Page 9 - Presbyterian Connection

Connection
PRESBYTERIANS SHARING
Thank You for Being There
presbyterian.ca
WINTER 2021
PRESBYTERIAN
9
Montreal West Presbyterian Church
Proclaiming the love of Jesus Christ
Your gifts put faith into action in Canada and around the world.
Donate through your congregation or online at presbyterian.ca/donate
YES, I WANT TO SUPPORT Presbyterians Sharing
• As a monthly donor for $__________ /month • With a one-time donation of $ ____________
Please provide the following credit card information: Visa ® Mastercard ®
Credit card #: ______________________________________________ Expiry date:_____________________
Name on card:_____________________________________________ Signature: _________________________________________________ Address: __________________________________________________ Phone #:__________________ Email:_________________________
50Wynford Dr.,Toronto, ON M3C 1J7 • 1-800-619-7301
presbyterian.ca
The Rev. Dr. Paul McLean with Tayal Bible Translators and friends in Taiwan.
By Karen Plater, Associate Secretary, Stewardship & Planned Giving
Through Christ, God came to be with us. Born in a stable, raised in a fam- ily, trained as a carpenter; regarded as a heretic, a prophet, a saviour; admired, accused, crucified. God experienced life in all its fullness as Jesus Christ.
When we say we follow Christ, it means that we want to live our lives the way Jesus did. Jesus met people wherever they were at: in the tem- ple, eating a meal, walking the road or fishing. We see that when Jesus was with people he shared their celebrations, listened to their chal- lenges, heard their cries for help. He challenged them, laughed with them, offered wisdom and insight. Some- times he became angry or was sad.
Jesus ministered in community. He gathered 12 disciples and many followers and made friends in differ- ent places along the road. God, too, calls us to be in community, to sup- port and encourage one another from wherever we are at. Since the days of the early church, one of the ways of doing this has been to collect offer- ings to support others in their minis- tries, both near and far. Presbyterians Sharing is one way that Presbyteri- ans participate in mission and min- istry in communities across Canada and around the world.
Mission and ministry require being with people—loving them, sharing the good news, proclaiming justice. Through grants and programs, we are there to support congregations and mission partners as they seek new ways of being with people in a changing world. We are there when outreach ministries provide food, housing and employment services to people who are struggling. We are there when refugees are welcomed
and people on the margins are in- cluded. We are there when students graduate from theological colleges and when prisoners read the Bible. And God is there with us.
The Revs Shannon Bell and John Wyminga have spent the past 27 years ministering with the Dakelh people in the Nazko area of north- ern British Columbia through Cari- boo Presbyterian Church. Shannon reflects that “A ministry of presence takes time—time to build trusting relationships; time to reassure and demonstrate that we are here to learn, respect and honour the culture; time to know families over generations; time to just ‘be’ rather than always ‘do’. As we walk with people through tragedies, births, illnesses, deaths, celebrations, rodeos, graduations, wildfires and floods and a pandemic, I know that what we do most effec- tively through the constancy of our presence is demonstrate the love of Jesus. All the programs and meet- ings and events that can be organized do not say Yak’usda ‘en nek’entsi’ ‘int’oh (God is love) as much as the tangible presence of a follower of Je- sus in good times and pain.”
The Rev. Dr. Paul McLean is able to support and be present with 12 different Indigenous Bible translation teams in Taiwan, even from Canada.
Using translation software, as well as his knowledge of Taiwanese, Chinese, Hakka, English, Greek and Hebrew, and his more than 30 years in Bible translation, Paul supports In- digenous teams as they translate the Bible, even into languages he doesn’t understand. Paul shares, “Indigenous languages in Taiwan, as in Canada, are all under the threat of language loss. By translating the Bible we hope to preserve these languages and to help churches promote them as an evangelism tool in their communi- ties, as we proclaim the good news of God’s love for the whole world through our common faith in Jesus Christ.”
During the past year, congrega- tions, mission partners and individu- als have rediscovered the impor- tance of being present together. Even as we’ve found new ways of doing ministry during a pandemic—virtual meals, online worship, porch visits and outdoor activities—we are see- ing that we can still bring people to- gether to share in the love and heal- ing presence of God.
When we give to Presbyterians Sharing, we choose to be there, to be present as a church expressing Christ’s love together, for people across Canada and around the world.
Thank you for being there.
Shannon Bell (right), Cariboo Presbyterian Church, and friends at Nazko and Area Dakelh Outreach, B.C.