’07, of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)! We are privileged to be a part of this historic moment in the life of the church.
As many of you know, 48 mission workers from around the world are returning to the United States to spend an intensive month visiting churches in 144 presbyteries, and among those 47 are the two of us. Julie will be spending time in San Francisco, Cascades, and Yellowstone Presbyteries, visiting churches, leading presbytery workshops, and speaking at the Synod of the Pacific. Meanwhile, Bob will be speaking in Northern Kansas, Giddings-Lovejoy, Heartland, and Missouri Union Presbyteries.
It is hoped that through this time of sharing, many Presbyterians will renew and strengthen their commitment to the world mission of the church, and to those of us serving around the world, to carry out that mission.
We hope to put speakers in 700 churches this month to share the news that every day, in Christ’s name—and thanks to your faithful support—lives are being saved, wells are being dug, and hope is being shared with people in need around the world.
Another part of Mission Challenge ’07 is an appeal to every church in the denomination to support Presbyterian missionaries like ourselves.
In mid-September a letter went out to the pastors and clerks of session in all 10,884 churches in our denomination. This alerted them that materials would come in early October that interpret the excellence of the Presbyterian Church as a mission-sending agency and invite them to offer financial support to Presbyterian missionaries through World Mission.
By early in October a box of bulletin inserts had arrived in every church, asking all to participate in mission by praying faithfully and giving generously. The inserts were accompanied by a DVD featuring our new director of World Missions, Hunter Farrell. It contains two brief but compelling videos that bring to life a representative sample of our missionaries.
We can’t send a missionary to every church this October, but we’re hoping that all churches will participate in Mission Challenge ’07 by choosing a Sunday to view the DVD and distribute the bulletin inserts.
Will you support and encourage your church’s participation in Mission Challenge ’07?
Following this intensive month of speaking, we will be visiting family, friends, and churches in Washington state and in the northeastern United States.
We are excited to be able to participate in a Dunsmore family reunion in Pennsylvania, with the visit of Ms. Helen Dunsmore of Scotland, age 82, who is a family relative we have never met in person! So we’ll be together at Thanksgiving time for this event. Then, after other visits, we’ll return to Atlanta for Christmastime with our kids and their families.
Best wishes to all. Please write us as we travel; well be using our same email address from Bolivia!
Sincerely,
Bob and Julie Dunsmore
The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 44
