“Don’t make a difference in the world – make the world different,” Doug Priest challenged the 2012 graduating class of Northwest Christian University, Eugene, OR, on May 5. His commencement address, “Seek the Welfare of the City,” drew on words from the prophet Jeremiah. Doug encouraged students to be fully engaged in culture as authentic leaders who serve others, seek justice for the less fortunate, care for creation, and participate in values-oriented businesses.

Thirty-eight years before (as a third-generation student), Doug received his bachelor’s degree from then Northwest Christian College, part of a graduating class heavily involved in social issues. “We were going to change the world! Our role models were dynamic leaders,” he commented. Doug’s leadership in global missions and CMF provide testimony as to the impact of that on his life.

Later in the service, Gary Pierpoint, NCU Board of Trustees chair, conferred upon Doug the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity – a complement to his PhD in intercultural studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. We extend our congratulations to Doug Priest on this honor from his alma mater with appreciation to NCU for its partnership over 6 decades.

Church Catalyst Director David Giles has been crunching the numbers and is really happy at the results he’s seeing for church plants and baptisms in the division’s fields last year.

“We estimated that we would plant 59 churches in 2011,” said David, “but I just got the numbers from Kenya so I have the total – 80 church plants in 2011 in CC fields!”

Highlights worth noting:

• There were 13 church plants and 1,026 baptisms in the Turkana, Kenya, churches in 2011.
• The Community Christian Church of Kenya planted 38 new churches in the Maasai and Turkana areas.
• The Maasai churches added 661 new members in 2011.
• Ten churches were planted in England through the Church Planting Task Force; three of the Great Britain field team members work with this partnership.
• Eighteen churches were planted in Ethiopia – 13 among the Oromo people and 5 among the Gumuz. There were also 200 baptisms in the Gumuz area in the last six months of 2011.

Other Church Catalyst fields such as Tanzania (5 new churches, 300 baptisms), Ivory Coast (1 new church) and Ukraine (8 new churches) also experienced significant growth in 2011.

“I’m thrilled with these reports,” said David. “These are the results of the Holy Spirit working through CMF missionaries, national church leaders and effective field partnerships.”

CMF Missionaries Tim and Alicia Stewart recently shared this story about the impact of our urban poor ministry in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya:

“All of us are a part of such an amazing ministry. The other day we were sitting in an office working through some paperwork and a young boy was sitting with us. His name was Martin and even though the students were on break, he was coming to the school most days. You see, he is an orphan and his guardians aren’t very kind to him so he comes to the school where several people love on him all the time. Sometimes he just sits at a desk and writes compositions! Because of the love he is shown here, he comes to school during a vacation to do school work! Tim and I enjoyed spending time with him and even more we loved watching people love on him. We loved that in the midst of a life that presents challenges daily, a life where he feels unloved, abandoned, and unwanted, God has so lovingly provided him with a place to feel safe and wanted.”

Gene Morden, a member of CMF’s team in Turkana, Kenya, recently shared amazingly good news regarding church growth in the area over the past year: 13 new churches were planted and 1,026 new believers were baptized into Christ.

A large part of the success of the church planting movement in Turkana, Gene believes, is due to CMF’s heavy involvement in community development projects.

“When I talk to church leaders they tell us that wells, farms, and CHE training have had a major impact on the church,” said Gene. “In the last three regional council meetings of the church I have seen the attitude of the church leaders change from ‘what do the missionaries want to do?’ to ‘how we can work together using our resources first and asking the missionaries to join us?’ ”

CMF has developed a reputation among the Turkana for having a genuine interest in the long-term physical and spiritual well-being of the people. “When the local Minister of Parliament comes around to woo them, for example, the people say, ‘You don’t care about us. Look what CMF has done. They care about us,’ ” said Gene.

This care extends to other areas, too. “The number of nursery schools has increased, and through CHE (Community Health Evangelism) the Turkana are developing life skills in the village and in business,” he added. “They are learning how to organize and plan. But the key in everything is that Jesus is always praised, petitioned and thanked.”

The well-drilling team, for example, is strongly evangelistic, and has a one-hour Bible study every day for village volunteers and anyone else who cares to attend. “Before the team even begins to drill,” Gene said, “they dedicate the well to God, and when it is finished and the pump is bringing up fresh water, the team and community commissions the well to God’s glory.”

The irrigated farms, also, are begun with prayers to God and thanks for the American church (seen there as CMF) that provides the funds. “Farms are begun with Bible lessons about God’s part in the farm and proper stewardship of the farms to God’s glory,” said Gene. “This has increased with the incorporation of the ‘Farming God’s Way’ lessons that were begun last July.”

“I think the best farms are the ones where the local pastors are part of the (cooperative) farm,” added Gene. “They make the farm the center for Bible study, literacy studies and the Church. They also distribute their produce to their needy friends and neighbors, who ask, ‘When can we have a farm so our children aren’t hungry?’ We are working hard to get local pastors immersed in the biblical teaching at the farms because we know it makes better farmers and Christians, while lending credibility and respect to church leaders.”

Of course, Gene hastens to add, not everything is “peaches and roses,” as he puts it. “We have a long way to go for the church to get the upper hand over the traditions handed down by the forefathers that bring glory to Satan, but with prayer and preparation, the church will continue to grow.”

The leaders of seven U.S. mission agencies gathered recently for their annual meeting, held this year in a retreat center near Henryville, Ind., site of the devastating early spring tornadoes.

Attendees at the event were Laura Clancey, New Mission Systems International; Rick Jett, International Disaster Emergency Services; Doug Lucas, Team Expansion; Greg Pruett, Pioneer Bible Translators; Mike Schrage, Good News Productions International; Tony Twist, TCM International; and Doug Priest, CMF International.

Doug described the retreat as a “non-agenda event,” although Bob Russell, former minister of Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Ky., attended as a speaker on the subject of transitions.

“We really had no agenda other than encouraging one another, praying together and sharing what is happening in our organizations,” said Doug. “I noted that we laughed more at this retreat than at any previous one, because the trust level between us has lowered our defenses and we just enjoy being together. I was thrilled to hear of what each of these organizations is doing to advance the Kingdom of God.”

Have you visited CMF’s new microfinance website, bigdent.org recently? If not, we’re giving you yet another reason to check out this beautifully-designed and informative site: a brand new blog launched on March 23.

The BigDent website is a one-stop spot where you can learn about CMF’s microfinance and development efforts in Nairobi, Kenya, read the stories of the entrepreneurs and make online donations to assist them in starting their new businesses. The blog will be yet another facet of the total experience that features photos, stories, videos and information to help you connect with this unique project.

“The new blog is designed to inspire and further inform you about our microfinance and holistic development efforts in Nairobi,” said Kent Fillinger, CMF’s Associate Director of Projects + Partnerships, and one of the blog writers. “We anticipate that it will be interesting, thought-provoking and enjoyable to read. Regular post contributors will include CMF team members plus occasional guest bloggers. We hope you will connect with our blog each week and share the message of BigDent with your network of friends and family.”

Park Pastors, a new program initiated by CMF missionary Aaron Lincoln and a ministry colleague in Rugby, England, is getting a lot of positive attention from the media, including an article in the online BBC News. The program is believed to be the first of its kind in England.

The Park Pastors program grew from the local involvement that Aaron, pastor Matt Caldicott and other Christians have had in the weekend Street Pastors ministry in Rugby, where volunteers patrol the streets to help people stay out of trouble on a night out. The town’s borough council has expressed support for the Park Pastors project and offered the group free use of an unused café in Caldecott Park, which is located right in the center of the town. The park is the most visited destination in Rugby, with about 650,000 visitors each year.

Rugby Councillor Mark Williams is excited about the plan. “Having safe, experienced volunteers on hand to help out will make the park an even more attractive place to visit,” he said.

Aaron, Matt and their ministry team plan to engage people through a regular Dads & Kids ministry, with organized games and activities for families and refreshments in the cafe.

“We especially want to connect with dads who bring their children to the park,” said pastor Matt Caldicott.  “There are lots of gathering places for mums and kids, but not so many for fathers.”

Over 50 church leaders representing 20 churches from 12 states gathered in Indianapolis March 21-22 for the first-ever Hope Partnership Dialogue. The Dialogue was designed to be a strategic networking event for churches involved in CMF’s Hope Partnership in Nairobi, Kenya. The goal was to pray and plan and dream and discuss the current realities and future goals for the Hope Partnership.

Participants were inspired by Mary Kamau’s update on the ministry’s exponential growth, energized by the focused conversations with other church leaders, and encouraged through devotional thoughts and supplied with fresh ideas. Key updates were also shared regarding the expansion of the child sponsorship program, the launch of the BigDent.org microfinance website and the introduction of a new VBS/Children’s Ministry program called “Good News for the Poor” featuring Hope Partnership projects.

Joe Oettel, missions volunteer from West Side Christian Church (Springfield, IL) said, “I really enjoyed meeting several new people, building relationships and sharing ideas.  In my opinion a lot was accomplished at the meeting, both in discussion groups and one-on-one conversations and I hope we can continue the dialogue.” Tom Moen, Outreach Minister at Mountain Christian Church (Joppa, MD) added, “It was a GREAT couple of days…thanks for hosting…need to do it annually (at least).”

The Hope Partnership continues to grow by epic proportions from 185 children in 1 school in 2006 to nearly 7,000 children in 14 schools plus 7 new churches today. The growth of the Hope Partnership is exciting, but it also calls for a concerted effort, an ongoing commitment and an expanded circle of partner churches and individuals.

This cross-cultural partnership focuses on holistic ministry to transform lives and communities in the Mathare Valley slum of Nairobi, Kenya and is now starting to reach beyond to other areas of Kenya. The success of this partnership is due to the vision and leadership of Kenyan nationals, Wallace and Mary Kamau working collaboratively with a team of CMF missionaries. Another critical component creating the sustained growth of the Hope Partnership is the involvement and investment of over 40 churches and over 5,000 child sponsors that continue to sacrifice and serve to fuel the ministry’s growth. During the event, one partner church demonstrated their investment in the ministry by presenting Mary with a $100,000 gift toward finishing the multi-purpose building at Joska, our boarding school outside of Nairobi.

To learn more about how you or your church can get involved in the Hope Partnership, contact our Projects + Partnerships team at projects@cmfi.org.

Daffodils and forsythia filled the room as 30 women from churches across Central Indiana met for an evening at CMF’s Indianapolis office. The dessert gathering presented networking opportunities for women’s ministry leaders, as well as a challenge of how to meet the needs of women globally. Guest speakers included Mary Kamau, Director of Missions of Hope International, Nairobi, Kenya; Alisa Knoll from White River Christian Church; Ann Fulk, CMF Director of Leadership Development; Robyn Priest of Outlook Christian Church (former missionary); and Pam Greer, who serves as a consultant for CMF.

Topics included how God uses a woman in ministry, weaving missions into women’s ministry, the power of small group giving, and being used as a missions volunteer. Conversations provided practical ways that these leaders could in turn challenge the women of their churches with positive results. Participants also purchased jewelry from the Hope Partnership Skills Workshop, Nairobi, which helps women from the Mathare slum.

About a dozen students and staff from the Globalscope Canvas campus ministry in Birmingham, England, are making plans for a short-term trip in June to the Missions of Hope International (MoHI) ministries to poor children and their families in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya.

Canvas staffer Jason Tatum pitched the idea after visiting MoHI last year, and recruited through sheer enthusiasm, he said.

“For the most part, the trip sells itself,” he said. “I told a lot of stories about my experience there and showed a lot of photos from my trip. Students in the UK are very ‘justice-minded’ so it isn’t difficult to get them excited about something like this. We’ll get to see the incredible things MoHI is doing in the community and people’s lives throughout the area.”

Most of the students will pay for the trip themselves, and the team will try to raise 100% percent of the funds they’ll need for the work project they’ll do in Nairobi. They plan to do either a construction project or sports clinic, depending on MoHI’s needs at the time of their visit.

The Globalscope team’s goals for the trip are targeted in a couple of directions, said Jason, because the students are such a varied group.

“Canvas is a community that wants to model values of our faith to the non-Christians that often attend and participate in our community,” he said. “The students who are going are at all points of the spectrum in their respective faith journeys: an atheist, an agnostic, two professed Christians, another who is very near to making a decision about Jesus and another who is somewhere in the middle.”

The team members are preparing for the trip by meeting together with Jason and two other Canvas staffers – Kalyn Reeves and Caleb Mallard, who are also going on the trip – to discuss the culture, history, and religion of Kenya, as well as reading books such as “Toxic Charity” and “When Helping Hurts.”

“Our hope is that all of the students will get a new vantage point of what it means to follow Jesus, and a new understanding of how big and loving our God is,” said Jason. “It could be that for some of them, this will be the first time they have ever seen that connection. I really do believe that this experience could be transformational in their faith journeys.”