Archives for 2016

Sean Miller 11/15/2016

Helping Bermuda Reach Every Child!

October 27-31 I was able to help serve CEF of Bermuda as they seek to reach every child in their nation. Dr. Melvyn Bassett is the national leader and he volunteers his time to help develop the CEF ministry there.

More pictures of the national CEF office!

Dr. Melvyn and the CEF Board Chairman

Dr. Melvyn asked me a few months ago if I would consider helping them conduct their first ever event to help raise awareness for CEF in Bermuda. Additionally, I was to help discuss with their new national board the role and function of a thriving national board and best practices in strategic planning.

More pictures from the board meeting, this is the view from the board room they get to use for their meetings!

I was thankful for the opportunity, it was a humbling honor to sit across the table from many highly influential people who care deeply about the future of their country. On their national board they have people who have served as teachers, principals and ministers of government, including one who served as a Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly. God has arranged the right people to lead the CEF ministry in Bermuda so that every child can be reached with the Gospel! It is a privilege to serve them and to help them in ministry as much as we can.

It was a relatively short trip, highly focused and we made the most of our time there. We were able to spend a good bit of time with Dr. Bassett and hear his heart and vision for Child Evangelism Fellowship in Bermuda. We were able to understand better the unique challenges the children face and how a thriving CEF ministry can help local churches meet those needs.

We were able to go to an evening social where we met numerous current ministers of government, doctors, lawyers, the true “movers and shakers” in Bermuda. We were able to tell them about how CEF can help their country’s future by churches reaching out to the children in their communities!

We visited a local church and saw one of our good friends who we went to church with in Turks and Caicos, Abria, who also attends there. That is what is so exciting about ministry in the Caribbean, wherever you go you likely either know someone or have a mutual friend in nearly every country!

The briefing dinner we helped conduct went extremely well by God’s grace, it was a packed house and cast a strong vision for the CEF ministry being established there.

The Christian Youth In Action team shared both their testimonies and in song and they were inspirational to all who attended. We are looking forward to how God uses the results of that dinner to help further the local CEF ministry in Bermuda!

Lastly, on a personal note, I was thankful to have with me a childhood friend, Benjamin Hughes, who was able to assist in ministry and see what we do as missionaries firsthand. It was encouraging personally to have a friend travel with me and was wonderful to introduce him to the people in Bermuda that we have the joy of serving!

Filed Under: Caribbean Region Leave a Comment

Sean Miller 09/15/2016

CEF Regional Leadership Conference 2016

From August 15-19 the triennial Regional Leadership Conference was held at the international headquarters of Child Evangelism Fellowship. Mandi and I had the privilege of helping to coordinate this conference, and it was such a blessing!

It was a growing and stretching experience for us putting on a conference like this, there is so much that takes place behind the scenes that most people do not see when they go to a conference. Additionally, this conference usually takes place in the Caribbean, so planning can become even more complicated. Thankfully we had a wonderful experience working with the event staff at CEF headquarters, and it was a blessing for them to host our regional conference. It’s not everyday the staff at CEF IHQ gets to have fellow staff members from so many countries there in Missouri!

There were 64 people from 17 countries in attendance at this regional leadership conference, all either national leaders or national leadership volunteers (board members, etc…).

The conference was held under the theme “Together We Can”. The goal is to have trained teachers from local churches reaching 2 million children annually across the 27 nations of our region. Not that “we” can do it ourselves apart from Christ, but as all the national leaders and regional team have a singular focus together to “…declare His glory among the nations”, it is possible.

There were many testimonies given by the attendees of how this conference was used by God to challenge them, to encourage them and give them a broader perspective of CEF around the region. Additionally, there is something about getting people together and everyone knowing that they are not alone in ministry.

Often in the nations that Mandi and I serve as missionaries, these national staff members are the only CEF full-time staff serving in their country. If they do not have a good base of volunteers and a strong board, it is easy to get discouraged and even burnt out.

It is vital and essential to pour into the leaders of these countries so every child on every island is reached with the Gospel! Thank you for supporting us as international missionaries with CEF, you are directly a part of these national leaders reaching children and them pouring into local churches.

We give God all the glory for the great success of this conference! One board member said: “This conference has opened my eyes and broadened my vision for what CEF is and how it can impact my country.”

Our vision is that each nation in the region has a strong, locally sustainable CEF ministry that is thriving in helping churches disciple children in the Word of God! You are a part of this ministry!

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Mandi 07/06/2016

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!

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!

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!

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!

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

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

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.

Training local Bible teachers in Nevis!

CEF National Director Mavis Huggins teaching in St. Kitts!

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

Mavis and Mandi teaching!

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

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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Filed Under: St. Kitts 5 Comments

Sean Miller 06/20/2016

Helping CEF Bahamas Reach Out After Hurricane Joaquin

I received an encouraging email from the CEF national workers in the Bahamas while we were traveling earlier this month! In that email they gave us a detailed report on the distribution of Do You Wonder Why? booklets to children affected by Hurricane Joaquin. Helping to secure cases of these booklets and getting them to these national workers ASAP was one of my first responsibilities in our updated position with CEF.

The aerial view of Long Island after Hurricane Joaquin ripped through the island causing major damage to homes, buildings and property.

We serve as international missionaries to help national workers reach every child on their island with the Gospel. We were saddened when we heard that one of those national workers, a CEF Instructor of Teachers, was one of the people who lived on an island that was devastated—Acklins. Kate had a school there and she also serves on the CEF Bahamas national board.

Lisa Moss (one of the CEF Bahamas new national workers and is about to go to the Children’s Ministries Institute this fall) sent me this about Kate and what was happening there:

“10/5/15, 8:25:56 PM: Lisa Moss: Well the reports are coming in, the south eastern Islands were hit really hard. many persons who were able to travel to Nassau are telling their story and it is a painful one. listening to them i can’t even imagine what they are saying. Kate, one of CEF’s IOTs was in Acklins and she told her story and it was heart wrenching. she talked about how they had to go up into the attic of her home away from the water coming on the house.
10/5/15, 8:28:19 PM: Lisa Moss: she is also a committee member
10/5, 8:48 PM Lisa Moss: Pictures of homes flattened, roofs blown off, furniture, clothes, kitchen appliance all in the road. looks like a war zone but we are thankful there was no loss of life.
: the family and just Bahamians in general are coming together to help where ever they can. donations are high.: there was one pastor told of how they were in the church which was a hurricane shelter and the roof blew off. they moved from one area to another until they had to leave the church in search of safe shelter.they prayed and prayed”

In God’s sovereignty, this Hurricane provided an opportunity to show God’s love and share the Gospel to many children all throughout the Bahamas! We may not understand why it happened, but we do know that when these things happen, children wonder how in the world a loving God could possibly allow this to happen. CEF is there to share the truth with these kids!

Executive Chairman of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation Leslie Miller views damage to a BEC power station in San Salvador. (Photo by Torrell Glinton)

Below is the unedited report from CEF Bahamas. YOU had a part in this by praying and supporting us financially! Thank you!

“The Bahamas is an archipelago of about 700 islands and 2,400 uninhabited islets and cays off the east coast of Florida. Only about 30 of the islands are inhabited. New Providence is the seat with where the capital, Nassau, is situated. Other islands include Grand Bahama, Abaco, Eleuthera, Andros, Cat Island, San Salvador, Acklins, Crooked Island, Ragged Island, Cat Island, Long Island, Bimini, Berry Islands, Harbour Island, Inagua, Mayaguana.

Hurricane Joaquin developed on September 27 in the Atlantic Ocean. The storm rapidly intensified as it moved toward the Bahamas.

Hurricane Joaquin strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane and remained at that intensity for several days as it lashed the Bahamas.

Flooding from storm surge and torrential rainfall has been documented on Long Island and Acklins, among other central Bahamas locations. A Weather Underground personal weather station at Pitts Town, Crooked Island, reported winds up to 84 mph before it stopped reporting.

A total blackout was reported on the three hardest-hit islands of the central Bahamas. About 85 percent of the homes in one settlement on Crooked Island were reportedly destroyed.

Much of the damage was centered in the southeastern Bahamas, particularly Crooked Island, Acklins Island, Long Island and San Salvador. The storm ripped roofs from homes, flooded main roads and farms, spoiled wells for drinking water and forced the closure of small airports.

PM Christie said the government planned to ask the U.S., which flew teams out on Saturday, if they can once again assist, but this time with helicopters in order to access Acklins and Crooked islands where the airports were under water.

Flooding hampered government efforts to restore phone service and electricity. Flooding also has isolated residents.
Sean Miller CEF area director for the Northeast Caribbean forwarded 7 boxes of Do You Wonder Why? Booklets to be distributed to the children of the Bahamas.

Booklets were distributed in November 2015, to those islands that were hit hardest by the hurricane, schools and later New Providence.

CEF-Bahamas Board members were instrumental in the delivery of the booklets to schools and islands throughout the country.”

Glory to God! Thank YOU for being a part of this!

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Sean Miller 04/26/2016

Grand Turk Short-Term Ministry Trip!

On March 26 I led a short-term ministry team from Child Evangelism Fellowship of South Dakota! A team from CEF of SD came to Provo last year and God used them to reach many children in the primary schools. This year they came to Grand Turk, the capitol island of the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Grand Turk is very different than Provo, as it is much smaller (only about 7 sq. miles) and only has about 5,000 people.

Grand Turk is also the cruise ship port!

With Grand Turk being the capitol island, we felt strongly that we needed to reach out to the children and churches, expanding on past efforts in 2014 and 2015. We are still praying that God will raise up a local Turks & Caicos Islander to lead the CEF ministry and we are praying for board members that are passionate about seeing the children of TCI reached with the Gospel!

Here’s what we were praying for the trip:

Reach children during their Easter break through 5-Day Clubs and through partnership with local churches.
Train local Bible teachers and equip them.
Cast the vision of reaching children in TCI with as many people as possible.

Friday:

I arrived ahead of time to make sure everything was situated properly, get groceries, etc. Also, before my flight to Grand Turk, I picked up 50lbs worth of CEF literature (printed freely courtesy of the Revival Movement), so that we could give it away at our teacher training night. I was also able to spend time and catch up with my good friend Raymond, an elder at Harvest Bible Chapel – TCI. My flight to GT was delayed, but I was bumped up to an earlier flight that was late, so I left at the same time I was supposed to leave ;-).

Saturday:

The team from CEF of SD arrived! They had a very long couple days of travel with very little sleep, so we kept it simple on Saturday and planned for them to rest that afternoon.

I was also reminded just how involved daily life is on a small island, as that afternoon I had to go to four different places to get water, food and ice!

Sunday:

Though we were all away from our families, it was a blessing to spend Easter Sunday with our brothers and sisters in Christ at Salem Baptist Church. It was joyful to worship together as one people from different nations, and Pastor Chad Archbold clearly and powerfully shared from God’s Word. One memorable statement he made that morning to the congregation was “Children are not things you dress up and take to church, they are the next generation of worshippers“. Amen!

(L-R) Pastor Chad, Nick Hauck, Hannah Cleveland, Blake Mendel, Kendra Baltzer, Sean Miller

I took them on a tour as well…and they got to see the Grand Turk Lighthouse!

Astronaut John Glenn landed in Grand Turk in 1962!

The team had fun seeing everything!

Monday:

Our first day of ministry through 5-Day Clubs was one that reminded us of God’s plans vs. man’s plans! We were quickly reminded of how hard it is to get children to come out on a holiday (Easter Monday), and actually did not have children at any of the clubs that day. We did however double our efforts of promotion, canvasing the neighborhoods, putting up flyers around town, and we went to Salem Baptist Church’s Easter Monday Funday!

Drawing/Designing the posters

This was a great part of the day as we were able to see and talk with many kids and parents…

…and even spending time playing soccer with the children!

Also on Monday, we also had the first of a few “visitors”….

The Caribbean Giant Centipede, which can get to be over a foot long!

5-Day Club visitor

Driving the infamous Grand Turk wild donkeys out of the yard…they would wake us up at 5am braying!

Tuesday:

This was our “true” first day of 5-Day Club ministry, and we had 52 children between all three club locations!

As the Gospel went forth, a child about 12 years old came back for counseling saying: “I thought you had to do good things to go to heaven”. You could see the Holy Spirit working in his heart, and by God’s grace he professed faith in Jesus Christ as His Savior! He now knows that it is through Jesus alone that one is saved!

Wednesday:

As we came to the middle of the week, we were glad to see new children come to the 5-Day Clubs, and we went to Salem Baptist Church that evening for Bible Study. Another church member was there, and we spent time outside discussing the Gospel, life, ministry and the vision for reaching the children of the TCI! None of us knew that church had actually been canceled for that evening, but we were thankful that God allowed us all to have that hour and a half or so on the church porch.

Thursday:

Such a joy to teach these children and also introduce some fun games before 5-Day Club begins!

A version of “Duck, Duck, Goose”, except with a cup of water!

In addition to continued clubs, we scheduled a teacher training for Thursday night. We had representatives from the two public primary schools at the training, and equipped them with a TON of free CEF resources! We found out as well that from the materials given away in January, children were using the CEF 60-Day Devotional Book to lead their school-wide devotions! Kids reaching their peers! Praise God for how He is using these materials to communicate His Word in surprising ways!

Thankful as well to partner again with The Gospel Coalition International Outreach—the team brought down a case of John Piper’s Finally Alive book to give to these teachers.

We also frequented the local Grand Turk fish fry that is every Thursday night…people thought we were tourists at first but then many of the kids ran up to us! They were so excited to see us at the fish fry, and were helpful at showing us the best booths to get food and snacks at!

Friday:

We got to the last day of 5-Day Clubs, and were encouraged by the parent’s comments on how the children appreciated coming to club. One parent said: “I know y’all are trained for this, but I really appreciated how the team was able to keep the children’s attention. I even enjoyed the club as an adult.”

Saturday:

As we flew over to Providenciales to make our final flights off island back to the USA, the team had a couple hours of a layover (I had about five hours) so we rented a car. I gave them a short tour of Provo and even grabbed a few of the incredible pastries at Crust Bakery.

Final team picture, taken on beautiful Grace Bay!

After I dropped them off, I was able to spend time with the Cox family of Harvest Bible Chapel, discussing the trip and the future of CEF in the TCI.

All in all God used the CEF of SD team to teach the very first 5-Day Clubs in this capitol island of Grand Turk! Apart from the most important results of 66 children being reached with the Gospel and local Bible teachers being equipped, this pioneering trip led to key TCI government and education leaders hearing about CEF for the first time through their children attending the 5-Day Clubs.

We continue to pray that God would raise up national board members and local staff in the TCI, the ministry still has a long way to go before it is fully established locally but this was a key step in ministry development.

Glory to God alone!

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Archives for 2016

Helping Bermuda Reach Every Child!

CEF Regional Leadership Conference 2016

Back To St. Kitts Recap

Helping CEF Bahamas Reach Out After Hurricane Joaquin

Grand Turk Short-Term Ministry Trip!

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