To assist church members and their families in fulfilling the promise to “Reach Beyond our Walls,” the Global Missions Ministry Team identifies, organizes, and funds hands-on, missional service opportunities throughout the year and supports our mission partners abroad.

Our Mission Co-workers

Brownson Church supports PC(USA) Mission Co-workers Jed and Jenny Koball in Peru through both financial contributions as well as member mission trips.

Reverend Jed Koball assists the Peru Joining Hands Network (Red Uniendo Manos Peru). Joining Hands is an initiative of the Presbyterian Hunger Program that addresses root causes of hunger in partnership with networks of churches and non-governmental organizations in countries with high poverty rates.

Jenny Koball is the Peru site coordinator for the Presbyterian Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program, which sends people ages 19 to 30 to serve in communities of need in the United States and abroad. In addition to service, the YAV experience emphasizes living in intentional Christian community, spiritual formation and vocational discernment.

In 2018, Jenny and Jed welcomed their son Thiago to their family. Together they reside in Lima.

https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/missionconnections/the-rev-jed-and-jenny-koball/

Subscribe to Jed and Jenny’s newsletter https://pcusa.activehosted.com/f/74

MISSION TRIPS

Brownson Church global mission trips focus on assisting in the development and resourcing of the School for the Deaf outside of Nueva Cajamarca, San Martin district. The school is the only public school for the deaf in the country, and the only school (private or public) outside of Lima. Brownson helped fund the construction of the initial two-room school and lavatory. Our additional funding enabled the school to upgrade to a steel roof structure to withstand frequent storms, plaster for the interior and front exterior walls, water for the lavatory, and additional training for the lone teacher and her assistant. The 2019 mission trip participants helped plant more than 600 bushes around the one-acre main property to serve as a living fence (all schools in Peru are required to have a wall, usually cinderblock).

The 2020 mission trip was cancelled due to the COVID-19 epidemic. If you are interested in future mission trips, contact Austin Vernon, Director of Discipleship and Missions at discipleship@brownsonchurch.org or call the church office.

The school under construction in 2018. Jed Koball (red hat) explains to our mission team what is happening at the site, and what our assignments will be. Two of the student’s family members and the local foreman help orient the team.

Brownson member Larry Riggan gets his personal sign from the students via teacher’s assistant Diego and Jed. Every member of the team gets their own sign – chosen by the students after our initial introductions.

Schoolteacher Jesy Chavez helps one of the younger students learn a sign to help welcome our team.

The 2019 mission trip, consisting of youth members and chaperones, lay out the grid for the more than 600 trees that will be planted as a living wall to meet Peruvian requirements that schools be walled. The lavatory building is immediately behind the team, and the two-room schoolhouse is behind that.

Fellowship and fun are always part of the mission experience. Here Anna Grace Black and Isabella Haro relax with some of the students after a fun afternoon playing during the 2019 mission trip.

The first two classrooms are complete with the installation of the windows and doors. Note the gorgeous wooden doors.

A Conversation with Rev. Jed Koball about how COVID-19 has affected Peru, our partners, and his family.

Who is Jed Koball? https://vimeo.com/442395037

COVID-19 and Peru. https://vimeo.com/442392475

Dealing with months of lockdown. https://vimeo.com/442392993

How are our partners at the School for the Deaf and the Shelter for Abused Girls doing? https://vimeo.com/442393724

What are churches in Peru doing about COVID-19? https://vimeo.com/442394272

Faith during these challenging times. https://vimeo.com/442392419

About the refugee problem in Peru. https://vimeo.com/442393938

What more can we do to help? https://vimeo.com/442394502

At the beginning of each summer, Brownson Church packs more than 25,000 meals for Rise Against Hunger. The dried legumes, rice, and vegetables in each packet feed a family of four and are sent around the world to relieve hunger due to natural and man-made disasters, government inequities, and abject poverty. The 2020 event was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Mark your calendar for the first weekend in June which is when this event normally happens.  If you have any questions about our Rise Against Hunger efforts, please reach out to Austin Vernon at discipleship@brownsonchurch.org or call the church office.

SUPPORT FOR DAYSTAR UNIVERSITY

Brownson Church supports Daystar University in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya through financial contributions including a full tuition scholarship each year. Daystar is a Christian university drawing students from not only Kenya but a dozen or more countries in the region.

https://www.daystar.ac.ke/

Daystar University’s Afrizo music group toured the United States in 2017 and 2018 stopping at Brownson Church as part of a major fundraising effort. Brownson supported the group with financial contributions and members opened their homes as hosts for the students for a couple of nights while in the Sandhills.

We all treasure the experience of Afrizo: the joyful melodies, the rich voices, the colorful personalities that create a vibrant African experience.  But Afrizo’s songs and voices are more than just entertainment—they tell an ever-evolving story about how Daystar University in Kenya is impacting the entire African continent, one student at a time.

Look for updates on Daystar in the Bells newsletter and announcements about the next Afrizo tour once it is scheduled. If you would like to make a contribution to Daystar University, please reach out to Austin Vernon at discipleship@brownsonchurch.org or call the church office.