Sudanese Mission

Sudanese Presbyterian Fellowship worships at First Presbyterian Church on Sunday afternoons 1:00-3:00 P.M.

First Presbyterian also supports the work of Pastor Heidi McGinness in the Sudan.

As an ordained Presbyterian Minister, Pastor Heidi McGinness has served the Lord in the rural, suburban and inner-city parish. Always the prophetic preacher, Pastor Heidi has worked tirelessly to champion the rights of ALL people, gaining her the reputation of being a human rights activist and a respectful, compassionate listener. Pastor Heidi left her native Germany as a young girl where she had the misfortune of witnessing the results of hate and the horrors of war and its debilitating aftermath. Trips to war-torn Sudan, Africa with the worldwide Christian human rights organization, Christian Solidarity International (CSI), in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 has catapulted Pastor McGinness into becoming a modern-day abolitionist and passionate defender of the victims of slavery, genocide and persecution.

Christian Solidarity International was founded in 1977 in Switzerland by Pastor Hans Stückelberger. CSI exposes religious persecution, demands respect for the God-given right of every human being to choose and practice his or her faith. Since 1995 CSI has been working in Sudan, providing humanitarian aid to people of all faiths who are victims of war and persecution. Sudan's radicalized Islamic government has targeted its own citizens with genocide and slavery: Christians in the South and Black Muslims in Darfur. CSI frees slaves, feeds the hungry, and provides medical support to the sick.

From 2004 through 2008, Pastor Heidi has worked with CSI teams in Sudan. She has been personally present to document the liberation of over 1,000 men, women and children from slavery, delivering tons of medicine and grain, thousands of survival kits, spiritual support and hope.

As Outreach Director for CSI-USA, Pastor McGinness speaks in the United States and Switzerland reaching out to churches, synagogues, universities, schools, and civic groups retelling her gripping eyewitness account of the suffering of the Sudanese people. Through her speaking, preaching and advocacy for persecuted Christians and Black Muslims, she raises much needed funds to aid CSI carry out its life giving mission.

Pastor Heidi has appeared on Breakthrough with Pastor Rod Parsley on Trinity Broadcasting Network. In 2007, she appeared on Fox News Live National (http://iabolish.blogspot.com/2007/06/simon-deng-of-aasg-interviewed-on-fox.html) and has been profiled extensively in national radio, print, and news media. She has been invited and has attended briefings on Darfur in Washington, D.C. with officials from the White House and the Department of State. Because of her testimony on the atrocities in Darfur before the House Finance Committee of the Colorado State Legislatures in February of 2007, she was invited by Governor Bill Ritter to the ceremony that signed Colorado's Divestment Bill into law.

Heidi McGinness is an enthusiastic, articulate and passionate preacher and speaker who inspires and engages her audience, large or small.

Pastor Heidi McGinness

heidi.mcginness@csi-usa.org

303-477-1577 (office)

720-984-4488 (cell)

http://www.csi-int.org

Christian Solidarity International - USA

870 Hampshire Road, Suite T

Westlake Village, California 91361

1.888.676.5700 (Toll Free)

csi@csi-usa.org