At the end of December, we welcomed a group of new recruits into our Indianapolis office for a week of CMF orientation and training on how to begin their time of raising support. While they each come from different backgrounds and feel called to different fields and ministries, they are now at the point in their mission journeys where they begin the challenging and rewarding task of raising up partners to make their work possible.
Juli Duvall-Jones served as a missionary with us for over a decade in Ivory Coast, so when she later became our Director of Missionary Care and Development, she understood the unique challenges of life and ministry on the mission field. Here, she shares how she and her team help better equip our missionaries for the ministries in which they serve.
Aaron and Diane Lincoln live in the city of Gloucester, England where they serve with a young church plant and demonstrate the gospel through various community-based outreaches. One practical way they care for their neighbors is through their local Street Pastors ministry. Street Pastors are Christian volunteers who, late at night, help vulnerable people in their community who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or homeless, or disoriented by mental illness, or young or lost or lonely.
We did the math and realized that 2024 marked 50 years ago that John and Marilyn Mulkey went on an internship to see if ministry in Indonesia might be for them. We asked John if he was willing to share some reflections on their time serving there and all that was accomplished.
Becca Schafer serves people with disabilities and their families in the Chiang Mai, Thailand, area. She works with Hope Home, a foster home for children with disabilities, providing daily care, love and guidance in a family setting. Here she shares a glimpse of how she integrates spiritual principles into the lives of the children she serves.
A group of eight Globalscope staff and students from our El Pozo campus ministry in Puebla, Mexico returned on Friday from a five-day scouting trip to Guanajuato, a city in the middle of Mexico that is home to Universidad de Guanajuato and its 50,000 students. This was the second trip there to see if it's the right place to plant a new Globalscope campus ministry.
When we invited three busy executive pastors and a university ministry director to experience our ministries in Mexico, their first question was understandable: why should they sacrifice a week away from their work and families? After all, missions isn't new to them. They send missionaries from their churches and university, support and send interns during the summer, and are long-time financial partners with our ministries.
For over 50 years, CMF has partnered with local communities in Ethiopia, planting churches in unreached areas and developing disciples and leaders. At the heart of this mission is holistic ministry, addressing physical, spiritual, and social needs.
When Isabel Miller recently joined our Marketplace Ministries team in Mexico, she already knew Spanish. So, why should she spend time living with a Mexican family when the important tasks of ministry and serving those around her were being left undone? Here are Isabel's reflections on how God went before her to help her learn the deeper lessons of connecting with the people and culture there.
This summer marked a historic moment for CMF as we held a first-ever gathering in our 75-year history, bringing together around 175 missionaries and staff for an unforgettable week.
