Carlos Cardenas (www.pcusa.org/
missionconnections/profiles/cardenasc.htm) is serving in development and disaster relief in Nicaragua. Working with the Council of Evangelical Churches of Nicaragua (CEPAD), he trains community leaders involved in development projects and helps augment the skills of CEPAD staff. He also assists the council in market-development and food-security initiatives.

        When disasters strike, he will be    

to lend assistance. Before his appointment, Cardenas worked with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance for three years in El Salvador. He helped with the construction of 240 houses for people whose homes were lost in two earthquakes in January 2001.

Cardenas, a native of Honduras, is now a citizen of Nicaragua. His experience in development and disaster relief includes service with the Irish Agency for Personal Service Overseas, the American Friends Service Committee and Nicaragua’s Ministry of Social Action. He earned two degrees from Friendship People’s University in Moscow, Russia — a bachelor of science and a master’s in agricultural science.

        David Walter (www.pcusa.org/mission
connections/profiles/walterd.htm) is serving as the Worldwide Ministries Division’s regional liaison for the Pacific region. From his home base in Holland, MI, he relates to partner churches in Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. He also is an advisor to the Presbyterian Hunger Program, a role that could take him anywhere in the Pacific.

        From 1998 to 2001 Walter served as a PC(USA) mission worker in Vanuatu, where he

religious education at Onesua Presbyterian College. Since leaving Vanuatu, he has returned for visits several times, including last summer, when he taught a special English as a Second Language immersion class.

        Walter has had a varied career, including several years of service as a U.S. Army officer. From 1990 to 1997 he was president and owner of America Multimedia Systems Inc., a Grand Rapids, MI, firm that specialized in high-end animation and multimedia computer applications.

        The Rev. Shirley Hill (www.pcusa.org/ mission connections/profiles/hills.htm) will leave on March 1 for Cameroon, where she will serve as an HIV/AIDS consultant. She will work with the HIV/AIDS ministry of the Presbyterian Church of Cameroon as it cares for people affected by AIDS and provides prevention education.

        Hill, a registered nurse, was recently ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament by Heartland Presbytery at Gashland Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, MO.

        She entered Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA, in 2002, where she earned a Master of Divinity degree with a concentration in family pastoral care and counseling. Before her appointment she was a resident chaplain at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, GA.