As we cannot be in country physically yet, we continue to share highlights and guest posts from the CEF staff we directly serve on a day-to-day basis. This guest post is written by Lisa Moss, who currently serves as the new Regional Administrative Assistant, and at the time of writing served as the ministry coordinator for CEF Bahamas.

“The Courage To Make The Shift In Children’s Ministry”

Earlier in the year CEF® Bahamas partnered with the government operated Urban Renewal Center. Two of their staff members participated in CEF’s® Quick Start training and we established a Good News Club at the center. It was agreed that club would meet once a month and whenever there was a function at the center for the children in the community, CEF® would be invited. Due to COVID-19 things changed. Social distancing, wearing facial mask in public, no gathering of more than ten persons, constant sanitizing and washing of hands became the new norm. Ministering to children in person became a challenge but we thank God for Zoom and other online platforms.

I had received a message from the Activities Coordinator at the Urban Renewal Center. She informed me that the center took on a project to provide lunch for the children and elderly in the community. The lunch project was going to be a curbside event, while children were at the center for a brief moment to collect their lunch. As this was the last week for the lunch project the plan was to climax with a curbside, Back to school Jamboree. Lunch would be served for one hour curbside, from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. on a first come first serve basis. CEF® was invited to attend and to share a positive word with children. I jumped at the opportunity. I thought, ‘What do I share for two minutes for five days? Well, the Lord revealed the plan, ‘The Message of Salvation’ better known as, ‘The Wordless Book’. This book has five pages, no pictures, no words, just five beautiful colored pages, gold, dark, red, clean and green, they represent the wonderful story of God’s love for us. Each day would represent a color and the message from the book.

Day one, the color was gold to begin the Message of Salvation. Well, that morning showers of blessings came down and continued for the entire day. The plan was adjusted. The next day was Tuesday, under the beautiful blue skies, I wore my gold and went to meet the children. One by one they collected lunch, I shared how the gold reminds me of heaven, where the street is paved with gold, God our Creator lives there and He loves you very much. I gave them a token that says God loves you with the verse John 3:16 on the reverse. For God so loved the world, but instead of saying “loved the world,” I told them to put their name instead of world. The token were given to all the children and the first 25 children received a mini package of skittles with their tokens. There were about 50 children on the first day, along with adults.

We praise the Lord for day one. Wednesday, day two, representing the dark and the red pages, I was dressed in the colors, with a familiar head piece for the children. I shared how the dark color reminds me the verse, “All have sinned…” Romans 3:23, No matter who you are, you have sinned. Sin is anything you think, say or do that displeases God and it cannot enter heaven. We were all born in sin, and sin must be punished. Punishment means separation from God. Thankfully God has a wonderful plan so you and I don’t have to be punished for our sin. This brings me to the red page, it reminds me that God, in His love for us sent His only begotten son, who did no wrong, but willingly took our punishment by dying on the cross for us. He shed His precious blood so that we may be forgiven of our sins. Christ died for our sins…1 Corinthians 15:3-4. Tokens with the message for the day and scripture on the reverse side was given along with treats for the children. I ministered to a total of 35 children that came by.

In attendance were two teen girls who looked forward to the message and tried their best to guess what the message and the verse would be for the day. The first day they were ‘spot on’. There was also a young man who came every day and collected two lunches for his mother and son. My first encounter with him was the first day when I told him what the gold page remind me of ; then I asked him who lives in heaven. Well, he looked at me and said, ’I wont say because the answer will not be what you want to hear’. I said, ‘Well tell me who you believe lives in heaven. He refused to say. He turn to me and said, ’I grew up believing the traditional Bible but has since changed my belief, but you can tell me what you believe’. I looked at him, told Him God lives in heaven and He loves you very much. I was thankful to the Lord that he was still willing to listen. Everyday he came and listen as I shared, amazingly he took the tokens with the messages home to his four year old son.

On day three, I dressed in my clean color, letting the children know, because of what the Lord has done for you, you can have your sins forgiven. The token, a clean heart with the message and verse, “You are forgiven!” The Lord has promised, ’He will be my helper.’ Hebrews 13:5b. The number of children decreased, as some came to collect lunch for six to eight family members, Overall twenty-eight children attended and the message continued.

Friday! And the “Back to School Jamboree’ had begun. There was excitement in the air. Over one hundred children came young and old, and parents there. Lunch was served, raffle tickets were given out for special prizes that could only be collected on that day. After lunch the children spread out on the park and around the Urban Renewal Center waiting patiently for their number to be called. Every child was given a back pack and special birthday gift bags were provided for everyone young and older who celebrated in the month of August. No one was turned away. The Lord provided for the children and parents were happy. So many persons attended and social distancing needed to be enforced. Yes, the father previously mentioned came and brought his little son. The color for the day was green, the last page in the Wordless Book. The message was shared, Now that you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ you can get to know Him better, by growing in Christ. I encouraged the children to Go to Sunday school, Read and Obey God’s word, and Witness – share the good news of the gospel with others. During Curbside Ministry, it was my prayer that by God’s grace the seeds planted through the message would have fallen on fertile ground. Just before the end of my time at the center three young boys showed up. It was my first time meeting them, they said they came during the first two weeks to get lunch and their first for this week. I asked if they had ever trusted Jesus as their personal Savior. Excitedly the answer was a resounding YES!! It was truly a blessing. The Lord allowed me to encourage them with the message for the day. To continue to Grow in Christ, confess your sin to the Lord and that He will never leave you nor forsake you. To God be the Glory!!!

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.