Calvary OPC in Glenside, Pennsylvania has been sacrificially serving a refugee family from Afghanistan since last year. In a recent report about their ministry to their congregation, Jessica Hulsey, the coordinator of the effort, wrote, reflecting on the ministry. 

Jessica tells us that approximately six or seven members of the church are actively involved in this ministry on a regular basis and others jump in as needed. She admits it’s no small task, but extremely rewarding. The family is checked on by phone daily and visited by two individuals weekly. As you’ll read, they’ve gotten to know the family well, and although the family has not attended church regularly, there seems to be a strong bond between the family and Calvary OPC. 

Seeing the Lifeline Connection Among Saints

David Nakhla, Administrator for the Committee on Diaconal Ministries, recently returned from a seven-day trip to Ukraine, with two others from the OPC—deacon from Covenant OPC in Orland Park, IL and CDM member, John Voss and OPC Communications coordinator, Jamie Dean—along with MTW Ukraine Country Director, John Eide. Their excursion began in Poland, where they met up with a Ukrainian woman, Olena, who escorted them by van over the border to L’viv, Ukraine. In the past year, Olena has made this over six-hour trip regularly, transporting over 1300 crates of supplies for the summer edition of Crates for Ukraine (CFU) and, Lord willing, will continue as the winter crates begin arriving from the states.

Releasing April 1

NDS IV 2022 Plenary Session: The Deacon and His Congregation

In this episode, Rev. Dr. A. Craig Troxel addresses the entire NDS IV 2022 group in his plenary session, "The Deacon and His Congregation." Rev. Troxel looks at the Confession of Faith chapter 26, "Of the Communion of Saints".  Grab a coffee as Dr. Troxel dives deep into the vertical relationship between you and God and the horizontal relationship you have with fellow believers.

This is the final episode featuring our National Diaconal Summit IV 2022 speakers. We hope you've enjoyed them and will share them with others. You can find all of the NDS IV 2022 episodes at thereformeddeacon.com. 

Dr. Craig Troxel serves as Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Seminary California. He has served on the Committee on Christian Education (CCE) since 2002 and was named president of the CCE in 2019. 

You can find The Reformed Deacon on your favorite podcast player. Please subscribe, like and comment. We like comments.

Meet Your Fellow Deacon: Greg Torres

by Allison Groot, Administrative Assistant for the OPC Committee on Diaconal Ministries

For the two months of his son’s short yet precious life, Greg says the members and deacons of Christ OPC of Janesville, WI, where he now serves as a deacon, showered his family with the love of Jesus through thoughtful words, gifts, assistance, acts of service, and prayers. In fact, that is what the Lord used to draw him into the service of the ministry of mercy.

Greg writes, “It was through this experience that I not only grew in my faith and matured as a Christian, but I truly realized the importance of the work of deacons in being able to share the love of Christ by providing comfort and providing for other needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ as they face challenging or difficult times.”

PDS Announcement

The Committee on Diaconal Ministries and the Committee on Ministerial Care are happy to announce that the next Presbytery Diaconal Summit is being planned for Thursday November 2-4, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. This Summit is exclusively for OPC presbytery diaconal committee members. You can find out much more, including the possibility to have your travel covered by the CDM and CMC by going to OPCCDM.org. 

Updates from OPC Disaster Response

Crates for Ukraine:

In all, the OPC delivered an amazing 307 crates to Dallas and Chattanooga as part of Mission to the World’s Crates for Ukraine Winter Edition. Seventy-two OP Churches from 16 presbyteries in 24 states participated! MTW L’viv team leader, Doug Shepherd, is hugely grateful for the OPC’s participation in the relief efforts here. We are “punching way above our weight class”, he says. A recent report from Mission to the World  for the overall MTW CFU Winter Effort came in at over 1300 crates! Praise the Lord for the connected church and for His work during this horrific time!

Neon, Kentucky

We need more volunteers! 
April and May have lots of availability for volunteer help. Have you made your spring break plans yet? How about a volunteer trip to Neon, Kentucky? Mike is looking for help with building "Sheds of Hope". Each shed requires four or five strong backs to build, but the work goes quickly—assembling in about three hours! To some of the flood victims, this is the only way for them to secure any belongings that survived the high waters. Right now, Mike knows of seven families who are currently in need of a shed.

Turkey Earthquake Fund

To date we've collected $112,507 in donations! Thanks to all those who have given! Recently OPC Disaster Response agreed to send $20,000. of those funds to one of our ministry partners in the region and is considering other avenues where these funds may minister while sharing the gospel. The fund continues to be open to accept donations. Please continue to pray for the efforts of Reformed pastors and missionaries in the region.

If you know of any deacons who are not receiving the Mercy Minute, send them this link
and invite them to sign up!