2018 CEF North America & Caribbean Regional Conference

In April the whole family had the opportunity to go the CEF Regional Conference in Canada! Our region includes the U.S., Canada and the English speaking Caribbean countries. This was the first Regional Conference since 2012 so we were pretty excited to see everyone. There were over 120 people in attendance from 14 different countries! We were also VERY excited to have all three kids with us and even more excited that Sean’s mother offered to come and help us with the kids.

Family Time

This was the first time any of us had ever been to Canada so we went a few days early to do some sightseeing. We spent one day doing touristy things in Toronto. We went to the CN Tower that has a glass floor… everyone loved it except Sean! We ate lunch at the historic St. Lawrence Market, saw Casa Loma which is a beautiful and very big castle and then did Maddy and Riley-Grace’s favorite thing…. swim in the hotel pool haha!

At the CN Tower

The next day was all about Niagara Falls! First we visited a town called Niagara-On-The-Lake were we took a carriage ride through their historic, fully restored downtown. The girls LOVED it. And then we headed to Niagara Falls were we ate lunch, viewed the Falls and then went through tunnels BEHIND the Falls! It was such a wonderful experience. You couldn’t help but be in awe of God while mesmerized by Niagara Falls. If you are American, we highly suggest going across the border into Canada. The view is much better! Maddy and Riley-Grace said Niagara Falls was their favorite part of the trip! (These pictures below were where we ate lunch!)

Sean and the girls at Niagara Falls

The Conference

After our weekend of sightseeing it was time for the conference! Sean was helping to lead the conference so he was very busy for most of the week. Maddy and Riley-Grace were able to have their own classes during most of the main sessions so they made friends with some of the other kids. Between their new friends and their Mimi, they had lots of fun. By the end of the week Riley-Grace was tired and ready to be home but Maddy never wanted to leave! We were able to see so many friends we’ve had over the years and everyone really seemed to enjoy their time. I could go on and on but I think the pictures tell the story much better than I can.

(Above, the worship team for the week included people from across the region. St. Kitts was well represented!)

Kimberly Minors from The Bahamas leading a session

Dr. Melvin Bassett from Bermuda

In the center is Maggie (an Area Director like Sean) who lived in St. Kitts for a year before we moved there!

Mavis!! The Director of St. Kitts & Nevis!

 

The pictures below are a bunch of fun ice breaker games!

Above was Sean speaking after the ice breaker games about the importance of really getting to know each other.

 

The week was filled with general sessions and workshops all geared toward helping us grow personally as Christians and encouragement to continue reaching boys and girls across our region with the Gospel. What most people liked about this conference in particular was the ability to truly foster relationships with people we do not get to see on a regular basis. We are all different but we all share the same goal. Often times it can be hard to really “see” people and just hang out at a conference. So the conference leadership team made one of our evenings a “board game night” and it is was a lot of fun! The pictures below are from the game night!

 

There is still so much more to share but suffice it to say, the week was wonderful! We ended the conference with a powerful and moving night of prayer.

 

And just for fun… here are a few more pictures from the week!

 

We left with full hearts! Sean had to stay about 5 extra days for regional team meetings so we left him in Canada since Maddy had to get back to school. We were VERY grateful when he came home! And we are already thinking about the NEXT regional conference three years from now!

We feel so blessed to do what we do… to be missionaries to the Caribbean while living in the States. We get to serve alongside wonderful people!

And Canada was pretty cool too!

 

Good News Across Belize!

February 22-March 4 I (Sean) was in Belize for Good News Across Belize! “Good News Across ______” is a very large scale, biennial effort to revitalize and grow CEF ministry in underdeveloped areas of a large country in our region. Specifically, countries that have already had CEF ministry established for many years.

Ianthe James (Antigua) and Claudette Adams (St. Lucia)

The majority of the regional efforts for the past decade has been to open up the eleven countries that had no local CEF ministry established. Now the efforts are being spent to strengthen the existing countries that need some extra assistance to reach their maximum potential.

Kendra Baltzer, Marissa Brandsema and Winter Eggena (L-R, South Dakota)

Belize is a beautiful country and it was my first time visiting a non-island Caribbean country. There were a number of similarities but also a number of differences.

First the biggest difference was the exchange rate and cost of food. The Belize dollar has a two to one exchange rate to the US dollar, and in addition to that 70% of the local consumables are produced in Belize. This means the cost of groceries and restaurants were considerably low. You could feed 8-10 people for only $30-$40 USD going out to eat at a local restaurant. This is in comparison to a place like the Turks and Caicos Islands or Bermuda where everything is imported, to feed 8-10 people at a local restaurant in countries like those costs $160-$200 USD!

There were though many construction, architectural and cultural similarities to the rest of the English Caribbean. Which even though Belize is not an island, this of course stems from the past English colonialism and influence. Belize is also a part of CARICOM (The Caribbean Community).

Demographically, this is currently a very young nation, with 54% of the population being under the age of 24! Even though this is true everywhere in the world, it is vital that the children be reached with the Gospel by local churches in Belize because the future of their country is at stake.

Sadly Belize is also among the countries who occupy the top 10 list of most murders per capita in the world, recently in 2014 occupying the number 3 spot.

“But God!”

God was already at work in these four target areas of Belize long before a single CEF staff person arrived. There were and are faithful local churches and faithful followers of Christ seeking to transform their neighborhood, community and nation. As we arrived, we sought to see where God was already moving, and join up with the local believers to encourage them and lift them up in ministry.

Myself and around thirty fellow CEF staff from all over the region went to Belize to conduct teacher training and equip hundreds of local church volunteers to go into many public schools across four key areas of Belize. The overall goal of this endeavor was that as these local church volunteers reach the children, they catch the vision for reaching the local schools and they go on to teach weekly Good News Clubs.

Marlene Stoll (Washington State)

The four target areas were the Orangewalk, Belmopan, Belize City and San Ignacio areas.

There were two parts, first teacher training and then direct ministry to children. I was the team leader for the San Ignacio/Santa Elena area.

God used this awesome team I served to reach 1,484 children that week in 19 demonstration Good News Clubs, train 34 people from 13 churches, and equip 22 local churches and schools with a full set of Good News Club curriculum!

Additionally, in over 12 years of serving full time in ministry with CEF I have heard about someone in a training class making a profession of faith but have never seen it first hand. On Saturday morning February 24th, in a class on how to teach the Gospel to kids, a local primary school teacher was convicted by the Holy Spirit, realized she had never personally believed in Jesus herself and she was counseled as she trusted in Jesus as her Savior! Praise the Lord!

Ron Wiebe, Canada

In total across the four target areas, in one week 10,064 children were reached across 4 target districts in 136 demonstration Good News Clubs with 258 people attending the teacher trainings.

For those of y’all who pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, our team stayed with awesome Lemus family (Above)! Arita is the Belize national coordinator for Samaritans Purse and Pastor Ed is one of the four main Caribbean regional coordinators for Samaritans Purse. Such a blessing to get to stay with them!

What are the results now? There are now fourteen Good News Clubs in the San Ignacio area and over 114 new Good News Clubs started in Belize!

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.”
 (Psalm 145:3)

 

Thriving Ministry in Haiti!

November 2-8 I (Sean) had the privilege of coming alongside the already thriving national CEF ministry in Haiti to support and encourage the full-time workers, volunteers and national board.

CEF Haiti celebrates 35 years of ministry February 19, 2018 and God has poured out His hand of blessing upon them over those 35 years. In spite of tremendous, at times unspeakable challenges for the country of Haiti, in spite of great obstacles for the CEF ministry locally, the local leaders are resilient, faithful and they deeply trust the Lord.

There is a thriving ministry there, with nine full-time staff at the national office in Port-au-Prince and multiple local offices in more distant parts of the country. CEF Haiti has the largest Instructor of Teachers team in the Caribbean, and the local churches, volunteers and staff of CEF Haiti reach over 3,000 children every single week in school-based CEF ministry!

Pictures of the CEF Haiti national office

Some of the CEF literature, notice some in Creole!

A familiar site, the CEF Culture Points, adhered to globally.

National Director Jacky Gilles’ office

Preparing to teach the Teaching Little Kids course,
credentialing even more local instructors!

This trip had quite a number of objectives to it, and I was very thankful to be in Haiti with a long-time friend of many years, Benjamin Richey. Ben is a fellow Moody Bible Institute grad and I have known him for 7-8 years now. We first met when Ben was an assistant pastor at Heritage Baptist Church – Prattville, Alabama. It has been awesome to get to know the Richey’s over the years as we have stayed connected with our HBC friends. He moved out to California a couple years ago to be the pastor of FBC Kernville. We don’t hardly ever travel out to the West Coast, so I praise the Lord for opening the door for Ben to join me on my CEF time in Haiti and bring new great friends of mine, Rick and Julie Phillips, along to see firsthand the awesome things God has been doing through the local leadership of CEF Haiti.

Rick, Julie, Ben & Sean

Ben had a chance to preach at a CEF-partnering local church!

Rick & Julie were fantastic to get to know, and here they are guest-teaching
together at a CEF Haiti Christmas Party Club!

Thankful for the Church globally and all the ways that God connects us all together. One of those other ways that God connects us all together is how within CEF, two CEF-trained workers from entirely different cultures, backgrounds and teaching styles can meet for the first time, and teach together seamlessly! I had the chance to join in on a Christmas Party Club and teach alongside one of the full-time CEF workers, Nadège. We met for the first time at the Christmas Party Club, and she was assisting me with leading the CEF songs in Creole. The club went wonderfully, and there was no ‘dead time’ in the club sorting out details or song motions or anything. 

As shared from the first picture, a primary objective was to assist CEF Haiti with their first large scale Children’s Workers conference, a promotional/training one-day event for local church children’s volunteers. Praise the Lord that over 220 people came out to this first ever event, and CEF Haiti did a fantastic job putting it all together!

Additionally, the pastor of the host church asked me to share the Word of God on Sunday morning! A humbling honor any time there is an opportunity.

It was also a privilege to meet and encourage the CEF Haiti national board! These volunteer leaders are the true leaders of the national ministry and God is using their efforts greatly for the Kingdom.

As always, we try as often as possible to partner with The Gospel Coalition-International Outreach and bring along their freely provided books. This time we were able to bring cases of Mark Dever’s 9 Marks of a Healthy Church as gifts for local pastors, elders and lay leaders!

A special blessing during the trip, and only CEF people will probably fully appreciate this (aside from the huge fact that God also used these folks to translate the very first Bible in Creole, which to say is a huge deal is an understatement), but we met and spent time with Mother Wallace of the CEF Ti-Fam missionary story! An amazing woman of God who has spent decades in genuine Christian Community Development in Haiti.

Jacky Gilles has been a friend of mine for many years in CEF, Jacky is the CEF national director, and he was a great host during our time there. God is using Jacky to grow the ministry there in Haiti, will you pray for him and his wife Myrlande?

To God be the Glory, Great things HE has done!

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P.S.

When you hear about Haiti in the news, or see pictures of Haiti, remember that though there is unimaginable poverty in parts of the country, government challenges in its history and having had profound national disasters that they are still rebuilding from…..Haiti is a beautiful island nation with caring people who love the Lord deeply. Never forget to look for the beauty and positive aspects about this great country when the temptation in our sensationalized, media story-driven culture is to look at the pain.

Back To St. Kitts Recap

In April we had the amazing opportunity to be in St. Kitts for a week! None of us had been back to our home since we left in January 2014. It was also Riley-Grace’s first time in St. Kitts, at least on the outside of my belly. We wondered how we would feel… would it feel different? Would it feel the same? Would we feel out of place? Or would we feel home? Maddy was really the most excited out of all of us… she couldn’t wait to see her best friend, Audri, again!

Audri and Maddy reunited!

Audri and Maddy reunited!

Maddy really struggled when we moved from St. Kitts. While we were in the States having Riley-Grace she would tell people that she wasn’t from Alabama, she was from St. Kitts. She had nights when she would cry because she missed her home so much. Even when we moved to Turks & Caicos she would tell use she wanted to go back “home” (St. Kitts). After a few months in Turks & Caicos she adjusted, and she definitely feels like Montgomery is her home now but she still really misses her life, her house and her friends in St. Kitts. Really, we all do.

Brandon and I back on radio!

Brandon and I back on radio!

Passion fruit juice at the Graysons!

Passion fruit juice at the Graysons!

So when Mavis asked Sean if we could help with her Good News Club training conference we started praying it would work out! Maddy would have to miss school and most importantly, we would need the finances to get all of us there. To be honest, we’ve had quite a bit of supporters stop giving since we came to Montgomery and we weren’t sure we would have the money to travel but the Lord provided the EXACT amount we needed!

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Ready to get on the plane in MGM!

From the moment we saw St. Kitts from the airplane window we felt “home”. It’s so hard to describe. But as we walked off the plane and went to customs, it was the most “at home” feeling we’ve had in over two years. We were greeted at the airport by our friends, The Graysons and Mavis. Maddy and Audri were VERY excited to see each other. We introduced Riley-Grace to everyone and she immediately reached for Brandon! We stayed with the Graysons for the week and it felt as if we had never left. The girls played constantly… we were in the house with them but hardly ever saw them! Riley-Grace lived on an island for a year in Turks & Caicos so she took to life in St. Kitts like she had always been there. The entire week was such a sweet time of reunions with so many people!

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(L-R) Got to drive our old van—Mavis and me—view from the CEF national office!

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St. Kitts humidity caused Riley-Grace’s hair to curl!

 

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Still having to do homework!

There were so many exciting things that happened during the week that I could write a small book… from the spiritual warfare we experienced to the great ways the Lord provided for the training conference… it’s hard to recall everything that happened. But that’s what it’s like in St. Kitts. The craziness (good and bad) is part of daily life… it’s normal to have highs and lows all in one days, every single day. We don’t miss the stress of it all but we do miss our life there, and we miss the community we had there. Everyone is always available, always… in a way we have never experienced anywhere else.

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Training local Bible teachers in Nevis!

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CEF National Director Mavis Huggins teaching in St. Kitts!

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Olivet Gospel Hall—a wonderful church in St. Kitts that many of our friends attend! They were gracious to host the CEF training conference!

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Mavis and Mandi teaching!

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The Lord provided for us to stay at the Marriott one night! What a huge and fun surprise that was!

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Riley-Grace loved her first time at the St. Kitts Marriott pool!

When it was time to leave it was like moving all over again… like we were saying goodbye to our home all over again. It was hard and we were sad. We would go back in a heartbeat!

 

 

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Still Confused About Our New Role?

We’ve been back in the States for almost 2 1/2 months now, and back in Montgomery for just over 4 weeks! The process of settling in and adjusting to a new normal will take a while, we have begun to figure that out. Maddy is continuing to excel at Montgomery Christian School… she is having a blast in 1st grade! She recently lost her third tooth and looks absolutely adorable! Riley-Grace has really adjusted the most. She has been a trooper going from place to place, meeting so many new people, living in new homes, sleeping in different beds. However, I am sure we will ALL be happier once we get moved into our new place.

Maddy Lost Her 3rd Tooth

Speaking of that new place… we found a house we will be renting for at least 12 months, until we are ready to buy. It’s just about perfect for us… 3 bedrooms, a nice big backyard, plenty of storage space and it’s located in the same neighborhood we lived in before we moved to the Caribbean nearly four years ago! How about that?! We plan to move sometime in November.

As we have begun to settle back into Montgomery we have noticed there is some confusion about what we are actually doing now. So I’d like to answer a few of the questions we get the most to clear up any confusion you may have about our new role.

Are you still serving with Child Evangelism Fellowship? Yes! We did not change organizations.

 

Do you still need to raise support? Yes! We continue to be faith supported missionaries and we need individuals and churches to partner with us so we can continue serving.

 

Where are you living now? We are based in Montgomery, AL. We can easily travel to and from the Caribbean by flying from Montgomery to Charlotte, NC. Charlotte has MANY flights throughout most of the Caribbean.

 

Are you US missionaries or International missionaries? We are STILL international missionaries, we are not affiliated with CEF in the USA.

 

What are you doing exactly? Sean is the Area Director for the Northern Caribbean (Bahamas, Bermuda, Turks & Caicos, US Virgin Islands, Anguilla and St. Kitts & Nevis). He is also helping to carry out regional responsibilities in other parts of the Caribbean as needed. He serves the national workers of these countries and is responsible for their ministry development. For example, last week the Bahamas was hit by Hurricane Joaquin, several islands were obliterated. He was in contact with workers in Nassau immediately trying to figure out the extent of the damage and what we could do to assist as CEF.  He helped to coordinate a large shipment of Do You Wonder Why? booklets (these are for children experiencing huge issues like a natural disaster) for distribution. He will continue to follow up with the workers as they reach out to those devastated.Damage from Hurrican Joaquin in the Bahamas

Is this a long-term position? Yes and no. Our main goal is no different than what we have been doing in the Caribbean for the last four years… to work ourselves out of a job. CEF (and us too) want to have national workers from the Caribbean overseeing the work in 2 – 3 nearby islands as well as their own. The position would be similar to the US position of District Director. We must find that person and train him/her to become an Area Director. Because of this, the countries Sean is responsible for will continue to change over time as Area Directors are hired until there is no need for an American to serve in this capacity.

 

What will you do then? Only the Lord knows! He will show us when it is time.

 

If you are working with several countries in the Caribbean then why aren’t you living there? Believe it or not, although the islands are close together (sometimes we can SEE the neighboring islands) traveling around is difficult and expensive. You would think it would be easy and cheap but the vast majority of the time we have to fly to the States first to fly to another island. Plus, the cost of living in the Caribbean is so high, living in the States saves money on many levels.

 

Why Montgomery? Why not Miami or Charlotte or another hub? Why NOT Montgomery! It’s our home. Our church is here, our friends are here, most of our supporters are here, our doctors are here, our babies were born here and it’s the only place in the States we have ever lived as a family. It actually doesn’t cost much extra to fly from Montgomery to Charlotte and then onto the Caribbean.

 

How often will you travel? Sean will be in the Caribbean about once every 6 weeks or so. However, he will only be gone a few days at a time since we have young children. Once a year he will take a longer trip (2 weeks max), I will travel with him on short trips at least once a year and whenever we go back to St. Kitts we will take the girls with us. Hopefully we can all travel to Turks and Caicos as a family once a year as well.

 

How are you able to work with the Caribbean while living in Montgomery? Email, Skype, What’s App, Vonage (VOIP) and his travels all enable Sean to easily work with staff, board members and volunteers on a daily basis.

 

What kind of work are you doing with the local CEF office in Montgomery? We are available to help with things like teacher training when needed but our responsibility and full-time focus is serving with the Caribbean.

 

Are you (Sean) going to become a pastor? No. Sean is starting seminary this year and as a missionary he does preach from time to time in the Caribbean as well as in the States but he is not interested in becoming a pastor. He loves being a missionary with the Caribbean and we love CEF. We feel no leading whatsoever from the Lord to quit being missionaries and go into pastoral ministry.

 

Hopefully this will help with any questions you had about our new role. But please feel free to ask if you have more! And, if you are local we would LOVE to get together and talk with you more! Most people have made a point not to call or invite us over until we get “settled in”. But if everyone does that then we start to feel lonely. We really would love to see you!