The Ministry of Presence
Despite the squalid conditions of the camp, the saints there welcomed the group warmly and expressed their encouragement with their visit. David learned how important it is for those suffering to know they are remembered; it gives hope and hope fuels perseverance. David was able to bring them greetings from the OPC and to attest to the many who are praying for them. The saints there presented these visitors with two humble requests: Bibles and prayers. Would you be willing to commit to praying regularly for our brothers and sisters suffering in South Sudan? Please pray that the Lord would bring peace and security to this region by raising God-fearing leaders who are willing to serve the people, over against themselves.
Diaconal Needs Across the World
The purpose of the Diaconal Committee, among other things, is to strive to understand what a fully-orbed Reformed diaconal ministry ought to look like, to network to exchange information regarding deacons locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally, to explore ways for possible cooperation, to bring focus to the diaconal ministry by various means, and to bring attention to global disaster response needs that have affected ICRC member churches.
Obadiah, the Protodeacon, and the OPC
What would you call a man who uses his administrative skills and organizes others to provide for the needy, especially in the household of faith? This sounds like a deacon!
If you enjoy reading the dramatic account of Elijah confronting wicked King Ahab and his prophets, you might also realize that this description sounds a lot like the Obadiah described in I Kings 18. The account is pithy and fascinating: “And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly, and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.) I Kings 18:3-4
Meet Your Fellow Deacon: Bob Munich
“Reach out to others in love first.” This is the greatest lesson OPC Deacon Bob Munich has learned while being a deacon. Bob serves at Calvary OPC in Volga, South Dakota, and he says that in his four years as a deacon there, he has repeatedly seen just how important it is to be approachable, both by those within the congregation and those from the community.
Equipping Presbytery Diaconal Committees
Each one of the OPC’s seventeen presbyteries has a diaconal committee. However, if you asked five different members of presbytery diaconal committees what their work involves, you may get five different answers. Why? Because most work independently of one another—it’s the nature of being geographically scattered. To bring presbyteries together in their diaconal work, in 2012 the Committee on Diaconal Ministries (CDM) began hosting two-day summits full of instruction, encouragement, and fellowship for members of presbytery diaconal committees (PDCs).
Let Us Do Good to Everyone
Feeling used by someone ostensibly in need can make your stomach drop. Maybe you’ve been in this situation—wondering if you are being taken advantage of by a stranger in a grocery store parking lot who’s asking for money to buy diapers, or by someone at the gas pump with an elaborate story of being stranded.
PDS V 2023 Videos Now Available
Did you know there are resources available if your pastor needs advice, counseling, or financial assistance? Have you thought about what role you, as a local deacon, play in connecting with other diaconates in your Presbytery in disaster response or in aiding other churches without deacons?
Meet Your Fellow Deacon: Phil Smith
It’s eight o’clock on a Friday morning. Phil Smith puts on his lab coat and begins his day at work. A full-time senior scientist for a national veterinary laboratory, his “nine-to-five” is no walk in the park. Nonetheless, when his work at the office is done, he heads over to his local Home Depot, where he also works as a part-time appliance salesman. Then, when his shift ends at 10:30 that night, instead of going home to his family like usual, he sets off towards Barre, VT, hoping to get a few hours of driving in before he pulls over to get some rest. Phil is on his way to the Presbytery of New York and New England’s Deacons’ Conference, which starts at 8:45 the next morning.
To the Least of These
Greg and Bonnie Harrison live in Romania. They are not Romanian by birth, nor have they lived there long. The Harrisons are longtime members of Second Parish OPC in Portland, Maine. Greg is a deacon, a builder by trade—and both Greg and Bonnie were considered some of the most sought-after wedding photographers in Maine. The two met at a dance hall and married in 1993.
Meet Your Fellow Deacon: Shabehram Irani
Shabehram “Billy” Irani grew up in a Zoroastrian home. The Zoroastrian religion is fixated on the supposed ongoing battle between good and evil, god and spirits of wickedness. Steeped in beliefs inundated with works-based righteousness, it was not until he was invited to Franklin Square OPC that Billy heard the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
Seeds of Hope in Ukraine
When an Armenian living in Ukraine decided to practice his English on a couple of Americans he heard speaking on a street corner years ago, he had no idea the encounter would change the course of his life. He discovered his conversational English was awkward, but the Americans invited him to keep practicing in a class that used the Bible as a textbook. The Americans were missionaries, and the Lord used the class to draw George to saving faith in Christ.
Crates for Ukraine Report Presentation
The Crates for Ukraine—Winter Edition was a wonderful collaboration of OP, PCA and others to provide much needed supplies to Ukraine and encouraged the Saints there. David Nakhla recently reported to his home church, Calvary OPC in Glenside, PA on his visit to follow the crates to the distribution center in L'viv.
Refugees Twice Over
Please pray for a group of brothers and sisters who are refugees twice over. A number of people from a nation in the Horn of Africa (intentionally vague) have become refugees in Khartoum, Sudan. Among them are a significant number of Christians. The Mobile Theological Mentoring Corps of the Committee on Foreign Missions has made several trips there to encourage and teach, focusing on a Reformed church called Bethlehem Church.
Ukraine Trip Report—March 2023
The following is a report provided to the OPC Committee on Diaconal Ministries by the administrator of the OPC CDM after a significant and enlightening trip to Ukraine, during the war. To learn more, please consider listening to our podcast, “The Reformed Deacon—Fingerprints from the Pew: Crates for Ukraine”. You can also find this podcast on your favorite podcast player.
Seeing the Lifeline Connection Among Saints
David Nakhla, Administrator for the Committee on Diaconal Ministries, recently returned from a seven-day trip to Ukraine, with two others from the OPC—deacon from Covenant OPC in Orland Park, IL and CDM member, John Voss and OPC Communications coordinator, Jamie Dean—along with MTW Ukraine Country Director, John Eide. Their excursion began in Poland, where they met up with a Ukrainian woman, Olena, who escorted them by van over the border to L’viv, Ukraine. In the past year, Olena has made this over six-hour trip regularly, transporting over 1300 crates of supplies for the summer edition of Crates for Ukraine (CFU) and, Lord willing, will continue as the winter crates begin arriving from the states.
Meet Your Fellow Deacon: Greg Torres
For the two months of his son’s short yet precious life, Greg says the members and deacons of Christ OPC of Janesville, WI, where he now serves as a deacon, showered his family with the love of Jesus through thoughtful words, gifts, assistance, acts of service, and prayers.
