‘Building Healthy Communities for Christ’

New Mission Resource Available

Presbyterians have been at the forefront of health missions around the world for more than 100 years. A 10-minute program now on DVD illustrates how International Health and Development carries on that tradition today, engaging U.S. Presbyterians in health-related missions and supporting the health and community development initiatives of PC(USA)'s global church partners.

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"International Health Ministries — Building Healthy Communities for Christ" is also available at no cost through the Presbyterian Distribution Service.
Free

Mother’s Day Project: How To Direct Your Gifts

Participation in the ninth annual NetWorkers Mother’s Day Project was strong this year, as Presbyterians again rallied around the opportunity to support our overseas partners’ malaria prevention projects. If you, your PW group, mission committee or congregation distributed NetWorkers Mother’s Day cards and now have donations to contribute, here’s how to direct your gifts:

Checks should be made out to PC(USA), with E048013 written on the memo line.

Send checks to:

From individuals:
PC(USA) Individual Remittance Processing
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA  15264-3700

From Congregations:
PC(USA) Church Remittance Processing
P.O. Box 643678
Pittsburgh, PA  15264-3678 

Donations made to the NetWorkers Malaria Prevention Program in exchange for the annual Mother’s Day cards have provided mosquito nets and malaria prevention education to thousands of women and their families in Africa since 2001.

Focus on Mission: Democratic Republic of Congo

Focus on Mission is a changing feature that introduces the health and development work of some of the PC(USA)’s global partners: their history, their accomplishments and their needs.

The historic church at the Luebo mission station has welcomed worshippers for over 100 years. Photo by Bob Ellis.

For more than 100 years the Presbyterian Church has been engaged in mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a sprawling central African nation that is still struggling to overcome a history of colonial oppression and recurring civil strife. Presbyterian missionaries in the late 1800s were pioneers in evangelizing the vast Kasai region and in working to protect the Congolese against the brutal practices of the rubber industry and the slave trade. Mission stations sprang up in the early years of the 20th century, with teams of missionary evangelists, teachers, translators and health care providers. At the peak of the Presbyterian mission presence there were more than 200 Presbyterian missionaries serving in the country then known as Zaire. Read more about DRC.

See previous Focus on Mission features.

Extra Commitment Opportunity Accounts: Giving a Helping Hand

Projects that empower women to care for themselves and their families, like this one in Ethiopia, are an important part of International Health and Development's mission to help build healthy communities. Photo by Gail Bingham.

Extra Commitment Opportunity accounts ("ECOs") are a means for Presbyterians to channel their mission giving through a secure, reliable system that ensures the use of your gifts as you intended. Because our denomination has a history of support for health missions that is both long and broadly diverse, there are ECO accounts that direct financial support to scores of health and development ministries. To help you discern how to direct your mission support, International Health and Development has identified ECO accounts that represent projects that respond to critical current needs of our overseas partners. Currently projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo are highlighted.

Others, including several projects related to the International Health and Development's commitment to address the Diseases of Poverty (AIDS, Malaria and TB) are also listed below for special consideration. Download a list of health and development projects that are current priorities for IHD and its partners.

International Health and Development Prority ECOs

862706: AIDS Crisis Overseas

051674: AIDS Orphans and Vulnerable Children

048013: NetWorkers Malaria Prevention Program

052501: Capacity Building for African Women

862701: International Health and Development

862759: Health Work in Sudan

Additional giving opportunities in Congo

319702: Bibanga Hospital

319902: Bulape Hospital & Community Health

423102: Mbujimayi Christian Medical Center

581502: Luebo Hospital

862762: Lubondai Hospital

IHD Strategic Plan: "Building Healthy Communities"

In response to the changing needs of the world and its own diminishing resources, the International Health and Development has drafted a strategic plan to makes its work on behalf of our partner churches both more intentional and more effective. "Building Healthy Communities" will be the theme underlying IHD's activities, as the office lives out its mandate to help partner churches respond to the health needs of the poorest of God's people. [Read more]

It’s A Matter of Faith

As Presbyterians, our faith calls us to action in response to the crisis of AIDS.  PCUSA works in partnership with church leaders, mission personnel and health institutions in over 30 countries to support varied HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs.   Assisting our partners in Africa, where AIDS is destroying families and undermining entire communities, is the focus of PCUSA’s “It’s A Matter of Faith” ministry.   Resources are available to help your congregation engage in this vital effort. [Read more]

Are you ready for the challenge?

Explore the numerous possibilities for mission service, in the United States and internationally. As you review the program information, you can consider which path of service is most right for you.

If you feel called to the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the challenges of new cultures, new people, different languages, and demanding roles excite your sense of adventure, we look forward to hearing from you.

Go to the position search!

Find out more about mission opportunities.

Medical Benevolence Foundation

Medical Benevolence Foundation (MBF) exists to proclaim and demonstrate the gospel of Jesus Christ through a healing ministry.

Who we are

International Health and Development (IHD) coordinates the ministries of the PC(USA) in international health and development. The IHD works in partnership with overseas churches and institutions to facilitate health programs that place priority on the most vulnerable and poorest segments of the population. These programs, operating in over 30 countries worldwide, emphasize ways to alleviate the causes of ill health and promote true health and wholeness.