Covenant Presbyterian Church - Charlotte, North Carolina

Uganda: Juna Amagara Ministries

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is destroying lives, families and cultures in many parts of Africa, but in Uganda, there is hope. This East African republic long ago built a coalition of government, churches and schools that has worked to educate people about the disease, enact measures to dramatically slow its spread, and offer relief to millions of infected victims.

More than a million people have died in Uganda since HIV/AIDS took root two decades ago, leaving behind more than two million orphaned children. Juna Amagara Ministries was founded in 2004 to help those children grow in Christ and become healthy, productive members of society.

By empowering their personal and spiritual growth, as well as tending to basic needs such as safe shelter, nutrition and education, we can help the Ugandan children become future leaders in their community.

Bethlehem Bible College

Bethlehem Bible College seeks to train and prepare Christian servant-leaders who model Christ-centeredness, humility, biblical wholeness, creative mercy and justice in their jobs and ministries in churches and society within an Arab context.

Evangelical Theological Seminary (SET), Matanzas, Cuba

SET is Cuba's primary Protestant seminary. It trains pastors and lay leaders for service in churches in Cuba, Latin and Central America, and the Caribbean islands. The seminary plays a critical role in sustaining churches under the current Cuban government.

Renguti School

After an exploratory trip to Kenya in April, 2009, Covenant's Africa Discernment Team determined that this small rural school with 202 children would be a place where Covenant's many gifts and resources could be beneficial.

Many children who attend the school live as many as six miles away and walk to school each day, and most of their lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS. But once there, they are met with nurturing teachers who joyfully instill a love of learning in hopes of helping the children break the cycle of poverty.

Covenant Presbyterian will return in June 2010 to build two middle school classrooms, with plans to sustain the teachers' salaries for those classrooms.

Salvador and Irma De la Torre

Dr. Salvador and Irma de la Torre are a husband-and-wife, doctor-nurse team with extensive teaching and clinical experience at hospitals and universities in Mexico, Haiti and Kenya.

Sal is a consultant to the Christian Health Association of Kenya (CHOK), the overarching agency for all Christian hospitals, including three hospitals of PC(USA)'s partner church, the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA).

Sal also is the project manager for the U.S. government-sponsored aid program for people with HIV/AIDS, called PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. In this role, Sal makes sure that the 9,000 patients with HIV get the drugs and the equipment necessary for anti-retroviral HIV therapy.

Irma helps the PCEA set up primary schools and builds community leadership.

Medical Benevolence Foundation

The Medical Benevolence Foundation (MBF) has a long and rich history of supporting missionaries, hospitals and various medical projects in developing countries such as Malawi, Kenya, Haiti and India. MBF provides mission opportunities for health care providers and others.

For questions about any of these partners, please contact:
Carla Leaf
Director of Missions
704.804.7578
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)