07312
May 25, 2007

Jacob Goad

Empty hands, open hearts

A glimpse of modern mission in Peru

by Emily Enders Odom
MIJHH Associate for Communications

LOUISVILLE — When Jacob Goad was majoring in Spanish literature and social and economic justice at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, justice, peace and the Peruvian people were already near and dear to his heart.

     A lifelong Presbyterian and a member of Alamance Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, NC, Goad made a faith commitment at the age of 15, the same year that he was first invited to go on a mission trip to Peru. “I didn’t learn a lot about mission on that trip,” Goad said, “but I did fall in love with Peru and with Latin culture.”

     Goad discovered his own sense of call while in Peru, spending three months there every year since 1999. In January 2007, he embraced mission work on a full-time basis when he accepted the new volunteer position of delegations and partnership coordinator.

     His appointment was made possible through the generous support of individuals and congregations, and of his home presbytery, Salem, which has also recently made a financial commitment to the Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts & Hands (MIJHH) on his behalf.  

     MIJHH is the five-year campaign of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to raise $40 million for new international mission personnel and for church development in the U.S., particularly racial ethnic and immigrant congregations.

     With a home base in Lima, Goad now serves as coordinator for PC(USA) delegations and mission teams visiting Peru, working in cooperation with the Evangelical Presbyterian and Reformed Church of Peru.

     In his daily walk in Peru, Goad has not unexpectedly run headlong into his old friends, justice and peace.

     Recently, Goad has found himself working in human rights with the Rev. Hunter Farrell, a career missionary with the PC(USA), who will begin serving on August 1 as the director of the General Assembly Council’s World Mission program area. Goad has been helping to coordinate group visits to La Oroya, Peru, in order to educate U.S. church groups on the extreme contamination of a U.S. based company located there.

     In La Oroya, which was named one of ten most contaminated places on earth by the Blacksmith Institute, 97.2 percent of the children have lead poisoning, according to a Saint Louis University Study conducted by the Department of Public Health.

     “I am glad that peace and justice can work in Peru through Jacob,” said the Rev. Laura M. Spangler, chair of the Peace & Justice Task Group of Salem Presbytery, based in Clemmons, NC, which is contributing to the funding of his position. 

     In Goad’s most recent letter from Peru, which he entitled, “A glimpse of modern mission: Empty hands, open hearts,” he wrote:

     “Last month I traveled to La Oroya, Peru, with 35 teenagers from Allen Park, MI. The youth group of Allen Park is committed to forming a lasting relationship with the people of La Oroya in their struggle to fight against further contamination by a U.S. company...

     “After accompanying the youth of Allen Park, I am convinced that they would invite other U.S. churches into this sacred place of sharing. They would invite groups into the new age of mission. They saw a glimpse of the kingdom being built as they arrived with empty hands and stepped outside of their cultural and economic comfort zone. They entered into a holy place where they encountered God at work among the people of La Oroya.

     The Allen Park youth group left Peru knowing that there was an appropriate way to show gratitude for all the hospitality of their Peruvian friends, and that was through continuing to use their voice in church and society.

     Reflecting on the impact of the trip, one youth member said, ‘It was astonishing to see the passion that the people living there expressed about their environment. I hope that the government begins to realize that the contamination in La Oroya is not a problem that should be pushed under the rug, and that it [affects] the lives of many every day. I hope that the dream of a new [La] Oroya will come true.’

     “This is one testimony of someone who has caught a new vision for the kingdom, of someone whose reality is now forever intertwined with the people of La Oroya. It is also a new reality for modern mission.” 

Information about and letters from PC(USA) mission workers around the world is available at the Mission Connections Web site.