CMF Intl – Nov 16 2015 – holistic development report

“We saw transformation in action!”

Florida team leads retreat for soccer boys in Mexico City

Sixteen people from Generations Christian Church took a mission trip to Mexico City in August, and stepped into a world where kids don’t see swimming pools or celebrate their birthdays.

The Trinity, FL, team – six adults, one child, and eight teens – led a retreat at a rural campground outside the city for boys from the soccer league sponsored by the Zone 10:14 Community Center. The center is a ministry of Maranatha Church in the Fuego Nuevo neighborhood, a CMF ministry partner.

The 15 young men, ages 15 to 22, have all been exposed to drinking, drugs, and smoking and many have dropped out of school, according to Steve Palich, CMF’s Director of Ministry Center Development.

“This trip was a first for them in many ways,” he said. “This was their first prolonged contact with Christians, their first trip out of the city, their first time to swim in a pool.”

Shared experiences

It was also the first time for many on the Generations team to communicate cross-culturally.

“Our goals were to hang out with the boys and get to know them and hopefully model Jesus’ love and forgiveness,” said Jo Ellen Platania, the Global Outreach Involvement Minister at Generations. “We ate together, cleaned dishes and prepped meals, had campfires, played soccer, swam and celebrated two of the boys’ birthdays.”

And the retreat was a smashing success, despite some uncomfortable moments, Jo Ellen said.

“The boys were open as they shared their experiences,” she said. “They have lived lifetimes of addiction and pain in their short years. But they felt they could be vulnerable with us and our team responded with acceptance and grace.”
 

Essential ministry

Jo Ellen and her team were impressed with the work being done by the team at Zone 10:14.

“This is obviously a needed ministry that is reaching people who are far from God,” she said. “These youth are not only learning about hope and health in their communities but in their own lives. There are a few leaders among the boys who take their responsibilities seriously and are making life changes and modeling them for the other boys. We saw transformation in action just in the three days we were at the camp!”

Generations has already committed to sending another team to Fuego Nuevo next July.

“The leadership at Maranatha is so committed to community transformation, and we want to be part of that!” she said. “Our hope is that this partnership will continue with at least yearly trips.”

In the meantime, team members are still in touch with many of the boys through social media and the church.

“It is going to be amazing to watch God work through these boys,” Jo Ellen said. “We are excited to hear how they continue to grow and embrace Christ. We believe it will happen as their relationships with the soccer league and Maranatha Church continue. It is such an honor to have even a small role in connecting these young men to Christ!”

“Wash your hands!”

Burkina Faso health clubs tie health, nutrition to Bible stories

About 70 children, ages 5 to 12, attend the club meetings. Most are from Muslim families, according to Ken.

“We’ve fashioned the health club as training for the neighborhood kids by the neighborhood,” said Ken. “We currently have 10 volunteers who help teach, do skits, lead discussions after the teaching time, and manage the kids.”

This year’s theme for the lessons is “Healthy heart, healthy body, unified community.” The September lessons focused on good nutrition, integrated with the early Genesis stories of the creation, fall, and Cain and Abel stories. 

“We learned how God created everything and how He nourishes us with His creation,” said Ken. “But sin destroyed our peace, brought shame and made it difficult to reap a harvest. So we talk about how many healthy problems can be prevented if we engage in good spiritual, social and physical practices.

“We then emphasize that it’s important to eat a variety of different carbohydrates, proteins, fruits and vegetables,” he added. “We suggest cheaper alternatives to proteins, as most of the kids don’t have the means to eat meat every day. Anita and some young mothers are teaching the kids to make a nutrient-rich porridge.”

Community impact

In addition to regular handwashing, Ken and Anita see that the community is placing a higher priority on installing toilets, and the kids themselves make more of an effort to use them.

“We’re also seeing kids find their confidence,” added Ken. “Some of our graduates are stepping up to teach (in the clubs) as volunteers, and they are doing much better in school.”

The health clubs also give the Hochs and their teammates access to the children’s families.

“Fifteen years ago, a Christian missionary was not permitted to live here,” he said. “This club gives us opportunities to visit homes, build relationships and share the Gospel with entire families.”

CHE comes to Malawi, Africa

Church-planters choose CHE as outreach strategy

A ministry founded in 1961 in Malawi, Africa, has planted hundreds of churches, and has now chosen Community Health Evangelism (CHE) as its strategy to reach out to the unchurched in those communities.

CMF missionaries Ryan and Justine Hayes work with the Namikango Mission in Malawi, which began more than 50 years ago as a four-year Bible school. The mission continues to grow, and today Namikango Mission also operates a maternity clinic in Thondwe and a primary school in Ntonda, in addition to the church plants.

Ryan had participated in CHE training and knew it would be a good fit for Namikango. He invited CMF CHE trainer Judy Fish to come and facilitate a three-week training in all three phases of CHE for the staff there in August.

“As far as we can tell, this was the first time CHE has been taught in the area around Thondwe,” said Judy. “There were 15 in the first week of training and about 13 in the last two weeks.”

Great potential

Judy’s final week in Malawi was spent visiting the maternity clinic to talk about ways to improve care, discussing medicinal and income-generating plants that could be planted on the mission grounds, and brainstorming possible microenterprise endeavors.

“I think Namikango is in a prime position with the perfect timing to get the CHE ball rolling,” said Judy. “They have national staff, hundreds of churches through which they can enter communities with CHE, a Malawian who has translated many of the CHE lessons, a school in which to launch children’s CHE, and a maternity clinic where they can teach women.”

“There is also the possibility of launching an entire HIV CHE outreach, which is needed with a 25% rate of HIV positive people in the area,” she added. “I believe there is great potential to see lots of fruit from CHE here … Praise God!”