Attend the Presbytery Holiday Open House

Merry Christmas!

The Des Moines Presbytery will host a Christmas Open House at the Des Moines Presbytery Office on Friday, December 2.

Everyone is welcome to join us and visit our office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We’ll have appetizers, treats and punch available, so stop by and celebrate the season with the Presbytery staff!

From your Presbytery staff:
Rev. Phil Barrett, Rev. Goanar Chol, Kim Coulter, Nancy Lister-Settle and Betty Dyer

Pray for Sudanese Referendum, January 2011

The Sudan Mission Network meeting was Dec. 6-8, 2010, in Louisville, Ky. This annual
meeting is particularly important this year because the South Sudan Referendum
will be voted on in January 2011. The referendum will determine whether South
Sudan will become independent or remain one with the rest of Sudan. There are eight voting locations in the U.S. for southern Sudanese, which includes most major cities and Omaha, Neb.

The Presbytery of Des Moines’ Sudanese Resource Person the Rev. Goanar J. Chol is requesting prayers for all Sudanese Presbyterians not only in our Des Moines Presbytery, but the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as a whole. The Referendum is important because it may mean a lasting peace or continuing war in Sudan. Troops on both sides are already gathering in mass numbers. Sudan’s President Omar el Basheer, already indicted for war crimes in the Darfur genocide, has already declared war if the South chooses independence, but the people of South Sudan seem to be determined to vote anyway.

For up-to-date information, go to the Sudan Avocacy Action Forum Web site.

Please pray for peace in Sudan (written by Rev. Mark Koenig).