Church talking up its missions

One works to prevent cervical cancer in Malawi. Another tries to make peace between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. A third advocates for Peruvians in an environmentally ravaged city.

They're fanning out across the country in the coming weeks in the most comprehensive effort in decades to build support for the missionary program of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The denomination, which has cut missionary and other posts because of declining financial support, will be sending 48 mission workers out to tell their stories in the coming weeks in Presbyterian churches, colleges and other settings.

"Over the last 20 years or so, there has been nothing like this done," said Bruce Whearty, an organizer of the Mission Challenge '07 conference. The missionaries attended the conference last week at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary before starting their speaking tours.

"It's an effort to reconnect the local congregations with missionaries and to raise support for missions -- by that we mean prayer support, and letters and awareness, as well as financial support," Whearty said.

Lora Whearty, his wife and a missionary-in-residence at the Presbyterian headquarters in Louisville, said that many congregations are interested in missions, "but it tends to be short-term mission trips of their own, forgetting that the national church sends missionaries out to 60 different countries.

"The funding has dropped off," she added. "The number of positions that missionaries can fill are dropping dramatically."

The denomination has about 230 full-time career missionaries.

Last year, because of budget cuts, the denomination eliminated 40 vacant missionary jobs, and further cuts were expected until the church received a $10 million bequest from a deceased member.

At the conference, the missionaries will be getting training in making presentations as they prepare to preach in churches and speak before Sunday school classes and church governing boards.

The Wheartys -- who are on leave from their mission work in the South Pacific -- said they hope congregations will get to know missionaries, putting their pictures on bulletin boards and their names on prayer lists, and also hold them as examples for children who might consider a career in the mission field.

Among those visiting is Dr. Sue Makin, an obstetrician and gynecologist who trains nurse-midwives at a hospital in the impoverished African nation of Malawi. She's also working to introduce affordable ways to treat and diagnose cervical cancer.

"My job is to train (health-care workers) rather than me being a practicing doctor," said Makin, who has worked 17 years in Africa. "We're supposed to be training ourselves out of a job, but we're far from it in a country like Malawi."

Doug Baker, who has worked for 28 years on peace efforts in Northern Ireland, said he's encouraged to see the process finally take hold.

"There have been plenty of times when it's been discouraging, but at the moment it's rewarding," he said.

Jacob Goad, 24, began working in January in the Peruvian city of La Oroya, advocating for children and others exposed to lead and other pollution from an industrial plant. He also helped with relief efforts after Peru's massive earthquake this year.

While such efforts are different from the direct preaching and evangelism associated with traditional missions, Goad noted that Jesus proclaimed early in his ministry that he had "come to preach good news to the poor."

"He was addressing a context of complete inequality in his time," Goad said. "Jesus' message is as radical and real in our world today where inequality continues to exist."