Missions at Denver Pres
No matter our faith backgrounds, we can all agree that the world is not as it should be.
At Denver Pres, we seek to embody the love of God as agents of change for the common good. We partner with a small number of high-impact organizations to meet practical, financial, and spiritual needs in Denver, in greater Colorado, and around the world.
Local
Missions Partners
McAuliffe International School is the public school where Denver Pres holds our Sunday worship services. Twenty-five percent of students at McAuliffe are considered high-need.
Reformed University Fellowship is the official campus ministry of our denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America. More than just a ministry on the university campus, RUF seeks to be a ministry for the university. RUF strives to serve in this unique stage of a student’s life in the world they live in, exploring together how the Lordship of Christ informs every area of life. Denver Pres partners financially with RUF programs throughout the U.S.
Mile High WorkShop is a faith-based employment and paid job training program for individuals facing barriers to employment.
Following Jesus's example, the organization serves community members who are rebuilding their lives after incarceration, homelessness, and addiction. Mile High WorkShop specializes in kitting, assembly, and light manufacturing, partnering with businesses to create meaningful training opportunities and second chances.Through its transitional employment program, participants stabilize their lives, discover renewed purpose, reintegrate into the community, and experience the dignity of work. Mile High WorkShop values collaboration, working closely with local organizations like Denver Rescue and Cross Purpose.
Denver Rescue Mission has been serving the most vulnerable in Denver since 1892. Its history is rooted in a love of Christ and a commitment to share that love with others.
At multiple locations throughout Denver, they help restore the lives of people experiencing homelessness, poverty, and addiction through emergency services, rehabilitation, transitional programs, and community outreach.
Ways to engage:
Serve a meal as an individual, or as a group
Cook a meal as a group
Become a mentor (for men, women, families, and/or refugees)
Assist with vocational skills (interviewing, resume writing, computer literacy, etc…)
Volunteer
Mentor
Donate goods
CrossPurpose is a faith-based nonprofit helping people out of relational, economic, and spiritual poverty through career and community development. During a six-month, free program, men and women living at or below poverty level train to enter new careers, changing the trajectory of their own lives.
The mission and vision of CrossPurpose aligns so well with the gifts and skills of many within the Denver Pres. community. If you have professional experience – full-time, part-time, present, or past – or if you are just excited about the mission of CrossPurpose, there are ways for you to be involved!
Ways to engage:
Conduct mock interviews for graduates.
Become an “Ally”, or mentor, to CrossPurpose students for a six-month length of time.
Grace and Peace Denver is a church community dedicated to serving the community of Northeast Denver. Grace and Peace was planted from Denver Pres in October 2016.
Grace and Peace wants to see a vibrant and diverse worshipping community which faithfully leads the diverse residents of Northeast Denver towards Jesus and His grace, bringing more of Christ's future peace to Northeast Denver here and now.
Denver Pres is part of the Western Church Planting Network, a network of churches in our presbytery (Colorado, Wyoming, Montana) that are passionate about planting churches. By the grace of God, we are on track to start 20 new churches by 2025 in this region of the country. These new churches will nearly double the size of our presbytery. We are founding members this network and provide key leadership for it.
To learn more about serving through any of these partnerships, contact the deacon board at deaconboard@denverpres.org
International Missions Partners
We are committed to the work of reconciling our world to Christ by pursuing justice and mercy.
We have developed a small number of key partnerships with organizations around the world that engage in church planting and share the Gospel in both word and deed through holistic ministry and care.
Our short-term missions teams leverage skills and talents from our church community to meet specific needs and enhance the ongoing work of these organizations, even after we leave.
Engineering Ministries International (eMi)
Will and Jenny LoPatriello in South Africa
eMi is a Christian development organization dedicated to serving the least-reached worldwide through the design of hospitals, schools, churches and other facilities.
Will and Jenny have been members of Denver Pres since 2016.
Both of them have extensive experience in mission work. Jenny was born in Costa Rica to missionary families from the US, and both Will and Jenny have served on mission trips in central America and Africa several times.
Will is a trained architect with a wealth of incredible experience which is critical to the work that eMi is doing in the region around South Africa.
Jenny's combined experience in healthcare and missions work to the poorest of the poor is an incredible asset to eMi as they design facilities in the low income areas in and around South Africa.
Their family plans to move to South Africa in early 2025.
Email deaconboard@denverpres.org for more information on Denver Pres and
its partnership with the LoPatriello Family and eMi.
MTW Next
An arm of Mission to the World (MTW), Next seeks to minister internationally to young people, including the children of missionaries themselves.
Husband to Kelly and father of three children, Andrew serves as Next’s regional director for the Americas.
He is an associate pastor for the United Church of Bogotá (UCB). With training in trauma, Kelly provides biblical counseling services through the church.Denver Pres began supporting the Baxleys in the summer of 2023, and we thank God for their hearts
to serve as multinational of a city as Bogotá.
Email deaconboard@denverpres.org for more information on Denver Pres and
its partnership with the Baxley Family and MTW Next.
The Baxley Family in Bogotá, Colombia
Iglesia Comunión (PCA)
Juan José Cotto is an ordained church planter serving a fast growing area just outside the San Juan metro area.
Juan José is married to Rosy, and together they have three beautiful children.
Iglesia Comunión is only the third PCA planted on the island of Puerto Rico, which boasts a population of 2.5 million people.
Denver Pres began supporting this exciting mission church in 2023, and we look forward to short-term trips to serve with them.
Email deaconboard@denverpres.org for more information on Denver Pres and
its partnership with the Cotto Family and Iglesia Comunión (PCA).
The Cotto Family in Caguas, Puerto Rico
Serge
The Nelson Family in Guatemala City, Guatemala
Jeff and Abbie Nelson are medical missionaries serving with Serge in Guatemala City since 2018. They have three daughters.
Their heart is to be a blessing to the city and to see the flourishing of the Guatemalan church.
Jeff is a clinical psychologist supporting pastors and ministry workers through therapy and education.
Abbie is a family nurse practitioner working on a diabetes project based in a local church ministry clinic near the city landfill.
Email deaconboard@denverpres.org for more information on Denver Pres and
its partnership with the Nelson Family and Serge.
Redeemer City to City
The Pacheco Family in Mexico City, Mexico
Redeemer City to City is an organization founded by Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC that recruits, trains, and coaches leaders who cultivate gospel church planting movements in global cities.
Leonel planted the Fuente De Redención Presbyterian Church in 2017, and is also a trainer and coach of church planters in Latin America.
Denver Pres began supporting Leonel and his family in 2023, and we are thrilled to see the Gospel on the move in Mexico City.
Email deaconboard@denverpres.org for more information on Denver Pres and
its partnership with Leonel’s ministry in Mexico and Latin America.
Ethiopia ACT
Annual short-term medical trips to Ethiopia
comprised of medical professionals and others from Denver Pres.
ACT was started in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. At that time, without available treatment, hospice care was the main focus. ACT still works with HIV/AIDS patients, but has expanded the work to include others in extreme poverty dealing with life-threatening disease. ACT has always been committed to working with the poorest and most marginalized and treating them with dignity and respect, as those made in God’s image.
Healthcare is a major part of the work of Ethiopia ACT, but they are also involved in ways to help break the chain of generational poverty. There are programs for the beneficiaries involving banking, income generation, counseling, housing, and children’s education.
Hand in hand with the work of Ethiopia ACT is a team from Mission to the World (MTW) who are also serving the poor. Orthodox Christianity is a part of the culture of Ethiopia, but there are few evangelical churches. This team is involved with church planting and ministering to many of those who come for help to the program and the many clinics.
Denver Pres has supported Ethiopia ACT since 2013. We have sent six medical teams to take part in their clinics. Our teams have also worked alongside ACT team members on providing clean water, and our church helped to finance some in-home water filters to that end.
Email deaconboard@denverpres.org for more information on Denver Pres and
its partnership with Ethiopia ACT.
Presbyterian Church of Senegal (EPS)
Annual short-term trips to Senegal
comprised of educators and others from Denver Pres.
The Presbyterian Church of Senegal (EPS) is a holistic, organic, and indigenous movement led by local Senegalese people with opportunity for long-term and high-impact relationships in education, business, and leadership development.
EPS has launched several private schools that are very sought after by families in the community because of the high-quality education and well-trained teachers.
EPS desires to strengthen these schools and their teachers and has asked for our church to be involved by leading collaborative conversations and enrichment activities for the Senegalese teachers and students.
Denver Pres has supported EPS since 2017, and has sent three teams to engage in collaborative conversations with the teachers of EPS, while also supporting and caring for the students with enjoyable and educational activities.
Email deaconboard@denverpres.org for more information on Denver Pres and
it’s partnership with EPS Senegal.