Members of Companeros Attend World Mission Celebration

In late October, two members of Compañeros (Nancy Lister-Settle and Sue Burns) road-tripped to Cincinnati, OH for PC(USA)’s Mission Celebration 2009. The theme of the conference was “branches of the same vine” and it was a wonderful opportunity for mission-oriented people at all levels to immerse themselves in what’s happening in mission within Presbyterian churches all over the world.

We were there, predominantly, to share the stories and experiences of our journey partnering with communities in Berlin, El Salvador through Our Sister Parish. We created a booth with props to show some of the projects and relationships, photos to illustrate the realities, and open conversation with any and all comers.

Throughout the 3 days of the conference, approximately 700 people toured the displays, attended workshops, worshipped and ate together. We formed networks of like-minded souls with common interests. We compared notes and shared information on what worked and what didn’t work related to mission within our home congregations and groups. We chatted with missionaries serving in far-flung corners of the world, learned from others working in the same parts of the world as us, and thought about things we’d never considered before.

Our booth generated several discussions with people intensely curious about our projects, work and the people involved. Some people ‘pulled up a chair’ and had lengthy conversations, asking questions, offering perspectives and sharing interests and knowledge.

It was an intense several days. Time will tell what fruit the vine will bear.

For more information about the overall conference, check out the PC(USA)’s web site here: http://missionfunding.pcusa.org/missioncelebration/index.htm