A life of service
Lisenby follows calling to full-time missions work in China
F
rom childhood Brenda Lisenby was taught that God calls girls and women to serve. This calling goes beyond praying for missions and giving to missions. It also means doing missions, sometimes traveling to far away countries and committing to a life of fulltime missions service.
Lisenby grew up attending Pecan Acres Baptist Church, a small country church in Duncan Woods, Texas, and became a Christian in the spring of her 4th grade school year, during a church-wide revival. As a child, she didn’t dream of missions, but during college, where she majored in elementary education, she began considering traveling to China to teach English. “There was no voice, no message saying, ‘Go to China,’” said Lisenby. “But looking at my life and my skills — the way God had used me — I was feeling a sense of call to go overseas on mission. I had a sense of call to China because I loved Asian culture and had several Asian friends at university, I wanted to teach nationals in their own country.” In 1989, after graduating from college, Lisenby packed her bags and headed to China to teach English as a second language. “My number one job description was to teach English,” Lisenby said. “Number two, be an encourager to Chinese Christians and attend the local church. Number three, be a life witness. These three objectives continued to shape my call. They’re my guiding principles even now.”
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By the end of her second year, Lisenby had started to believe “God could really use me here.” At the end of her assignment in 1992, she returned to the United States, began working on a doctorate in multicultural education and English as a second language and looked for a way to return to China. In 1999, Lisenby was commissioned as one of CBF’s fully-funded field personnel. For many years, she lived in Nanning and worked under contract with the local university, teaching English writing courses and serving through other ministries. In the years since, Lisenby’s role has changed. She now coordinates partnerships with the government and develops new ministries for special populations, including students and immigrants. She works alongside local churches to coordinate summer English camp. She also provides training to teachers and staff at Angel House, which provides learning opportunities for children with special needs, and to teachers at a school for the blind in Chongqing. One of her most recent ministry endeavors is weekly parent education workshops, which she conducts for
Nepalese women in Hong Kong. These families often do not have the traditional family network and support that they would have in their homeland, and, facing financial hardships in China, both parents often end up working — usually leaving children unsupervised. Lisenby is pleased that the women are beginning to share about their lives and develop trust in each other. Recalling Romans 1:12: “Be mutual encouragers of one another,” Lisenby has tried to be a spiritual encourager for girls and women in China over the years, feeling a sense of calling to invest in people, in their lives and in the relationship. Some relationships have lasted more than 12 years. “I just encourage them because so many times they don’t get encouragement in their families. I try to encourage them to see themselves as a child of God, to help them get a different perspective,” she said. By contributing writer Laurie Entrekin
Right: Working alongside local churches, Brenda Lisenby, coordinates and leads English camps for children. Opposite: Lisenby, right, has served in China as one of CBF’s fullyfunded field personnel since 1999.
Brenda Lisenby’s ministry in China is supported by gifts to the CBF Offering for Global Missions, which provides for field personnel salaries and ministry expenses. To give to the CBF Offering use the envelope provided in this issue or go to www.thefellowship.info/give. fellowship!
April/May 2011
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