The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study and the 2004 Children’s Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study are excellent ways for adults and children to learn about and share the stories of our life and work.

Here are some more suggestions for using both of the Yearbooks:

• The Mission Yearbook provides an overview of what people are doing in mission.

• Presbyterian Women are always looking for prayers and stories to use at cluster meetings or regional gatherings, at Circle meetings, for Bible studies, or at presbytery events—where special needs of communities and world mission can be lifted up in prayer. Planning teams can use it to open their meetings. Many read a minute for mission that can be easily found by using the alphabetical index.

• The color section offers an in-depth reflection on the annual theme of the Mission Yearbook. It is an excellent tool for personal or group study and reflection.

• New lines of communication can be opened by harnessing your presbytery’s mission with the mission goals of congregation members. You can join together with a mission committee to put on a Mission Fair, highlighting presbytery mission, local mission efforts, and overseas mission involvement with information gathered from the Mission Yearbook and the Children’s Mission Yearbook.

• Recipes in the Children’s Mission Yearbook relate to stories domestically and internationally. Some of these snacks can be passed around in meetings or study groups as a way to appreciate the lives of persons of another culture.

• Nuggets of mission information from the Mission Yearbook and the Children’s Yearbook provided regularly can enhance mission generally.

• A copy of the Mission Yearbook and the Children’s Mission Yearbook given to each new family of the congregation is an introduction to the worldwide scope of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Families can be encouraged to use them together as personal devotional guides. Using them in new member classes and Christian education classes will help adults and children answer the question “Who are Presbyterians?”

The writer is Deborah Haines, Associate for Mission Interpretation/Editor, Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study. She can be reached at (888) 728-7228, ext. 5710, or send her an e-mail.