In This Issue Missionary News Good News for SPAN Featured Article What's Happening At IHQ International Conference CEF Worldwide USA MISSIONARY NEWS
Tara Robbins arrived in Madagascar on June 2 for her first field assignment. She has previously served in Madagascar two times as a summer missionary with the CEF Student Thunder program. Tara is from Veradale, Washington and is a graduate of Eastern Washington University with a B.A. in special education GOOD NEWS FOR SPAN™ We currently have 333 Sponsor-A-National™ (SPAN™) recipients. We would like to have 2,000 by the year 2014. This is an impossible goal apart from our Lord touching the hearts of many to give. At Conference we saw how He touched hearts! A total of $547,891 was pledged to SPAN which was matched bringing the total given for SPAN to $1,095,782! The additional blessing is the donor of the matching money has agreed to leave the "matching window" open for a bit longer, meaning any pledges coming in now ALSO qualify for the matching money. We don't know how long this window will be open so we are praying God brings in a harvest while it is open. - Pam Martinez, SPAN Director
NEW STATS
The ministry statistics for 2010 are complete. The number of children reached is 10,926,288--an 8.42 percent increase over 2009. If you would like to see the numbers for each of the regions, go to our Web site, log in, click on Download Files, International Ministries downloads, CEF General Information and then the Statistics folder. All the yearly stats beginning with 2005 are posted there.
WHAT'S HAPPENING At IHQ
Wow, did we have fun May 21-25! Our campus was full of CEF workers from all over the world. It was such a joy to have our brothers and sisters here. Our Missouri weather decided to put on a show and we had several thunderstorms with impressive lightening and winds. We even had a power outage during lunch time!
Change in Titles
A few months ago Jim Neigh suggested that there is good reason for us to clarify roles and titles within International Ministries so that they are more in keeping with the historic norms in CEF. Reese Kauffman and Harry Robinson agreed.The new titles are: Harry Robinson, Vice President of International Ministries; Jim Neigh, Assistant Vice President of International Ministries.
In addition to this clarification, as you know Carol Johnson was recently appointed to a senior staff position in IM. Again, Carol's title seems to have caused some confusion, especially with field staff. It was decided to clarify Carol's leadership position in IM by changing her title as well: Assistant Vice President of International Ministries.
While Jim and Carol will both be Assistant VPs, they will have distinct roles within the department. Jim's main responsibilities will be for our USA-sent missionary program and Carol's for finance, countries and strategic initiatives.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. Psalm 133
Unity was one of the blessings we experienced during a wonderful International Conference and during the regional directors, regional education directors, CEFON and International Board of Trustees meetings. The Psalmist reminds us of the source of all the blessing--God commands the blessing. All good things come from Him and as we recount below some of what happened at the Conference, the Glory is all His.
"Best conference ever!" "I enjoyed this conference more than any others in the past 20 years." "God met us at this conference." "I saw people united in heart." "God renewed my vision."
These are just some of the comments we heard about the Child Evangelism Fellowship® International Conference May 16-21. The official number of people in attendance is 1,007 with 68 countries represented. The event began by highlighting the number of countries opened to CEF® ministry since the last International Conference in 2008. What an awesome sight as 34 new flags were paraded one-by-one to the front of the stage. Joseph Kavuli shared with the IHQ staff that he had many difficulties in opening Djibouti so it was his "great satisfaction and joy to carry its flag." As our target countries are dwindling with everyone working together towards our goal of being in all 207 countries by 2017, the theme for the conference "Together We Can" is not only an inspiration but becoming a reality. (For more information about CEF countries see below).
A great emphasis was placed on prayer: the regional directors opened the conference by praying in their own language; each morning there was prayer with nearly 500 participants; people prayed in small groups for each region after the regional director gave his report and then something totally new for this conference was the prayer concert during the general session on Wednesday morning. During a prayer concert, people are asked to do things that they may find outside their comfort zone--like praying with a complete stranger or praying out loud all at once. However, as Harry Robinson stated, "It started out feeling somewhat uncomfortable for some, but at the end of it we knew God was working among us, drawing us to Him." Many thought it was the focus on prayer that made this conference so special.
SPAN was the conference project and its slogan was "more boots on the ground the world around." (See Pam Martinez's report on the side panel for detailed information.) One regional director said it was very encouraging to see the CEF family sign up to support nationals. Regional directors will begin in July using the money that was raised to help our national missionaries on the field. The conference had great music and many wonderful speakers from our IHQ staff to the regional directors to men like Rev. Dr. Stafford Carson, pastor of the largest Presbyterian church in Ireland, and Luis Palau, a well-known international evangelist. The different speakers touched hearts in various ways. Luis Palua gave a tribute to the two people who taught him how to evangelize when he was a teenager. They were none other than two CEF missionaries--Theda Krieger (from USA) and Margaret Tyson (from England), both serving many years in Argentina where Mr. Palau was born. He said, "These two sisters blessed us beyond imagination. They walked in the Spirit, there was a joy about them and they were full of humility. I sometimes wake up in the night and hear Theda Krieger say to me, 'You've got to reach more children!' I never once heard them talk against anyone." Because of this and their ability to work with all people, Mr. Palua said he heard that 200 local churches were begun by these two ladies. Lynda Pongracz, international director of education, shared in an IHQ chapel that it was Theida Krieger and Margaret Tyson who developed the CEF levels training program which is now used around the world. As Lynda said, "What a legacy! What will ours be?" We prayed for months in advance of the International Conference that God would work in our hearts as we met. We now want to thank Him for answered prayer and ask for lasting fruit in our lives and ministries.
To God be the Glory, great things He hath done!
Harry Robinson
Vice President International Ministries
CEF WORLDWIDE
MORE COUNTRIES OPENED! At the May Board of Trustees meeting, six more countries were opened for CEF ministry. That brings the total count to 176 with only 31 target countries to go. Countries added were East Timor (Asia Pacific), Cayman Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, U.S. Virgin Islands (North America/Caribbean), Equatorial Guinea and São Tomé and Princípe (West Africa). For a complete listing of all countries, go to the CEF Web site, log in, click Download Files/ International Ministries Downloads/CEF General Information. Because the remaining countries are some of the most closed, difficult countries for Christian ministry we need to fervently uphold our leaders in prayer--that they will be able to make solid connections with people of faith who have a sacrificial burden for reaching boys and girls.
Candiga Francis Loku was approved by the Board of Trustees as the national director of Sudan. Francis was born in Southern Sudan, but due to war fled with his family to Uganda when he was around age five. He then lived in Uganda until 2004 when he began working with Samaritan's Purse in Southern Sudan. In 2006 he went to the CEF Regional Conference in Uganda where God pressed full-time ministry to the children of Southern Sudan upon his heart--"Whatever the cost, I must obey God's call!" In 2007 he attended the Leadership Institute in Nairobi, Kenya and upon graduation became a national missionary for Sudan. Francis and his wife, Betty, have one son, Jason.
Paul Sebea, CEF leader for Papua New Guinea, went to be with the Lord on June 6, 2011 after a sickness of six weeks. His staff has asked us to pray as they mourn the death of their beloved brother.
CEF Brazil is celebrating their 70th CEF anniversary with a national conference August 1-5. The theme of the conference is "Children of Brazil for God: This is the Challenge!" Dr. Russell Shedd, missionary to Brazil, President Reese Kauffman and Interim Regional Director to the Middle East Rev. Vassilios Constantinidis will be the main speakers. If you would like to know more about this conference click here. Children holding up their new pencil cases. In 2009, villages in Moldova were refusing to allow CEF workers into the schools to have traditional Bible clubs. So the creative workers decided to have "Pencil Case Clubs." Once in the school they would present each child with a new pencil case along with a CEF program. These pencil cases opened the doors into more than 80 class rooms around Moldova. Linda Corry, team leader for Moldova, recently reported that the program has become so successful that educational authorities are requesting they visit other schools with the PCC project. The photo shows the children holding up their new pencil cases.
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Tara Robbins arrived in Madagascar on June 2 for her first field assignment. She has previously served in Madagascar two times as a summer missionary with the CEF Student Thunder program. Tara is from Veradale, Washington and is a graduate of Eastern Washington University with a B.A. in special education GOOD NEWS FOR SPAN™ We currently have 333 Sponsor-A-National™ (SPAN™) recipients. We would like to have 2,000 by the year 2014. This is an impossible goal apart from our Lord touching the hearts of many to give. At Conference we saw how He touched hearts! A total of $547,891 was pledged to SPAN which was matched bringing the total given for SPAN to $1,095,782! The additional blessing is the donor of the matching money has agreed to leave the "matching window" open for a bit longer, meaning any pledges coming in now ALSO qualify for the matching money. We don't know how long this window will be open so we are praying God brings in a harvest while it is open. - Pam Martinez, SPAN Director
NEW STATS
The ministry statistics for 2010 are complete. The number of children reached is 10,926,288--an 8.42 percent increase over 2009. If you would like to see the numbers for each of the regions, go to our Web site, log in, click on Download Files, International Ministries downloads, CEF General Information and then the Statistics folder. All the yearly stats beginning with 2005 are posted there.
WHAT'S HAPPENING At IHQ
Wow, did we have fun May 21-25! Our campus was full of CEF workers from all over the world. It was such a joy to have our brothers and sisters here. Our Missouri weather decided to put on a show and we had several thunderstorms with impressive lightening and winds. We even had a power outage during lunch time!
Change in Titles
A few months ago Jim Neigh suggested that there is good reason for us to clarify roles and titles within International Ministries so that they are more in keeping with the historic norms in CEF. Reese Kauffman and Harry Robinson agreed.The new titles are: Harry Robinson, Vice President of International Ministries; Jim Neigh, Assistant Vice President of International Ministries.
In addition to this clarification, as you know Carol Johnson was recently appointed to a senior staff position in IM. Again, Carol's title seems to have caused some confusion, especially with field staff. It was decided to clarify Carol's leadership position in IM by changing her title as well: Assistant Vice President of International Ministries.
While Jim and Carol will both be Assistant VPs, they will have distinct roles within the department. Jim's main responsibilities will be for our USA-sent missionary program and Carol's for finance, countries and strategic initiatives.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. Psalm 133
Unity was one of the blessings we experienced during a wonderful International Conference and during the regional directors, regional education directors, CEFON and International Board of Trustees meetings. The Psalmist reminds us of the source of all the blessing--God commands the blessing. All good things come from Him and as we recount below some of what happened at the Conference, the Glory is all His.
"Best conference ever!" "I enjoyed this conference more than any others in the past 20 years." "God met us at this conference." "I saw people united in heart." "God renewed my vision."
These are just some of the comments we heard about the Child Evangelism Fellowship® International Conference May 16-21. The official number of people in attendance is 1,007 with 68 countries represented. The event began by highlighting the number of countries opened to CEF® ministry since the last International Conference in 2008. What an awesome sight as 34 new flags were paraded one-by-one to the front of the stage. Joseph Kavuli shared with the IHQ staff that he had many difficulties in opening Djibouti so it was his "great satisfaction and joy to carry its flag." As our target countries are dwindling with everyone working together towards our goal of being in all 207 countries by 2017, the theme for the conference "Together We Can" is not only an inspiration but becoming a reality. (For more information about CEF countries see below).
A great emphasis was placed on prayer: the regional directors opened the conference by praying in their own language; each morning there was prayer with nearly 500 participants; people prayed in small groups for each region after the regional director gave his report and then something totally new for this conference was the prayer concert during the general session on Wednesday morning. During a prayer concert, people are asked to do things that they may find outside their comfort zone--like praying with a complete stranger or praying out loud all at once. However, as Harry Robinson stated, "It started out feeling somewhat uncomfortable for some, but at the end of it we knew God was working among us, drawing us to Him." Many thought it was the focus on prayer that made this conference so special.
SPAN was the conference project and its slogan was "more boots on the ground the world around." (See Pam Martinez's report on the side panel for detailed information.) One regional director said it was very encouraging to see the CEF family sign up to support nationals. Regional directors will begin in July using the money that was raised to help our national missionaries on the field. The conference had great music and many wonderful speakers from our IHQ staff to the regional directors to men like Rev. Dr. Stafford Carson, pastor of the largest Presbyterian church in Ireland, and Luis Palau, a well-known international evangelist. The different speakers touched hearts in various ways. Luis Palua gave a tribute to the two people who taught him how to evangelize when he was a teenager. They were none other than two CEF missionaries--Theda Krieger (from USA) and Margaret Tyson (from England), both serving many years in Argentina where Mr. Palau was born. He said, "These two sisters blessed us beyond imagination. They walked in the Spirit, there was a joy about them and they were full of humility. I sometimes wake up in the night and hear Theda Krieger say to me, 'You've got to reach more children!' I never once heard them talk against anyone." Because of this and their ability to work with all people, Mr. Palua said he heard that 200 local churches were begun by these two ladies. Lynda Pongracz, international director of education, shared in an IHQ chapel that it was Theida Krieger and Margaret Tyson who developed the CEF levels training program which is now used around the world. As Lynda said, "What a legacy! What will ours be?" We prayed for months in advance of the International Conference that God would work in our hearts as we met. We now want to thank Him for answered prayer and ask for lasting fruit in our lives and ministries.
To God be the Glory, great things He hath done!
Harry Robinson
Vice President International Ministries
CEF WORLDWIDE
MORE COUNTRIES OPENED! At the May Board of Trustees meeting, six more countries were opened for CEF ministry. That brings the total count to 176 with only 31 target countries to go. Countries added were East Timor (Asia Pacific), Cayman Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, U.S. Virgin Islands (North America/Caribbean), Equatorial Guinea and São Tomé and Princípe (West Africa). For a complete listing of all countries, go to the CEF Web site, log in, click Download Files/ International Ministries Downloads/CEF General Information. Because the remaining countries are some of the most closed, difficult countries for Christian ministry we need to fervently uphold our leaders in prayer--that they will be able to make solid connections with people of faith who have a sacrificial burden for reaching boys and girls.
Candiga Francis Loku was approved by the Board of Trustees as the national director of Sudan. Francis was born in Southern Sudan, but due to war fled with his family to Uganda when he was around age five. He then lived in Uganda until 2004 when he began working with Samaritan's Purse in Southern Sudan. In 2006 he went to the CEF Regional Conference in Uganda where God pressed full-time ministry to the children of Southern Sudan upon his heart--"Whatever the cost, I must obey God's call!" In 2007 he attended the Leadership Institute in Nairobi, Kenya and upon graduation became a national missionary for Sudan. Francis and his wife, Betty, have one son, Jason.
Paul Sebea, CEF leader for Papua New Guinea, went to be with the Lord on June 6, 2011 after a sickness of six weeks. His staff has asked us to pray as they mourn the death of their beloved brother.
CEF Brazil is celebrating their 70th CEF anniversary with a national conference August 1-5. The theme of the conference is "Children of Brazil for God: This is the Challenge!" Dr. Russell Shedd, missionary to Brazil, President Reese Kauffman and Interim Regional Director to the Middle East Rev. Vassilios Constantinidis will be the main speakers. If you would like to know more about this conference click here. Children holding up their new pencil cases. In 2009, villages in Moldova were refusing to allow CEF workers into the schools to have traditional Bible clubs. So the creative workers decided to have "Pencil Case Clubs." Once in the school they would present each child with a new pencil case along with a CEF program. These pencil cases opened the doors into more than 80 class rooms around Moldova. Linda Corry, team leader for Moldova, recently reported that the program has become so successful that educational authorities are requesting they visit other schools with the PCC project. The photo shows the children holding up their new pencil cases.
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