IMAGES OF PRESENCE

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CBF field personnel are serving around the world in communities of all shapes and sizes. Through holistic ministries of presence, field personnel make connections and share the love of Christ. We invite you to take a look into their lives, work, families and friends.

By Aaron Weaver

1 “I feel like a celebrity today, at least how I think it feels,” a friend told CBF field personnel Shane McNary at a Bible study in Jelsava, Slovakia. Shane was working to improve his photography skills and convinced his friends to let him take their photos. “What was unexpected was how many showed up in their Sunday best,” Shane said. “Image matters— both the image we bear and the image we and others see in us.” 2 In Southeast Asia, CBF field personnel Brooke and Mike, in partnership with a local Christian university, installed a solar-powered installation to provide lighting for a school and church without electricity. “Here, the church and the school, they are one,” the pastor said. “This light means that the church can worship in the evening and the students can come and learn and do their homework after dark.” 3 Students at the Center of Hope celebrate their graduation in Kampala, Uganda, after months of recurring lockdowns. CBF field personnel Jade and Shelah Acker founded and operate Refuge and Hope International to serve the urban refugee community in Kampala. Each year, Refuge and Hope serves more than 1,000 refugees through the Center of Hope. 4 Volunteers from First Baptist Church, Kingston, Tenn., serve alongside CBF field personnel Anna Anderson at the Conetoe Family Life Center with a shelter addition for farm equipment. Anna and her husband, LaCount, focus on providing poverty relief as part of CBF’s rural development coalition, Together for Hope.

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5 CBF field personnel Mary Van Rheenen (center) poses with friends in the Republic of Moldova. Mary and her husband, Keith Holmes, develop culturally appropriate Christian media and educational resources so that the Romany may hear the Gospel in their own language. 6 Messan is a tailor who earns income through sewing school uniforms for Togo House Ministries in Togo, West Africa, led by CBF field personnel Lynn and Mike Hutchison. 7 “Boys are boys no matter where they are from,” said Karen Morrow, a Fort Worth, Texas-based CBF field personnel ministering alongside refugees. Zayed, an Afghan refugee, smiles big and laughs as he drives his new front-end loader around the apartment. 8 CBF field personnel Gennady and Mina Podgaisky pose with a newlywed couple. As part of their ministry, the Podgaiskys, who were forced to return to U.S. from Ukraine, conducted pre-martial counseling for the cross-cultural couple.

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9 Elementary students in the San Francisco-area show their Back-to-School excitement with new backpacks filled with supplies via the ministry of CBF field personnel Lita and Rick Sample. 10 Kindergarten students eating a meal in Togo. CBF field personnel Karen Alford operates a clinic in Togo that sees 50-plus patients per week for wound care and primary health. 11 CBF field personnel and disaster response director Eddy Ruble shares a photo of Steph and his family in front of what remains of their home in Haiti following the deadly earthquake in August 2021. The family, members of a local Baptist church, are now living in a tent shelter in anticipation of one day being able to rebuild their home. 12 Janée Angel (bottom right) smiles for a photo during a retreat with her Arabic Church. Janée and her husband, Hary, serve in Antwerp, Belgium, and minister among the Arabic-speaking community.

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