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KIVA Loans that Change Lives
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 Kiva.org
is a non-profit organization that allows people to make a small 0% loan
to low income entrepreneurs in the developing world (microfinance).
Individuals like you and me can help provide affordable working capital
for the poor -- money to buy a sewing machine, livestock, etc. -- and by
doing so we can empower them to make great strides towards economic
independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months),
you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored.
As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.
How Kiva works: Go to the
website below. Step 1: Choose a business. The businesses on the site are
always changing and are being uploaded around the world. Step 2: When you
have selected a business, you can make a loan online, as little as $25 at
a time. Checking out is easy and safe because of PayPal. Step 3:
Periodically, you will hear back from the business you sponsor. Step 4:
When your Kiva loan is repaid, you can choose to withdraw your funds or
loan again.
Carol Stewart,
Eastminster Church, shared news of this non-profit with me and says,
"The way I see it, I get a higher return on $25 helping someone
build a future than the interest my checking account pays."
Kiva Loans that
Change Lives
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Hispanic Ministry Growing
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The ESL program of the
Hispanic Ministry in Foothills Presbytery is growing! They are in need of
more teachers. Opportunities for teaching/assisting are available for
both the beginner and advanced levels. Spanish speaking skills are
helpful, but not required. ESL classes meet on Sundays from 5:00-6:30 at
John Calvin Presbyterian Church. Please contact Jan Culpepper for more information
or to volunteer. You can reach her at 415-1160 or jrculpepper@msn.com.
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Message from GA Moderator
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 Hi
Friends,
One of the most rewarding things I have done since being elected
moderator is to lead a series of prayer retreats around the country. When
the idea for these retreats came to me, I knew that I wanted to have them
at Presbyterian camps and conference centers. With the help of Ruth and
John Hicks, so far we have had retreats in S.C., Florida, Nevada, N.Y.
and Virginia.
The purpose of these gatherings is to carve out a space amid the business
of our daily lives to be with God. The retreats are focused around
worship, scripture, and communion with God and each other.
The next two prayer retreats will be held October 14-16 in Montreat and
December 2-4 at Calvin Center near Atlanta. For inquiries or if your
conference center would like to be the site for a prayer retreat in 2008,
contact the moderator at pcusamoderatorprayerretreat@gmail.com.
Grace and peace, Joan
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Living the Golden Rule
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Living the Golden Rule is an interactive interfaith workshop
being sponsored by NEXUS Laity Institute on Sunday, October 21, from 2:00
- 5:00 at Furman University. The workshop facilitator will be Dr. Nancy
Hardesty, Professor of Religion at Clemson University.
Throughout the world, as in Greenville, more and more regions are
becoming multicultural and multifaith. This trend is having profound
effects on everything from politics and schools to businesses, social
interactions and families. The business of daily life can no longer be
conducted from the perspective of a single religious culture, and ethics
can no longer be taught from the standard of just one faith. Using
quotations from thirteen faiths, the Golden Rule Workshop focuses on the
common ground that is shared by billions of people - creating positive
interaction across religious, racial, social and ethnic divisions. To
register for the workshop (Cost: $20 per participant), contact Sandra
Davis at 370-2424, ext. 111.
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Opportunities for this Weekend
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 Things
to do this weekend:
Saturday, October 6, from 2-5, participate in the Rally at the
Statehouse in Columbia as South Carolina responds to genocide in Darfur.
Rally to demonstrate YOUR intolerance of genocide.
Sunday, October 7, meet at United Ministries at 2:00 to Walk for the
Homeless.
Sunday, October 7, at 3:00 - Organ concert at John Knox Church.
Duo-organists, Raymond and Elizabeth Chenault, will perform. Free- will
offering will be taken.
Sunday, October 7 - World Communion Sunday - Peacemaking Offering
will be received.
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Church Office Administrators
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Don't forget to contact
the presbytery office to order your lunch for the next meeting of Church
Office Administrators on Thursday, October 18, at 12:00 noon. We will
have a panel available to answer your questions about legal and privacy
issues in the church. Your reservation for lunch should be made by
October 16 at the latest.
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Fellowship of Clergy Spouses
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Why would anyone want to be a pastor? That question has been asked of
many a young man or woman who has decided to study for the ministry.
Frederick Buechner, minister and well-known author, says that his
favorite aunt asked him if he had lost his mind or just been poorly
advised when he announced that he was entering seminary. The pastoral
ministry is a unique vocation that really isn't called a job even though
the demands and work schedule are long and constant - it is a calling.
Those people who enter the ministry believe that they cannot move in
another professional direction because of the weight of the spiritual
call on their lives. They go because they are called, and because they
feel they can do nothing else.
And so, why would anyone
want to be a pastor's spouse? The spouse in many cases has not felt the
call of God to the ministry and yet he or she is as deeply involved in
the pastoral ministry as the person to whom they are married. The same
uniqueness of the position extends into the everydayness of their lives
as well. They are subjected to the best and the worst of the church, and
they are expected to be a partner in this pastoral vocation.
Two spouses of clergy in
Foothills Presbytery - newcomer Yuri Ito (wife of David Carlson) and
veteran Eldena Moore (wife of Zane Moore) - have decided to begin a
gathering of clergy spouses in the presbytery. Eldena has been a member
of a meaningful clergy spouses group in Charlotte Presbytery, and Yuri
participated in a wonderful clergy spouses fellowship in New Brunswick
Presbytery in New Jersey. They are both excited and anxious to get
together with other spouses of clergy to share and fellowship.
Invitations have been mailed for the inaugural luncheon meeting to be
held on Wednesday, October 17, at 12:30 p.m. at the home of Yuri Ito in
Greenville. If you are the spouse of a clergy member and due to an
oversight on our part did not receive an invitation, please call Sandy at
the presbytery office for more details. You are definitely invited to be
a part of this group.
Currently, the plan is to
hold three gatherings a year - fall, winter and spring. They welcome
hearing from anyone who might be interested in joining the steering
committee.
(Some thoughts written here on pastoral vocation were taken from an
article by Zane Moore in the Covenant Church newsletter.)
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