Global Mission

…for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

Matthew 25:35

Through global mission at Wellshire Presbyterian Church, we are in partnership to know, love and work alongside people of the world. We unite with people whose voices are not heard or respected; people who want to learn and have no school; people who struggle with desperate conditions…

And we discover our common humanity. We discover that Jesus lives in all of us. And we discover a sense of humility as our blindness lifts and our hearts are opened.

Examples of global partner organizations

Wellshire Church builds relationships with diverse ministry partners across the globe. Our causes range from medical care to safe drinking water. The following list represents many of the non-profit organizations that we support around the world. Wellshire’s Local and Global Ministries overlap in their partnerships with some of the same organizations; view the Local Opportunities for a growing list of Wellshire-supported causes.

Habitat for Humanity International
Affordable housing (eliminating poverty and homelessness)

Haiti Partners
Crisis support, literacy programs, and education reform in schools in Haitian communities

Lomagundi Clinic Mission Partnership (Denver Presbytery)
Medical clinic in Zimbabwe, Africa

PCUSA Worldwide Ministries
Global ministries

Wellshire’s Fair Shake Shoppe
International Fair Trade products sold at Wellshire to fairly support indigenous artisans

Wellshire’s Green Group
Environmental ministries

Russian Ministries
Supporting Golgotha Church in Moscow, Russia

Seeking Common Ground/
Building Bridges for Peace
Teaches youth peace-building and leadership development, especially between cultures in conflict

Souper Bowl of Caring
Utilizes Super Bowl weekend to mobilize youth to fight hunger and poverty in their local communities

Operation Christmas Child
Demonstrates God’s love in a tangible way to needy children around the world through an annual shoebox gift drive

women4women-knitting4peace
Creates prayer shawls and dolls for women and children in areas of conflict around the world

Compassionate Volunteers Foundation
Zimbabwe orphan education

United Nations – PCUSA
Presbyterian Church (USA) liaison office at the United Nations

General Assembly Mission Council – PCUSA
Mission and ministry agency of the PCUSA

Kiva Microfinance
Microfinance organization dedicated to alleviating poverty by connecting people through lending

Zimbabwe Mission Partnership
Provides food and education to 1,000 orphans in rural Zimbabwe

Our mission co-workers and “pastors in partnership”

Through the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Presbytery of Denver, we partner with mission coworkers (professional missionaries), as well as pastors in partnership. These individuals include:

- Ellen and Al Smith: Moscow, Russia.

Young Adult Medical Mission Experiences

Several young adults affiliated with Wellshire have served communities internationally with a medical focus:

KIVA Microfinance

Wellshire’s Global Service Ministries invests in microloans to address world poverty through Kiva. This method of lending began in the 1970s in Bangladesh. An economist named Mohammed Yunus discovered that people needed capital to start new businesses. He began making small loans to people; the results were so successful that he founded a bank for microlending that now has branches all over the world. Yunus was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work.

The Wellshire Microfinance committee is a group of dedicated people who enjoy coming together every other month to try and help make a difference in the lives of people all around the world by using the organization Kiva to find and fund micro-loans. There are three ways you can get involved:

1) Come to our regular meetings. Contact Katy Fink-Johnson at wpckivagroup@gmail.com to find out when the next meeting is. Bring a lunch and loan suggestions from www.kiva.org.

2) Join the Wellshire team at www.kiva.org/team/Wellshire_Microfinance. You make the loans yourself but get to participate in the larger Wellshire group. Currently we have 56 members.

3) Make a donation to the restricted fund, which the committee members invest at their regular meetings.

Contact Katy Fink-Johnson at wpckivagroup@gmail.com for details. Hope to see you at our next meeting!

Download KIVA Instructions

Questions? Interested?
Contact the Rev. Katie Robb Davis at krobbdavis@wpcdenver.org or Katy Fink-Johnson at wpckivagroup@gmail.com.

Visit the KIVA blog to learn more.