Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church

MAPC’s 2010-2012 Global Ministry Fellow, the Rev. Molly Dowell Baum, and her husband, the Rev. Ryan Dowell Baum, will depart for a year of ministry in Zambia on August 31. We will commission them to this ministry during worship on Sunday, August 29.

Since graduating from seminary in May, Molly and Ryan have been on the go virtually constantly. They moved to New York from the west coast, and as Molly put it, “Moving to the Upper East Side from seminary in California has been an experience of culture shock in itself!” After appearing before their respective governing bodies, they were each ordained. Molly and Ryan have participated in MAPC congregational life and helped lead worship, including preaching.

The Dowell Baums completed an intensive three-week mission service orientation in Chicago and Louisville. There they participated in lectures, discussions, workshop, and worship with an eclectic group of Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Reformed (Church in America) Christians preparing to embark for distant lands as mission co-workers. According to Ryan, “A valuable element of this training was the opportunity to begin developing relationships with fellow Christians who are preparing to live and serve around the world. These relationships will be important in enabling us to provide one another mutual support and help process our respective experiences. Our colleagues may go through similar adjustments and understand certain aspects of our experience that members of our family or church may not.” In addition to this training, Molly and Ryan have been devouring a stack of books to orient them further–historically, personally, theologically, and culturally–for life in south central Africa.

Like it or not, Molly and Ryan have also seen and felt their fair share of needles–the shots they’ve needed for a variety of immunizations! All of this is so that as August rolls into September, they can soar over the Atlantic and land within 35 minutes of their new home in Kitwe, Zambia. After several days of orientation to life in Zambia with the 2009-2011 Global Ministry Fellows, Brent and Erin Raska, Molly and Ryan will promptly venture out on their first road trip with MAPC partner Theological Education by Extension in Zambia (TEEZ). The Dowell Baums will be involved with teaching lay people, clergy, and prison inmates, and preaching across Zambia. They are excited about experiencing worship, fellowship, and the life of the Church in Zambia. Molly also adds, “I’m really looking forward to the relational aspect of teaching and preaching: getting to know people, hearing their stories, and building relationships–with the women and men we will encounter teaching the Tutor courses, as well as our colleagues at TEEZ, and others we meet along the way. I also can’t wait to dive into and be immersed in a new culture, to experience a different way of life.”

On or about September 5, the Raskas will begin traveling independently on an itinerary that is slated to feature points in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa, Madagascar, and Egypt.

Keep yourself plugged into both the Raskas’ and Dowell Baums’ journeys by following their blogs on MAPC’s website (Raskas' blog: "To Zambia and Beyond" and Dowell Baums' blog: "Scatterlings of Africa").