By Karen When I moved to Northern Africa to begin my service with the local church as CBF field personnel, I invested the first two years in getting equipped for my long-term ministry. I enrolled in full-time language courses (French and local Arabic dialect) so that I could communicate well in my service and in … Continue reading
By Lynn Hutchinson Florence grew up in a small village in a household headed by her mother who did not speak French, the national language, and who could not read or write. When she was old enough to go to school, she never had access to textbooks. Neither she nor anyone in her home ever … Continue reading
By Christine We’ve all heard the verse, “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “You must become like little children.” Serving as a field personnel is teaching me what this looks like it a way I’ve never experienced before. I’ve traveled to foreign countries where I didn’t speak the language; I’ve moved to new places and … Continue reading
By Anna Anderson When we are asked to submit prayer requests for the monthly Prayer Associates guide that goes out to a large segment of the CBF churches, individuals and other supporters, we never really know who reads these requests or where they end up going. Last fall, in our work with the benevolence ministry … Continue reading
By Field Personnel in Southeast Asia Barukh attah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha-olam, borei peri hagafen. Blessed art Thou, LORD our God, King of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine. We heard this four times throughout our dinner on Thursday evening, on one of our favorite nights of the year. Barukh attah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha-olam, borei peri hagafen. Blessed art Thou, LORD our God, King of the universe, Creator … Continue reading
By Jonathan Bailey When I was a seminary student in the early 1990s, I took a course called Music and Missions. It surveyed and tried to investigate the liturgical function of music in church settings globally. At the time, I was serving as the music director for a first-generation West African church in Arlington, Texas. Working with … Continue reading
“God had sent us to the wrong pharmacy; but it actually turned out to be the right pharmacy. We accidentally had sent a young man to a place that had a leftover vaccination that was going to be thrown out.
The pharmacist was thrilled that we called; the young Karen man was thrilled to get the vaccination; and we were amazed at how God used a misunderstanding to keep an unused vaccination from being thrown away, giving an unexpected, much-needed vaccination to a Karen refugee.” Continue reading
By Cindy Ruble The women’s advocacy center with whom I partner in Asia has seen a 58 percent increase in their hotline calls regarding domestic violence, adult sexual assault, child sexual abuse and relationship issues since the pandemic began. Hotline calls from outside our region more than doubled as the center’s online presence increased on … Continue reading
By Jenny Jenkins Answering the call to build a clinic in a remote community in the mountains of Haiti has a set of unique challenges. As we prayed about and started this project, it came about only because of a community that was willing to put the sweat equity into this project, to see a … Continue reading
By Carson Foushee For the first two years we lived in Tokyo, we were out the door early each morning to board packed trains for our commute to Japanese language school, located near the second busiest station in the world. After wrapping up our studies each afternoon, we would return home with just enough daylight … Continue reading
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