The Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study dates back to 1892 and has the longest history of any denominational mission and prayer book in the United States.

Today’s PC(USA) Minute for Mission from the Mission Yearbook…

A theological school in covenant with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

How do people keep the faith in hard times and continue to believe despite widespread hopelessness? The people of Israel exiled in Babylon faced that question. Those were the days of unique spiritual leaders—the prophets, who foresaw the exile but also prophesized that God would restore a remnant of his people to their homeland.

According to Zechariah 8:1–13, God’s promises were the main source of the exiles’ hope for restoration. The prophet represented the spirit of a suffering people who still trusted in God’s goodness. It is not easy to live from promises, especially when they come from changing and fallible human beings. But the promise of restoration came from God and was clear. God would renew the ancient covenant: “They shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and righteousness” (Zech. 8:8).

To believe, to trust, and to wait is not easy. Practicing the presence of God is not an easy task in our ever-changing world. What we need in this modern time are leaders according to God’s heart, as the ancient prophets were.

The key to leadership lies in God’s calling and the response of those chosen by God. God’s mission for leaders is threefold and clear: to call people to repentance, to lead with a vision of the future, and to minister to people in need.

In times of constant change, preparing men and women to serve God and the church is no easy task. For the past 95 years, the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico has been dedicated to the development of pastoral leaders for the mission of the church in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Hispanic communities of the United States.

—staff of the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico