Christian Witness Commission
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The church of Jesus Christ has always been called to bear witness to the gospel, the good news. Good news means both help and hope, and Jesus set the perfect example by serving those in need around him, especially the disenfranchised and powerless; actively confronting unjust systems and people around him; and calling for spiritual repentance and obedience to his lordship.
With God's help, Christ Presbyterian Church is an outward-reaching church, both in our community and in other parts of the world. Here are a few of the ways we're priviledged to have a small part in serving God's Kingdom. You're welcome to join us!
As the Christian Witness Commission, our mission is to be faithful to local, national and international missions, and to embrace what it means to be Christ's witness in daily lfe.
Church Mouse Program
Over twenty of our members’ sons and daughters at colleges and universities locally and across the country are remembered with cards, letters and small gifts as well as by regular prayers for their studies and for their personal and spiritual growth during these important and formative years by volunteers from the congregation who will remain secret pals until the students graduate or leave school. A student may respond to his/her mouse by using the church address. The coordinator sees that the message is passed on to the correct person.
Church Women United
Church Women United is a national organization of Christian Women who come together to work for justice and peace, unified by faith in Jesus Christ. The Madison group meets monthly for Bible study, worship, and informational forums on local, national and international issues concerned with justice and peace. Forty five Madison-area churches and religious organizations belong to CWU and women from these groups participate in monthly meetings and projects, including The Global Express (a fair trade shop on W. Washington Ave.), The Madison Ecumenical Center, and suppling cookies every month to Headstart.
CPC Contact: Sue Becker
Website: http://www.churchwomen.org
El Sary Evangelical Church, Alexandria, Egypt
Under the leadership of Rev. Gendi Ibrahim Rizk, this church in Alexandria, Egypt serves as a very good example of an inner city church relating effectively to its community through a wide range of services, including Fairhaven School for mentally disabled children and providing vocational training for older children; a Medical Clinic for those who are not served by the healthcare system in Alexandria; a day nursery for 150 children; a day care program for disabled children; employment and housing assistance for poor families, and special assistance for refugees. CPC helped fund a new ultrasound machine in 2003 for this clinic, and Marion Ehrenberg, a nurse from our congregation, spent several weeks helping and training at the clinic. El Saray Church serves the poorest of the poor, and we ask God to teach us how to collaboratively and creatively serve together in partnership with this church.
CPC Contacts: Marion Ehrenberg, Lindy Anderson
Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding
This organization is an affiliation of North American Christian churches, agencies, and individuals who seek to provide encouragement to, advocacy for, and fellowship with Christians in the Middle East by sponsoring conferences, facilitating partnerships, and creating friendships in order to bridge the geographic and cultural divide.
Website: http://www.emeu.net
Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, Bethlehem
Living in the location of God’s incarnation, Bethlehem Christians cannot ignore contextual, incarnational theology. Christmas Church has sought to empower local expressions of the gospel - in theology, in culture, in community and in education. The International Center is a focus for foreign visitors to encounter Palestinian life and thought. It is a place for indigenous culture and thought to cross-fertilize with international perspectives. The Dar Al-Kalima Lutheran School is a reality, with its Wellness Center near completion. The Dar Al-Kalima Academy is also taking shape with a college emphasis on the arts, communication and theology. Pastor Mitri Raheb has visited with us in Madison a few times.
CPC Contact: Mike Anderson,
Website: http://www.annadwa.org
Habitat for Humanity of Dane County
Since Habitat for Humanity of Dane County began in 1987, seventy-one families have built and moved into their own homes with Habitat’s help. An ambitious new project has begun to build an entire subdivision at Twin Oaks. Previously, Habitat has built single family homes wherever affordable building lots could be found. While Habitat continues to do this, the new 142 unit Twin Oaks subdivision project on Siggelkow Road will contain 50 Habitat houses. The remaining units will be sold on the open market to individuals and builders, thereby creating a balanced income community. Now in its third year, the Habitat ReStore is a store which accepts donations of new and used building materials and sells them to the public at 50% to 75% discount from retail prices. The ReStore gives building materials a second life and keeps them out of our landfills. Beyond the environmental stewardship, the profit from the ReStore helps build more Habitat houses.
CPC Contact: Ron Konkol
Website: http://www.habitatdane.org
Website: http://www.restoredane.org
InterVarsity - 2100 Productions
InterVarsity’s 2100 Productions produces media tools that equip college students to deepen their faith and serve the Kingdom of God. Scott and Donna Wilson and Steve Falk work at 2100 Productions, currently producing a new series of media tools for students on campus called Emerging Culture Curriculum, around the themes of how the Church should respond to the current cultural shifts and the implications for how we train leaders, communicate the gospel, and live in community. 2100 Productions also produces many media tools for each Urbana student mission convention every three years.
CPC Contact: Scott & Donna Wilson
Website: http://www.intervarsity.org/2100
Website: http://www.urbana.org
InterVarsity - Cyd Miller, IFES, Africa
Cyd Miller has been serving with IFES in Africa for several years. She is based in Nairobi, Kenya, and also travels to several other African countries to encourage and help student ministry, especially in French speaking African countries. A recent highlight was an opportunity to participate with Sudanese students in in-depth Bible Study for several days. God is at work, speaking through scripture, and inviting students in many parts of Africa to seek God with all their hearts, and live out their faith, often in very difficult political and economic circumstances.
Website: http://www.ifesworld.org
InterVarsity - International Students
International students in Madison are the international mission field come to our very doorstep. Many international students who study abroad return to their countries to become future business and political leaders in their society. InterVarsity's International Students program encourages and equips students and communities in the United States to show God's love to international students, making them feel "at home away from home," building friendships, opening our homes, helping them adjust to a new city and culture, sharing food and language and cultural traditions, and most importantly our faith in Jesus Christ.
CPC Contact: Ned Hale
Website: http://www.intervarsity.org/ism
Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN)
IHN serves homeless families by mobilizing religious communities to provide shelter and meals, by working with families to overcome barriers to self-sufficiency, and by raising awareness of social justice issues. In Madison (as in over 100 other cities where IHN serves the homeless) 14 "host"congregations and numerous "buddy" congregations provide shelter and meals for a week at a time within the host facilities for homeless families. During the day, the families attend schools, go to work, or spend their time at the IHN Day Center where there are laundry and shower facilities, as well as extensive counseling assistance and case workers. CPC became a host congregation in January 2004, and over 80 volunteers participate four times a year when it is our turn to offer a comfortable temporary home to several families.
CPC Contact: Norma Madsen
Website: http://www.madison.com/communities/ihn
Luke House
Luke House serves the needs of low income and homeless people in the Madison area by bringing them together in fellowship with each other and the volunteers who serve them. The Luke House Board also supports the Community meal program that serves nine meals each week at Luke House and St. Paul’s Catholic Center. Last year approximately 80,000 meals were served at Luke House and St. Paul’s. Fifty-two different groups, all of which represent area churches, serve these meals. The volunteers from each group purchase, prepare, and serve the food for each meal. Approximately 27 participating volunteer families from CPC serve the evening meal at Luke House on the third Monday of each month. In August 2004 CPC completed our 13th year of volunteering at Luke House.
CPC Contact: Mary Luteyn
Nehemiah Community Development Corporation
For the past 11 years, CPC has partnered with Nehemiah Community Development Corporation in nurturing children on Madison’s south side through the ACE (Academic Center for Excellence) program. Each year, with the ACE Christmas Giving Tree, CPC members purchase Christmas gifts for children in the ACE program. The new DREAMS program mentors young African American boys to provide them with positive role models, tutoring, and moral support. We were pleased to serve the ACE families and the DREAM boys this year through the generous spirit of CPC members and friends. Our annual funding is given to the ACE program, and has been an integral part of keeping that program working strong in the community. We have seen God at work in this partnership, teaching us to love each other more deeply across racial and economic boundaries that the world would set up between us.
CPC Contact: Kathy Webster
Website: http://www.nehemiah.org
Guaymas, Mexico
Some members of our congregation are exploring the possibility that a relationship might develop between CPC and a group of Christians in Guaymas, Mexico. We are planning a mission trip from Madison to Guaymas in the summer of 2008.
CPC Contact: Dora Zuñiga
PCUSA General Assembly / Synod / Presbytery
A portion of our Christian Witness financial giving each year is allocated to the PCUSA General Assembly and Great Lakes Presbytery missions fund, which supports international mission programs managed by our denomination.
Pres House, UW Madison
Pres House is a Presbyterian ministry and facility started by CPC and located strategically in the heart of the UW Madison campus on the libary mall. The Pres House Board (which includes several CPC members) recently installed a young campus pastor couple, Mark and Erica Liu Elsdon.
CPC Contacts: Bob Frykenberg, Gary Diffee
Website: http://www.preshouse.org
United Refugee Services of Wisconsin
URSW is a nonprofit organization that is now 20 years old, providing support services to Southeast Asian, Kosovar Albanian, Somalian and other refugees in both Dane and Rock Counties. URSW seeks to help refugees and minorities to remain or become self-sustaining, and to be integrated into the fabric of American society while preserving their cultural heritage.
URSW is experiencing several changes these months and years, as many of the refugees in the Madison area are becoming more settled, and their ongoing needs are changing. Also, the Thai government is closing the last remaining Hmong/Lao refugee settlement, Wat Tham Krabok, which is home to about 15,000 refugees, half of whom are children. Because of this, some 2,500 new Hmong/Lao refugees are expected to be resettled in Wisconsin in 2004. Find out more at http://www.ursw.org
World Vision, Nyamagabe, Rwanda
Following a World Vision "Pastors Visit" trip by Pastor Dale to Rwanda in February 2004, our congregation was presented with descriptions and pictures of the challenges faced by a community in Nyamagabe, Rwanda. Rwanda is the most densely populated and smallest country in Africa, and is greatly affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and by the genocide of 1994 in which over 1 million people were murdered. Both of these situations have created many young families where the oldest child is the head of the household, in a country where poverty is already widespread. God has touched our hearts and we have responded, now sponsoring over 80 children through World Vision by CPC members. We are also exploring ways to deepen our involvement with the needs of the community in Nyamagabe, perhaps including special projects that have been identified by leaders in Nyamagabe. An Africa Study Group has met all summer (2004) and continues this fall to study scripture, pray, and learn about Rwanda and the problem of HIV/AIDS in Africa.
CPC Contacts: Ellen Murdoch
Website: http://www.worldvision.org
Website: http://allafrica.com/rwanda (news)
Witnessing Ministries of Christ, Dalit People, Rural Presbyterian Church, India
The Rural Presbyterian Church is made up of the Dalit people in India, the lowest "untouchable" class in the Indian caste system. The Dalits are 15% of India's billion people. God is at work among this rapidly growing church. The Constitution of the Republic of India has abolished untouchability but because the practice is based on Hindu religious beliefs, there has been little improvement in the conditions of the untouchables in many rural parts of the country. The God of the Bible declares that each person is precious in his sight, carefully made and crafted. The help and hope of the Good News of Jesus Christ has touched the lives of these people, and it is our priviledge to pray for and contribute to the projects in their midst, including schools, nutrition and clothing for school children, training for pastors, healthcare, sanitation, and techniques for sustainable agriculture.
CPC Contacts: Bob Frykenberg
Young Life
Young Life works with high school students in several Madison area schools, organizing spiritual and community opportunities to challenge students with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
CPC Contacts: Norma Madsen