Fifteen new international mission co-workers will be commissioned on July 8 during the upcoming 219th General Assembly (2010) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Their appointments by Presbyterian World Mission were confirmed at the recent meeting of the General Assembly Mission Council here.

“These new international workers … will be spanning the globe in their assignments, from Europe to Asia, the Middle East and Latin America,” said the Rev. Hunter Farrell, director of Presbyterian World Mission.The new mission workers:

  • The Rev. Philip and Bacilia Beisswenger, to serve as facilitators for mission delegations and partnerships in Guatemala;
  • Charlotte Blackburn, to serve as English teacher and teacher trainer at Duta Wacana Christian University, Indonesia;
  • The Rev. Robert (“Bob”) and Keiko Butterfield, Bob to serve as evangelist and community organizer in Portugal with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Portugal;
  • The Rev. Jacob and Aliamma George, Jacob to serve as theological educator at Giffen Bible School in Malakal, Sudan;
  • The Rev. Richard and Marilyn Hansen, Richard to serve as systematic theology professor at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology in Addis Ababa;
  • Sarah Henken, to serve as regional liaison for the Andean Region in South America;
  • The Rev. Jo Ella Holman, to serve as regional liaison for the Caribbean;
  • The Rev. Karen Moritz, to serve as ecumenical relations facilitator in the Czech Republic, working with the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren;
  • Wesley and Rita Tillett, to serve as English and Christian education teachers in Zahle, Lebanon, working with the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon; and
  • Kristin Van Nostran, to serve in El Salvador as companionship facilitator with the Joining Hands Against Hunger Program.

Additionally, six PC(USA) international mission workers have been reappointed or given new assignments. They are:

  • Nadia Ayoub, reassigned to serve as early childhood education trainer in the Ukraine;
  • The Rev. Dustin and Sherri Ellington, to serve in Zambia at Justo Mwale Theological University College in Lusaka, where Dustin will be a professor of New Testament;
  • Andres and Gloria Salazar Garcia, reassigned as Puentes de Cristo U.S. coordinator/partnership facilitators (U.S.-Mexico Border Ministry); and
  • Christopher McReynolds, reappointed as Proyecto Amistad U.S. coordinator and partnership facilitator (U.S.-Mexico Border Ministry).

Joining all these for this summer’s Presbyterian World Mission orientation program prior to serving are the Rev. Rev. Ryan and Molly Dowell Baum, global ministry fellows of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City. They will serve for 12 months in Kitwe, Zambia, with Theological Education by Extension Zambia (TEEZ), followed by three months of travel to Christian communities in the Global South.