wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Money down, mission up

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Note #8342 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Money down, mission up
GA04050
June 29, 2004

Money down, mission up

Spending wisely and well is key to medical mission, speaker says

by Alexa Smith

RICHMOND - Larry Streshley, a Presbyterian Church (USA) missionary in Congo,
spoke during Tuesday's International Health Breakfast about a venture that is
revitalizing a rural mission hospital there that was built by the
denomination in 1917.

How is it working?

Through ingenuity, Streshley said.

A $30,000 grant from the PC(USA) is supplementing the salaries of indigenous
doctors who otherwise wouldn't be willing to work in the bush. And there are
joint funding efforts - some involving the Medical Benevolence Foundation
(MBF) dollars - that also have helped in the revamping of the old Luebo
hospital, where, ironically, Streshley's mother was born.

Streshley said another Congo project - sewing malaria nets- is funded with $2
million in USAID money, and is now the largest USAID-funded health program in
the world.

"Even though (church funding) is down," he said, "we're probably more
effective with the dollars we have than we were 15 years ago. We use it more
wisely."

Streshley was describing in real-world terms what MBF Director Dan Force and
PC(USA) International Health Ministries Director Bob Ellis often talk about
in theory.

Force emphasized the need to provide both prevention and treatment to the
world's poorest populations, like those in Congo. Ellis said public health
also requires broader, long-term solutions, such as ensuring healthy crops to
ensure good nutrition, as well as technology and drugs.

The breakfast included a celebration of Force's eight years of service to
MBF. He is retiring on Sept. 1.

This year, MBF, which works in partnership with the PC(USA)'s Worldwide
Ministries Division, has distributed $4.2 million in medical supplies through
Presbyterian mission channels and $2.6 million in cash.

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