About Commission To Every Nation (CTEN)  www.cten.org

Helping ordinary people partner with God to accomplish the extraordinary. A non-denominational missionary sending agency.

Gifts to CTEN will be accepted up to July 26. CTEN provides our volunteer mission charitible support. For info and secure online giving: CTEN.org/giving. CTEN was founded in 1994 by Rick Malm.  He was serving in Guatemala when he saw various well-qualified missionaries leave the field because their ministry focus changed and they no longer had a mission agency.  God called him to join missionaries to help them do what He called them to do.  CTEN has helped over 300 missionaries.  Their director of pastoral care stay in contact with the home church as well as care for the Stothers.  The CTEN mission statement is simply Prayer, Giving, and Going.

College Avenue Presbyterian Church (CAPC) is a 120 year old church in Rockridge a neighborhood of Oakland, CA.  Our neighborhood was split by a freeway corridor and suffered decline but is now upscale due to the proximity to the BART station.  We have strong fellowship groups, provide a weekly community meal for the less fortunate, rent out and provide space for the community.  We value our racial and cultural diversity. 

Ward was commissioned by CAPC to demonstrate the Christian calling to world missions and in particular to reconciliation. They served the church and community in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 2008 to 2014.

Reverend Monte McClain is our pastor.

Ward and Marda worked for Crumlin Road Presbyterian Church from April 2008 until April 2012 and lived in intern housing off Ballysillan Road for two and a half years. They moved to a house on the Crumlin Road in September 2010 with the help of The Vine Centre, Crumlin Road Presbyterian Church, and L'Arche Belfast.

Initially the work began with prayer at the Rostrevor Benedictine Monestary, and weekly group prayer on Monday and Wednesday mornings and morning prayer daily. The house on the Crumlin Road was named The Loom, and had been the location of The Vine Centre before they built their present purpose-built facility.

As The Loom, relationships are built one person at a time. Maria Garvey and the Stothers have met many people in the community and further afield. Northern Ireland is very small 100 miles across with 1.5 million people. Hospitality is practiced. They host guests from the United States and elsewhere in the hopes of building a community intern house for future volunteers and weaving relationships that together stronger can impact the community for good.

In May 2012 they received new sponsorship to do ministry as volunteer clergy doing visitation, pastoral support, prayer, writing and art, community development, and cross community work. They have joined the Townsend Street Presbyterian Church to work with people who work at the Townsend Centre. Through this affiliation they hope to increase their ministry work across the wider communities of the Shankill and the Falls Roads in North Belfast.

In 2014 the Stothers moved back to Berkeley but the Loom continues with resident author Jon Kennedy. The Stothers will work remotely and return for special projects.

The Greater Shankill Road community is a working class neighborhood surrounded by a patchwork of segregated Catholic and Protestant housing areas.  The community has suffered greatly during the 30 year "Troubles" and has declined in population from 70,000 to 18,000 since the 1960s. 

Although peaceful with minimal crime and no homelessness due to government services, the wounds of conflict are still deeply evident.  The prosperity of the EU, Ireland and the UK affords an opportunity to build up the community by incorporating forgiveness, healing, and full reconciliation of God’s people.

There are many good news stories to be told. NI2012 is a campaign to bring in tourism. 2013 gave us the G8, the UK City of Culture, and the World Police and Fire Games. Let's hope this will last as we each do our part.