fellowship! magazine - Summer 2022

A publication of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship • www.cbf.net

SUMMER 2022

CBF Responds in Ukraine Field Personnel Offer Hope Amid Conflict

PAUL BAXLEY is Executive Coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

A Faithful Response On Thursday, February 24, the Russian army began its invasion of Ukraine. Immediately, Cooperative Baptists joined Christians around the world in praying for those whose lives were being destroyed by the brutal and senseless military incursion. We have prayed steadfastly because people made in the image of God are being viciously killed and so many others are being injured and displaced. We prayed because we know we have sisters and brothers in Christ, even fellow Baptists, who are seeking to practice their faith and extend Christ’s love while their nation is under siege.

And as Cooperative Baptists, we prayed particularly for Gennady and Mina Podgaisky because 20 years ago, CBF commissioned them to serve just outside Kyiv. We joined them in establishing a ministry known as “Village of Hope.”

Only two weeks into the war, we received the incredibly devastating news that the property at Village of Hope in Bucha had been bombed by the Russian military. We have prayed not just as spectators of an international crisis, but as a people who have been invested in ministry and mission in Ukraine for two decades, and as people who are bound by our professions of faith and baptism to believers all across Ukraine.

And we have not only prayed. We have also given generously toward both immediate relief and in the hope of long-term rebuilding. As of the writing of this reflection, our Fellowship has given nearly one million dollars to the Ukrainian Relief Fund, which we established in the early days of the war. Some of the funds have supported the global Baptist response through our trusted partners at the Baptist World Alliance. But other contributions have been used by the Podgaiskys and other field personnel on our Europe Team who, from the earliest days of the war, have seen their ministries changed by the growing presence of Ukrainian refugees.

As you read this edition of fellowship!, you will see clear and compelling testimony of the ways our shared commitment to long-term presence not only of our field personnel but also of our larger CBF family, has uniquely positioned us to participate in faithful response to this horrific crisis.

The Podgaiskys are actively communicating with congregations in the United States about the terrible situation in Ukraine, but also from the U.S., they are in constant contact with people in Ukraine whom they have known and among whom they have served for 20 years.

Dianne and Shane McNary, who have served in neighboring Slovakia for 18 years, are engaging with Slovak Baptists and others in

A Publication Of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Volume 32, Number 2 Summer 2022

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receiving refugees coming across the border. From the earliest days, they have noticed that Roma refugees are experiencing an even higher level of discrimination and adversity than usual.

Nearly two decades of faithful ministry and partner cultivation have positioned the Podgaiskys and the McNarys—and, beyond them, our entire CBF community—to respond in faithful and compelling ways in the midst of this crisis. It is our trust in them and their colleagues on the Europe Team that has inspired such a generous level of giving, and it is the relationships they have cultivated in Europe, with European Baptists, other Christian communities and with community leaders that position us to respond.

Our response, though, is already larger than the work of these two field personnel units in and near Ukraine. Eddie Aldape, who serves in Spain, gave several weeks of his life and ministry to serve along the border that separates Slovakia and Ukraine. Other members of our Europe Team are seeing Ukrainian refugees from the Netherlands to Belgium to Spain. Ukrainian refugees are now present in other parts of the world, even along the U.S.-Mexico border. They will be arriving in growing numbers in the U.S. in the days and weeks ahead.

As refugees from this war spread across the world and into communities in the U.S., our Fellowship’s response will move beyond our Europe Team to other field personnel, and eventually into the very lives of our congregations.

I encourage you to read the testimonies and reflections in these pages and renew your prayers for an end to the war in Ukraine so that violence might cease and rebuilding may begin. There will be incredible need for months and years to come; so continue to give generously. We want to join with Baptists and other Christians all over the world in offering care, healing and relief. Consider how your congregation is being called to show hospitality to refugees from Ukraine and also from other places around the world.

As a Fellowship, we have been invited by the Holy Spirit into a compelling mission in our communities and all around the world.

Through the work of our field personnel, our prayers, and our generosity we are being equipped for more faithful participation in that mission and being called to even bolder faithfulness.

It is by sheer grace that we have the opportunity to be part of Christ’s transformation of this world. May our commitment to faithful cooperation for the sake of that mission grow stronger in the days to come.

Fellowship! is published 4 times a year in September (Fall), December (Winter), March (Spring), June (Summer) by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Inc., 160 Clairemont Avenue, Suite 500, Decatur, GA 30030.

Periodicals postage paid at Decatur, GA, and additional offices. USPS #015-625.

Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley Associate Coordinator for Identity & Communications Jeff Huett Editor Aaron Weaver Associate Editor Carrie Harris Graphic Designer Jeff Langford

E-Mail fellowship@cbf.net Phone (770) 220-1600 Postmaster: Send address changes to: Fellowship!

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship 160 Clairemont Avenue, Suite 500 Decatur, GA 30030.

4COVENANT CBF SIGNS HISTORIC WITH IGLESIA

BAUTISTAS DE PUERTO RICO

By Caleb Mynatt

8STRANDS A CORD OF THREE

CBF weaves durable response to Ukrainian crisis

By Marv Knox

12 GLOBAL HUMANITY IN AN INHUMANE WORLD CBF field personnel respond to the war in Ukraine

By Grayson Hester

15 CBF’S EDDIE ALDAPE WORKS LONG DAYS TO

MOVE UKRAINIAN REFUGEES THROUGH SLOVAKIA

By Jennifer Colosimo

18 ACKNOWLEDGE, CONFESS, TRANSFORM How one congregation is pursuing reconciliation and justice

By Chris Hughes

22 THE IMPACT OF ABUNDANT LIFE, CONTINUED Rosalie’s Story

By Chris Hughes

24 AMID FALLOUT, PRESENCE PERSISTS

Chaouki and Maha Boulos minister in Lebanon

FROM THE EDITORS In recent months, the world has been rocked by violence through the war in Ukraine. As we inched toward “normal” in nearlypost-pandemic days, we’ve been floored by the images, videos and newscasts coming from Europe.

We are reminded of the suffering others experience as their homes and communities are destroyed and refugees stream into neighboring countries and across the globe.

As we are confronted with these realities, often on our screens, CBF field personnel are faced with the realities in their homes, their lives, their communities and their ministries. In these pages, you’ll find stories of their presence, persistence, resilience, bravery and care for the Ukrainian people. You will see evidence of the work done through generous contributions from Cooperative Baptists like you—totaling over $800,000 through the Ukraine Relief Fund, and we invite you to continue to give generously to support this ongoing work at www.cbf.net/ukraine.

You will also see in these pages how communities outside of Europe continue to be transformed through the work of CBF field personnel—meeting needs and providing hope through providing home in North Carolina.

You will see how one church in Texas is committed to justice and growth—having honest conversations about history, race and diversity in their context. You will read about a historic moment of partnership as we celebrate a formal covenant with Iglesia Bautistas de Puerto Rico.

Even in times of war, we see hope. Even in times of pain, we experience joy. Even in times of suffering, we seek solidarity with our global brothers and sisters. We pray you will journey with us as the Holy Spirit moves through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

By Grayson Hester

28 BUILDING A FUTURE FOR EVERYBODY How CBF’s Anna and LaCount Anderson invite partnership to impact their community

By Jennifer Colosimo

31

THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAYING—NOT JUST PRAYING—TOGETHER

By Laura Stephens Reed

AARON WEAVER is the Editor of fellowship! Connect with him at aweaver@cbf.net CARRIE HARRIS is the Associate Editor of fellowship! Connect with her at charris@cbf.net

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EQUIP

CBF signs historic covenant with Iglesia Bautistas de Puerto Rico

On March 4,

the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and its Latino network, FAMILIA, signed a Missional Relationship Covenant with Iglesia Bautistas de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Baptist Churches).

This covenant paves the way for CBF and Iglesia Bautistas de Puerto Rico (IBPR) to officially begin a relationship of free dialogue, open communication and mission work, as well as other joint ministry efforts. The agreement was signed by representatives of 114 churches, eight schools, and approximately 35,000 church members in

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Puerto Rico, making it the largest covenant of its kind in the history of CBF. “Things have been happening over the last 15 years that led up to this agreement,” said Rubén Ortiz, CBF’s Latino Field Ministries Coordinator and director of FAMILIA. “It started with similar agreements with CBF Florida, but we all felt it was time

By Caleb Mynatt

to make it official with the entire Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.”

This covenant, according to Ortiz, creates an environment of “mutual dialogue and open collaboration” between the two religious organizations. Ortiz is excited for the leadership development, community work projects and the experiences that the covenant now makes possible for the benefit of Cooperative Baptists.

The covenant will allow both organizations to collaborate and equip one another, while also remaining independent of each other. It promises consistent dialogue and education as opposed to a

merger. Both entities and their respective churches can continue to serve in the ways with which they are comfortable, while also creating a partnership that will allow the two organizations to influence and work with each other hand-in-hand.

“This agreement at its base allows more open communication, a better exchange of ideas and strengthens the bond between our faith communities,” Ortiz said. “These churches remain independent and are not affiliated with CBF, but rather are partnered.

We are no longer strangers with churches in Puerto Rico; we are friends.”

Both organizations will be able to respond to the ever-growing number of natural disasters affecting Puerto Rico.

The island, which is still recovering from the devastating impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, the latter having claimed over 3,000 lives, now has to brace for hurricanes and tropical storms on a yearly basis. Many CBF churches have already provided aid to

Puerto Rico. The new agreement will make delivering aid to Puerto Rico a staple of CBF’s ministerial outreach, as well as providing aid administration with a more collaborative and organized approach, Ortiz added.

“With many natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes affecting Puerto Rico, it raises a flag for us to have an established partnership,” Ortiz said. “We already have many churches that fly to the island to help with disaster response. We want to continue to extend an assisting hand.

This more formal and official partnership makes that easier.”

Ortiz also expects the Fellowship to greatly benefit from this relationship with the Puerto Rican churches. The earliest example of this partnership will be the presence of workshop leaders from Puerto Rican churches at this summer’s General Assembly.

Ortiz also expects the partnership to lead to individual CBF and IBPR congregations becoming sister churches as well as the IBPR

providing new insight on missions for CBF and its congregations both here in the U.S. and in Latin America.

“Puerto Rico has a great history of holistic missions,” Ortiz said. “We have well-trained leadership there, with many former leaders living here in the U.S. who will continue to make connections and do great work.”

The signing of this covenant is reason for celebration for the entire Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. This empowers CBF and IBPR to accomplish things together and to learn from each other and equip one another on a scale that has never previously existed for CBF and its congregations.

Kasey Jones, CBF’s Associate Coordinator for Outreach and Growth, praised the partnership and expressed enthusiasm for the opportunities that lie ahead. “It is exciting to have a covenant partnership with Iglesia Bautistas de Puerto Rico,” Jones said. “This historical covenant opens the door for CBF to intentionally expand our relationship

CBF’s Kasey Jones speaks during a dialogue held at First Baptist Rio Piedras with local pastors and congregational leaders of Iglesias Bautistas de Puerto Rico.

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EQUIP to a mutually beneficial and equipping partnership. Iglesia Bautistas de Puerto Rico has much to offer our Fellowship, and I look forward to seeing what God will do.”

Ellen Sechrest, Director of Global Mission Church Engagement, noted, “The spirit of the pastors and members we met was so delightful and inspiring. This new work is very exciting for Global Missions, and I look forward to developing great relationships with the churches, discovering ways to partner in their ongoing work, learning from our sister churches and partnering congregations together for fellowship.”

Stephen Reeves, Director of Advocacy for CBF and Executive Director of Fellowship Southwest, echoed this enthusiasm.

“This new partnership has huge potential for collaborative work with CBF Advocacy

and Fellowship Southwest,” Reeves said.

“I was honored to help represent CBF for the signing ceremony. I’m confident the numerous new relationships will bear fruit in unexpected and impactful ways. I’m grateful for the years of good work by Rubén Ortiz and excited about the future.”

Jason Coker, President of Together for Hope, CBF’s rural development coalition, also represented the Fellowship at the signing ceremony in Puerto Rico.

“It was a powerful moment to watch Rubén on stage signing a covenant that brought over 100 churches across Puerto Rico into fellowship with CBF,” Coker said.

“Getting to meet some of the pastors and seeing how Together for Hope can partner with them in rural municipalities was also deeply meaningful to me. There are great

pastors and churches in Puerto Rico, and I am humbled to be in fellowship with them. The possibilities are endless.”

This is the first time that FAMILIA, which was founded in 2017, has signed a formal agreement with an entire region of Hispanic churches. It is an unbelievable accomplishment, but it is far from the only thing FAMILIA hopes or seeks to achieve. As Ortiz says, FAMILIA is an all-encompassing network that has the primary goal of outreach to Latinos in the United States, but prides itself on being present in other aspects of the CBF. “This is far from the only thing FAMILIA is capable of accomplishing,” Ortiz said. “We want to permeate into every facet of CBF and be a bridge wherever it is helpful.”

Above: CBF’s Rubén Ortiz (left), Kasey Jones (right) and Nicky Garcia (front), a lay leader from Metropolis Baptist Church, visit with Amarillis Rodriguez, CEO of “Techos Pa’mi Gente,” a local community organization where CBF mission groups have previously participated.

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Left: CBF staff and spouses representing the Fellowship at the 120th General Assembly of Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico on March 2-6. From left to right: Rubén Ortiz, Xiomara Reboyras Ortiz, Ellen Sechrest, Stephen Reeves, Deborah Reeves, Jason Coker, Kasey Jones. fellowship!

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A Cord of

Three Strands:

CBF weaves durable response to Ukrainian crisis

By Marv Knox

The

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has woven biblical wisdom—“a cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart” (Ecclesiastes 4:12)—into its response to war in Ukraine. When Russia attacked Ukraine, the Fellowship braided together three resources for compassionate ministry: • It quickly deployed Europe-based field personnel to support relief for Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced people.

• Those Global Missions personnel instinctively collaborated with Baptists and other Christians in Eastern Europe who are caring directly for Ukrainians desperately fleeing harm’s way.

• Individuals and congregations affiliated with CBF contributed to CBF’s Ukraine Relief Fund, supplementing donations from Baptists around the globe to support the overall ministry effort.

The first strand of the relief cord—CBF field personnel—has engaged the efforts of Global

CBF field personnel Gennady and Mina Podgaisky are providing emergency assistance directly to friends and partners in Ukraine.

Left: A team of volunteers from the town of Bucha, Ukraine, deliver food packages to people in surrounding villages. Through the CBF Ukraine Relief Fund, the Podgaiskys were able to provide money for the purchase of a van to bring humanitarian aid from Western Ukraine and deliver it to people in need. Right: Volunteers from a partnering ministry of the Podgaiskys load a van with groceries to deliver them to a baby orphanage filled with new war orphans in northeastern Ukraine.

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Missions personnel based in both Eastern and Western Europe.

Gennady and Mina Podgaisky, who mark the 20th anniversary of their service as field personnel in Kyiv this year, have felt the war most personally.

They returned to the United States last December for an off-field assignment and planned to return to Kyiv in March. Because of the war, they have not been able to do so. But they have maintained a vigorous round-the-clock ministry to their Ukrainian sisters and brothers from their temporary base in North Carolina.

The Podgaiskys immediately began communicating with and supporting people in their zone of influence—members of their home

Bible study groups, friends, church members and ministry partners—in Ukraine. They have channeled information about evacuation routes and connected their friends to myriad resources, such as information about transportation, medical advice and the location of food and shelter. They also have provided logistical support for Ukrainians seeking to avoid bombings and fighting, and they have funneled thousands of dollars from CBF for food, water, gas, medicines, shelter, telephone and transportation to people in the bomb shelters as well as to families fleeing war zones and to partners providing hands-on ministry in the country.

Most personally, they have spent untold hours on the phone, listening, counseling, encouraging, praying for and weeping with their Ukrainian sisters and brothers—both those in Ukraine and others scattered across Eastern Europe and beyond.

“As never before, we felt deeply and appreciated the ministry of presence as we became the hands and the feet of Jesus and mostly the listening ears for many people in this crisis time,” Gennady said.

From the base where he serves with his wife, Dianne, in Poprad, Slovakia, immediately west of Ukraine, Shane McNary set about facilitating support for relief efforts. Slovakia has received more than 400,000 refugees streaming out of Ukraine, burdening the small, poor country.

McNary has supported the efforts of Slovak Baptists and Roma Pentecostals, who have reached out to refugees coming into their communities. He has channeled CBF funds to buy a washing machine to launder refugees’ clothes, repair a refugee’s car, purchase school clothes for refugee children, obtain a water heater, pay utilities for a small congregation housing refugees, and has assisted a Roma church in purchasing a building to be used for a warehouse to store supplies and eventually offer housing. He also has supported ministry inside western Ukraine to internally displaced people who have fled bombings and other aggression near their homes.

Gennady (left) and Mina (right) pictured with a family from a Kyiv suburb. For 15 days, the family was bunkered down under constant bombing in their unfinished basement. The Podgaiskys provided funds from CBF’s Ukraine Relief Fund to assist the family in escaping and driving to the western part of Ukraine and then traveling to northern Italy. They were able to visit with the family in Italy in late April and help further with funds for living necessities.

On a pastoral level, McNary has convened conversations and prayer sessions to restore the spirits of pastors who already were shouldering the burdens of their poor congregations before opening their arms to embrace and serve Ukrainian refugees.

“The collaboration with various churches in order to respond effectively to the needs of Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced people has deepened long-term relationships we have with both Baptists and the Roma network of churches.

It also has opened doors to future ministry together,” McNary said. “One Roma pastor shared with the group, ‘I thank God for the relationships we have and hope that we will (continue) working together.’”

Fortunately, McNary received support from “the ever-amazing Eddie Aldape.” Shortly after the war started, Aldape left his home in Albacete, Spain, where he serves as CBF field personnel, and moved temporarily to Slovakia to help the McNarys.

Supported by CBF funds that provided transportation, lodging and food, Aldape woke up each day thinking about how he could serve refugees and help the churches ministering to them. That encompassed a broad and everchanging list of activities, including transporting refugees from the border to welcoming churches

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and shelters. It also meant helping them obtain basic resources, such as clothing and medicine, and taking care of routinebut-challenging duties, such as laundry and cleaning.

For over-worked and under-resourced pastors in border villages, Aldape’s relentless adaptability and indefatigable energy—often demonstrated in 18-hour days covering hundreds of miles—lifted spirits as well as providing invaluable respite.

CBF field personnel also have supported Ukrainian relief efforts from other parts of Europe.

Based in Westervoort, Netherlands, with her husband, Keith Holmes, Mary VanRheenen maintains a ministry as CBF field personnel to Christians in Moldova, which shares a long border with south central Ukraine. More than 450,000 Ukrainian refugees have crossed that border, VanRheenen reported, noting most head toward destinations elsewhere in Europe, always further from the fighting.

VanRheenen has supplied several Moldovan churches with CBF funds to provide food, clothing, medicine and temporary shelter to the refugees passing through their communities. “Buses and carloads of refugees cross the border…on their way to Bucharest (Romania), where they might go further to countries that have offered to host refugees,” she reported.

“The passengers, mainly mothers and children, are thirsty, hungry and in need of hygiene products like diapers and medicines.

Our partners volunteer to provide supplies and minister to the refugees.”

From Barcelona, Spain, Matt and Michelle Norman, also members of CBF’s Europe team, have supported the Ukrainian response on behalf of the other field personnel on the continent.

“These field personnel are making an incredible effort to respond to the war—on top of their everyday ministries,” Matt said.

“It has been a very hard two years in Europe.

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The COVID restrictions were very harsh with many European countries confining people to their homes for months. That takes its toll mentally and emotionally. But despite being very tired from two years of COVID and trying to maintain ministries, these CBF field personnel have given sacrificially in taking care of the refugees.”

Through their networks, the CBF Europe field personnel supplied the second strand of the relief cord. From the start, they have worked with Baptists and other Christians to serve Ukrainians across the region.

For example, the Podgaiskys communicate multiple times daily with their colleagues in Ukraine. This includes Baptist as well as evangelical congregations, all of whom are doing relief work—providing food and water and lodging, medicine, hygiene items, transportation and other forms of humanitarian aid.

In Poland, which has received the largest number of Ukrainian refugees, CBF has supported the ministry of Baptist Charity Action, Matt reported, noting, “Baptist churches across Poland have the capacity to help over 1,400 people every day, and Baptist seminary and retreat centers are being converted to house people long-term.”

While Slovakia’s refugee numbers are not as large, local resources still require strategic allocation. That’s where Shane McNary has been operating at the intersection of two worlds. His efforts—supplemented by those of Eddie Aldape—have supported the efforts of Slovak Baptists and Roma Pentecostals.

“These worlds do not usually intersect,” McNary said, then describing an overlap, when he helped Roma Baptists from Jelsava deliver aid to a Roma Apostolic church in Pavlovce nad Uhom.

In Moldova, the flow of refugees has declined from its peak in the early days of the war. But Baptists in VanRheenen’s Romany network have provided supplies, bottled water, medical care, transportation and other services to refugees passing through the

Top: Pastor Petru Ciochina, a ministry partner of Mary VanRheenen, purchases supplies to feed refugees at the Ukrainian border with support from the CBF Ukraine Relief Fund.

Above: Moldovan church members make food to bring to refugees at the Ukrainian border— traditional breads filled with meat or cheese.

To contribute to CBF’s Ukraine Relief Fund, visit www.cbf.net/ukraine

INDIVIDUALS AND CHURCHES HAD CONTRIBUTED OVER $800,000 TO THE CBF UKRAINE RELIEF FUND TO SERVE UKRAINIAN REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE.

If you want to help CBF’s Ukraine response, do the things that actually help— not necessarily what makes you feel good, CBF field personnel urged.

“We know there are many who want to come and volunteer and help, but the best way to respond now is to give to the Ukraine Relief Fund,” Matt Norman said. “Volunteers who cannot speak the local languages eastern cities and villages. Now, they are to its Ukraine Relief Fund into financial cannot provide help that is needed. And assessing long-term needs and strategic response mechanisms from the Baptist all temporary housing must be allocated to opportunities for ongoing ministry.

World Alliance’s Baptist Forum for Aid and refugees, not volunteers,” he added.

Meanwhile, more than 6,000 miles Development—or BFAD—and the European VanRheenen suggested four ways to away, pastors in the Fellowship Southwest’s Baptist Federation. Participating with these “channel that desire to help”: Immigrant Relief Ministry on the U.S.-Mexico global and continental partners helps ensure • “Volunteer to help refugees and border began to minister to Ukrainian money is allocated where it’s needed and immigrants in your community.” This refugees mingled among their more typical stretched as far as possible, said Eddy Ruble, creates a “refugee ripple effect”—settling constituents from Central America, South CBF’s Malaysia-based international disaster newcomers now creates room for the next America, the Caribbean and Africa. response coordinator. wave of people in need.

“The arrival of Ukrainian migrants is “BFAD is a network of global Baptists • “Donate to sell, not send.” Shipping stressing the already limited resources coming together to pool and track our clothes and supplies to missionaries is and complicating the dynamics of the resources,” Ruble, a member of the impractical and expensive. Sell those pastors and volunteers who operate organization’s advisory group, explained. items locally and send the money to migrant shelters on the Mexican side of the The European Baptist Federation takes support the relief fund.

U.S.-Mexico border,” said Elket Rodríguez, a similar regional approach, reported • “Go on a diet.” Because Ukraine and CBF field personnel on the border. “The Matt Norman, who, with Michelle, acts as Russia are major wheat-producing task of housing, transporting, feeding and CBF Global Missions representatives to the countries, the war has driven up food protecting Ukrainians from Mexican criminal federation. prices, “hitting the poorest of the poor,” organizations is a new logistical challenge As of press time, individuals and churches she said. “If you and I cut out the extra for the network of pastors with whom we had contributed over $800,000 to the CBF sweets, the second helping, the fancy collaborate.”

Ukraine Relief Fund. Part of that amount has cup of coffee, we can give the savings to The arrival of Ukrainians also represents been channeled through and contributed to someone who is having trouble buying a new cultural and linguistic challenge for the BFAD’s overall allocation to serve Ukrainian necessities.” pastors who comprise Fellowship Southwest’s refugees and internally displaced people.

• “Pray for and encourage people who can immigrant relief ministry, he added. But he The stress of the Ukrainian war inflicts help hands-on.” Pray for a specific CBF noted, “These pastors are resilient, and their tremendous pressure, Ruble said, noting, missionary and their partners, and send love for serving others has led them to go the “Disaster response, such as the Asian them notes of encouragement. extra mile for Ukrainians.” tsunami in 2004, usually is a one-time event.

To contribute to CBF’s Ukraine Relief About 15,000 Ukrainians had entered But war is different. You can’t anticipate Fund, go to www.cbf.net/ukraine or send the United States through border crossing when it will be over, when you will be able a check payable to CBF and designated points with Mexico by April 21. On that same to help people get their feet back on the “Ukraine Relief Fund” to Cooperative Baptist date, the Biden administration launched the ground. Now, we’re working to meet urgent, Fellowship, P.O. Box 102972, Atlanta, GA Uniting for Ukraine program that provides a immediate needs. But in principle, I see CBF 30368-2972. pathway for displaced Ukrainian citizens and spending the bulk of our funds helping the Later, but only after the war is over and their immediate family members to come to Podgaiskys’ partners in Ukraine rebuild and travel to Ukraine is safe, “come, serve and the U.S. and to stay temporarily. recover. That will have the longest-term help rebuild the country,” Gennady Podgaisky As part of its overall wartime relief impact.” urged. strategy, CBF has woven contributions SUMMER 2022

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Global humanity in an inhumane world:

The war in Ukraine, which began with an invasion that Russian President Vladimir Putin expected to last three or four days at most, has now dragged on for more than a month.

This is due in large part to the resilience and indefatigability of the Ukrainian people, whose spirits have stayed the course as truly as any weapon or armament. The war’s surprising longevity can also be attributed to the relative incompetence of the Russian army, bogged down as much by mud as they are by poor morale.

Regardless of the source, however, the fact remains that this war, older now than some of the babies caught in its crossfire, has decimated Ukrainian cities, spurred more than four million Ukrainian women and children to seek refuge in other countries and, as the international community learned the day of this writing (April 5), has devolved into the inconceivable—what many world leaders are

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calling a genocide in the suburbs of Kyiv.

The situation in Ukraine evolves rapidly and looks increasingly to be, at least for the near future, unceasing. That is to say, the interview conducted for this story took place on March 8, merely a week after Putin’s initial invasion. An innumerable number of things have changed since then; yet still more have remained depressingly the same.

War is still hell. People are still in need of aid, food, of water and, above all, peace. And CBF and its Global Missions field personnel are still rising to meet these needs as best they can.

Dianne and Shane McNary, the subjects of the March 8 interview, are one such example.

Called to Slovakia, one of the nations that

Left: Pastor Marek (center) confers with a Ukrainian Roma pastor and church members about responding to needs of Internally Displaced People in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Right: Eddie Aldape (right) visiting with Slovak and Ukrainian pastors to discuss how to better coordinate aid.

borders Ukraine, this wife-and-husband duo have dedicated their lives to helping people who are without a home, displaced by war and strife. For most of their career, they have centered their efforts on the Roma people.

Now, their focus has broadened to all the Ukrainians who now face a nomadic existence.

“We work primarily with Roma, but not exclusively,” Dianne said. “We are going to be working in whatever role it is, with whatever group of people.”

This work, thus far, has taken a twopronged approach, thanks to the binational predicament in which Dianne and Shane find themselves. When Russia first invaded Ukraine in February, Dianne, who usually lives with Shane in Slovakia, was actually

CBF field personnel respond to the war in Ukraine

By Grayson Hester

Baptist Roma from Jelsava collected aid including clothing, bedding, coloring books and crayons for children; seven of them, along with Shane, delivered the aid to the Apostolic church in Pavlovce nad Uhom, Slovakia.

in the United States, traveling to various CBF churches to report on their work back in Europe.

Regardless, the couple sprang into action with Dianne serving as a command center of sorts and Shane doing the on-the-ground work of directing resources where they were most needed.

“I rarely do anything without checking with her,” Shane said. “Everything I have done has been checked with her beforehand. It would be too stressful in one place, for us to talk about these things.”

Dianne handled communications, answering questions in the U.S. and directing Shane where he should go. Shane, using her intel, leveraged connections to the point of his traveling to the Slovakia/Ukraine border in order to donate needed supplies.

At the time, this border, located on the western side of Ukraine, was far removed

The Apostolic church in Pavlovce nad Uhom, Slovakia, hosted hundreds of refugees in the days immediately after Russia attacked Ukraine. The church has been essential in responding to Roma refugees. So much aid was delivered that the church was unable to function.

from the conflict. But recent reports of Russian pullouts from Kyiv have heightened both suspicions and anxieties that Putin’s army is soon to redirect its focus on the areas surrounding Lviv, a city in Ukraine.

Rather grimly, Shane has asserted that if the war were to come to Slovakia, the war would come to the globe. This outcome is still unlikely, but not implausible. And even if the war never were to expand beyond Ukraine’s border, our call to be global citizens will remain.

This is exemplified in the international work undertaken by Shane and Dianne, embodying in real time, the kind of worldwide co-laboring CBF Global Missions seeks to practice.

While Shane delivered resources on the border of Ukraine, Dianne answered questions on the border of Missouri. She also heard stories that solidified the spiritual closeness

of the Ukrainian people, a proximity that exists in spite of physical distance.

“In a church in Missouri, I met two women who had been on a short-term team with us a few years ago,” she said. “One grew up as a missionary kid and had a broader world view. The other woman had grown up about a half-mile from the church. But she came to Slovakia three or four years ago. She is that church’s witness.” Dianne then recounted what this woman told her. “‘Ever since I heard that they invaded Ukraine, all I can think of is those people. I’ve been there,’ the woman said. ‘A piece of them is with me, in my heart.’”

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Shane was waylaid similarly. When he received a call in Slovakia from the U.S. state of Georgia, he pulled his car over. On the other line was a Rotary Club member from a rural part of the state who, in Shane’s retelling, demanded answers about what was SUMMER 2022

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Above: Markovce is a village not far from Pavlovce nad Uhom, Slovakia. The building will serve as a warehouse for goods as well as temporary housing for refugees. Later, the facility will be used as a church building by the Apostolic Church.

Right: Within days of receiving the keys to the property, local Roma men were employed to begin clean up and renovations on the building.

going on, not from a place of compassion, but from a place of frustration at higher prices stateside.

If Dianne’s interaction demonstrated global citizenship in the positive, this phone call showcased the absence of feelings of global citizenship. “I don’t know the emotion to attach to it, this call from the Rotary Club,” Shane said. “One of the things you could do is try to imagine what it’s like to be a global citizen. This significant war, that has had global impact, may not all happen just to raise your prices at the gas pump.”

CBF field personnel need not imagine what it’s like to be a global citizen; it is a tangible, dirt-under-the-fingernails reality they live every day. But for those of us in the U.S., whose connection to Ukraine is all-butexclusively facilitated by news reports and donation links, it is important to remain aware of our connection with these seemingly farflung people.

“What can happen in this world that is not that far away? We Americans still believe we have insulation from things that happen,”

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Shane said. “It’s not just self-centeredness, but self-‘turned-ness.’ It’s not serving us well and makes it more difficult to respond when people have deep needs.”

Turning toward the other isn’t simply the right thing to do; it’s our call and our mandate as Christians, no matter how long it takes.

“I’ve been encouraging [people] not to forget that this is a long-term issue,” Dianne said.

“Keep paying attention. Remain involved. This is gonna’ be with us for a while.”

Even (maybe especially) when such connection results in anxiety and grief, what lies on the other side is transformation. What lies on the other side is indeed the Kin-dom of Heaven itself.

Donating necessities like diapers and school supplies, pajamas and food, meets critical bodily and spiritual needs. It is this material work with which Shane is primarily concerned.

But acts of compassion for refugees, of which Jesus’ family and therefore God’s self, was one, also meet humanity’s deepest need—spiritual, equitable connection. The

façades of borders and the conceits of power fall away, laying bare the messy, holy, wondrous Image into which we are all born and because of which we give and grieve and love.

“I’ve seen people changed who came to Slovakia and then returned to the U.S. There was transformation in that movement,” Shane said. “That’s why I drove two hours [to the border], to make sure people had this experience, so that giver and receiver could be transformed.”

Because of this, we are never without hope. And in the midst of these grim days, Dianne and Shane still manage to find glimmers of it. “The thing I find hopeful is the willingness of people to open up their homes and to donate things,” Dianne said.

“They want to give and make a difference, because they see someone. There’s still that willingness to be open to people, to be open to help, to do whatever you can.”

“Hope never dies.”

CBF’s Eddie Aldape works

Eddie Aldape (left) pictured with a new friend at the Ukraine border. “I had helped his family weeks before,” Aldape said. “He was so happy to be able ot thank me in person.”

long days to move Ukrainian refugees through Slovakia

By Jennifer Colosimo to Ukrainian refugees; so, when tensions increased for their families back home, Aldape wanted to do more.

“When these families would come to these border towns and were trying to take a train out of Ukraine, there were just gobs of people. kilometers. You’d get to the front of the line thinking you’re going to Romania and That’s the you’d end up in Poland,” Aldape said. “They didn’t know where they were, often couldn’t communicate. I thought if I was a little bit closer, I average round trip Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field could help.” personnel Eddie Aldape often makes as he transports He started writing to different pastors and field personnel asking goods and people to and from the Ukrainian border who needed his help. Shane McNary, field personnel in Slovakia, was towns in Slovakia. the first to respond. McNary had received $30,000 from CBF’s Ukraine There, 250,000 Ukrainian refugees have come since early Relief Fund to purchase and set up a central distribution center in March—some for a few days as they connect with family and friends Markovce, Slovakia, where churches could centralize the goods they in other countries and others for a week or more, as they search for had collected to help refugees there and those still in Ukraine. somewhere to go. They are in churches, temporary lodging centers Aldape requested and received permission to go, and received and hotels, relying on donations to survive and leaning on frantic $7,000 from the Ukraine Relief Fund for his own travel expenses, communication from strangers acting on their behalf, hoping just to lodging and to rent a van to help transport those goods and help stay together and get somewhere safe. The days are long and, for women, men and families get from the border to wherever they Aldape, often blur into the night with a border that doesn’t close just needed to go. because it’s bedtime.

When he arrived on March 16, there weren’t any large vans to A CBF field personnel serving in Albacete, Spain, and a veteran be rented, and local pastors were afraid to wake him up after hours. firefighter, since he possesses an urge to help others that is intrinsic, “That’s what I am here for!” Aldape would petition. With a smaller Aldape’s rarely concerned with what time it is. That’s a good thing, van, but more to spend on fuel (and a reputation for working around because he often hits the road at 9 a.m. and doesn’t return until after the clock), he hit the ground running. First, he helped repair a church midnight. where refugees were staying, and now regularly picks up groups from He works until he’s done all that he can that day, and then goes the border and takes them to churches, hotels, train stations, bus to bed looking forward to doing it again the next day. In fact, that depots, airports and even to relatives’ homes. He loads his van with mindset is what sparked his temporary move to Slovakia. In Spain, he supplies to unpack at the border, or to stock and organize the new and wife, Macarena, were already providing their own ministry support distribution center. He provides the families at the hotel where he is

Three hundred

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in Vel’ké Kapuşany (pronounced, Kapushani) with coloring books and table games, and, when he can, surprises the occupants with special dinners, like kabobs and popcorn. He creates community amidst the chaos, rallying refugees to help him during the day.

Aldape has also helped cultivate a temporary community for the Roma people. Longtime victims of discrimination in Europe, Roma refugees coming from Ukraine aren’t sent to the same centers as other families are. They’re sent to old prisons where the facilities are not-so-subtly subpar. Aldape and Macarena had many Banjara friends and connections in India, so his heart to help them is big. The border centers know they can call him when any refugee arrives and as a result, they’ve been able to give these people a safe and comfortable place to stay.

“We’ll take anyone that needs a place to go,” said Aldape, who is collaborating with five Roma Apostolic and Independent churches, and has about 15 rooms (and counting) at the hotel in Vel’ké Kapuşany.

One of the largest groups Aldape has helped host at the hotel are members of the same Roma church in Ukraine. Their senior pastor organized deacons and associate pastors to shepherd this group across the border. Some are relatives and they’re all very close, so they wanted to stay together. By way of Aldape’s van, a bus station, a train ride and a plane ticket, they’ll soon land in Norway, all still together.

Another group consists of 18 people, mostly children. The money Aldape has received from CBF’s Ukraine Relief Fund helps pay for the resources to keep them together, and make their stay as comfortable as possible.

“I spend half of my time in the car going from one location to another and the other half taking care of our guests,” he said.

“My days are 10- to 16-hour days depending on what is going on.”

With most of that time in the car, he sparks up conversation by sharing stories and his own experiences, or he plays Christian music and classics from his Spotify playlist. If it’s possible, he prays for his passengers and the communities through which they drive.

Eddie and his wife, Macarena, serve in Albacete, Spain, where residents show their support for the people of Ukraine.

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With over 1,000 Cooperative Baptist individuals, churches, partners and state and regional organizations have given in excess of $800,000 to CBF’s Ukraine Relief Fund since Russia invaded Ukraine, Aldape is deeply touched by the way young people there are mobilizing to serve their neighbors. One in particular is a group called Blind Spot. They’re mostly 20-somethings from the Czech Republic, with smart phones in hand and dreadlocks abounding, who are collecting donations at the border and then driving them into Ukraine.

Aldape ends up in tears every time he talks about them.

“When I got to the place where we were meeting up with them, I remember thinking, ‘Look at all these hippies!’ And of course, you can’t have young people without their computers; so, they all had their devices; but were using what they knew to find drivers and to find cars, and I was so impressed. Then, when they said they would take it to the border, I was thinking okay, they’re going to take donations to the border and someone will have to come pick them up. But no. They wanted a contact person and an address, because they were going to take it straight to the door, sometimes up to 150 kilometers into Ukraine. Generally, the western side of Ukraine is safe; but you just never know. I just thought, ‘Wow, these guys are the real heroes.’”

Perhaps it makes him emotional because seeing young kids makes him think about his own family.

“On one of our trips to the border, I took two guys with me to take supplies. I asked if anybody needed a ride when we got there, and there we saw a young girl. I thought, gosh that could be my daughter—we need to protect her. How could she be traveling by herself?”

“We were supposed to take her to a train station; but when we get there, there were a lot of shady-looking guys hanging around,” Aldape continued. “So, we waited with her and learned the place she was going was really only a few kilometers more; so we ended up dropping her off at her door. Her family was shocked at the type of service she had found. We were just glad to help. We’ve had a few of those situations, where we don’t know the people, and they don’t know us,

but are willing to take our help, which we’re happy to give.”

With the long days and short nights that come with working in a crisis, Aldape said he’s been very much in touch with CBF’s member care team. “These member care people, you know, they always want us to talk about our feelings,” Aldape said, chuckling. “I always say, come on, Latinos don’t do that! We just bottle it up until we explode, right!? But things like this affect us more than we think.

“Talking about your feelings makes you wake up and notice things. So, when I got here, [the member care person] asked me what I was going to do to take care of myself. That day, I was with the people from Blind Spot, and there’s a river that runs right by the place where we met. It was so peaceful to see the water, and to hear the birds singing.

It was so quiet even though there was all of this commotion nearby,” he said. “I just thought, wow, this reminds me that God takes care of the sparrows, so we don’t have to worry. We are so valuable to Him. I was able to find peace, and sent the care person a video of the spot, saying, ‘I think I found my place.’”

Speaking of place, his greatest concern is the condition we are leaving this world in for the next generation. “During one of our dropoffs, those kids from Blind Spot asked who we were, so I told them I was a missionary from Spain. They were so surprised that we were going the extra mile for people we don’t even know,” Aldape said. “I believe [situations like this] are where we come to bear witness in action. I don’t like to go around telling people I’m a Christian; I like to show them what I believe.”

With only a few more weeks in Slovakia, Aldape wants to do as much as he can. Call it the first responder in him, or the connection he felt with his friends and family back in Spain facing this crisis head on.

But the bottom line is that he answered God’s call to be the hands and feet where God needed them most.

“I have always had to work and throughout my life, I have learned certain skills—some I loved and some I did not,” Aldape said.

“But I have come to understand that at one point or another, I have needed those skills and have been able to help because of what I have learned. Every time, I remember where He says, ‘For such a time as this.’ Those skills have allowed me to do things I didn’t know I could do.”

And seeing the youth embody that same spirit gives him hope that we may just be all right.

Left: Through their ministry in Albacete, the Aldapes provided support to reunite a Ukrainian family. Right: Shane McNary (right) translates for Eddie Aldape (left) during a church service in Slovakia.

GIVE

Please give generously to support CBF’s Ukraine Relief Fund at www.cbf.net/ukraine.

LEARN

Learn more about the ministry of CBF field personnel Eddie Aldape at www.cbf.net/aldape.

ON THE CBF BLOG

www.cbfblog.com/category/ukraine-2022/ Being the hands and feet of Christ: Project Ruth provides aid to Ukrainian refugees In living memory: Netherlands-based CBF field personnel helps meet needs of Ukrainian refugees

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TRANSFORM

The ACT Council at Broadway Baptist Church holds community meetings where people can share their experiences with the group gathered.

Acknowledge, Confess, Transform

If

you were to have set foot onto the campus of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, between 1925 and 1959, there is a good chance you would have been given a very warm greeting from a man named John Thomas, the head custodian at the time. John Thomas was a regular presence at the church and would greet church members by name. He loved the congregation and the congregation loved him as he served the church under five different pastorates and was considered to be an institution of the congregation.

By Chris Hughes

How one congregation is pursuing reconciliation and justice

ACT Council, is making to address racial injustice and its desire to become a more diverse and inclusive congregation into the future.

ACT stands for Acknowledge, Confess, and Transform, a summary of the group’s stated purpose to lead the church to “acknowledge our sins and the sins of our society; confess our wrongs; and commit ourselves to transform through the process of deep personal and institutional change.”

“The ACT Council was formed in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd,” said Ryon Price, senior pastor of Broadway. The summer of 2020 was marked by nation-wide demonstrations for racial justice in response to the death of George Floyd. Historically white churches from large cities to small rural towns joined the But as you moved into the grandeur of Broadway’s Gothic-style demonstrations and drafted statements committing to work for racial sanctuary, taking in its vaulted arch ceilings, the ornate stained glass and massive pipe organ, there would be one person noticeably justice. They also formed book clubs and studies around works like The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby, and White Too Long by absent—John Thomas. Thomas was Black and, because Broadway, Robert P. Jones. like so many churches at the time, was segregated, he could not sit “Jones’ book on the history and complicity of the moderate, white in the sanctuary during worship services. Still wanting to hear the preaching, Thomas would slip into the baptistery of the church where church was very convicting to me,” Price noted. “The aftermath of George Floyd’s death, reading that book and recognizing the he could hear, but not be seen by the congregation. historically white church’s place in creating the condition of what Uncovering that haunting story from Broadway’s past is one Black America had to deal with was a major impetus for my writing part of a broader effort that the church, led by a group called the the letter to create the ACT Council.”

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In September 2020, Price penned a letter to his congregation and to the church leadership, calling for the creation of this new council, which would help the church reckon with its own racial history while creating ways for the church to live into a new identity— one that would be more diverse, inclusive and justice-oriented.

In his letter, Price expressed his hope for the church to “become more racially diverse in membership, more explicitly committed to the work of racial justice, more fully inclusive and affirming of all persons, including women, persons of color, and those in the LGBTQ community, and more explicitly welcoming and inclusive in our policies toward persons wishing to join the church from other denominational traditions and practices.”

By December of that year, the diaconate had responded, recommending that the church establish the ACT Council with seven desired outcomes: 1. To review the church’s mission statement, expanding it to include reconciliation and justice.

2. To establish a standing Justice Committee to speak out on matters of justice and human rights.

3. To provide a history of racism at the church, and make recommendations for what it can do to make reparations.

4. To establish a Diversity Task Force, and to conduct an audit of the entire church and identify where matters of diversity and inclusion are deficient.

5. To develop educational programming for the church on racism, sexism and other areas of exclusion.

6. To identify and act upon ways for the church to become more racially diverse.

7. To amend the bylaws of the church to explicitly welcome, affirm and include all members within the Body of Christ, especially those within the LGTBQ community, people of color and those from other ecumenical traditions.

By January, the council had begun to take shape. Church members were allowed to nominate themselves for the council and ultimately about 25 people joined the group. “The next step was to break up the work into discrete task forces,” said the Rev. Alan Bean, a retired hospital chaplain who serves on the council. The seven action items soon became seven task forces, each charged with creating ways for the church to complete its desired outcome.

The Justice Committee, for example, focuses on public witness and advocacy for human rights in the community. They have attended city council meetings to advocate for affordable housing, and made public statements on police oversight and voting rights.

Alan serves on the History Task Force, working to excavate and share stories like that of John Thomas, illustrating Broadway’s history related to race. “It’s not just to focus on the negatives but also on the positive contributions the church has made at the city level and within our denomination,” Price noted. “Those are also stories that need to be told.” One example is the church’s past move to welcome people who are LGBTQ as members, which resulted in their expulsion from the Southern Baptist Convention in 2008. “I think this church has acted with courage at times and that needs to be affirmed. But at

Rev. Alan Bean

Ryon Price, Senior Pastor, Broadway Baptist Church

Mattie Compton, co-chair of the ACT Council, shares during a community meeting.

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TRANSFORM other times we’ve been too silent, so we have to ask why and at what cost,” Price said.

Alan’s spouse, Rev. Nancy Bean, is also a member of the ACT Council and chairs the Diversity Task Force. Their work is primarily focused on doing a congregation-wide self-audit, including the church staff, polity, ministries for different age groups and corporate worship. “It’s turning out to be a huge job but also very illuminating!”

Nancy shared. The self-audits ask representatives of the different areas of the church to evaluate how they are doing on a range of topics, from diversity to incorporating different worship styles and music, as well as accessibility and church leadership.

For Nancy, one of the biggest surprises is how just asking the questions is eliciting change in the congregation already. “One of the questions we created is: ‘Is there intentional, regular diversity training for staff and laity?’ Once we asked the question, the youth minister started doing it the next month,” she shared.

The council is about halfway through its work, but the process hasn’t been without some growing pains from the church’s new focus.

“Not everyone has stayed in the church; but we’ve certainly been growing quite a bit, too. Several of our new members say it’s the creation of the ACT Council that let them know they were in the right place,” Alan said. Both Alan and Nancy see the ACT Council as a way to lean into a new identity for the future, and accelerate some of the changes that were already been taking place within the congregation.

“Rather than drifting in survival mode, we want to be in charge of our own destiny and intentional about where we’re going,” Alan said.

It’s that shift that has been especially important for Mattie Compton, who serves on the diaconate and as co-chair of the ACT Council. Compton knows on a personal level why the work of the ACT Council matters. “I grew up in a segregated Fort Worth,” she said.

“I entered Broadway with all the hesitancy borne of that experience, but found a warm and welcoming congregation. Worshiping in a historically white Baptist church with others who seek a fuller understanding of the impact of racism, who work diligently to achieve diversity and inclusion, but more importantly who seek to foster a sense of belonging, gives me hope.”

As a historian, Alan is especially keen on sharing this work in the broader context of the church’s history, from a flagship Southern Baptist Church whose membership numbered in the thousands to a thriving CBF congregation embracing diversity and radical inclusivity.

“We have been following our Lord down a hard road, and we have accomplished great things because we didn’t take the easy way. I want people to feel that the last 50 years have meant something, that we’ve been going somewhere,” he said.

“It’s been a journey toward justice,” Nancy added.

“This is deeply spiritual work,” Price concluded. “This is work that white pastors in historically white congregational contexts need to be doing in order to acknowledge, confess and transform.”

Top left: Mattie Compton, co-chair of the ACT Council.

Top right: John Thomas was the head custodian and regular presence at Broadway, serving under five pastorates, but could not sit in the sanctuary due to segregation.

Bottom: Members of Broadway pass the peace throughout the congregation during a Sunday service.

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The Impact of Abundant Life , Continued ROSALIE’S STORY

By Chris Hughes

For Rosalie,

the journey from the Congo to Fort Worth, Texas, has been filled with many obstacles and setbacks. But God’s providence and the faithful presence of supportive people along the way has made all the difference.

“God has sent so many people in my life.

That’s how I’ve experienced God’s love,” she said.

Over 25 years ago, at age nine, Rosalie and her family had to flee from their home in Zaire for a refugee camp in Tanzania, where God sent United Nations workers to provide a tent shelter. During her 12-plus years in the refugee camp, God sent aid workers to provide food, dishes and blankets for her parents and siblings. When the family resettled in Fort Worth, God sent Catholic

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Charities and a Methodist congregation to help them find jobs, learn English and get drivers’ licenses.

And in 2012, as Rosalie was starting her own family and applying to college, God sent Karen Morrow, a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel serving among internationals and refugees in Fort Worth.

“Karen shows Christ’s love through her humility and her willingness to help those in need,” Rosalie said. “That’s what we need to do as people in Christ Jesus. We need to be willing to help other people.”

Since 1996, Morrow has ministered to refugees who have been forced to flee their home countries due to violence and persecution, and helped them resettle in Texas. Through her ministry, she empowers refugees with early childhood and adult education, as well as resources for housing, health care and cultural transition with the support of the CBF Offering for Global Missions. When she met Rosalie 10 years ago, however, Rosalie had already overcome many of the toughest obstacles immigrants face in the United States—learning English, finding employment, and acquiring transportation and housing. But Rosalie wanted more than just survival for her family. She wanted an abundant life, and that meant investing in her education.

Morrow journeyed with her every step of the way as she made campus visits to the University of Texas at Arlington, helping her to navigate the application process, meeting with admissions and financial advisors who helped her obtain grants and scholarships, and setting her up for success.

Rosalie poured herself into her education, graduating in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in social work.

Amid her studies, Rosalie also focused on empowering her three sons, Norbert Emmanuel, Gilbert and John Emmanuel.

Morrow’s flagship ministry—Ready for School—was vital to their development, as was her Hope Library, a free library that Morrow and local church partners developed for children of refugees. As school and work increasingly demanded more of her time, Hope Library became critical in boosting her sons’ reading levels and test scores.

All along, Rosalie planned to focus her work on paying it forward—to help refugees like her navigate the arduous journey of resettling in the United States. “It’s amazing to see where I came from and where I am now, and all the people who helped me get here,” she said. “I want to be a social worker because I know how valuable it is to have support. I want to help people get the

resources they need to succeed in life and overcome all the obstacles they’re facing.”

But just as Rosalie was completing her master’s degree in social work, another obstacle sprang up as the COVID-19 pandemic swept over the globe in March 2020. The pandemic sent many organizations, communities and schools into lockdown, including the University of Texas at Arlington, where she was set to graduate in May. With her classes going virtual, Rosalie felt a familiar sense shared by many—the feeling that everything in the pandemic was suddenly much more difficult. “That really, for me, seemed like the work doubled,” she shared. “Our school work was, for me, tough, a lot more than going to school in person.”

The hardest part was missing out on a proper graduation. “That was really hard and impacted me because I wanted to walk across the stage when I graduated. I was so excited to finish and walk. So, when they said there was no graduation, I felt so bad. That really impacted me a lot.”

Despite all the difficulties, Rosalie has experienced a whirlwind of positive change in her life since graduation. In the same year, she graduated with her Master’s in Social Work, moved into a new home and began her career as a social worker. She also gave birth to a baby.

In late 2021, she even got the opportunity she had been hoping for—to start giving back to other refugees coming to the United States and working on crisis intervention with them. “As refugees, we experience so many crises,” she said. “So, I will be working in that role to help those in need, especially the refugee community.”

Throughout it all, Morrow’s faithful presence continues to impact Rosalie’s journey as she continues to keep in touch and show up for every important event in Rosalie’s life. “She visited during my master’s program. She called me during the pandemic, even though we couldn’t see each other faceto-face. When I was in the hospital to deliver, she was there. Even last year, she was able to come over here and see us and see the new baby.”

“That’s being present. Even though the pandemic is here, she didn’t stop checking on me and my family.”

As Rosalie continues to navigate a long and difficult journey from Zaire to Fort Worth, and from refugee to social worker, she hopes to get her license as a social worker, and potentially visit her homeland. “I’m hoping that one day, I’ll go back to my country or my mother’s homeland to see my other siblings, and other family members.”

Watch Offering for Global Missions videos at www.cbf.net/ogm “AS REFUGEES, WE EXPERIENCE SO MANY CRISES. SO, I WILL BE WORKING IN THAT ROLE TO HELP THOSE IN NEED, ESPECIALLY THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY.”

Left: CBF field personnel shares new books with Rosalie’s sons, Norbert Emmanuel, Gilbert and John Emmanuel. Right: Since this photo in 2019, Rosalie has graduated with her master’s degree in social work, had another baby and followed her calling to help other refugees like herself.

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Amid Fallout, Presence Persists Chaouki and Maha Boulos Minister in Lebanon

By Grayson Hester

Children eat lunch at a kid’s camp in Beirut, Lebanon, in the summer of 2021.

CBF field personnel Maha Boulos (second from right) enjoys a luncheon with volunteers.

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CBF field personnel Chaouki Boulos (right) and his new friend, Khad, who is a Bedouin from North Lebanon.

As

the crisis in Ukraine continues to dominate headlines and millions of refugees travel across Europe, American readers would be forgiven for forgetting the other ongoing crises we face.

There’s the pandemic, of course. And, when we have the wherewithal, we can consider the climate crisis, existential in its escalation. But what about the persistent crises in the Middle East?

What about, namely, Lebanon?

One of the seemingly countless calamities that captured our attention in 2020 was the historic explosion in the port of Beirut, which nearly shattered the nation’s already-fragile political apparatus.

But as the dust settled and the fire faded from the sky, so too did the event fade from our memory.

This was not so for Chaouki and Maha Boulos. These Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel, commissioned to serve in Lebanon and among the Lebanese people and refugees, have endured cataclysm, corruption, COVID-19 and conflict to provide unending ministry to people who, nearly two years later, still desperately need it. They’ve endured a disruption that those in the United States, even at the height of the pandemic and quarantine, would have found intolerable—virtually nonexistent internet access and electricity.

When I tried to conduct an interview with the Bouloses via WhatsApp, we were relegated to an hour-long window in which rationed electricity was made available for people to use. And even then, the connection was so unreliable that we couldn’t hold a conversation for longer than five minutes before the call dropped.

And dropped. And kept dropping.

In a move for which my former journalism professors would have certainly docked me a letter grade or two, the Bouloses and I agreed it was best for them to answer questions via e-mail. Excerpts from my questions and their written responses are below.

SINCE THE FILMING OF THE “BECAUSE PRESENCE MATTERS” VIDEO LAST YEAR, HAVE THERE BEEN ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES OR DEVELOPMENTS IN YOUR MINISTRIES? Presence on the field is proving its importance day-after-day.

If we were not here, we wouldn’t be able to know the needs of the people, which is becoming more difficult by the day. Because we live

Choauki Boulos speaks at a prayer meeting for men and women. In 2011, Maha began a women’s prayer meeting with 16 women, and now more than 550 women and 100 men attend prayer meetings.

here, we are passing through the same hard things that the people of Lebanon, as well as the refugees, are facing daily. From basic needs such as getting sufficient food to obtaining medicine and access to medical operations, we are asked by help people every day if we can help.

Of course, some needs are harder to assist with than others— such as getting the cancer medicines that used to be covered by the Ministry of Health, the cost of which is now the responsibility of patients.

Yesterday, a man from a Baptist church in North Lebanon contacted me with a request from a family whose daughter needs a lung cancer medicine that costs $2,500 monthly. (That amount is half the cost of the actual price, only because it can be purchased from Argentina.)

In most cases, we are able to assist families with medicine, many thanks to Christian churches and individuals from the U.S., who empower us to help many suffering people. But when it comes to big needs where thousands of dollars are needed, we are unfortunately incapable of assisting. But as we believe that the Lord is the Healer, we always bring such requests to the Lord and ask for His healing for these individuals.

Watch a video about the Boulos’ ministry at www.cbf.net/ogm

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A line forms for a food distribution project after the blast in the port of Beirut in 2020.

Maha Boulos assists Lebanese families after the 2020 blast.

WHAT IS THE MOST PRESSING NEED YOU ADDRESS ON A DAILY BASIS?

ransom to free him. He was no longer in Syria. It took some time to locate him, and we prayed fervently at meetings that the Lord would free him from his captivity.

Usually, when such kidnappings happen, people disappear for good. But we praise the Lord that R.’s son was found and was released a week after that. What a big miracle! We were all so excited about this big answer to our prayers.

The most pressing need is to continue to provide the Lebanese, as well as refugees, with food packages until these hard times come to an end. Most recently, our humble food packages have increased in value and required number. Two years ago, we would cater for 650 families. Today, our numbers have exceeded 930 families that receive a food package every five to six weeks. Our food packages always had milk and oil, which have now jumped in price and even sometimes become scarce.

We are grateful that we can now offer food packages of greater value, having grown from $14 to $22. Today, we are able to add more basic items to our food packages and people seem to be much happier when they discover what’s inside.

IN CIRCUMSTANCES THAT SEEM FROM THE OUTSIDE TO BE HOPELESS, WHERE HAVE YOU FOUND HOPE? HOW HAVE YOU SEEN GOD WORK? In hard circumstances, we know that the Lord Jesus is with us and with the people we are serving. We pray for them, as Jesus is our only hope. Many times, we have felt hopeless; but it is in these circumstances that the power of the Lord comes through and God answers our prayers miraculously.

For instance, before Christmas, R.’s 42-year-old son was kidnapped as he was trying to leave Syria and go to Europe. He was caught by a mafia that started sending videos to R., asking for a

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WILL YOU PLEASE UPDATE READERS ON YOUR OTHER MINISTRIES? In 2011, war started in Syria, and Maha started a women’s meeting of 16 women at a Kurdish woman’s apartment. The numbers got bigger every week. Today, We have more than 550 women and more than 75 on the waiting list. After this success, some men started joining, which encouraged Chaouki to start a men’s meeting. Now, we have more than 100 men attending the men’s meeting.

From these meetings, we started opening the center doors for small groups to meet. Now, less than two years later, the Kurdish ministry has become a church, and another Lebanese ministry became a church, too.

A third ministry, led by an American missionary that meets at our center, has also become a church. We praise the Lord for allowing us to open our doors for those ministries. As we are doing our work here, we have experienced the Lord expanding God’s kingdom and growing the work among the Lebanese and among the refugees.

Praise be to God’s name.

INVITE

Building a Future

for Everybody

How CBF’s Anna and LaCount Anderson are making an impact on their community

By Jennifer Colosimo

If Anna and LaCount Anderson

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there’s one thing to know about Anna and LaCount Anderson, it’s that they aren’t handy. But for all the times you’ll hear them say they don’t know anything about gardening, or that they’re certainly not capable contractors, that’s exactly what they’ve been doing— among many other things—to serve God in two important communities in rural North Carolina. These include the Conetoe Family Life Center in Conetoe and First Baptist Church of Ahoskie. And while they chuckle when they look back and think about how they managed to get themselves into this position, one thing is for sure, they wouldn’t change a thing.

Top left: Katrina Tatum, a Campbell University Divinity School student and CBF Student.Go intern, pictured with LaCount and Anna Anderson at First Baptist Church, Ahoskie, N.C. Top right: Richard Joyner, founding director of The Conetoe Family Life Center, talks with apprentices, Adolfo Reyes and Jacob Holloway, as they share about their work there with the Rural Urban Americas Team at their recent meeting.

In 2017, they both left their previous ministry roles to work full-time for CBF. Restructuring of the funding model opened up a new opportunity for them to do what they were passionate about and truly make a difference. They began working with an agricultural nonprofit organization as part of the Conetoe Family Life Center in Conetoe, N.C., a small town with a lot of need. Anna and LaCount worked in the 27-acre garden, ran literacy workshops for children, offered piano lessons, provided after-school care and tutoring, and volunteered with senior citizen food distribution as a part of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

“We started out helping in that food program because Conetoe was trying to get it established with the Family Life Center being a source for the community there,” LaCount said. “Pretty soon, we found ourselves in charge of that. And we still do that. We love it because we’ve been able to develop a team of local volunteers who help us, and we’ve also had churches from as far away as Griffin, Ga., come to volunteer with us. It’s helped us connect locally and regionally with people who want to help this area.”

Another of their passions exists about an hour north. There, First Baptist Church of Ahoskie was facing the problem of ministers so busy with seeing people from the community stopping by for emergency

assistance that they really did not have the time to do the work they needed to do.

They wanted to spend more time with the community folks in need, but it was a strain trying to do that every day without a plan or specific method of help.

“We began doing benevolence work with them, meeting with clients who set appointments and have a specific time to come and talk with us so that the ministers could work on sermons, get music ready, do the planning and other things they needed to do and be freer to do the work that the congregation needed from them,” Anna said.

“We’ve been doing this for over three years with them, and it’s one of the most rewarding things we do.

“There we get to meet people in need, talk with them, problem solve with them, and, if needed, pay their bills,” added LaCount.

“We like it so much because we’re talking to people, not just thinking about policy changes or how to raise money. We’re actually building relationships and getting to know folks.”

As they got to know the people in Ahoskie and Conetoe, one thing kept coming up.

Most often, people needed a place to live.

Like many of the rural areas in Eastern and Central North Carolina, finding a comfortable, affordable place to live was crisis number one.

That sparked a greater focus for Anna and LaCount.

Through their work with The Conetoe Family Life Center, they met Richard Joyner, the center’s founding director and a CNN nominee for a top hero of the year in 2015.

They became his helpers, for lack of a better term. They did whatever they could through his ministry—from planting watermelons in the garden to packing food distribution boxes, to whatever was needed, really. They were his right-hand people, so when the idea arose to renovate a dilapidated mobile home that had been donated to the center years before as a solution to the housing crisis, he put them in charge.

“We began to explore some opportunities through the Welcome House community network through CBF of North Carolina,” said Anna. “We knew it was needed here, because this is one of the states where a refugee can come and resettle; but we also knew how many other groups of vulnerable people could use it.

“Of course, [Joyner] told us to run with it,” laughed Anna, admitting again that they didn’t know a thing about fixing up houses.

“Westwood Baptist Church in Cary, North Carolina, contacted us with a mission grant opportunity, wanting their supporting field personnel to write a grant request for $10,000 to put towards a project they could be involved in personally. In my naivety, I thought

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INVITE $10,000 might actually cover the cost of getting their mobile home live-in ready.”

Of course, it didn’t come close. The mobile home was in two pieces, had withstood many seasons of weather, had no running water, no furniture or appliances and needed a new roof and new siding, just to name a few of the issues. Plus, we were in the beginning of a pandemic.

“We learned very quickly that you can’t get a house ready for occupancy with not much money,” Anna said. “The story is long and involved. But in November of 2021, everything was completed, and a single mom with three children began living there.”

But within that long story is an inspiring story about how both Anna and LaCount learned to run with God, instead of ahead of God, how to follow where God leads and how to wait on God. How to trust God’s plan. How to be reminded yet again that God is the one leading, God is the one directing.

“I don’t know how we ever raised enough money to get the home ready for someone to live in it,” Anna said. “I mean, it was just God. We sent out the message among our encourager churches and put the word out everywhere we could think of; and then we just invited people. Many people heard what we were doing and just offered to help. It just happened.”

Letters requesting small donations resulted in mattresses, bedding, blinds and curtains for every bedroom. Word of mouth brought in donations of HVAC systems and

the experts to install it. Electronics, furniture, appliances and a septic tank followed, paid for by donations from around the region.

There were 15 different partnerships—such as Together for Hope—and a grant from CBF North Carolina’s Global Partnership Fund that helped get water to the home and appliances in the home.

Of course, it was a lot of hands-on work too. Anna remembers something akin to catcalls as she and LaCount pushed three Target carts full of pillows to her car one afternoon.

“We’re not contractors. We don’t know anything about construction at all,” Anna said.

“We bit off way more than we could chew.

God knew that; but I’ll tell you what this has done: It has ignited within us the need for safe, comfortable housing for people who are vulnerable and don’t have anywhere to go.”

As soon as they finished that double-wide mobile home, they decided they needed to tackle another one and, as they start work on the next Welcome House, they’re beginning to do asset mapping to discover additional assets, money or talent in the communities of Conetoe and Ahoskie. Once that is accomplished, they’ll be able to pinpoint things they need to do in this area and how to best attack them. Even as they scoff about their home renovation knowledge, they’re quickly becoming experts at it.

“Sometimes you’re prompted by the Spirit, and I’ve learned that you’ve got to pay attention to that,” Anna said. “We’ve got to

Bottom left: Sue Bullock and Carrie Jackson deliver food boxes to recipients. Bottom right: LaCount Anderson and Joyce McCartney unload items alongside other volunteers at the monthly food distribution in Conetoe.

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have our antennae up and be ready to listen and be aware. We’re still learning that, and reminding ourselves of it everyday.”

In that vein, they’re continuously looking for more churches that have property or houses that they can connect to the Welcome House network.

“North Carolina had one Welcome House two years ago. Now there are 27 in the state,” Anna said. “We’re encouraging churches throughout the state to get a Welcome House in their own community. Whether it’s property they’re not using, a parsonage that isn’t needed, houses that aren’t serving a purpose currently—those could be a Welcome House. And we want to open up Welcome Houses to all vulnerable people groups, not just refugees. There are many people who need temporary, transitional housing. Maybe they’ve had a house fire; maybe it’s a teacher coming to teach for a short period of time; or senior adults, farm workers, anybody who is in a tough situation and experiencing poverty.”

The Andersons are also inviting more people to come and help them do the work they’ve already started locally.

“It means a lot to us to be able to live here, where we’re doing this work,” Anna said. “Presence matters in so many ways, and when you can be somewhere long enough to develop relationships with people, you have a different view about the needs and the opportunities in a place. We’ve been here a long time, but it’s exciting, because it feels like we’re just getting started. We feel as called to do this work as we ever did.”

THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAYING—NOT JUST PRAYING—TOGETHER

the words and phrases to be acted out. (She handed out a written report as well; but she knew her people would retain much more from the game.) In the past. I have divided up my youth group at a local Target, given each segment a child’s wish list and a gift card, and challenged them to put together the best possible Christmas stocking for that child. I

By Rev. Laura Stephens Reed have converted a church’s mission statement into a Mad Lib, which resulted in a lot of I was talking with a pastor whose laughs as well as better understanding and retention of the actual mission statement. I congregation has weathered build some sort of game, puzzle or icebreaker the pandemic as well as any church I know. There have been into every congregational conversation I no significant conflicts. The pastor has felt her people’s grace facilitate, because the discussion takes on a when she has made mistakes navigating new technology. whole different tenor when I do.

The congregation has welcomed new worshipers and found Other congregations I know try on other innovative and COVID-safe ways to serve its larger community. ways of playing. They plan churchwide board Church members have stayed connected with one another as game nights. They invite people to meet well as to the pastor. up for outdoor community concerts. They What made all of this possible under interactions flow. That puts a lot of pressure observe Holy Humor Sunday on the second Sunday of Easter, a longtime Christian such difficult circumstances? Simply put: It on the pastor and limits community tradition in which picnics and parties is play. The congregation was accustomed development within and beyond the church. celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. They have to playing together before COVID-19 hit, and If a congregation plays together, though, they discovered new ways of enjoying each participants get to know each other better on birthday parties for the church on Pentecost.

They organize sports teams and storytelling other’s company while online and physically their own terms. distanced. Here’s why that spirit of play is Playing together deepens trust. All of the festivals and arts cafes and painting nights.

They offer the ministry of Godly Play to essential: pluses of play mentioned above contribute invite children into wondering about and Playing together breeds creativity. When to trust, possibly the most important factor interacting with Bible stories. And, of course, we can relax our bodies and our thoughts, in a congregation’s effectiveness. Trust is many churches center play around eating we make space for new ideas. This reality the human-to-human reflection of our faith together (a personal favorite!). is proven by neuroscience. Anxiety shuts in the God who made us all and without it, I encourage your church to consider down imagination in an effort to focus all of we are subject to the grip of gossip, bullying, what kinds of play might work best in your our resources on survival. When we smile or perfectionism and unhelpful assumptions. context. You might have the capacity for a laugh or appreciate the beauty in something But if we can enjoy one another’s company, big event, or you might need something that or someone, our limbic loops unlock and free experiment together, and see and value is lower maintenance. Either is great. The key us up to consider more possibilities. those around us, we can build a bedrock of Playing together develops flexibility. trust to which we can always return in tough is to simply spend interactive time together in ways that have no agenda. And if your Play is at root experimentation. Whether times. we are playing a sport, a board game, or Fun, in other words, can have very serious first attempt flops, no worries. As mentioned make-believe, if we’re painting or writing, benefits. And if you need further convincing, before, part of play is innovating, seeing what or if we’re telling a story or a joke, we’re look no farther than scripture. Jesus loved to works, and adjusting accordingly.

COVID continues, even though it is now constantly trying something out and seeing eat with friends and strangers. He told and what happens. If we like the result, we repeat listened to stories. He chose to value people less of a threat. The possibility remains that the action. If not, we attempt a different and spend time with them, even the unlikely we will all be thrown for one loop or another.

Play, though, will ready us to adapt and to approach next time. Play, then, ingrains in us candidates. He even turned water into wine stay connected with and give one another the belief that it is perfectly fine to change to keep the wedding party going in Cana! course when needed.

How, then, might your congregation play grace when that happens. Because, as my pastor friend whose church has played Playing together builds relationships. together? There are so many possibilities, throughout the pandemic said, “Play is Most sanctuaries are designed so that even if we (please no) need to return to training for the unexpected.” worshipers all face the pulpit and cannot physical distancing. For example, I recently see one another very well. That reflects how coached a pastor on turning her report at Laura Stephens-Reed is a clergy and many congregations operate: The pastor the church’s annual meeting into a game of congregational coach based in Alabama. is the hub through which all substantive Charades, with key ideas from her report as

Recently,

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