The Peace Corps and Our Overseas Church
Diocesan Press Service. October 1, 1962 [III-8]
Since the founding of the Peace Corps by the United States Government, many Church people have raised questions about the relationship of this Corps of well-trained and competent young volunteers with the missionary work of the Church abroad. Experience now shows us that in many areas Peace Corps appointees are working close to the established institution of our Church's overseas mission. This is not because Peace Corps people go as "evangelists" in the traditional sense of the word, but simply because they go to countries where the Church's institutions are, in fact, the only institutions working in intimate contact with the people.
An example of this can be seen in Liberia. In this country, the program of education of the Episcopal Church is carried on through 42 elementary schools, five high schools, and Cuttington College and Divinity School. For many years, both Bishop Harris and the Liberian Government have looked on the elementary and secondary school education system of Liberia as the weakest link in the whole chain of the development of an enlightened citizenship. Bishop Harris is constantly presenting the Overseas Department with programs calling for stepped-up teacher training, improved buildings, and facilities, and extension to reach a larger number of youth. This year, the Peace Corps begins its operation in Liberia with a minimum of 75 Peace Corps cadets, who arrived in late August and early September. The schools of the Episcopal Church in Liberia - many of which have been recognized by the Liberian Government - expect to profit by this program to the extent of at least two Peace Corps teachers for each of our secondary schools, plus Cuttington College, and Bishop Harris reports, "These teachers will strengthen the present staff . "
In another part of the world - namely Ecuador - the members of the Peace Corps are playing an important part in the parish life of our new and thriving mission. A new Spanish-speaking chapel and social service center is to be opened in Guayaquil soon. The present parish of Iglesia Cristo Rey, will be responsible for developing this new center and with the help of some of the Peace Corps members of the parish, classes for adults in Home Economics, Cooking, Sewing, Hygiene, Carpentry, Electricity, Mechanics and Tailoring will be interwoven with courses on the Christian Faith and Religion for those who wish to take them. The parish library is becoming an important meeting place for Ecuadorians and members of the Peace Corps find it a quiet place where they can get away from the difficult areas where they are living and working. The Rev. Charles Pickett, of Guayaquil, writes - "I invite two or three of them (Peace Corps members) for one good meal a week, and I have just had my second wedding in Ecuador - two of the Peace Corps kids".
It is important for us to realize through this that the mission of the Church is carried on not only by people who are officially appointed and paid by the Overseas Department of the National Council, but that it is a cooperative mission delivered into the hands of faithful Christians, working in all places, under all conditions, and faithful to a common Lord. Certainly, in both Liberia and Ecuador, and in many other places, our Church is grateful for the dedicated hard work and commitment of many of the young Peace Corps cadets.