The Lord's Light Within

The Lord's Light Within




Lord we reflect with thankful hearts


On the wonder of your birth


The love you expressed when you left


Your glory to come to earth



For your life was like a beacon, Lord


Shining brightly in the night


Filling the world with the radiance of


The Father’s glorious light



And we, too, long to have inside


Your light for others to see


The beautiful reflection of your grace


And the wonder of your majesty



For as your life indwells our hearts


We can shine wherever we are


And arise to take hold of each new day


With your light ablaze in our hearts



So rekindle the flame within us Lord


So it will not flicker nor dim


Ignite us with the light of your love


So you will shine brightly within



© By M.S. Lowndes, 2007

SUTS Installation #20

Herndon United Methodist Church has just completed the 20th Solar Under The Sun installation. The project took place in Mirebalais, Haiti at L'Ecole De Choix.

The team journaled a phenomenal account of the week's activities. For an up close look at a Solar Under The Sun installation week, please click below:

George Billman's Blog
Ashley Broadhurst's Journal

News Stories

To view this article in its original post, click here.

Bringing the power

Sun, Living Waters work together for Solar Under the Sun

JANUARY 9, 2012

Presbyterian News Service

TOYA RICHARDS

It only seems natural that Christians called to bring the light of Jesus to the world would also be committed to bringing actual light to dark places unable to receive ongoing power.

That’s the mission of Solar Under the Sun, a ministry of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Synod of the Sun. Its solar powered systems are custom designed to power the electrical needs of communities that need it the most.

Working closely with sister organization Living Waters for the World (LWW), a mission of the Synod of Living Waters, Solar Under the Sun also can power water treatment systems installed by LWW.

The LWW model and its work actually provided the impetus for the creation of Solar Under the Sun. And a $52,000 Heiserman Grant through the General Assembly Mission Council has helped change lives via the two ministry programs.

Funds for the Heiserman program came from a bequest made in 1966 by Geraldine Heiserman, who was the widow of a Yuma, Colo., farmer and landowner named Lemont Heiserman. The bulk of their estate was left in trust to the church.

The GAMC divided more than $990,000 of that gift among 16 synods to encourage mission projects that reflect partnership between or among two or more synods and-or the GAMC.

“It is a wonderful illustration of how … we can share resources and do things effectively to help critical needs in Third World countries like the need for power,” said Gerry Tyer, transitional synod executive for the Synod of the Sun. “Without the support of the Heiserman Grant and the other donors that support this program it would not happen.”

Just like Living Waters for the World, Solar Under the Sun trains volunteers to install systems so the volunteers can, in turn, go into communities and train local residents.  

“We have now held five solar schools to train teams,” said Ashley Broadhurst, administrative director for Solar Under the Sun. The program has graduated 117 people and more than 50 have been in the field to date, she said.

Solar school training sessions are held at Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center in Little Rock, Ark.

In terms of system installations, Broadhurst said 18 are up and running in Haiti, 16 of which are operating LWW clean water systems.

In two years, she said, the program has been able to get onto the ground in Haiti, and in the next year it will go into places such as Kenya and the Ukraine. There are also many possibilities for the larger church, Broadhurst said.

“Providing solar light not only gives physical light into a community, but also shares the light of Christ,” she said. To be trained in a school like this and to be able to go out into the field and make a difference is fulfilling the Great Commission, Broadhurst said.

Toya Richards, a seminary student Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, writes frequently for Presbyterian News Service.