Alliance of churches--The power of unity

Alvaro Cordero admiring the Pittsburgh skyscape

The vision for the Leadership Summit in Pittsburgh was conceived after the summer of 2010. That summer, Henri Doren and I had invited a group of eight Latin Americans to travel to Pittsburgh to help lead team building initiatives for North Way Christian Community ‘s week of summer vacation bible school. We were impressed by the impact on both the Latin Americans and the very few church leaders they met with. Since I was in the midst of forming this other team of professors, we both felt the Lord leading us to project such a trip as this but for the entire team of Latin Americans and with greater participation of my supporting churches. She and I tweaked our ideas and during the summer of 2011 we presented our proposal. I still remember our first formal meeting when we gathered in the offices of Memorial Park Church, with one person attending via Skype and representatives from all six mission committees present and accounted for.

1.     Don Creasy, Safwat Habashi, Jim Crawford from Memorial Park Evang. Pres. Church

2.     Joe Lenkey and Walter Siegfried from First Presbyterian Church (representing Ligonier Camp and Conference Center as well)

3.     Bruce Allison from North Park Evang. Pres. Church

4.     Shannon Lidengood  and Chuck and Henri Doren from North Way Christian Community

5.     Tom MacLaughan and Kevin and Michelle Bowers from Union Pres. Church

6.     Bob Whitaker from Elfinwild Pres. Church

The group approved our proposal and we began—Henri, Don, Shannon, and Bruce—all worked on the details in Pittsburgh and my co-worker Bob Sabean and I prepared the team in Latin America.

Union Presbyterian Church

North Way Christian Community (Wexford campus)

North Park Evang. Pres. Church

Robert Bruneau preached at First Pres. Church

First Presbyterian Church

Memorial Park Evang. Pres. Church

These are their impressions as they got to know each church:

When we went to the daughter church of North Park (New Hope on the North Side of Pittsburgh), we saw the USA from a different perspective. We had not seen the needy side and we happy to see that we could help with specific tasks. (Analu, Peru)

Alfredo and Victor helping out at New Hope Church

I loved leading worship, each church was so different, its liturgy and physical environment. Each was unique and there I found the multifaceted grace of God. (Karina, Argentina)

I admire how they used their gifts in administration and logistics to back this Summit. I loved watching their faces when they saw the numbers and statistics of the fruits of their partnership with Lisa and CCI LA. (Manuel, Costa Rica)

We loved seeing Chuck and Henri’s servant heart, filled with compassion, they were flexible, and attentive to our needs. Truly without them, this trip would not have been possible. (Analu, Peru) 

So many of our co-patriots have had terrible experiences here in the USA but we never felt looked down upon by the churches, on the contrary, we felt affirmed, even spoiled by our host families not to mention the amazing Mexican meal we were served after church at the East End (North Way Christian Community).

 We realized that we need to pray for the USA to not discard their senior citizens whose wisdom and experience is vital. It seems that the bright shine of youth blinds them to the virtues of the elderly. (Analu, Peru)

What insights have you gained from an outsider's perspective on your country? Share them with us in the comments below.