Visit of the 221 General Assembly Moderator

Dr. Heath K. Rada

by Rev. Jose Luis Casal, General Missioner

Moderator Heath & Peggy Rada sharing with Former Moderator Marj Carpenter and Rev. Casal

RECEPTION IN MIDLAND

The Moderator and his wife was accompanied by the Rev. Dan Saperstein, Co-Leader of the Synod of the Sun. The visitors were escorted during different parts of the visit by our Presbytery Moderator Bart Teeter, the Rev. Jose Luis Casal, General Missioner, Kay Long, Stated Clerk and Jimmy Stevens, Treasurer.

The visitors arrived to Midland on Tuesday February 10 where the Moderator and his wife were honored with a reception and dinner at the house of Rev. Mary Beth Anton. A group of 23 leaders and pastors of this area were present to enjoy a delicious the dinner, conversation and fellowship. Peggy Rada said, "It was a delightful night."

WORKING BREAKFAST IN MIDLAND

On Wednesday February 11, Moderator Rada and his wife Peggy had a working breakfast with Jim Nelson, CEO of Caterpillar in Midland and member of First Presbyterian Church in Midland. The breakfast was also attended by Rev. Steve Schorr, Senior Pastor of First Midland, Bart Teeter, Presbytery moderator, Rev. Dan Saperstein, Synod of the Sun Co-Leader and Rev. Jose Luis Casal, Presbytery General Missioner. The conversation was around the actions of the last General Assembly, specifically the divestment action approved and the Fossil Fuel divestment now in study.

VISIT TO ST. ANDREWS MISSION IN MIDLAND

From there, we visited St. Andrews Mission in Midland where the staff, the moderator of the board of directors and five board members were waiting for us. We saw the food pantry, the children's library, the 4 and 3 year's old classrooms and the moderator with his wife had a good exchange with the children and teachers. After the tour we had a conversation with the staff and members of the board about the work of the mission.

WORSHIP SERVICE AND CONVERSATION AT FIRST MIDLAND

First Presbyterian Church in Midland, hosted an activity with the Moderator. It were present pastors and members of the following churches, First and Grace Midland, Coahoma, First Big Spring, St. Paul San Angelo, First Fort Stockton and Westminster Odessa. The attendance was around 130 people. The activity started with a delicious barbecue offered by First Midland at 5:15 pm followed by a worship service in which preached Dr. Rada and participated Steve Schorr, local senior pastor, Jose Luis Casal, Presbytery General Missioner and Marj Carpenter 207 General Assembly Moderator. Dr. Rada began his sermon mentioning the many signals of frustration and we find in the modern world including the church and asked, "Where can we find hope?" He called us to join our hands with others to find the truth of God instead of excluding others. He also mentioned in his sermon, "We [the Presbyterians] have been known for showing the love of God than for judging others." "We are not a denomination that judge others", he continued. After the service, followed a conversation of questions and answers where the moderator responded many questions about decision of the last General Assembly.

LUNCH WITH OMAR CHANG AND AMANDA CRAFT IN MUSTARD SEED CAFE IN EL PASO

On Thursday 12 we traveled to El Paso and on Friday February 13, we had a lunch at Mustard Seed Caf� with Omar Chang, Border Ministries Facilitator and Amanda Craft, Mission Co-Worker liaison for Mexico and Guatemala. They shared with the Moderator their work especially at the border.

VISIT TO THE MEMORIAL PARK AND MONUMENT DEDICATED TO THE ASSASSINATED AND DISAPPEARED WOMEN IN CIUDAD JUAREZ

John Nelsen and Tim Gray, pastor and interim at University church, joined the group and we crossed the bridge over the Rio Grande to visit Ciudad Juarez. We were received by the Director of the Board of Pasos de Fe, the President of Chihuahua Presbytery of the Presbyterian National Church of Mexico and other pastors an leaders of the Mexican churches. Our first visit was to the Memorial park dedicated to the hundreds of disappeared and murdered women in the city. These women have disappeared or assassinated by different groups under different circumstances: domestic violence, common delinquents and organized crime are among the many reasons, but most of these crimes are still unsolved and the perpetrators free thanks to the complicity or indifference of the authorities. We concluded our visit holding our hands in a circle and led in prayer by the Moderator for all the families affected by the violence in that city.

VISIT TO CASA AMIGA IN CIUDAD JUAREZ
The group also visited Casa Amiga, an organization that provides shelter, legal support and care to abused women and children suffering domestic and sexual violence. This is the only organization in Juarez that provides a holistic care for abused women in the city. The organization has documented thousands of cases and sees around 300 hundreds cases every month, 70 % women and 28 % children. The director shared with us the stories of some these women and gave us a tour through the facilities. She also mentioned how the leaders of the organization as well as the facilities have been object of shootings, threats and assaults by individuals and gangs groups with almost no help from the police. Moderator Rada offered a prayer for the work of this organization, their staff and volunteers and also for the women who come to this organization looking for help.

VISIT TO PASOS DE FE BORDER MINISTRY IN CIUDAD JUAREZ

We finished our tour to Ciudad Juarez visiting the facilities of Pasos de Fe. This is a property facilitated by Chihuahua Presbytery to the organization and is still a dream in progress where they are hoping to install a community kitchen for children, an experimental training clinic with nurse students and a tutoring program for children and teenagers to provide specialized training for electricians and air conditioned technicians. In this moment a very dedicated man with his personal resources is training 1round 15 kids, boys and girls. They were present in the conversation and expressed their hopes and dreams. Moderator Rada commended their dedication and congratulated the trainer who is giving everything without any compensation. He finished with a prayer for the work and dreams of Pasos de Fe.

DINNER IN EL PASO WITH PASTORS AND LEADERS OF THIS AREA

We finished this day with a dinner at Fortin's Mexican Elder Restaurant offered by the Presbytery for the pastors and leaders in the area to honor our visitors.

VISIT TO ANNUNCIATION HOUSE IN EL PASO

On Saturday February 14, our delegation joined Jessica Vaughan Lower, pastor of Grace El Paso, John and Becky Nelsen (University El Paso) to visit Annunciation House and one of the reception centers they have to receive immigrant mothers with children released by ICE. In the Reception Center we were received by Juan Garc�a, a layman who works for Annunciation House. In the reception center we met a group of Central American mothers and children who are temporarily hosted there. Juan explained the work of Annunciation House. This Catholic institution has been working in El Paso/Ciudad Juarez since 1978 with migrants, refugees, homeless, and economically vulnerable peoples of the border region through hospitality, advocacy, and education.

VISIT TO PROJECT VIDA IN EL PASO

We finished our day visiting Project Vida where we were received by their Co-Directors reverends Bill & Carol Schlesinger, members of their staff and also members of the Boards of Directors. This is a PC(USA)/Cumberland institution supported by our Presbytery and many of our churches in Tres Rios. The Moderator Rada received a full explanation of the huge work that Project Vida does for El Paso community and other counties near to El Paso. Project Vida has seven Clinics located in different parts of the city and also in Sierra Blanca that offer primary care including family planning, behavioral health, wellness exams, laboratory, medicines and referrals for 10,000 persons a year. They also has a very complete Education Program that offers Early Childhood Development program for 0-5 years of age; Latch Key after school program; After School Enrichment Program and Youth Recreation and Gang Prevention program; Parenting Classes and GED Classes via El Paso Community College. Another area of service is Economic Development to provide and serve the microenterprises on the city of El Paso. They offer technical assistance, access to Loans for small businesses through partnerships with banks and various organizations and a Christmas savings program that permits participants to save money for the holidays. Finally they explained their Housing Program. Due to the need for low income housing, Project Vida has built and maintains 102 Low Cost Apartments with 2 and 3 Bedrooms. Gas & Water are provided to each apartment. They also have Roots & Wings Transitional Living Center for homeless single parent families. These apartments are available for up to 18 months, allowing time for a family to become self-reliant. We finished our visit with a lunch in honor to the Moderator and the delegation offered by Project Vida.

THE LAST DAY OF THE VISIT - SUNDAY FEBRUARY 15

Preaching at University El Paso

On Sunday February 15, Moderator Rada preached on University El Paso at 9 am. With an attendance over 150 people,

the Moderator Rada preached about the hope that is present in the PC(USA). "We talk about our decreasing numbers in membership but nobody says that we have received 74,000 members the last year," the moderator said. In one part of the service Jimmy Stevens, Presbytery Treasurer gave the Moderator a cross carved in a limestone rock from a cavern of Austin area. These rocks have thousands of years and each piece is unique. He also received a book with photographs and information about El Paso city and a small sculpture of an oil well in silver and marble as symbol of the Permian Basin was given by the General Missioner to Peggy Rada.

Preaching at Grace El Paso

At 11 am Moderator Rada was preaching at Grace El Paso. Grace congregation was very excited with the visit of the Moderator & his wife Peggy and Dan Saperstein, the Synod Executive. Many of them mentioned "what a great honor to receive his visit and hear him to preach." Moderator Rada

expressed his admiration for the children's sermon that using the same passage he would be preaching, translated the text in a very practical way so the kids could be able to understand that is God is in our side we always are winners and nothing can separate us from his love and protection. The General Missioner of Tres Rios Presbytery expressed the gratitude of the Presbytery to this congregation, their pastor Jessica Vaughan Lower and the session for hosting this activity.

Lunch and Conversation at Divine Savior in El Paso

The Moderator continue his itinerary visiting Divine Savior a Hispanic congregation in El Paso, where a dance group of adults, youth and children were waiting for us to represented a hymn of praise. Moderator Rada expressed his gratitude to the congregation and to the participants in the praise dance. After the worship service we had a potluck lunch provided by Divine Savior and other members of El Paso churches.

Moderator gave an overview of the general situation of the church and his trips around the world. He said, "Ninety four million Christians around the world claim Presbyterian roots." "We are a large community -he continued- and this is a sign of hope." Moderator Rada also shared about his visit to Peru to attend the World Forum on Climate Change where he learned about the water limited resources in many countries

and especially in the city of Lima. The climate change affected the snow accumulation at the mountains around the city of Lima melting more snow every year than is accumulated due to the reduction of winter seasons. For these reasons the water supplies for the city of Lima are estimated to last just for more 15 years. "The tragedy is -said the moderator- that privates companies have been authorized to pump water from the city reservoirs to irrigate asparagus farms for exportation. So while the city of Lima is suffering the lack of water, other people around the world and here in the States are eating the asparagus produced with the water of the city." After lunch, the moderator responded questions about the PC(USA) and affirmed, "Let us focus on mission and on the proclamation of the Gospel instead on our differences."

It's not easy to resume the visit of the 221 General Moderator Dr. Heath K. Rada and his wife Peggy to Tres Rios Presbytery. Moderator Rada is a great preacher, excellent listener and a gracious leader who responded with love every single question and modeled the attitude, language and behavior of a true Christian servant. A member of one of our churches who heard him in one of the conversations and preaching said, "He is a true man of God, we are blessed to have him as our National Moderator." And another member in one of our churches said about him, "He is the right man elected by God to lead us during this time of challenges. He is a blessing for our PC(USA)."

On behalf of Tres Rios Presbytery I want to express our gratitude to all the pastors and leaders who participated in the organization of the this visit. They are: Rev. Dan Saperstein, Synod of the Sun Co-Leader; Bart Teeter, Presbytery Moderator; Kay Long, Presbytery Stated Clerk; Rev. Mary Beth Anton, Rev. Steve Schorr, Session and Congregation of First Midland; Cheryl Truskovski, staff and members of the Board of St. Andrews Mission; Omar Chang and Amanda Craft PC(USA) Mission Workers in El Paso; Jimmy Stevens, Presbytery Treasurer; Reverends John Nelsen and University El Paso; Jessica Vaughan Lower and Grace El Paso; Bill and Carol Schlesinger and Staff & Board of Directors of Project Vida; Jayne Ruiz and Divine Savior El Paso; Staff members of Pasos de Fe and Casa Amiga in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico