Tuesday, May 5

Philippines

On the evening of Sunday, May 27, 2007, mission co-worker Rebecca Lawson picked up the phone to find five simultaneous text messages telling her that United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) pastor Berlin V. Guerrero was abducted as he left his church thirty minutes earlier. She was told there would be a press conference in the morning at the national offices of the UCCP. Pastors and human rights activists were holding a vigil at the military camp nearest to the abduction site. She sent text messages and e-mails, then dug in to lament, pray, and prepare throughout the night.

Since Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became president of the Philippines in 2001, there have been 196 documented cases of people who have been forcibly disappeared and remain missing. Thankfully, the story of Pastor Berlin took a more promising turn. As of this writing, he is still being detained, but the church is in frequent contact with him.

Singapore

Christians represent up to 20 percent of the population of Singapore. The PC(USA)’s partner, the Presbyterian Church in Singapore (PCS), works to engage the government on critical social concerns, support regional church development, and establish Asian theological research.
The PCS was one of the founding churches (along with the Methodist, Lutheran, and Anglican churches) of Trinity College. For more than sixty years, the focus of this institution has been the preparation of pastors and other church workers in Asia. The school has established links with churches in Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, and China, and many students from these countries study at Trinity.

Let us join in prayer for
Partners/Ministries
Presbyterian Church in Singapore: Rt. Rev. Henry Hong, moderator of the synod, Elder Richard Chong, executive secretary
Trinity Theological College [Singapore]: Rev. Dr. Ngoei Foong Nghian, principal

PC(USA) General Assembly Staff
Denise Hampton, GAMC
Elder Jieun Kim Han, OGA

Prayer
Thank you for your work, O God, in and through each and every one of us. We ask that you would guide and nurture the PCS and the UCCP as they work to be living witnesses to the gospel for this world. Amen.

Daily Lectionary
Ps. 98, 146 Ps. 66, 116
Jer. 30:10–17
Col. 1:15–23; Luke 6:12–26