OUR ADOPTED MISSION CO-WORKER
In 2018 we adopted Cindy Corell who serves in Haiti
and we continue to support her
with our gifts and our prayers.
You can find information and letters from her at:
www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/missionconnections/cindy-corell/
About Cindy CorellWhile serving as a volunteer youth advisor in her Virginia congregation, Cindy accompanied the young people on mission trips, hoping they would “find their missional feet” and experience the joy of serving others.
However, as Cindy participated in mission in settings ranging from the surrounding community to national destinations, she became keenly aware that serving others in Christ’s name was having a profound impact on her own life. Her spiritual awareness deepened and she was “ready to dive deep into the sea of serving others.”
In 2010, when she made her first trip to Haiti, Cindy sensed a heartfelt connection with this Caribbean country and its people. “I learned that everything I’d ever accomplished in 48 years of living had prepared me for being in that land of beautiful people,” she says. “I was forever changed, and I could no longer be satisfied in an ordinary job and only finding fulfilling and meaningful work on the side.”
So Cindy left a 27-year career as a journalist to accept a Presbyterian mission appointment in Haiti. Having traveled to Haiti and having co-chaired a Virginia-based nonprofit organization that funds educational endeavors in that country, she knows that ministry there is fraught with challenges and frustrations. When facing difficult situations, Cindy says she is confident that family, colleagues, friends, and supporters will stand with her. She realizes that progress will come slowly, and she vows to “rejoice in triumphs, however small.”
Cindy says she hopes her work with people in Haiti and the United States will result in transformed lives in both countries. “I want people to feel comfortable asking questions, even tough questions, about why life in Haiti has been so hard, especially for farmers in what was once such a verdant land.”
One of Cindy’s favorite Bible verses is Philippians 4:8, a passage that bespeaks her positive outlook on life: “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
“When we reach out our hand to help our neighbors as Christ commanded, so often we meet the people who match this lovely description,” Cindy says. “We might not recognize them as such right away. They might not even know how precious their own hearts are. They might be beaten by the negative forces of the world, yet they strive to help others.”
In her career as a journalist Cindy worked at two Virginia newspapers, the Union Star in Brookneal and theNews Leader in Staunton, where she most recently served as community conversations editor. In this role she edited the opinion page and wrote editorials and a weekly column.
Cindy earned a bachelor’s degree in English and communications at Longwood College in Farmville, Virginia. She is a member of Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church in Fishersville, Virginia, where she was ordained as a deacon.