The event is part of this year’s denominational Fit for Purpose theme ‘A Community of Global Concern’, which seeks to encourage congregations to reflect on what it means to be just that – a community of global concern.
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s (PCI) first overseas missionaries left these shores in 1841 for India. Today there are some 35 Irish Presbyterians serving in 11 countries under the auspices of the Church’s Council for Global Mission and approximately 130 others serving through a variety of mission agencies.
As Council Secretary Rev. Uel Marrs explained, ‘People in Focus’, will be an opportunity to celebrate the contribution that mission personnel make to PCI’s expression of global concern and to hear first-hand how this is actually happening in countries on three different continents.
“We are delighted to be able to welcome our overseas mission personnel home from Nepal, Italy, Brazil, Spain and Romania. In giving us an insight into what they are doing in these very different countries we can also encourage them, as they encourage us as congregations and as a denomination to reflect on what it means to be ‘A Community of Global Concern,” Uel Marrs said.
Naomi Keefe, who has spent 15 years serving in Brazil will give a short presentation of the work she is involved in, and Alan and Tracey Johnston will also talk about their work in Italy’s Lombardy region.
UTV’s Paul Clarke will interview Peter Lockwood who is a Programme Advisor to United Mission to Nepal and has been overseeing a number of reconstruction projects following major earthquakes in the Himalayan nation in 2015. He will also interview Steve Anderson serving in mission development in Torre del Mar on the south coast of Spain and Stephen Kennedy, a member of PCI’s team to Romania who served there for several weeks this summer.
“Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, so I am sending you.” Global mission is something all believers should share in, either going ourselves, or supporting as a congregation those who go, declaring and demonstrating God’s love for the whole earth and its people, ” Uel Marrs said.
“I am very much looking forward to hearing how God is working through our colleagues serving overseas and how He is working out His global concern through them. We will get to see afresh the value of sending people and discover the affirming nature of partnerships around the world and the importance of church-to-church relationships.”
People in Focus will take place at 7.30pm on Saturday 24th September in Assembly Buildings, Belfast. The event is free and open to all.