Mission Moment

Bite 35: Providing hope at a stoplight

"All over our city, at every stoplight, we are faced with refugee children and mothers with small babies begging at car windows. For this reason, I keep packaged snacks in the car to hand out.  Often, these children are being used by adults who place them there with no food or water to beg from anyone passing. 

This particular day, I only had two small packages of popped popcorn which were tied inside a plastic grocery bag. There were two young boys at the stoplight, so I handed them the whole bag directing them to share, and said 'Jesus Christ loves you!'

Before I got through the intersection, I glanced into my rear-view mirror and saw a shocking sight. Both boys were pulling at the grocery bag towards themselves like a tug of war, and then, one boy began ripping the grocery bag with his teeth to get to the smaller bags of popcorn -- they were so hungry.

The snacks in the car are my way of helping children in the most effective and least abusive way.  This day, I was humbled by their need, and their hunger. A certain numbness comes from the constant bombardment of beggars at every light. Those children are seeing the Lord's face through gifts given to CBF to support our Syrian relief work."

- CBF field personnel in the Middle East

Mission Moment

 Re-learning the world, re-learning God

"Archie came to us directly from prison, not having been out in civilian life since 1993. I began to think about current events and what life was like here in Halifax County 24 years ago. Overwhelmed was my reaction as I thought about the advent of cell phone technology and even our money system.

We have much work to do with Archie. His adjustment has been difficult as he learns about life in this new 21st century world. Hopefully, through our work with homeless men like Archie at Union Mission in Roanoke Rapids, N.C., we can help them see how God can support and sustain both in the present and future."

- Anna and LaCount Anderson, CBF field personnel in Eastern North Carolina

Mission Moment

Our Church is pleased to support CBF Global Missions in moments like these where bearing witness to Jesus Christ takes form through lessons that connect nutritional health and faith.
 
"Recently in our various children's and mothers' groups we talked about something that might seem spiritually irrelevant: good nutrition. What foods should we eat more of, and what should we eat less of? Through simple games and activities, we're giving these families tools to make better decisions about what they put into their bodies.      

Is this mission work? Does Jesus care what we eat? Absolutely -- remember the times he fed crowds of people who were hungry? And remember that Paul said our bodies are temples to care for? It's a simple way to remind these children that God cares about more than just their souls -- God loves all of us. Jesus came so that we could go to heaven, but also so that we could live 'life to the full' here and now."

- Jon and Tanya Parks, CBF field personnel in Slovakia

Mission Moment

Our Church is pleased to support CBF Global Missions in moments like these where bearing witness to Jesus Christ takes form through reaching international students with daily Christ-centered action. 
 
"For 17 days in February, we hosted a delightful group of 13 international students from China. We said 'grace' before our meals at home. After a few days, one of the young men staying with us had cooked some Chinese food for our dinner. We were talking about how excited we were to start eating and he said, 'Wait, aren't we going to say grace first?' So we believe that our Christian witness in word and deed made an impact. They asked many questions about church and about God and our prayer is that as they return to China to finish their education, select their career, and establish families, that thoughts of Jesus will come to their minds and that their hearts will turn toward God."

- Lita and Rick Sample, CBF field personnel in Fremont, Calif.

Mission Moment

Our Church is pleased to support CBF Global Missions in moments like these where bearing witness to Jesus Christ takes form through meeting the needs of a community and growing ministry with assets and passions of the community . 

"Conetoe, North Carolina, is one of the country's many "food deserts," where fresh, nutritious food is not readily available. Our partner Rev. Richard Joyner started a community garden in Conetoe and enlisted the youth in the community to help him take care of it. These youth became so involved in the garden that they not only helped with the garden daily, but they also organized a non-profit called the Conetoe Family Life Center and put together a grant allowing them to build an educational building for the ministry. We are finding as we work alongside the youth and Richard Joyner, that Conetoe is also a "spiritual desert." Therefore, our hope is to provide a Christian educational piece connected to the Conetoe Family Life Center ministry through our current music and art programs."

- Anna and LaCount Anderson, CBF field personnel in Eastern North Carolina

Mission Moment

Our Church is pleased to support CBF Global Missions in moments like these where unity and love are modeled and shared.

"Recently the ladies in my ministry and I learned to crochet "plarn" (plastic yarn) mats from used grocery bags -- a very useful skill in a country where these bags are everywhere. The crocheted mats are lightweight and waterproof. For those living in a tent year round with the cold ground in the winter and the hot air in the summer, the mats allow the air to circulate under and through the mats, providing a cooler place to sleep. At first, the ladies were surprised at the idea of using plastic bags like this, but they soon caught on and crocheted all the bags I'd brought with me. They were quite taken with the idea of using something which costs them nothing to create a useful item for their tents."

- Anonymous CBF field personnel serving in the Middle East 

Mission Moment from Uganda

 Our Church is pleased to support CBF Global Missions in moments like these where unity and love are modeled and shared.

"Hannah is the first woman who I ministered to when I arrived in Uganda 3.5 years ago. God has done an incredible work in her life as she has healed and overcome incredible adversity. She was among our second group of shelter graduates. She is now in her second year at a Music college (from which she earned a scholarship) and will complete her degree at the end of next year. We are incredibly proud of Hannah and amazed at God's work in her life!"

- Missy Ward-Angalla, CBF field personnel, Kampala, Uganda

Mission Moment

Our Church is pleased to support CBF Global Missions in moments like these where unity and love are modeled and shared.

"After experiencing homelessness for 18 years, Roland in his first night in his own home, thought it was ludicrous that he would have an empty couch when he knew there were people who didn't have a place to stay," Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel Joshua Hearne said. 

Roland's declaration changed the way that Hearne and his community interacted with the city. 

"What hit me right between the eyes was I had never had that thought. Not once had I ever been moved beyond a vague bad feeling that I had an empty couch, an empty bed," Hearne said. "That was the time when as a community, we all kind of stopped and thought, 'Roland is right. How do we live in light of our brother's faith?'"

Mission Moment from Houston, Texas

Our Church is pleased to support CBF Global Missions in moments like these where unity and love are modeled and shared.

"I recently delivered a food basket to a new Iranian family. I had barely taken off my shoes at the door upon entering, when the husband stated that this is truly a blessing and his wife would like to pray. We held hands around the small basket of food as she began pouring her heart out to God in her native language for the next ten minutes.
The husband shared their story, and told me that God has brought them to their 'Promised Land.' They never thought they would have the freedom to share their faith openly. In just a few weeks, they have already shared with many Internationals as well as some Americans. He asked me, 'Why do Americans take all of these freedoms and their faith for granted?' I can't help but wonder why as well."

- Nell Green, CBF field personnel in Houston, Texas

Vests for RAs and GAs

A few of our church ladies got together and were able to sew 50 vests for RAs and GAs, our children's mission groups! We are so thankful that they took time out of their days to make these for the children of our church so they can wear and display their badges on them!