I (Sean) realized the other day this blog hadn’t been updated in quite a long time. Not from a lack of ministry that has been done! Frankly it hasn’t been updated because the way our ministry has looked in 2020 simply continued through 2021 so far.

To be clear, our ministry as international missionaries for the past 9+ years now is serving, training, equipping, and helping national CEF ministries throughout the Caribbean. That mission didn’t change when the lockdowns began in March of 2020, and it hasn’t changed over the past year and a half now either.

Here’s the thing, there are only so many Zoom meetings we can write about on the blog before it starts to sound repetitive! From an overall work flow basis, our daily work doesn’t look that different now than it did before March 2020. We stay engaged with the staff and the boards of the eight nations that we serve, through email, WhatsApp, & phone calls. I also work alongside the regional director and regional team with other needs, projects, and issues throughout the rest of the Caribbean. None of that is different now than it was before.

The overall mission of CEF is to evangelize, disciple, and establish children into local churches. So we ask the question alongside local churches, “how can you best reach the children in your community?” But how do you reach children in a public health lockdown situation? Though a new issue to navigate, the root mission and question hasn’t changed. If anything, it has been a refreshing return to the original vision of CEF! You can’t rely at all on past methodology, and this new reality of the past year and a half requires Holy Spirit-fueled creativity to reach out to children under what is allowed in each country.

What has changed since March 2020 are two major things: travel & Zoom. First, I/we haven’t traveled internationally since the board/staff visit to Jamaica in February 2020. This however is planned to change this month (September 2021)! That will be a future blog post. Second, Zoom has transformed our regional team’s ministry since last year. We have conducted board trainings for hundreds of national and local board members, we have trained thousands of volunteers in children’s ministry throughout the Caribbean, we have had special meetings to deal with issues in individual countries, we have held new staff interviews, and all of this has been done with a plurality of leaders participating.

For example, just recently I was involved in dealing with a staff issue in one of the countries, and on the Zoom call was another fellow area director, my regional director, and all of the board members of that countries. People from four different locations and based in three different nations were on the Zoom call, whereas before 2020 it would have likely required a face-to-face, multiple day trip by just one leader. This way, three different leaders from three different cultural & ministry experience backgrounds were able to weigh in on the issue, in real time.

In conclusion, ministry is thriving in many of the nations of the Caribbean, and many countries are using radio, television, Zoom, Teams, WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook, and many other technological means of outreach. Many nations by now have been able to return to face-to-face ministry, and though I personally may not have been able to travel to the country, the beauty of CEF’s missionary model is that local ministry is not dependent on me being there in person. The design of CEF ministry since 1937 is that local people in local communities are the ones reaching the local children. All run by national staff and national boards. Only about 2.5%-3% of CEF full-time workers serve cross-culturally like myself. And our purpose as missionary servants to help serve, train, & equip local ministries of CEF throughout the Caribbean hasn’t changed!

Guest post again today by CEF Bahamas Ministry Coordinator Lisa Moss! The Bahamas is a nation that Mandi and I are deeply involved with as missionaries and thus every single person and event listed below is directly a part of what we do. Beltane is my new leader as Regional Director and each of the staff members, board members and volunteers are people we know, love and serve on a regular (if not daily) basis! Enjoy!
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Monday, March 9th Pastor Beltane Harrigan, Child Evangelism Fellowship Regional Director of North America and the Caribbean, made his first official visit to Nassau, Bahamas . He was officially appointed Regional Director in December 2019.

Pastor Harrigan’s visit was three-fold. He was invited to speak at the annual missions conference of Abundant Life Bible Church for two nights. An invitation was also extended to him to be the guest speaker for the missions conference at Victory Baptist Church. Last but not least, he was the special guest for CEF Bahamas’ Regional Week, climaxing with the Regional Day of Prayer on Friday, March,13th 2020.

Monday evening, Pastor Harrigan spoke at Abundant Life Bible Church’s Missions Conference. Their theme was “God’s Mission, Our Mission” which he used as the topic of his messages also.

Early Tuesday morning, Pastor Harrigan and the team visited the Good News Clubs at a local Primary school. There are two clubs in this school, one for Upper Primary and one for Lower Primary. We combined the club session for that morning. Club members listened intently and watched with anticipation as he dramatized the story of Zacchaeus. Pastor Harrigan ran up to the stage and jumped on a chair, depicting Zacchaeus running to climb a tree to see Jesus as he passed.

Through much prayer, the Lord opened the door for the president of the Bahamas Christian Counsel and his team to meet with CEF Bahamas and Pastor Harrigan. The meeting was scheduled for Tuesday morning, and we prepared breakfast for the attendees. The pastors represented a cross-section of various denominations.

We visited the Good News Club at another local Primary School. This was a new club recently started in the Lower Primary School during the lunch break. The story of Zacchaeus to this new group of students was dramatized with more intensity and animation, and the students watched in amazement. Without failing us, the chair and the counter-top became the famous sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbed up to see Jesus.

Tuesday evening, Pastor Harrigan spoke at the Abundant Life Missions Conference again, the focus being CEF Bahamas. His topic was “An Urgent Call from God to You!” In great support, CEF Bahamas’ staff, volunteers, and national board members were represented.

Wednesday morning, we visited a small primary school tucked away in the back of a major shopping center in a local community. Pastor Harrigan again brought the lesson and captivated the children with the dramatization of Zacchaeus.

Immediately following club, a special Meet and Greet was hosted by the volunteers with Pastor Harrigan. We were also encouraged by Pastor Harrigan to work as a team. Even though there is a team captain, no one is more important than the other, for each person has a part to play. Working together as a team makes the dream work.

We were also scheduled to be at Government House to meet with the Queen’s representative, the Governor General of The Bahamas, Mr. Cornelius Smith. Pastor Harrigan was presented and introduced to the Governor General by Dr. Willamae Miller, CEF National Director Emeritus. Pastor Geoff Wood, Vice Chairman of the CEF National Board, Mrs. Terry Bain, and I introduced ourselves to the Governor General. The ministry of CEF international was shared, Pastor Harrigan gave a brief history as to how he became involved in CEF for this region, and he also highlighted CEF Bahamas and the difference we are making in the lives of children in The Bahamas.

Thursday we had been given an invitation to be guests on The Darold Miller Live Show, a radio talk show, and we wanted to be “making the most out of every opportunity.” (Ephesians 5:16). We took a short drive to The Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas and waited patiently to join the show that was in progress. During the one-hour radio presentation, we shared the vision of CEF and our purpose, Pastor Harrigan shared the work of CEF international and how this region is connected. We also advertised our special prayer service for Regional Day of Prayer, and encouraged persons across the Islands of The Bahamas, to pray for the children of The Bahamas.

During CEF Regional Week, Dr. Miller invited Pastor Harrigan, to also be a guest on the Children’s Hour radio program. This week’s recording was very different in that children normally host the program, but they were unable to do so. Poems, brain teasers, songs, and a Bible lesson with the gospel are normally shared in the usual line-up for the pre- recorded program. Dr. Miller hosted, two poems on prayer were read by Lisa Moss, and Pastor Harrigan gave the Bible lesson on prayer from the book of Daniel

Friday arrived! This was our Regional Day of Prayer, our grand finale! CEF Bahamas’ staff, volunteers, and invited guests gathered at Discovery Learning Development Center for our special prayer service. Students from the school prayed for the various requests made by the workers in and around the were lifted for The Bahamas, the Corona Virus, and children around the region. Songs were sung in response to the prayers lifted. The Scripture reading and prayer were done by our National Board Chairman, Mrs. Kimberley Minors. Superintendent Mr. Jerome Forbes from the Ministry of Education attended the service and brought greetings. He applauded the principal and the school for setting the example by not just teaching academics but also focusing on instilling Christian values. It was now time for the message, and Dr. Willamae Miller National Director Emeritus, introduced Pastor Harrigan. His topic was “The Importance of Prayer.” Referencing the book of Acts, he showed how vitally important prayer is no matter the situation. Beginning at chapter one, every chapter had a problem or a situation that could only be resolved by prayer. The message was clear, “Prayer to a Christian, is Like Oxygen to the Body.”

At noon we went to another primary school for club that is held during the lunch break. Pastor Harrigan again dramatized the story of Zacchaeus, and this time he spoke as Zacchaeus.

Then, my husband Cornell and I, along with my brother Keith treated Pastor Harrigan to a down home Bahamian meal at another popular Bahamian restaurant, Frankie Gone Bananas, on Arawak Cay. The food was delicious, there was lots of fun and the fellowship all made it a great way to end the day.

Our Regional Week was filled with opportunities to share the ministry of CEF Bahamas and the vision for the region. Our purpose remains the same, ‘To evangelize boys and girls with the gospel of Jesus Christ and to disciple/establish them in a Bible believing church.’ This is done through our primary ministry, the Good News Club. It is also our goal to bring awareness to un-churched children within our communities and to encourage churches to adopt Good News Clubs.

Please continue to pray for CEF® Bahamas and our region at large as we prayerfully trust the Lord to send more labors and continue to provide such opportunities to reach boys and girls with the gospel of Christ.

February 9-12, 2020 I (Sean) went to Kingston, Jamaica to meet with the national staff and national board of CEF Jamaica. They have been actively working a five year plan to reach over 200,000 children by the year 2022!

And they are well on their way to reaching that goal. To give comparison, in all of 2018 their local staff, church partners and volunteers reached over 86,000 children. However, just in this past quarter alone they reached over 65,000 children!

Over the few days, I worked with them to analyze where they are in the process, attend a national board meeting, and reverse engineer the 200,000 figure with them to see which areas of ministry need to be strengthened and which areas have the most long-term fruit. Myron Tschetter, the CEF director of leadership development for the region, joined me for this time in Jamaica.

Jamaica and Belize have been recently added (as of January 1) to my North Caribbean area of oversight (the specific countries fluctuate periodically), so this also gave me the opportunity to meet the national board in person which is helpful for our communication. They (CEF Jamaica) also have 15 full time staff members!

Sunday was a travel day, and I overnighted in Miami, FL. All the more reason why we were moving to Pensacola, FL! I could have arrived same day and came home same day if I had flown out of PNS.

Monday I arrived in Jamaica and went immediately into meetings with the national director! Due to different calendar requirements, Myron Tschetter had arrived into Jamaica earlier so he and Michael Scott had already spent the morning meeting.

As previously stated, CEF Jamaica has a bold five year plan to reach over 200,00 children. As their Area Director, my role as a missionary is to do everything within my power to serve them through that plan and to help them make it happen. They have been a thriving and sustainable national chapter for decades, in fact Jamaica was one of the very first nations that started with CEF way back in 1946!

That evening we made our way to where I would be staying over the next few evenings, couldn’t help but notice the price of gas!

On a personal note, it was deeply encouraging to stay with friends that I haven’t seen in a few years, the Lewis family. Neil & Jan are Jamaican and the parents of a past member of our church in Montgomery, and their family became extremely close friends of ours while they lived in town. They live in a different city now but Mandi and I had the privilege of meeting Neil and Jan and two of their other children a couple of times when they visited their daughter and son-in-law. So it was amazing to see them again! Unfortunately with all the busyness and the late arrivals/early departures we all forgot to take pictures together, but I took some pictures of their beautiful home in the mountains that was built in 1774! They do weddings there, so if you ever want to do a destination wedding in Jamaica, be sure to check them out!

Horatio Nelson even stayed there!

As the next day began, I was able to spend one-on-one time meeting with Michael Scott. He was a banker for many years and the former national board chairman for CEF Jamaica. When the position of national director opened up after he retired from banking, this proven and capable leader stepped up to the plate!

Afterwards, we started off our set of meetings with the Kingston parish supervisor. This position is similar to a local director position in the USA, the position I held when I led the Central Alabama chapter for over five years.

As you know, our home church in Turks & Caicos is Harvest Bible Chapel TCI. When I was in TCI last, Pastor Kenyatta and others were in Spanish Town, Jamaica to celebrate the one-year anniversary of a new HBC church plant there! We prayed during that Sunday service for the church there in Spanish Town. What a joy to just a few months later in God’s timing to help connect the new church and CEF Jamaica together!

As Michael prepared for the evening national board meeting, I was able to meet, pray, and plan with the national and local Spanish Town staff there.

As we then met with the national board, the evening became very late but it was a productive and enriching time of discussion and decision making as CEF Jamaica is a large-scale operation. As I serve national boards throughout the Caribbean, it was deeply encouraging to see such a healthy board. We are praying for more board members to lead CEF Jamaica, will you join us in praying for this to take place!

The next day we had time in the morning to meet with another CEF parish chapter, so we made our way to the St. Ann parish.

Lornalee (below) is an incredible new worker for CEF Jamaica. She has a big vision and has cast that vision before the churches of St. Ann. There are 53 Good News Clubs now taking place there due to the Lord blessing her leadership! I was honored to meet with her, pray with her and discuss with Michael and her how we can take these ‘best practices’ and scale them nationwide and region-wide.

Later that day, I headed to the airport back home. But not before I had my hands on $1,000! 😉 (remember that is only about $8USD!)

Will you pray for CEF Jamaica as they seek to reach over 200,000 children by the year 2022? Please join Mandi and I in praying for Jamaica and all the needs of the country in light of the next generation. CEF Jamaica reaching 200,000 children means 50% of the primary-aged children will be reached. What could happen to the future of Jamaica with 50% of the children being reached with the Gospel, being discipled in the Word of God, and established into local churches? I am excited that this is not just an idea or a dream, it is an action plan that is taking place!

Back in early 2008, right after Mandi and I got married, Mandi got a job for a few months working as a bank teller. As a bank teller, she directly interacted with the customers. There was a teller manager who helped oversee the tellers, and handled all of the escalated or complex banking transactions. Then there was a branch manager who was ultimately responsible for the whole banking branch.

However a couple times during that season, Mandi got to meet the district manager for the nationwide bank she worked for. This district manager (DM) was directly responsible for each of the branches, primarily communicating with each of the branch managers. The DM spent time understanding the various policies and procedures that the corporate office put out, met with nationwide VPs for the bank, and helping to solve any issues that the various branches had.

Each branch was different. Mandi would alternate branches at times and she would see the differences between the locations. Different workers, different customers, every branch had a different ‘culture’.

If the district manager did his/her job well, every branch would be healthy. The branch manager’s job would be easier, able to spend time with the customers instead of trying to understand a new policy or procedure. The tellers would be well trained, able to handle any customer that walked through the door. And ultimately, the branches would bring financial success to the bank. The district manager’s job was essential to be done well so that each individual branch would be both profitable and have efficient employee retention.

Why did I spend all this time explaining the ins and outs of banking hierarchy? Because in our region of Child Evangelism Fellowship, this example is almost directly related. The ‘customers’ are the children that we reach in our discipleship and evangelism ministries.

The ‘tellers’ and ‘teller managers’ are the Good News Club volunteers, Good News Club team leaders and board members.

The ‘branch managers’ are the national directors of each unique island nation. The ‘nationwide VPs’ are the regional directors and the ‘nationwide bank headquarters’ is of course CEF international headquarters. And I serve as a ‘district manager’ in this example, helping each ‘branch’ in my specific area to be as successful as possible. I travel back and forth to the ‘branches’ as needed and I serve the ‘branch managers.’

Except a major difference is that CEF is not a for-profit business focused on the bottom line, we are a non-profit ministry focused on helping local churches build the Kingdom of God in their country through outreach to children. I serve as an area director to help each nation of the area we serve to be healthy, thriving and locally sustainable.

And YOU are the ‘bank’ investors! You deserve regular ‘quarterly updates’ and ‘press releases’ on the results of your investment of your prayers and financial gifts. You are clearly directly interested in how your investment is making an impact on the Kingdom of God. We thank you so much for joining us on the path of ministry as we serve with and alongside those in the North Caribbean and Bermuda. We are all one team, serving together so that every child on every island will be reached with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ!