January 25, 2024

Friends in Christ,

The recent pandemic altered the work and ministry of churches in many ways, one of which for Sea Island was that our communication and relationships with missionaries in the field affiliated with the Presbyterian Mission Agency suffered. Last year, in the effort to serve Christ in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Hugh Gouldhorpe, Elder, and your Missions Committee made the decision to actively support Mission Co-Worker Jose LaMont Jones who works with the Presbyterian Community of Kinshasa (CPK) in the area of education. While on sabbatical, Jose visited our campus and his presentation convinced members of the Missions Committee that this was the right thing to do.

You are invited to review the below information about a special conference in March that we believe will help Presbyterians in our presbytery better understand the work of Christian mission overseas and how we can build stronger relationships between our congregations and those who are serving Christ and the cause of the gospel in the Congo. For those who may be interested and have the time, you may wish to explore this opportunity. Please feel free to direct inquiries to Hugh Gouldthorpe at hugh312@gmail.com or Pastor Steve at skeeler@seaislandpresbyterian.org.

It will be good to be together at the 2024 Congo Mission Network Conference! You can register today.

Registration for the 2024 Congo Mission Network Conference has begun!

Now you can register for the 2024 conference of Congo Mission Network. Just click here to see how.

You can register, book a place to stay, and pay registration fees all at the same time, if you like. The conference will be March 14-16 at the Charleston Atlantic Presbytery in Charleston, SC. To register, you will:

• Fill out a simple form. You may choose to attend in person or via Zoom.
• Pay registration fees. Please note: REGISTRATION IS FREE for Congolese participants, college students, mission co-workers and PC(USA) staff, and anyone attending via Zoom from outside the USA (not in person). For everyone else: The cost to attend in person is $75 per person until Jan. 31. Then the cost becomes $100 per person. The cost to attend virtually is $25.
• Book a place to stay. Conference planners offer two options: You can book a room at the official conference hotel, Holiday Inn Express & Suites Airport and Convention Center. The link is given in the registration process. Rooms are blocked at a reduced rate, beginning at $149 per night, until Feb. 13, 2024. OR, you can reserve a bed in a bunk room at the Charleston Atlantic Presbytery Conference Center for $20 per night. The presbytery makes these bunk rooms with showers available to mission teams throughout the year. To reserve a bunk bed, please contact Charlotte White at crulewhite@gmail.com.

Please visit the Congo Mission Network website,

https://congopartners.org, for more information.
We are updating it every day.

As we seek to support the continued effort of mission work both here and far away, the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church (USA) reminds us that through its mission in the world, the church seeks to bear witness to God’s reign through the proclamation of the gospel, acts of compassion, work for justice and peace, and the care of creation. The church’s mission is shaped and nourished by the Word and Sacraments, and represents the living out of our prayer for the world. May God continue to bless the work of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, the Presbyterian Church of Kinshasa, the Congo Mission Network, Jose LaMont Jones, and the Mission Committee of the Sea Island Presbyterian Church. And all God’s people said, “Amen!” +