January 8, 2025 
 
By Jeff Huett 
 
DECATUR, Ga. – An estate gift has provided an early retirement incentive program for eligible Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel and is making retirement possible for some, while helping to make CBF’s Global Missions efforts financially sustainable.  
 
Nineteen of CBF’s field personnel were eligible for the program, which was available for those 60 years old and above. Thirteen accepted the offer and will complete their work with CBF at the end of the month. They will then enter a period of transition from field service that will conclude at the end of June. Accepting the offer was purely voluntary and field personnel were encouraged to do what they believed was best for them and their families. 
 
After their work with CBF concludes, some will continue ministry in their current setting or elsewhere and others will retire fully.  

Those entering retirement include: 

Anna Anderson – Rocky Mount, N.C. 
Chaouki & Maha Boulos – Beirut, Lebanon  
Steve Clark – Louisville, Ky.  
Lynn Hutchinson – Portugal 
Jenny Jenkins – Grand Goâve, Haiti 
Mary – Southeast Asia 
Karen Morrow – Fort Worth, Texas 
Cindy Ruble – Malaysia 
Greg & Sue Smith – Fredericksburg, Va. 
Mary VanRheenen – Europe 
Marc Wyatt – Raleigh, N.C. 

CBF Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley said the past several months have been filled with important and holy discernment. He expressed appreciation for the Governing Board that chose to embark on this path as an act of faith and said he is indebted to the field personnel who received this invitation for the careful and prayerful consideration they gave it, and for the holy conversations they shared about it.   

“Those who have chosen to continue serving as CBF field personnel will remain part of an incredibly gifted community of servants of Christ who lead beautifully-unique ministries that connect our congregations with the work of Christ all around the world,” Baxley said. “Some of those who are retiring from full-time ministry will continue to serve in new ways and all will remain valuable members of our CBF community.”   

In listening sessions held over the past few years, some CBF field personnel have expressed both a desire to retire but also a fear that they were not holding adequate funds to take that step of faith.  

Steve Clark and Annette Ellard serve among the large population of Karen, Chin, Karenni and other refugees from Burma resettled in Louisville, Ky. Steve has accepted the retirement offer and says it’s a win-win situation for field personnel and CBF. 
 
“Annette will continue to serve with CBF, and I will still be involved,” Steve said. “This offer was a loving and generous offer to those in our family of field personnel.” 

Baxley said this process was partly motivated by a desire to make an unusual opportunity available to field personnel in hopes it would meet this genuine need and also by the desire to reduce the gap between what CBF receives in the Offering for Global Missions (OGM) and the cost of sustaining the presence of career field personnel.   

While fundraising for OGM has been stable for the past four years, raising an average of $2.7 million each year, annually CBF has remained more than $750,000 shy of its budget goal. 

Baxley said it is essential for gifts to the offering to continue at their current level as those gifts support the ministries of field personnel who continue. 

“As gifts to the offering grow sustainably in the years ahead, we will commission new field personnel,” Baxley said. “In the meantime, we are giving space to celebrating these retiring colleagues who have served faithfully for so long, we will take steps to continue to support even more faithfully our field personnel who remain, and we will make space for the conclusion of a strategic process being led by field personnel to discern next steps toward thriving in Global Missions. 

“We will emerge from this process with CBF Global Missions positioned for a compelling and faithful future,” Baxley said.  

Juan García, CBF Moderator and pastor of the Hispanic Congregation (Primera Iglesia Bautista de Newport News) of First Baptist Church, Newport News, Va., said he is deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to honor field personnel by providing an early retirement incentive to those who have reached this significant milestone.  
 
“This initiative reflects our heartfelt appreciation for their years of dedicated service and commitment to ministry, which have been instrumental in shaping the success and reach of our global mission in the name of Jesus,” Garcia said. “It brings me great joy that we were able to express how much they and their ministries mean to our CBF family in such a meaningful way.”  

Tanya Parks, who served with her husband, Jon, in Slovakia from 2012-2021 and is CBF’s moderator-elect, said that in their years with CBF Global Missions, they experienced the many wonderful ways that the Fellowship cares for its field personnel.  
 
“These field personnel have given their time, energy, hearts and lives to the good work of God through the years, Parks said. “The ministries that they have been a part of have influenced the lives of countless individuals. They are heroes of the faith and of our Fellowship, so it is a great joy to see them honored as they move into the next step of their lives. I am deeply grateful for these dear friends and colleagues. Our prayers are with them in this time of transition.” 

CBF Coordinator of Global Missions Laura Ayala reflected on the profound impact these field personnel have made on countless lives and reiterated that support for the Offering for Global Missions is vital.  
 
“Each individual has provided care with dignity and compassion, embodying the love of God in every interaction,” Ayala said. “Throughout their years of service, Jesus Christ has been at the heart of their mission, guiding their actions and inspiring those they served. 

“While they conclude this chapter of their ministry, their calling remains vibrant, and we trust that God will guide them into new journeys in this next phase of their lives. Their invaluable experience and unwavering witness will continue to resonate within our fellowship, she said. “We are honored to welcome them as Emeritus Field Personnel at CBF Global Missions.” 

Ayala said the Offering for Global Missions will continue to support ministries that transform lives in the name of Jesus Christ. The ongoing presence of field personnel in various locations is crucial, as they provide essential resources, support and companionship to those in need.  

As it was at its founding nearly 35 years ago, CBF remains committed to the global mission of Christ. A task force of CBF Global Missions field personnel and staff has been at work for nearly a year in an intentional effort to develop strategy for sustainability, responsible growth, strategic placement, mission partnerships and more to bear witness to Jesus Christ and foster beloved community around the world. 

Greg Smith, who served with his wife, Sue, as CBF field personnel, is a member of that task force. He expressed appreciation to their ministry partners through the years who have supported them with prayer and financial support. These gifts helped support their work through LUCHA Ministries and led to hunger relief ministry to around 1,200 families a year, immigration legal services to hundreds of newcomers, and on-going or long-term case management to more than 500 vulnerable immigrant families. 
 
“Sue and I are deeply grateful to CBF Global Missions and to our partner churches, donors and supporters, including those who faithfully give to the Offering for Global Missions, for making possible the past 19 years of mission service in Fredericksburg, Va.,” Greg Smith said. “Sue and I have also been incredibly blessed by serving alongside other God-called and Spirit-gifted field personnel located in the United States and around the world,” he said.  
 
“As we look to the future, we are encouraged by the work of a taskforce which, building upon the Fellowship’s unique identity and history, is seeking to develop fresh strategic initiatives designed to increase our Global Missions impact in the 21st century.  We believe CBF’s best days lie ahead.” 
 
Lynn Hutchinson is a CBF field personnel serving in central Portugal assisting refugees and immigrants. After nearly 40 years in ministry through missions, 2025 is a significant year for her.   
 
“As I retire, I will celebrate 25 years of service in Africa and Europe through CBF Global Missions,” Hutchinson said. “I am filled with gratitude as I reflect on these 25 years—for the freedom to live out the ‘cooperative’ in our name by working with others, for the opportunity to do holistic and creative ministry to share God’s love and hope with some of the most vulnerable individuals and families, and for the joy of faithful supporters who have accompanied me and made all of this possible through their prayers and financial support.” 

Jenny Jenkins is a CBF field personnel serving through medical and relational ministries in Grand Goâve, Haiti, where she felt the call to live and minister full-time in 2008 and began working on the relief effort in the aftermath of the earthquake in 2010. While she has been serving outside of Haiti for some time, she longs to return after her work with CBF. 
 
“It’s been a hard year being away from Haiti due to the crisis, but God has been faithful and present during this time,” Jenkins said. “I think this is the next step, a new adventure in the journey with Him. He’s not done with me in Haiti.  I’m excited to see what God planned.” 

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CBF is a Christian network that helps people put their faith to practice through ministry efforts, global missions and a broad community of support. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.