International Partnerships
Contact: Cathy Tamsberg, Minister of Outreach and Adult Education
919.828.0897, x214
ctamsberg@pullen.org
Pullen maintains significant international partnerships in five locations: Cuba, Nicaragua, the Republic of Georgia, Zimbabwe, and Coventry, England. These relationships broaden our knowledge of the needs of the world and enrich us as individuals and as a church. They are central to our congregational life and ministry as we seek to learn from our partners what it means to witness to God's love and justice in their settings.
We understand our relationships with our partners to be mutual ministries of "accompaniment" as we strive to be companions of our sisters and brothers in these locations. Although contributions of work and financial support are important aspects of our partnerships, this ministry of presence is our central vocation. Learning from their examples what God is calling us to do and be is our primary task.
Community of the Cross of Nails;
Coventry, England
In 1940, the Anglican cathedral in Coventry was bombed by the German Air Force and 500 local citizens were killed. The only portion of the historic church left standing was the outer shell. In the rubble that remained, several large nails were found melted together in the shape of a cross. The morning after the bombing, the words "Father Forgive" were written behind what used to be the altar. When the cathedral was rebuilt, the ruins of the bombed-out structure were left as a visual and spiritual reminder of the horrors of war. Vowing to respond to that devastation as Jesus would, the cathedral community created what has become a worldwide network to promote peace known as the Community of the Cross of Nails (CCN).
Pullen's connection to that worldwide ministry of reconciliation was begun when the first group of young people from our church spent a month in Coventry in 1974. A second group made the pilgrimage in 1976, and in 1978 Pullen was named a Center of the Community Cross of Nails. Since that time, dozens of Pullen people, mostly youth, have participated in pilgrimages to Coventry every 3-5 years. In 2007, a group of Pullen adults continued this tradition. We maintain contact with CCN through their newsletter, periodic travel to Coventry, Pullen representation on the CCN-North America Board of Directors, and through our relationship with other CCN centers in the U.S. Our Cross of Nails Reconciliation Fellowship, one of our mission groups, oversees this partnership, encouraging us to be reconcilers within our congregation and beyond.
Contact: Erin Newton
First Baptist Church, Matanzas, Cuba
Since 1988, the Pullen family has been richly blessed by its partnership with the First Baptist Church of Matanzas, Cuba. The partnership began when Pullen members, Roger and Mary Ruth Crook, attended a Global Baptist Peace Conference in Sweden where they met Francisco "Paco" Rodes, pastor of FBC-Matanzas. Paco wanted to learn English. So they invited him to stay with them while he studied English at Wake Tech and our wonderful partnership was born.
Over the years, nearly 200 different Pullen people have visited Cuba and many have returned multiple times. Members of our chancel choir, Pullen Mission Women, youth groups, and other interested members have been among our pilgrims to Matanzas. Today, groups of Pullen adults travel to Cuba once or twice a year, typically in February and November, and our older youth go every other summer. In the past, members of First Baptist traveled to Pullen to visit with us. In recent years, however, the U.S. government has refused to permit the Cuban pastors and church leaders to enter the U.S. Our church has a license from the U.S. Department of the Treasury for religious travel to Cuba, so our trips are legally authorized.
Through our annual missions budget and Advent Mission Offering, we support the outreach ministries of the Kairos Center, which is housed at First Baptist. We also fund a scholarship at the ecumenical seminary in Matanzas and otherwise contribute financially to needs of our Cuban sisters and brothers that they identify. Pullen people who have traveled to Matanzas all agree that, in spite of our efforts to be generous with our contributions of presence and funds, we have received far more from this partnership than we have given.
Contact: Steve Smith and Judy Mays
The Baptist Seminary and Baptist Conference Center, Gweru, Zimbabwe
Our partnership in the troubled nation of Zimbabwe grew from the passion of Pullen member Bonnie Dixon, who visited the country as a seminary student in 1993. Through her non-profit organization, JourneyPartners, Bonnie travels annually to Zimbabwe, with Pullen people often accompanying her on these trips. In the summer of 2006, some of our young adults and one of our pastors spent three weeks in Zimbabwe helping to build a water cistern on the grounds of the Baptist Conference Center in Gweru.
Since 2003, the Baptist Seminary of Zimbabwe and the adjacent Baptist Conference Center have been recipients of Pullen funds through our outreach budget and Advent Mission offering. Several years ago, the Conference Center established an endowment in Pullen's name to support educational events at the facility. More recently, our contributions have been used to keep the Conference Center operating and to cover expenses at the seminary in the midst of the disastrous economic situation in Zimbabwe. The president of the seminary and other Baptist leaders from Zimbabwe often visit Pullen when they are in the U.S.
Contact: Bonnie Dixon
Peace Cathedral, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia
Our partnership with Baptists in the Republic of Georgia began developing in 1989 when Pullen members, Roger and Mary Ruth Crook, went to Georgia with the "Bridges for Peace" program. In 1998, Georgian Baptist Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili preached at Pullen for the first time. The following year, we began contributing to Georgian Baptists' new program of theological education named the "School of Elijah." Since that time, Malkhaz has visited with us on a number of occasions. Our pastors visited Tbilisi for Pentecost in 2007, and several members returned in 2008 to represent Pullen at the celebration of Malkhaz' wedding. We anticipate that a group of Pullen people will travel to Georgia in the next several years.
Our financial contributions to the ministry of Baptists in Georgia have supported outreach to refugees and street children in addition to theological education. When the Russian invasion of Georgia resulted in more than 100,000 displaced Georgians in 2008, a special offering was sent to assist the Baptist Union of Georgia in addressing the consequences of the military action.
Contact: Nancy Petty
A Ministry of Sharing (AMOS) Health and Hope, Managua and El Bejuco, Nicaragua
For an update on the clinic dedication and pictures, click here.
Pullen's newest international partner is AMOS Health and Hope led by American Baptist medical missionaries Drs. Laura and David Parajon. After being asked by the American Baptist Churches-USA to support this missionary couple, our ABC Mission Group learned more about their ministry of developing community-based health care in rural Nicaraguan villages. Sensing that Pullen and the Parajons' work were a good match, Pullen members Dr. Deb Norton, Jonathan Sledge, and Dr. Charlotte Sweeney traveled to Nicaragua in 2005 to see their ministry first hand. After a second trip to observe the public health project developed by Laura and David, Pullen committed to provide both personal and financial support.
In 2008, a group of Pullen pilgrims traveled to the village of El Bejuco to begin construction on a health clinic that will serve the rural community's residents, who live too far from a government clinic to receive adequate health care. AMOS has also trained a health promoter for El Bejuco and other similar villages to address basic health prevention and care. Our church is committed to funding both the total cost of the construction of the clinic and its operating costs for at least five years.
Contact: Deb Norton and Jonathan Sledge
ABC International Ministries sponsors the Parajon's ministries. Click here to link to the Parajon's journal. Click on the logo to link to the International Ministries website.