A letter from Alice Winters, home from Colombia
December 2011
Dear friends
This Christmas I am especially grateful for your love and support during the past 34 years of my service as a PC(USA) mission co-worker with the Presbyterian Church of Colombia. Your prayers and your letters have strengthened and encouraged me. Your sacrificial giving through the church made my work possible. I thank you and I thank the Lord for all who have so wonderfully stood by me during this time.
Now I am in a time of transition. Last spring health issues led me to decide, after much prayer, that it was time to retire. It wasn’t easy to leave the work that has been so important to me and such a constant joy. My students, the university, the church and the people of Colombia will always be in my heart. They gave me a wonderful farewell: worship services, special programs, a formal banquet, even a book by members of the church about my work. My heart was overflowing.
Now I am back in Louisville, wrapping up my employment with the church and seeing the doctors who cared for me when I was here on medical leave two years ago. I’m sorry that I cannot travel and visit the churches and friends who have been so much a part of my work, but I would be glad to talk with you by phone or Skype I have a lot to share about our PC(USA) mission outreach there.
Also, I want to be sure you know that now, since I have had to leave Colombia, it is more important than ever that you stay on and continue your prayers and support for the Reformed University, the Presbyterian Church of Colombia, and the PC(USA) mission co-workers who remain there.
Let’s start with co-workers Richard Williams and Mamie Broadhurst. They are a gifted couple who have won the hearts of the Colombians (as has their 1-year-old daughter, Nora, who is not a co-worker but has managed to steal people’s hearts anyway). They certainly ministered to me in many ways. You can get to know them on their blog Called to Colombia, which also contains helpful information about the church’s prophetic ministry and about the country, its culture and its problems, as well as frequent suggestions about what you can do to help. If you have been supporting me as a mission co-worker, please consider moving that support to them.
Mamie and Richard work closely with the community accompaniment program of the Colombian Presbyterian Church. You or someone you know could be an accompanier, spending a month in a ministry of presence with the church and with displaced communities and the human rights leaders with whom they work. Spanish would be most helpful, but it is not required. To find out more about the accompaniment program, you can visit the website www.presbypeacefellowship.org/colombia or write to the U.S. accompaniment coordinator at colombia@presbypeacefellowship.org.
Perhaps you would like to visit Colombia but can’t give a whole month. You can organize a delegation or work team from your church or presbytery. Check out the PC(USA) website for helpful materials on planning a short-term mission or study trip. Several presbyteries (Miami, Winnebago, Tres Rios and Chicago) send delegations frequently and welcome participants from other areas, as does the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. The Colombian church will welcome you, and Mamie and Richard can help with your plans.
You have faithfully supported the many mission projects of the church in Colombia through Extra Commitment (ECO) giving: the university and its scholarship, library and building funds, the projects for displaced persons, the evangelism program, and many others. Your church or presbytery has a list of ECO projects for Colombia—and for every country where the PC(USA) is reaching out in mission. Or you can write to the PC(USA) World Mission office here in Louisville for more information.
Please don’t think I care only about Colombia. I care about the heartbreak of the world—and its marvelous possibilities also. I have traveled throughout Latin America, and every country there has a place in my heart. I also care about Iraq and Iran and the Arab world, about Africa east, west and south, about Europe and Russia, about China, India, Japan and all of Asia. We have partner churches around the world, and we need to be world Christians, learning about other countries, caring about what happens to their people, lifting them up along with our partner churches and mission co-workers in earnest intercessory prayer. Please pray also for the staff of the national office in Louisville. Their ministry is vital to mission co-workers around the world.
But I do care about Colombia. The men and women you and I prepared (because you did help) and then worked beside for so many years—they still need your prayers and your support. I still need your prayers too. For the first time in my life, as I face the New Year, I honestly have no idea what that year will bring, not even a hint. Of course nobody does really. I do know who holds the future, and I know He holds my hand. For now, that is enough.
Thanks again for all you do to keep our church’s mission outreach strong throughout the world. May you have a wonderful Christmas and the happiest New Year ever. . .
Alice Winters
1044 Alta Vista Rd.
Louisville KY 40205
The 2011 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 299
The 2012 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 21
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Please continue your support of Alice’s ministry through her end of benefits, which will be March, 2012. Thank you for making that benefit possible!
