Letter from Linda Valentine on Mission Challenge 07

Greetings to members of the General Assembly Council and Friends,

As we reflect on this year, I want to share with you highlights of what was certainly one of the main events – Mission Challenge ’07.

Ever surprised by God’s amazing grace, I have been equally surprised and delighted of late by the new hunger across the PC(USA) to reclaim and to reconnect with our rich missional history.

A poignant story shared by Mary Ferris, who has served since 2001 as a mission co-worker in Tulcea, Romania, illustrates this well. Mary, like the other mission workers shared the Mission Challenge ’07 videos as she shared her own story.

One of Mary’s audiences was the commissioners at Palo Duro Presbytery in West Texas during Mission Challenge ‘07. She wrote, “The last video pulled the plug on emotions I was not prepared for. There were many pastors crying. One pastor said they had seen the video three times and cried every time. The tears were not for the children in the video. They are tears of pride for being Presbyterian and an emotional relief that we are reclaiming our mission roots. "

My colleague, Hunter Farrell, director of World Mission, says that Presbyterians are experiencing a "movement of God's Spirit that is drawing us together around a common commitment to sharing Christ's love around the world."

Mission Challenge ’07 not only responded to the hunger that is out there among Presbyterians, but set the stage for increased activity and relationships in the future.

The primary purpose of Mission Challenge ’07 was to offer Presbyterians a face-to-face encounter with our missionaries across the globe, which became a reality for over 56,000 Presbyterians from Alaska to Puerto Rico, and a thousand points in between. 48 PC(USA) missionaries crisscrossed the country during October to share the good news of how God is working though the PC(USA) and our international partner churches.

While not all of our statistical reports have been received, below are some highlights of what we do know at this point. Both the statistics and the stories from the month-long event are impressive indicators of the Presbyterian commitment to mission.

Missionaries spoke in about 900 congregations and 100 other venues such as presbytery and synod meetings and luncheon gatherings.

Mission workers gave approximately 1,400 presentations. The number of presentation exceeds the number of venues because sometimes a mission worker spoke to two different groups in a single congregation.

The combined attendance for Mission Challenge '07 presentations was estimated to be 56,000.

The largest crowd was 600 and the smallest was one. The median attendance was 25.

A total of 144 presbyteries received a visit from one of the 48 mission speakers. The original goal was to send 30 speakers to 120 presbyteries.

The written evaluations from hosts and speakers were overwhelmingly positive. Here is a sampling of representative comments we have received:

“This was a way to encourage the small churches to continue to look for ways they can work missions into their budgets and into their corporate lives. No one knew that the Presbyterian Church has been in missions for 170 years—what a wonderful heritage!”

“We have not, as yet, set our 2008 budget but our contact was so positive that we, perhaps even this year, will begin to regularly commit to sending financial support. I think the denomination-wide response will be a surge of mission support for the folk we've had the opportunity to meet face-to-face during Mission Challenge '07.”

“Thank you for the vision and work to put together Mission Challenge '07. In my 31 years of parish ministry I have never seen this much excitement and engagement with our PC(USA) missionaries. I would strongly recommend a Mission Challenge '08, '09, etc. October is an excellent month as most churches are beginning to plan their budgets for the following year. I know it takes time, money and effort but the end result is that folk in the parish have opportunity to interact with various PC(USA) missionaries and as a result of the contact have a face and personal story for their ministry. The engagement produces a compelling case to support in dollars and other ways the missionaries.”

“Keep working at this! I am new in this church and see the fragmentation of churches, each wanting to do their thing. Next year, two of us on Global Mission will see that more goes to PC(USA) World Mission Program!”

As the World Mission staff and others are discussing how to continue the momentum generated by Mission Challenge '07, we would also like to hear from you. Throughout the planning process as well as in the implementation of the event itself, a number of concerns were expressed, which we will want to address in the future. Whatever it is that we do in the days ahead, however, we will surely move forward with the knowledge that when "mission comes calling," Presbyterians are inspired.

Faithfully yours,
Linda

Please note: the date above is an artifice; please ignore.