How does your relationship with the church, particularly FPCA, fit into your ministry?


Te PC(USA) as a denomination focuses its mission on Matthew 25—‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me’—and this is Perichoresis’s motive for mission, too. I thank God for leading me and being sent by the PC(USA) to help our global partner. But your church, as a PC(USA) congregation and as individuals, is the actual sending body of the church, because only through your encouragement, prayers, and financial support is it possible for me to come to Greece and help the refugees. Yes, because of your church, the refugees are [not only] helped with humanitarian aid, but are hearing the gospel of the love of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.


I thank the Lord very much every time I visit your church with its multiple congregations in one church, all sharing the building in freedom and fellowship to worship our Lord Jesus Christ in their own way and language. And every time I come to visit you, I get recommissioned anew for God’s call to serve him in the world because of FPCA faithfully supporting me.


Tank you for writing to encourage me. I pray the Lord encourage you more in your ministry.


in the U.S. develop their partnership with the Honduras presbytery in a way that is life-giving and equitable for both parties. I accompany youth groups and women’s groups as they develop new ministries in the church.


What are your goals?


My goal is always to serve the kingdom of God and look for the ways that Jesus Christ is incarnate in the people of Honduras.


DORI HJALMARSON: EDUCATING IN HONDURAS


Tell us a little about yourself and the work you do


I’m a PC(USA) pastor, partnering with the Presbyterian Church of Honduras as a facilitator for theological education and leadership development. I teach classes and accompany leaders of the church in growing and developing their vision, partnerships, and congregations.


How do you carry this out?


One way that I work is in partnership with a theological seminary in Costa Rica that provides curriculum for developing pastoral and lay leaders. I work with the Honduras presbytery’s leaders and the facilitators of that program to make classes available to congregations. Another way that I work is to help presbyteries and congregations


How does First Presbyterian fit in?


First Presbyterian, by supporting my salary through World Mission, by maintaining communication and relationship with me, and by praying for me and for the Honduras church, is an enormous support to my work with the people of Honduras.


What’s the most important thing for our members to know about your work or what’s happening in Honduras?


Honduras is a beautiful country with beautiful people. Tere are many problems here, among them systemic poverty and inequality, lack of opportunity and education, and high rates of corruption, criminality, and violence. It can seem quite difficult to see where God is present here, but by grace every day I see the face of Christ in my neighbors, friends, and colleagues.


FORMAN CHRISTIAN COLLEGE: EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN


After a student takeover in 1972, followed by 31 years of erratic, federal government management, Forman Christian College was handed back to its founders, the Presbyterian Church (USA), in 2003. Despite post-9/11 Pakistani-American tensions, the school’s board called Peter Armacost, President Emeritus of Eckerd College, to serve as Rector (President). They empowered him to hire more Christians to the administration and faculty. As explained by Rev. Samuel Schreiner III, executive director of Friends of Forman, who has visited FPCA and preached from our pulpit, the school has thrived in the ensuing years, topping 10,000 students on campus.


After spending a week on campus in 2011, Jack Haberer wrote a feature article, “An Island of Clarity Amid a Sea of Mixed Messages,” published in The Presbyterian Outlook. Our church’s support of Forman is helping strengthen the school’s scholarship funds and plant improvements.


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Save Lives This Winter


Golf tournament provides significant support to Warming Station BILL WHITE


WARMING STATION NEEDS YOUR HELP


In addition to financial support, the Warming Station can always use on-site help from 7 to 9 p.m. each evening. Volunteers can select days they would like to work, with duties that include making coffee, helping to distribute soup and snacks, handing out toiletries and bedding, and engaging in conversation. (Good listening skills are a major plus.)


Interested? Stop by the FPCA office reception area for forms that volunteers must complete. For more information, contact mission director Donna Barnwell at 610-395-3781, ext. 34.


Te fifth annual First Presbyterian Church Golf Tournament raised $21,363 for the Allentown YMCA’s Winter Warming Station for the homeless, by far our largest total yet in the church’s continuing commitment to helping the city’s homeless.


As a result of our contributions to helping launch the Warming Station, First Presbyterian of Allentown was honored by the Greater Valley YMCA October 3 at its annual meeting. Te church received the Allentown branch’s Community Partner Award.


Our 2018 golf tournament’s contribution of $17,120 and other contributions from church members provided a large chunk of the funding that helped launch the Warming Station last winter. Te station is embarking on its second year this fall with FPCA support.


Greater Valley YMCA President and CEO David Fagerstrom said, “Te Y is very grateful for the continued support of the Allentown YMCA’s Homeless Warming Station. Te Y organization has several partners, who are all helping to make this effort sustainable, and the church is a major part of that.”


Our community has come together to meet this challenge as the Y certainly


can’t do this alone! FPCA’s commitment to the most vulnerable members of our society aligns with the YMCA’s mission perfectly. Together the Y and the church will save lives again this winter.


On behalf of the entire YMCA organization, and on behalf of our homeless guests, thank you for your donations of money, support, and materials.


In its first year, the Warming Station provided beds for more than 8,600 overnight stays and often was filled to capacity. It is scheduled to be open November 1 through April 30.


Sixty-four golfers played in the golf tournament, held August 23 at Allentown Municipal Golf Course. Fagerstrom and Allentown Y Executive Director Jodi Perry-Petrozak spoke during the lunch and award ceremony afterward.


Te golf tournament committee— Larry Deal, John Van Den Elzen, Sue Schrader, Barry Dubbs, Ginny Voros, Mike Macharsky, Tim Brion, Brent Daubenspeck, and Bill White— expressed its gratitude to all the sponsors and participants. Planning already has begun for the 2020 tournament.


MORE YFROM IOWA


The circle of ladies from a Rock Valley, Iowa, ministry called Justice for All have been working overtime. They recently donated 61 more quilts and blankets made from recycled clothing and fabric to the Allentown YMCA’s Winter Warming Station for the homeless.


As explained in the last issue of Tidings (September-October 2019), the women previously donated about 45 quilts and blankets to the Y and a smaller batch to ministries run by Ripple Church. One of the quilters is Rachelle Laliberte’s mother, Jo Vander Schaaf.


When the Lalibertes made another road trip to Iowa the week of Labor Day, the Rock Valley quilters accelerated production to ensure they could provide as much additional warmth to Allentown as possible.


On September 16, Rich Laliberte and Charley Underwood delivered seven more boxes and one plastic bag of quilts to Warming Station director Robin Reynolds. “They are absolutely as beautiful as the thoughts behind them,” Reynolds says.


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