 Our Missionaries
Our church currently contributes to the partial support
of six missionary couples, all missionaries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
In addition, we help support an on-going mission project in Zambia. Here is
a brief description of their positions.
Dr. & Mrs. Salvador de la Torre - Kenya
Rev. & Mrs. Hunter Farrel - Peru
Rev. and Mrs. Gordon C. Gartrell - Brazil
Rev. and Dr.
Donald Wehmeyer - Mexico
Rev. and Mrs.
Michael S. Weller - Ethiopia
Central Asia
Mwandi Hospital Project
- Zambia
Dr. & Mrs. Salvador de la Torre
 Salvador
and Irma are medical missionaries in Kenya. Salvador is
regional liaison for the Christian Hospital Association of Kenya,
coordinating HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment through 20 mission
hospitals. Irma, who is a Registered Nurse,
is helping the Presbyterian Church of East Africa establish day care centers
for orphans and vulnerable children. The Salvadors, who are natives of Mexico, have a special gift for developing mission
hospitals. They spent several years at a Presbyterian hospital in Haiti, and ten years at
the Mwandi Christian Hospital in Zambia (see
below), and several more years helping to redeveloping the Kikuyu
Presbyterian Hospital in Kenya. The Salvadors have three grown children. For a full profile,
click here.
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Mrs. Hunter Farrell
 Ruth and her husband Hunter recently completed
service in Lima,
Peru, where Hunter worked with the "Joining Hands Against Poverty" Network
of Peru, and Ruth advised microenterprise development groups. Hunter is now
the World Missions Director for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Ruth will
continue as a mission worker through June 2008. She is touring the country
speaking on behalf of Presbyterian Missions. The Farrells formerly served as missionaries in Zaire/Congo. They have three children. For a full profile
and recent missionary letters,
click here.
Rev. and Mrs. Gordon C. Gartrell
 Up
until 2008, Gordon
and Dorothy served as evangelists and church planters in Brazil. In
their early assignments they planted churches in remote areas of Brazil. A more recent assignment was in Salvador, Bahia, where they assisted three different Presbyterian congregations. The Gartrells began their
last assignment in 2006, serving in Recife, a
large city on the coast of northeast Brazil. They worked in planting a new
congregation in an middle-class, urban neighborhood without a Presbyterian
church. However, they succeeded in working themselves out of a job. The
United Church in Brazil has become quite strong and felt confident in
continuing the work on their own. The Gartrells have returned to the United
States, where they will serve on home assignment until June 2008. Gordon is an ordained minister and Dorothy has a master's degree in Christian
Education. They have three children. Before their marriage they both served as Volunteers
in Missions in Brazil. For a full profile and recent missionary letters,
click here.
Rev. and Dr. Donald Wehmeyer
 Donald and Martha serve in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. Donald is
director of the School of Continuing Education at San Pablo Theological Seminary. In that
position he organizes conferences and workshops, teaches theology courses, and leads
workshops in many of Mexico's rural areas. San Pablo Seminary trains students from
throughout Central America. Our youth group has traveled to Merida with Son
Servants on three different summers to help with construction of the new
campus for the seminary. In the summers of 2005 and 2006 a group of adults
and youth from First Presbyterian spent a week in Merida, helping with
church and retreat center construction and leading Vacation Bible Schools. Martha, who is a native of Merida, ministers from the home as a volunteer
medical doctor. Donald was born in Wisconsin and has an M.Div. degree from Austin
Presbyterian Seminary. Martha earned her MD degree from the University of Yucatan School
of Medicine. The Wehmeyers have three children. For a full profile,
click here.
Rev. and Mrs. Michael S. Weller
 Michael and Rachel are in their fourth
term as mission specialists in Dembi Dollo,
Ethiopia. Michael teaches evangelism at the Solomon Gidada
Bible School, but also devotes a significant amount of time to Western Wollega Bethel Synod's outreach work with a community of Majang people
living outside of Dembi Dollo. This formerly nomadic people are experiencing
a spiritual revival. At the same time, the Synod is assisting them in
learning agricultural techniques. Rachel serves as
health coordinator for the East Gambela Bethel Synod. She supervises two
clinics the synod operates. Michael was born in Durham, NC and
has a M.Div. degree from Union Theological Seminary. Rachel has a RN diploma and was born in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They have three children. Both have done mission work in Egypt.
For a full profile and recent letters,
click here.
Central
Asia
In 2008, First Presbyterian Church initiated a
relationship with a PC(USA) couple serving in Central Asia. Please
contact the church office for additional information about this couple and
their ministry.
Mwandi Hospital Project
The Mwandi
Christian Hospital is located in the village of Mwandi, on the Zambezi
River, midway between Livingstone and Sesheke, in the southwest corner of
Zambia. The hospital is a mission of the United Church of Zambia, which has
been assisted in this work by the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Medical
Benevolence Foundation, and Medical Missions, Inc. In addition, a management
team, operating out of the Thyatira Presbyterian Church at Mill Bridge,
Salisbury, N.C., provides leadership and logistical support, and guides the
fund raising efforts for the hospital community. Up until 1986, the hospital
was run by the government and was quite run down. In that year, the United
Church of Zambia assumed control, and with the help of Presbyterian medical
missionary Salvador de la Torre (see above), rebuilt it into one of the
better medical facilities in the country. In 1990 we joined more than 20
other area Presbyterian churches in raising funds and providing manpower for
the construction of an electrical substation and electrical wiring at the
Mwandi Hospital. Between 1990 and 1998 our church alone raised in excess of
$55,000 for this and related projects. Through the years, seven of our
members have joined work teams in Mwandi helping to install the wiring at
the hospital, helping to install a walk-in cooler and a morgue cooler,
helping with general repairs and maintenance, and assisting with a new
computer system. Now we are contributing through our budget to the project's
ongoing expansion and ministry in and around the community of Mwandi.
Presbyterian
Church (USA)'s Work in the World - a link to lots
of information about Presbyterian international mission activities.
This page was last updated on
February 11, 2008. |
