August 12, 2007
Dear Colleagues in Ministry and Friends of PRESGOV,
As the summer draws to a close and many of us return from vacations to resume fall schedules, it seems like a fitting time to send out an up-date to PCUSA supporters of the ministry of PRESGOV. As most of you know, my colleague Marcia Towers has completed her responsibilities with this ministry, having devoted 3 years of faithful service and extraordinary commitment to facilitating mission delegations to Guatemala. Though she will be continuing her responsibilities with the Young Adult Volunteer program, gracias a Dios, I will miss her non-anxious presence in the office, her clarity of thought and purpose regarding mission delegations, her ever-patient Spanish coaching and the many ways she has modeled mission service at its best. For those of you who have benefited from her gracious work, I urge you to send your expressions of gratitude to her via email at marciajt@yahoo.com.
With Marcia no longer working with PRESGOV and with Victor Batz leaving the program this past January, PRESGOV has moved from 3 coordinators to one. The Administrative Committee of PRESGOV is hoping to hire a Guatemalan coordinator at some time in the future. Until such a person is hired and trained, however, I anticipate that there will be limitations as to the services we will be able to provide.
Additionally, looking ahead to the new year, I will be completing my first three years of mission service in 2008 and will begin my time of interpretation in the states the first of May. That will mean I myself will not be coordinating PRESGOV groups or traveling with them in the late spring and throughout the summer.
Because I have a strong investment in the ministry of PRESGOV, I want to do all I can to anticipate and facilitate mission trips in the coming year. I will continue to urge the Administrative Committee of PRESGOV to do its best to guarantee the high quality of service that you deserve and have come to expect, all of which requires capable and dedicated staff. Though I hope it will not be necessary, it is my personal opinion that PRESGOV will need to cut back on the number of mission delegations that we host in 2008 and it will be difficult to confirm trips next summer until new staff is fully on board.
Despite the transitions within PRESGOV, I have been pleased with the myriad mission experiences that have deepened the connections between the IENPG and PCUSA. I ask for your prayerful support during this forthcoming time. If you have questions, concerns or suggestions, do not hesitate to be in touch with me. More importantly, since the Administrative Committee of PRESGOV is entrusted with this ministry’s future, I would suggest that you contact committee members. René Morales serves as the Moderator. You can attach a letter (preferably written in Spanish) to my email address and I will be glad to forward that to them. PCUSA staff Stan De Voogd, Area Coordinator for Mexico and Central America (sdevoogd@ctr.pcusa.org), and Tracey King, Regional Liaison (traceysking@gmail.com) each play a significant role in this on-going conversation.
It goes without saying that the ministry of PRESGOV and the partnerships that you all have fostered over the years are an inspiring witness to Jesus Christ in Guatemala. I hope that together, along with our Guatemalan brothers and sisters, we can discern creative and faithful ways to meet the unique challenges of these times and listen for what God’s still small voice is calling us to do at this holy juncture.
Gratefully and faithfully yours,
J. David Wiseman, PRESGOV Coordinator
PCUSA Mission Co-WorkerGuatemala
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