Archives for 2020

This picture was taken January 17, 2020.

Dr Willamae Miller served as national director for CEF Bahamas for over two and a half decades….in her retirement.

She dedicated her entire life to reaching the next generation with years of her career in education.

She started a very popular children’s radio ministry that reached out to thousands of children every week.

She led by example and was someone who was truly faithful.

A friend, someone who was always encouraging.

A person who loved to laugh and often introduced me as her “son, a Miller boy, can’t you see the resemblance?”

A strong and determined woman of God who was fully committed to everything she did.

A person who was a privilege to serve.

She also received the rare title of “national director emeritus” with CEF.

She sadly passed away December 10, 2020 after living a long and full 9+ decades of life, and one can truly say that The Bahamas is a better nation because of all that God has done through her over the countless decades of national service, work in the educational system, and nationwide outreach. Hundreds of people were trained by her.

Thousands of children were taught by her. I am thankful for her. May the Lord give peace and strength to her family, and comfort to all who knew her and were blessed by her.

I love to spotlight what God is doing throughout the Caribbean and the area that Mandi and I serve as missionaries. Each of the national workers we serve are incredible people that God has called to lead their country. It is a privilege for us to help them in their efforts to reach kids and make their role easier so that more children are reached. Today, I want to share a letter from Rafael Ku, the CEF national director for Belize.

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“We thank our sovereign God that He is in control of the coronavirus and nothing surprises Him. Praise God for what He is doing:

1. Schools opening.

With the schools reopening came new challenges. They are still in recovery mode so Good News Club teachers are still waiting to continue teaching the children in person. Children are adjusting to online classes. However, many children still lack access to internet and devices.

• A Preschool testimony:

Teachers record a 6-8 minute video with the Bible lesson, memory verse and Word up. Video is sent weekly to Preschool Parents for their children. The children listen then send back to teachers a video where they say their memory verse. Parents comment they also are learning the memory verse together with their children. Praise God they can hear the gospel!

• Churches:

Because current government regulations allow gatherings of only 10 people,  many churches are now using Zoom. Sunday School teachers are finding creative ways to teach the children using technology. Even CEF training has moved in this direction.

Again, we thank you for supporting CEF with your prayers and financial donations so we can continue evangelizing more children in this country. Together we can reach this generation for Christ.

Finally, November 4, 2020 will be the “World Day of Prayer” for the CEF ministry. This is a worldwide event. Will you take 5 minutes on that day to pray for the following?

1. For God to raise bilingual local directors for the Corozal, Orange Walk and Cayo districts.
2. To raise a bilingual national trainer.
3. For the children that are neglected and face abuse in dysfunctional homes.

For the Children,

Rafael Ku
CEF National Director”

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Praise the Lord for Rafael and like he said, thank you for your prayers and support! Every day we help CEF national leaders like Rafael help reach the children throughout the North Caribbean. We could not serve workers like Rafael without you being a part of our ministry. Thank you!

This idea for a new blog post originated out of a corny ‘Dad joke’ that came to mind when I was asked recently in a church missionary interview about current travel to/from the Caribbean. I responded “Well, instead of traveling to just one place on a plane, I now zoom all around the Caribbean!”

I have a full set up with a microphone, microphone boom stand, headphones, and even lighting at times to assist with interviews and presentations! In light of the hundreds of hours I/we have spent on Zoom this year so far in ministry, we felt it would be good to encapsulate this theme of 2020 officially in a blog post so you can be both informed and also hopefully encouraged by what God is doing through this temporary season.

First: The CEF regional family has been more regularly connected than ever before.

In this 2020 season, we have had region-wide zoom calls, area zoom calls, national zoom calls, board zoom calls, and countless other variations of the above categories.

The North Caribbean & Bermuda area that we directly serve as missionaries has been more connected because one of the things that we have been doing through this is staying connected face-to-face via Zoom on a regular basis throughout the month including a WhatsApp area group where we have been praying for one another, engaging in leadership development, and sharing ideas of how to reach children in each of the countries.

Second: There has been a quicker roll out of new training than ever before.

What would have taken likely a full year and 27+ trips by multiple regional workers is now taking less than a few months at the most. Since August, with just national board training alone (the launch of new board training curriculum), over 200 board members from all across the region have been trained! We send via Fedex the new training curriculum to specific countries and have been holding board trainings via Zoom at different times for those various countries.

Third: Training is more enhanced than ever before and prevents duplication of efforts

Trainings that would have normally been done by one person in one country are now being done by multiple teachers on the regional team or multiple national leaders! This has led to less of a teaching load upon one person, the ability to swap teachers if sickness or a family matter arises, and also has led to ultimately a more enhanced educational experience for those taking the training. And of course savings with flights, time, and other related travel costs. Additionally, it has allowed the best trainers from each country to work together at the same time!

Case in point, the above picture was in regards to the Christian Youth In Action training that was done by CEF of St. Kitts & Nevis, our former home. Though the idea of the zoom CYIA training started for St Kitts & Nevis, soon six nations in the Caribbean participated with over 50 teenagers and young adults trained to teach children in 5-Day Clubs.

A 14 year old shared, “CYIA has helped me feel comfortable sharing the Word of God. I hope I will be able to bring others to Christ.” Also, as a part of the commissioning service, two teenagers gave an example of how to share the Gospel and one teenager gave a presentation on CEF. It was very well done!

Fourth: More children, their parents, and people in the various countries are being reached than ever before

Videos teaching Bible lessons are being prepared and sent via text to parents of children in Good News Clubs and parents are watching the lessons with their children

Recorded Good News Clubs are being shown on national television and national radio in nearly every single one of the nations we serve.

Zoom 5-Day Clubs & Good News Clubs are being taught, even with children from multiple nations being reached at the same time. Additionally, just a few weeks ago, 4 children were counseled as they made a profession of faith in a Zoom 5-Day Club!

In conclusion: Ultimately we all know that face-to-face, in-person ministry is the most effective form of ministry. We are fully and completely cognizant of the fact that Zoom and other online ministry methods have its limitations. But due to the fact that many of the Caribbean nations still have quarantine requirements of varying degrees, travel is very much limited for 2020. We are thankful to live in a day and age where we can have the technology to stay engaged with each of the nations we serve as missionaries and long for the day when full travel is restored to see everyone face-to-face again. We rejoice in what God is doing in the Caribbean through Zoom, and know that what is contained in this blog post is simply scratching the surface of all that is happening in each of the nations.

Today we have a guest post from another one of the amazing CEF staff we get to serve on a daily basis as missionaries, this time from Caris Bramwell who is the national leader in the Cayman Islands.

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The last meeting of Good News Club was held on March 10. All schools were closed as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic. However, as the children were home and doing virtual learning, this opened the much sought-after opportunity for us to relate to them,

Having received some highly creative and engaging materials, these were forwarded to all club leaders, some teachers, parents and children. Some team leaders have established different platforms to keep in touch with the children. These include Whatsapp groups with children and parents, Zoom and Teams GNCs. In these clubs the CEF resources are utilized.

However, some are using the resources quite appropriately and are receiving particularly good results. The following brief reports come from parents, students, and team leaders.

PARENTS  One parent uses them for ‘break time’ activity, from schoolwork, for her self and the children. She calls it “Church Time”. As they go through the school day and arrive at a certain time she would call out “Church Time!” the children shift  from school work and get ready for church. They watch the videos, read and discuss the devotionals and enjoy the hands on activities together. Her children are loving the information they learn and are being encouraged to trust God more. The children are twins. They say they enjoy the videos and would encourage every child to spend some time watching the programs because they are helpful to know more about the Bible. 

Another parent shared with her friends and reported that all the children like the activities and along with parents find them remarkably interesting.

A single mother said that she and her nine year old daughter started watching the videos, which have been of great interest to them. She said as they watched them, they discuss the story which helps them to understand more about Jesus. Her daughter pointed out to her, something very important, that in the story where a father did not believe in the miracles that Jesus did, her daughter asked her, “ Why don’t the father go and see for himself”.

They both say the activities are all so very interactive and full of fun.

TEAM LEADERS I have managed to set up WhatsApp groups for the clubs I co-ordinate so I can make regular contacts with club members. Relevant CEF resources are shared with them. Some children are good at confirming that they receive the materials and watched them by placing a “thumbs up” as requested.

A very crucial milestone has just recently been reached. Virtual GNCs via Teams are being facilitated by a Principal onto the school’s Teams platform. This will enable more club members and other children from other schools to join. The first virtual meeting was a success with 23 children on. The Bible story, Memory verse and songs were all from CEF videos. Zoom club meetings will also be continued using the materials from CEF. Two children in the second virtual club have indicated that they believe in Jesus. Another team leader wrote, “The Lord has been good and has drawn many children to His Son Jesus Christ, at her school. The children are overly excited as they study the series “God cares”. One student was so touched he believed in Jesus as His Savior and asked to be baptized.

 COVID 19 has caused everyone to be home. In spite of this unprecedented situation, the children are still being contacted and are receiving the GNC links and materials. Team leaders have also been sharing the materials with other teachers, who use them as devotionals or as part of their Religious Education lessons. Children are aware that their teachers are available for Zoom conferencing to clarify and support them in their learning and discipling them to trust in Jesus.

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Praise the Lord with us! He gets all the glory. Will you pray for Caris Bramwell and the CEF National Board of the Cayman Islands as they lead the ministry there?