2017-2018 CBF Offering for Global Missions
Bible Study
Youth OFFERING FOR GLOBAL MISSIONS
On the leading edge of the modern missionary movement, Baptists have been forming together, making disciples of all nations through long-term presence and commitment to serve the most forgotten and forsaken people around the world. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship engages in three primary contexts: Global Poverty, Global Migration and the Global Church, spreading the love of Christ in 30 countries across the globe. Through the work of CBF field personnel and Together for Hope, CBF’s rural poverty initiative, Cooperative Baptists are bringing renewal to God’s world through ministries that transform lives and extend the hope of Christ. The CBF Offering for Global Missions is the primary source of support ensuring the long-term presence of field personnel around the world, funding salaries, benefits, housing costs and children’s educational needs. You and your congregation are invited to journey with us as we discover the ways that God is working alongside CBF field personnel cultivating beloved community in Uganda, Virginia and the Research Triangle of North Carolina. We invite you to join us as we engage in these ministries of transformation. By watching our Cultivating Beloved Community video series alongside these Bible studies for children, youth and adults, you and your congregation will learn about the amazing impact of the long-term presence of field personnel and ways to engage in transformational development in your own community.
Editor The OGM Bible studies for children, youth and adults each feature three lessons centered around the ministries of Jade and Shelah Acker in Kampala, Uganda; Missy Ward-Angalla in Kampala, Uganda; Marc and Kim Wyatt in the Research Triangle of North Carolina; and Jessica Hearne in Danville, Va. Each lesson includes a ministry focus on CBF field personnel, biblical connection, missional connection and a call to action. For more information on the CBF Offering for Global Missions, visit www.cbf.net/OGM.
Aaron Weaver, CBF Communications Director
Associate Editor Carrie McGuffin, CBF Communications Specialist
Graphic Designer Jeff Langford
Adult Bible Study Author Erin Robinson Hall, Macon, Ga.
Children Bible Study Author Becky Caswell-Speight, Minister to Families with Children, Smoke Rise Baptist Church, Stone Mountain, Ga.
Youth Bible Study Author
OFFERING FOR GLOBAL MISSIONS www.cbf.net/OGM
Jeremy Colliver, Minister to Families with Youth, Smoke Rise Baptist Church, Stone Mountain, Ga.
SESSION
1
CULTIVATING BELOVED COMMUNITY Before You Begin:
Ministry Focus: Cultivating Community through Hospitality
Scripture: Ephesians 2:11-22
1. Watch the OGM 2017 Theme Introduction Video: Beloved Community Starts by Welcoming One Person Home. 2. Familiarize yourself with the “what” and “why” of the CBF Offering for Global Missions. 3. Familiarize yourself with Ephesians 2:11-22.
4. Gather equipment needed to show the OGM Impact Videos. 5. Make enough copies of “Signs of God’s Kingdom” and gather pens, pencils, markers, crayons and/or colored pencils the students will need to create their signs.
Handout: “Signs of God’s Kingdom”
Getting Started/Introduce Theme: Begin: Provide a brief introduction to the CBF Offering for Global Missions. Share about what the Offering for Global Missions does and whom the offering supports. Before showing the video, prompt the students to be listening for how they connect to the stories being told. Show the Offering for Global Missions Theme Introduction Video.
Ask:
Say: The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is committed to “making disciples of all nations through long-term presence and commitment to serve the most forgotten and forsaken people around the world.” One of the ways that the Fellowship does this is through each of the CBF field personnel cultivating beloved community where they are and with the people they serve.
5. How do you see the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship cultivating beloved community?
1. What did you relate to in the video? 2. What sparked your interest? 3. What questions do you have after watching the video? 4. What communities are you eager to learn more about?
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Biblical Basis: Begin: Transition to the next section of the session by finding and reading aloud Ephesians 2:11-22. The first time reading it through, have the group simply listen to the passage and become familiar with it. The second time reading it through, have them listen to the passage as someone who does not feel they are part of a unified group. Say: Paul was writing this letter to the Ephesians to remind them of a time when they didn’t know the grace of God with the hopes that they would remember how good they have it now in Christ and that they would become unified in Christ instead of creating divisions.
Ask: 1. What groups were at odds with each other in this passage? 2. Who unified these two groups? 3. How did Jesus Christ unify these groups? 4. Why did Paul remind the Ephesians what they were like before knowing Jesus? 5. How is being reconciled in Christ unifying? 6. How is God being hospitable in offering us the grace of Jesus?
Reflection: Begin: Distribute the handout “Signs of God’s Kingdom” and read the instructions at the top of the page, challenging the students to create a sign of how their church is creating God’s kingdom now. Allow the students time to create their signs and then ask for volunteers to share the signs that they created.
Ask:
Say: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said the following: “But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community…It is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. It is the love of God working in the lives of (all). This is the love that may well be the salvation of our civilization.”
3. How does redemption come about because of hospitality?
1. What signs for God’s kingdom does Dr. King mention in this quote? 2. How does reconciliation come about because of hospitality?
4. How does community come about because of hospitality? 5. How do the signs that you created come about because of hospitality?
Call to Action: Conclude your time together by challenging your students to cultivate beloved community by doing one or more of the following activities before your group meets again: 1. Bring a container of coffee and cups with you to school and share a cup with people throughout your school. 2. Stand at the door of your class and welcome everyone into the room. 3. Create a social media post of the sign that you created during the session. 4. Invite a group over to have dinner without the use of portable electronic devices.
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Signs of God’s Kingdom: Create a sign of how your church is creating the Kingdom of God here and now.
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SESSION
2
CULTIVATING BELOVED COMMUNITY IN DANVILLE, VIRGINIA Before You Begin:
Ministry Focus: CBF field personnel Jessica Hearne in Danville, Va.
1. Watch the OGM Impact Videos from Danville, Va. • Bruce • Mike • Cindy
Scripture:
2. Read more about Jessica Hearne at www.cbf.net/hearne.
Acts 10
3. Gather equipment needed to show the OGM Impact Videos. 4. Familiarize yourself with Acts 10.
5. Make enough copies of “Tweet from the Text” for groups of three or four people. 6. Gather writing utensils. 7. Prepare “Story Cards” note cards. Stories are included at the end of this study. Cut apart and place each story on a note card.
Handout: “Tweet from the Text”
Getting Started/Introduce Theme: Begin: Provide a brief introduction to Jessica Hearne and Danville, Virginia, where she serves. Prompt the students to watch and listen for similarities between their community and Danville, Va. Show the OGM Impact Videos for Danville (Bruce, Mike, Cindy).
Ask: 1. What did you hear or see in the video that made a connection with you? 2. What questions do you have after watching the video?
3. How is Jessica transforming the Say: Jessica Hearne had this to share about community of Danville, Va.? transforming the communities in which 4. What did you see or hear in the video she serves: “I think if we want to transform that you think you possibly could do in our communities, all we really have to do your own community? is look for one thing, one way that we can push ourselves just a little bit further. I 5. How would that begin to transform think if all of us looked for one more thing, your community? just one way that we can take one more step forward, we would all start moving in the same direction. Moving together is what really transforms our communities. It doesn’t have to be something big; it’s about doing those little things that push ourselves a little bit further into our communities; that push us out of our comfort zones. It’s meeting one new person, having one new relationship with somebody that is outside of our normal group of friends.”
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Biblical Basis: Begin: Have the students get into small groups of three or four as you distribute Bibles, writing utensils and copies of “Tweet from the Text.” Instruct the groups to read through Acts 10 and then create a tweet that summarizes each section of the passage listed. Allow time for the students to read through the text and be creative with their tweets. Then have groups volunteer to share their tweets.
to a different kind of church than we go to, or who come from a different economic class than we come from, we’re reaching across those walls to build those relationships.”
Say: Jessica Hearne shared the following about people who seem different from us, “I think a lot of times when we see or feel that there is hostility or that there are walls between people in our communities, it’s because we don’t know anybody who’s on the other side of the wall. When we build relationships with people who are different from us, who look different from us, or who go
2. What walls had Peter built up about the Gentiles?
Ask: 1. What would Peter have thought of Jessica’s statement before he had his vision?
3. How did Peter break these walls down? 4. How did Peter treat the Gentiles differently after he understood his vision? 5. What happened as people heard what Peter was preaching?
Reflection: Begin: Have the students remain in their small groups and distribute one “Story Card” to each small group. Ask them to read through the card and share the story that is on the card with the larger group in a creative way. Say: Grace & Main is an intentional community in Danville, Va., that is cultivating a beloved community in the global church. Jessica Hearne said the following about how they are creating a beloved community: “We are cultivating beloved community by connecting people who are different from one another, who wouldn’t necessarily know how to have a relationship with one another, who wouldn’t know how to be friends with one another. We are putting those people together and giving them opportunities to talk to one another and to learn from one another. This helps us realize that we are living in this city together and that, when the city thrives we all thrive.”
Ask: 1. What is it about Grace & Main that allows these different people to come together? 2. What principles can you take from Grace & Main’s story to apply to where you live? 3. What might your community need to overcome before it comes together? 4. Each one of these people has a different gift that they bring to Grace & Main. What gifts do you bring to the table?
Call to Action: Conclude your time together by challenging your students to cultivate beloved community within the global church by doing one or more of the following activities before your group meets again:
1. Eat at an ethnic restaurant you haven’t eaten in before and ask the owner about his or her story. 2. Learn about community gardens in your community and discover how you can help in those areas or with the gardens. 3. Visit the worship service of a congregation that is different than your own tradition.
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Story Cards: Grace & Main (Fellowship Christian Community): We practice radical hospitality, and the way that we do that is by opening our homes. We have a network of hospitality rooms in our city. We have about six houses in our leadership, and then we have a couple of other houses that are connected to Grace & Main where people have agreed to open their space to people who need somewhere to go, who need somewhere to sit, or a place to take a shower. In many cases, we have people who need to stay for a while — for a couple of days, or for a few weeks, or even sometimes up to a year or years, as they try to get on their feet, and get their resources together. We also open our tables to our neighbors. Eating together is a really important part of how we’re able to build relationships with people, and how we’re able to open our lives to other people. We believe that relationships are built around the table. It’s hard to sit and eat with somebody and not start to care about what they’re experiencing, what their needs are, what they’re going through.
The Urban Farm: The farm is in one of the neighborhoods where we already have a presence, where we’ve already been working for years, and where we already have relationships with the people who live in that area. It just seemed natural for us to take this land and try to do something with it. We’ve been very deliberate about involving the people who live in that neighborhood in the decision-making around that urban farm. We know that if you want to have success with a community garden, you need to have the immediate community that lives near that garden invested in it. We’ve also been deliberate about asking the people in the neighborhood what they want from this garden, what are some of the things that they would like to have. I think that is important, because the garden is located in a part of our city that’s considered a food desert — an area where there isn’t a grocery store within easy walking distance where people can go and get fresh food.
Cindy: Cindy is another leader in our community. Cindy used to live in an apartment building that was really run down. The owners of the building didn’t really make repairs. She lived in a place with no working appliances; other people in the building might have no working plumbing or their windows didn’t close all the way. There were always drug dealers on the property. When she first came to Grace & Main, she began by coming to our dinners, and then to our prayer services. As she came to meet with us, I think having a family and a community for the first time in a long time really helped her feel empowered to do something in her apartment building and in her neighborhood. She started chasing drug dealers off the property, which was really wild. She told us once that she thought that the reason that she could tell these dealers to leave and they would do it is because that they must have assumed she was holding a weapon of some sort. Otherwise, it just didn’t make any sense that they would listen to her. When we started working with the residents to get them to begin working with the landlord to make these problems known, to demand their rights from the landlord, Cindy really took a lead on that. She encouraged the residents, speaking out to help people demand just what everyone deserves — a place to live that is safe and warm and dry, where they could cook dinner and where they could sleep without worrying about a ceiling fan falling on them as they slept.
Bruce: Bruce is a leader at Grace & Main. He is our missionary to North Main Street, a neighborhood where he has lived for a while; so he knows more people there than any of the rest of us. Bruce can build or fix anything. I’m convinced that this is true. I think that’s really where his passion lies — in building and fixing, and in having tools and using the tools to do work. He is a great resource for the community in that he can help people, connecting them with tools to do a job, or helping connect people with a job that goes with the tools. He puts together work crews who go and do work together. He’s able to connect.
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Story Cards:
James: When we met James, he was living in the bottom of a stairwell. He had a lot of people who took advantage of him. He didn’t have community and he had no family. He was just on his own. As we started to get to know him and he started to get to know us, the relationship that we built allowed us to help him regain his independence, to throw off the people who were taking advantage of him. Through that, we were able to get him a place to stay so that he could be inside and have some stability. As soon as he had that, as soon as he had somewhere to stay, he immediately started inviting people to stay with him. That was really transformative for us. We have these houses with extra bedrooms, and we were taught that you just have an extra bedroom. You never think that maybe I shouldn’t have an extra bedroom when there’s somebody who doesn’t have any kind of bedroom — maybe that space should be used to help somebody who needs somewhere to stay. James is a leader in Grace & Main. He participates in our decision-making; he is our minister of prayer, and he prays just beautifully. There is so much of the Holy Spirit in his prayers. You really feel the presence when James prays. James runs a hospitality ministry out of his house. He always has somebody staying with him. Sometimes he has two people staying with him.
Mike: Mike’s bread ministry has been really great for Grace & Main; but I think even more than that is the way that he has been willing to open his home to people in need. He may not volunteer this information, simply because he is humble or doesn’t realize how significant it is. He is willing to open his home to people for indefinite amounts of time while they try to collect their resources and figure out how to move forward with their lives. He has had people stay with him for years. That is so inspiring to me. Mike is a leader at Grace & Main. Mike really pushes us as he helps us make decisions about keeping people in shelter. It’s not uncommon for us to ask who has space, who can help this person, who can take this person in, and to hear him say, “I can make space,” even if he already has two or three people staying with him. There was one instance where he offered a bed to somebody for a little while when the bed that he had offered was his own; he was sleeping on the floor so that this person would have somewhere to stay. He takes radical hospitality even to another level — to the point where he’s willing to give up his own bed if somebody else needs it.
Dillon: Dillon is Mike’s son, whom we actually met before ever meeting Mike. Dillon was coming to Grace & Main to worship with another friend of ours. He used to play the guitar while another friend played the drums during our prayer services. We lost track of Dillon for a couple of years, and Mike started coming and got really involved and became a leader. That is when we discovered that they were father and son. Recently, we were glad to have Dillon start coming back to Grace & Main. Mike was also very glad to have him as part of our group and to have the chance to rebuild his relationship with his son. It’s been exciting to have him back, and to see him rebuilding his relationship with God, and to have that lead to the baptism that happened last night.
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Tweet from the Text: Read Acts 10; then summarize each section of the scripture with a tweet in the corresponding bubble.
Acts 10:1-8
Acts 10:9-16
Acts 10:17-23
Acts 10:24-33
Acts 10:34-43
Acts 10:44-48
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SESSION
3
CULTIVATING BELOVED COMMUNITY IN UGANDA Before You Begin:
Ministry Focus: CBF field personnel Jade and Shelah Acker and Missy Ward-Angalla in Kampala, Uganda
Scripture:
1. Watch the OGM Impact Videos about Refuge & Hope in Uganda • Arcade • Jacob and Esau • Jamilah 2. Read more about Jade and Shelah Acker at www.cbf.net/acker. 3. Read more about Missy Ward-Angalla at www.cbf.net/ward.
4. Gather the materials needed to show the OGM Impact Videos about Refuge & Hope in Uganda. 5. Familiarize yourself with Ruth 1. 6. Create a timeline of Ruth and Naomi’s life. 7. Print off enough copies of “Amani Sasa” for each group of three or four to have one.
Ruth 1
Getting Started/Introduce Theme: Begin: Provide a brief background on the ministries of Jade and Shelah Acker and Missy Ward-Angalla in Uganda. Prompt the students to listen and look for ways that Kampala, Uganda, is both similar to and different from than their own community. Show the OGM Impact Videos for Refuge & Hope in Uganda (Arcade, Jacob and Esau, Jamilah).
Ask: 1. How is Uganda different from your community? 2. How is Uganda similar to your community? 3. What interested you as you watched the video?
4. What questions would you want to ask Say: Shelah Acker had this to say about these field personnel after watching the what they do at Refuge & Hope: “The work video? that we do at Refuge & Hope through CBF 5. How is community being cultivated in really is cultivating beloved community, Uganda? which is one of the CBF Global Missions distinctives. This really excites me because everything that we do is all about creating this community of family and support among the refugees. We also are working very hard to help refugees to be empowered so that they can become self-sufficient, which is also one of CBF’s distinctives, through transformational development and through community with other churches and by reaching out.
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Biblical Basis: Begin: Transition to the next section of the session by finding and reading aloud Ruth 1. After reading Ruth 1, ask the large group to tell the rest of story of Ruth in popcorn fashion by raising their hands if they know what comes next. Call on the person with his or her hand raised and have them share the next part of the story. (Hint: You may have to clarify answers that are given or have someone go back and share part of the story if someone jumps too far ahead.)
Ask:
Say: We don’t often think about it, but Naomi was a migrant worker as she travelled from place-to-place to work where there was opportunity. Ruth was a foreigner and a widow which made her very vulnerable. Even though the religious laws at the time forbade Naomi and Ruth to work, they were not only given work, but were accepted and given a place in the community.
5. What happened when Naomi and Ruth came back to Bethlehem?
1. Why did Naomi have to leave? 2. Why did Naomi want her two daughters-in-law to stay behind? 3. Why do you believe Orpah stayed behind? 4. Why would Ruth not leave Naomi?
6. Where did Naomi and Ruth find community?
Reflection: Begin: Share the following quote from Shelah Acker about the refugees in Uganda: “Refugees in Uganda are free to work. They’re free to have access to the hospital and education, government schools. Because of that, Uganda attracts refugees. They don’t have to live in camps. They’re actually free to move around in this city. Kampala is a massive hub center for urban refugees.” Say: The ministry that is being led by Jade and Shelah Acker and Missy Ward-Angalla in Kampala, Uganda, is cultivating beloved community in the midst of global migration. Ask: How do you believe community is created when people come from so many different places? Say: Shelah Acker has this to say about the community that is cultivated and lived out at Center of Hope: “Every time I’m at the Center, I always feel like it’s how heaven will be. Or how a church is supposed to be — because it’s people from all ages and nationalities, ethnicities and they all come together in one place and become family. We have people from the Muslim faith; we have Catholics and Orthodox and Pentecostals and every other type of Christian in between. We have people of no faith at all and, yet, they all come together and become brothers and sisters. I’m always amazed at how many students talk about how this is
their family. I’ve had students say, ‘When I come inside the gate, something changes. I’m safe and I have a family.’ They don’t want to leave. We have students say, ‘We never want to go home because this is home for us.’ They gain brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and aunties and uncles and I think one of the things that amazes me the most is that they visit each other outside of the Center, too — something I didn’t even realize. We have had weddings where they’ve come and asked us to come as the family and have invited the students to be their family at the weddings. It’s not just the classroom. It’s a community. They don’t just learn together, they share life together. Our students are crying together. They are in each other’s homes. They eat together. They pray together. When one of our students lost a family member, their class at the Center got together and actually visited that home and took up an offering for the family so that they could pay for the burial of the relative. We had a student from South Sudan whose house burned down. All the students of the Center came and collected things to help his family move and to have another house. Often they’ll foster each other in their homes.” Ask: What is it that sustains the community that is created when people have migrated from many different places?
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Reflection — continued: Say: Missy Ward-Angalla has this to say about the role she believes the church should play in cultivating beloved community through global migration: “I believe that in the midst of this refugee crisis that churches have an opportunity to minister. Even just by simply reaching out in love and walking alongside refugee families that are in the United States or wherever churches are, it is partnering with them as they begin to rebuild their lives, as they begin to heal. It doesn’t even need to be a particular program. It can be simply reaching out and saying, ‘Hey, can I help you learn to go to the grocery store? Can I help you go to your doctor’s appointment? Can I just come and visit you?’”
Ask: 1. What role can your church play in cultivating beloved community through global migration? 2. What gifts do you have that would help create community for refugees 3. What does your church do well that would allow it to minister to refugees?
Call to Action: Conclude your time together by challenging your students to cultivate beloved community through global migration by doing one or more of the following activities before your group meets again: 1. Learn more about Refuge & Hope and how your group might be able to partner with them. 2. Discover where the refugees in your community are from and how you might help them feel welcome.
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Amani Sasa MISSY WARD-ANGALLA TRANSFORMS LIVES WITH MINISTRY OF HEALING AND EMPOWERMENT IN UGANDA By Emily Holladay
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OFFERING FOR GLOBAL MISSIONS
Refugee women celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, 2013 at Amani Sasa in Kampala, Uganda, a shelter for refugee families who have experienced violence, abuse and trafficking.
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W
hen Missy Ward-Angalla traveled to Uganda in 2010 to minister as a Student.Go intern alongside Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel Jade and Shelah Acker, she never guessed this is where she would build a full-time ministry for refugee women and children from the ground up. Ward-Angalla, then a seminary student at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, joined the Acker’s ministry at the Center of Hope, which provides education, vocational training and Bible studies for refugees in Kampala, Uganda. “When I first came to Uganda, Jade and Shelah shared with me and my teammates that they wanted to use the gifts that God had given us in order to minister to the refugee students,” Ward-Angalla reflected. “At the time, the center had only been open for six months and there were only 25 students, so there was a lot of room to grow.” Since high school, Ward-Angalla felt called to mission work, but she came to Uganda still looking for the unique place God was asking her to serve. Coming to Uganda as an intern to fulfill a degree requirement for her program, Ward-Angalla found what she was looking for. “I went through a lot of trauma when I was young,” Ward-Angalla shared. “Having a community that loved and supported me helped me to heal from the trauma, and also understanding that I am loved by God and created by God. I believe God healed me from so much of that baggage. …So when I felt called to missions and ministry when I was in high school, I really felt called to help those who were on the margins, because that is what I had experienced at a young age. “When I was in college, I just became aware of the state of women’s rights in our world and particularly those of refugee women. I think what opened my eyes at that point was the knowledge that there are so many places where there is nothing for victims of sexual violence.” Not long after Ward-Angalla arrived in Uganda for the first time, she met a young woman who was trying to escape from a violent situation. Ward-Angalla, along with the Ackers, tried to find a way to help the woman, but were left with more questions than answers. She needed more than they could give at the time.
“She needed more than a safe room for a few days or a few months,” Ward-Angalla explained. “She needed counseling and training. There wasn’t a place for her to receive holistic health, so I said, ‘I want to come and I want to start a place for these refugee women and girls.’ And so, that’s really where that great need met my heart’s calling.” Five years later, Ward-Angalla is living in Uganda as one of CBF’s field personnel. In October 2013, she opened Amani Sasa, a shelter for refugee women and children who have experienced violence, abuse, trafficking or other traumatizing situations. Her hope is to provide a place where refugee women can experience healing and empowerment. “A lot of people who have been through violence just survive, but never heal,” she said. “The trauma doesn’t just go away — there has to be intentional healing.” Amani Sasa has developed into a women’s ministry divided into three parts: social work ministry, rehabilitation ministry and vocational training. Women between the ages of 15-25 live at the shelter for three months while they go through the program, becoming immersed in daily discipleship, education, vocational training and both individual and group counseling. The refugee women living at the shelter go through the program together, and therefore find hope and support from one another, which was an unexpected benefit of this unique program. “I don’t know of another shelter in Uganda that provides a place for refugee
women and children to go who have been through profound violence and trauma,” Ward-Angalla emphasized. “What we’ve found is, not only do they find a support group in the staff who are there and love them, but they also find support from each other, which is one of the most beautiful things about the program. Afterward, we’ve found that they’re empowered to help other people.” In Uganda, Ward-Angalla helps to transform lives of women and children who otherwise might not have come to know the love and compassion of the God who created them. But, the ministry reaches farther than Kampala’s city limits. Her passion and contagious energy has caught the hearts of many CBF partner churches, so that they too have become empowered to help abused women and children in their own communities. “It’s been a wonderful partnership because we get to hear the wonderful things that God is doing through Missy,” said Mike Pearce, minister of missions at First Baptist Church of Huntsville, Ala. “I can’t recall any time that we’ve worked with a missionary who’s directly working with women who have experienced trafficking and abusive homes. “We had a focus on trafficking last year, so our Women on Mission group learned a lot. We discovered more about Atlanta and the Missy Ward-Angalla (front row, second from right) celebrates with new graduates of Amani Sasa’s vocational training program. Women in the program discover a support system and leave empowered to help others.
A P R I L / M AY 2 0 1 5
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Women and children live life together at Amanai Sasa, where they find joy and support through a ministry of healing and empowerment.
I-20 corridor and how much it’s impacting us at home. Through our partnership with Missy, we now have much more awareness and know tangible ways to help.” Missy Ward-Angalla’s story is unique in that she felt called to partner with CBF as a field personnel in Uganda during her second year of seminary. She was able to develop relationships with churches in the United States over the course of two years before returning to Uganda. One of these churches, First Baptist Church of Gainesville, Ga., sent a few members to Uganda to partner with Ward-Angalla during the summer of 2012, when she was once again serving through Student.Go. “On our trips to Uganda and through Missy’s visits to our church we were able to follow the story of a young Somali woman whose mother was murdered in front of her,” shared Ruth Walker Demby, minister of missions at First Baptist Gainesville. “She was kidnapped and forced to marry a rebel soldier. When she became pregnant, her husband threw her out and her baby died. Through the efforts of her sister she was finally able to find safety in Uganda. “We got to see this young woman go from silent and withdrawn to being part of the loving fellowship of the Center for Hope in Kampala. Worshipping with this young woman in a group of believers from all over Africa, and knowing their incredibly difficult circumstances, made this one of the most meaningful times of worship we
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fellowship!
Ward-Angalla’s ministry in Uganda has had a clear impact on the churches that have followed her story. Adults and children alike have been inspired by her willingness to follow God’s call, even where there is not another model for how to do what she does. Her ministry is truly an example of even the youngest members of the Fellowship forming together to serve the most marginalized people in our world. “This past December, the children of First Baptist Morrow were led to adopt Missy and her ministry as a Christmas project,” said Carol Hawkins, missions chairperson at First Baptist Church of Morrow, Ga. “They don’t understand everything about the women and girls with whom she works, but they do care deeply about the fact that they have been seriously mistreated and often placed in the ever experienced. We will always remember path of danger. The children collected coins Missy’s bright face, the sound of her husband, and brought their offerings for several weeks, Francis, playing the guitar, and the lovely finally giving more than $400. They were so refugees singing God’s praises and praying as proud. I thanked many of the children for if their lives truly depended on God.” that gift, and one night after supper at the First Baptist Gainesville was inspired by church, a little girl said, ‘Missy is my favorite the way Ward-Angalla’s ministry created missionary. She loves with her smile, and I empowerment, rather than dependency, and sure do wish my hair would curl like hers!’” sought to find more ways that they could Ward-Angalla also shared that the partner with her. Most recently, children churches who partner with her are a constant from the church’s after-school program raised reminder that she is not alone. Even on her money for a mother at the shelter to send worst days, she knows that there are people her two children to school, which is very praying for her and encouraging her. She expensive in Uganda. feels deeply that the only way she can explain
much of her work is that it is God’s answer to the prayers of her partners. Through these prayers, Ward-Angalla’s partners are also discovering ways that they can help impact her ministry, even remotely. At The Well at Springfield, a church started in Jacksonville, Fla., by CBF church starter Susan Rogers, members have offered some of their skills to help Ward-Angalla raise the money she needs to continue her vital work. “It has been wonderful to hear people learn more about the needs of women in Uganda and to hear them begin offering their gifts and skills to make a difference,” Rogers noted. “One woman has offered to use her experience in grant writing, another is wanting to explore the possibility of micro-loans. It also has helped us see even more clearly some of the challenges of women in our own community.” At 28-years-old, Ward-Angalla has impacted the lives of thousands across the globe who have benefitted from her ministry. By responding to the profound calling on her life, her ministry has not only transformed lives, but her presence and encouragement have saved lives. In December 2014, at the graduation ceremony for shelter residents, Ward-Angalla learned about one such life. “Before the festivities started, Anna, one of the shelter residents, shared with me that five
(Above) Missy Ward-Angalla (third from right) and the women with whom she ministers alongside show their appreciation for the support they receive through prayer and partnerships on Thanksgiving 2014. (Right) Amani Sasa welcomes new residents to the empowerment and recovery program.
months before, she was about to commit suicide,” Ward-Angalla reflected. “She was walking on the road, on her way to do it when we met. She told me I greeted and hugged her. God used this encounter to stop her plans. “Anna’s story does not end with this tragedy. This event will no longer define her as it had for so long. God has healed and transformed Anna’s life in profound ways. She has found an inner strength and confidence that no one can take away. Her heart is now full of God’s hope and joy.” Ward-Angalla’s journey and ministry is an example of the Fellowship forming together from her first days as a Student.Go intern to her current partnership with CBF churches, individuals and partners. Her life and ministry is celebrated across the Fellowship because of the ways she has trusted God to lead her and the people whom she serves. “Missy is a most passionate advocate for women refugees, and she is a believer — a true believer, that God is indeed at work in
our world, and that the power of God’s love can bring healing and change,” shared Pam Durso, executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry. “Missy is what a minister looks like — every day, all day long, she gives her best to God’s world, and Baptist Women in Ministry celebrates and supports who she is and what she is doing in Uganda.”
EMILY HOLLADAY is Associate Pastor of Children and Families at Broadway Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.
A P R I L / M AY 2 0 1 5
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SESSION
4
CULTIVATING BELOVED COMMUNITY IN THE RESEARCH TRIANGLE OF NORTH CAROLINA
Ministry Focus: CBF field personnel Kim and Marc Wyatt in the Research Triangle of N.C.
Scripture: Mark 4:30-32
Before You Begin: 1. Watch the OGM Impact Story Videos about ministry in North Carolina: • Nunu and Thomas • Jay • Felix 2. Gather equipment needed to show the OGM Impact Videos from North Carolina.
3. Familiarize yourself with Mark 4:30-32 and facts about mustard seed.
Handout: “Cultivating Community in Raleigh”
Getting Started/Introduce Theme: Begin: Provide a brief introduction to CBF field personnel Kim and Marc Wyatt as you distribute the “Cultivating Community in Raleigh” handouts and writing utensils. Explain to the group that they should write down any words or phrases that catch their attention as they watch the videos inside the state, and questions they have for Kim and Marc outside of the state. Show the OGM Impact Videos from North Carolina (Nunu and Thomas, Jay, Felix). Say: Kim and Marc Wyatt are cultivating beloved community by serving refugees who are seeking a fresh start in a new place. The Wyatts plant seeds daily, trusting that their ministry will bring the fruit about later.
Ask: 1. What words and/or phrases did you write down on your handout as you watched the video? 2. What was it about these words and/or phrases that caught your attention? 3. What surprised you as you watched the video? 4. How do Kim and Marc cultivate community amongst the people they minister with?
OFFERING FOR GLOBAL MISSIONS www.cbf.net/OGM 18
Biblical Basis: Begin: Transition to the next section of the session by sharing the following quote from Marc Wyatt: “When I look in the eyes of the men and the women and the families that we spend our time with, I know that God is at work. What’s happening is God at work through us. It’s a part of a bigger retake, or reset, a new life. It’s the gospel. The gospel starting small, like a seed.” Say: Marc mentions “starting small, like a seed.” Jesus tells a parable in Mark 4:30-34 about a small seed and what can happen when it is planted. Read: Choose a volunteer to read aloud Mark 4:30-34.
Ask: 1. Why would Jesus use a small seed to teach about the vastness of the Kingdom of God? 2. Why does Jesus say the seeds have to be sown? 3. What happens if the seed is not sown? 4. How is the kingdom of God like the large mustard bush with its large branches and shade? 5. How is sowing seeds like cultivating beloved community? 6. How are communities like the mustard bush that come from sowing the mustard seed?
Reflection: Begin: Share the following quote from Marc Wyatt about serving in North Carolina: “I see this great migration of people that are coming from all the corners of the earth into community and towns where I’ve grown up. My wife and I are from North Carolina. She’s actually from a city not too far from here, Durham. It is interesting to us as field personnel to be missionaries among the nations in our own hometowns. That is what is happening. Now, we understand what God is doing in the world. He is calling some of us to go to faraway places and to live and love and be the presence of Christ; and He is bringing people who have not heard of Christ right to our homeland.”
Share: Share another quote from Marc Wyatt: “The church doesn’t exist to resource us. The church exists in the world to do God’s work. It’s such a wonderful blessing to us to be able to participate in the discovery of the call of God to churches and to individual members of these churches. and to become not just recipients of blessing, but partners with them in their local work.”
Say: Kim and Marc Wyatt grew up in North Carolina and have travelled the world serving in 10 different countries, but now they are serving “back home” in North Carolina.
1. What are ways you could be a resource for your community?
Ask: 1. What would it be like to serve as a missionary in your hometown? 2. What would make it easier than serving somewhere else? 3. What might make it harder than serving somewhere else?
Say: As Marc says, the church doesn’t exist to serve us, but the world around us. Because of this, we are missionaries in our hometown. Ask:
2. Who are people that could help you in being a resource? Share: Share this quote from Kim Wyatt: “What we are seeing happening is that in a couple of our partnerships early on, the church members wanted to go with us to do things. It didn’t take but a few months before we realized that they are doing things now about which we had no idea. They just made a connection and then they ran with it. They did more than what we had initially introduced them to and that is our hope. We hope that folks fall in love with a refugee neighborhood or a refugee school or a refugee family and that they run with it.” Say: Kim and Marc plant mustard seeds daily as they cultivate community. Some days they see the seed grow into something large and other days they continue to wait for the fruit to emerge.
OFFERING FOR GLOBAL MISSIONS www.cbf.net/OGM 19
Reflection — continued: Ask: 1. What seeds can you plant in your community to cultivate community? 2. What might these seeds grow into? Share: Share one last quote from the Wyatts: “As Christians, this beloved community that we’re a part of, maybe we think (and I can see why), if we spend our time with just each other as we gather on that church street corner on those hours of those week, then we can often miss the point that there are other wonderful communities around us that also love our Lord Jesus and are committed to His great work in the world. We can get soiled. I think in our culture, we’re going to struggle. We are struggling with the acceptance of others, and the realization that we are all part of a grand family, a great family that exists around the world and that God loves all of us so much.”
Say: The Wyatts are describing the culture that he witnesses as he cultivates community. Ask: 1. Is what the Wyatts are witnessing the same as what you witness in your community? 2. What gets in our way of being Christ’s beloved community for the world?
Call to Action: Conclude your time together by challenging your students to cultivate beloved community by doing one or more of the following activities before your group meets again: 1. Share the story of Kim and Marc Wyatt through social media. 2. Choose one of the ways you can resource the community and find a partner to help you begin to do so. 3. Discover the agencies that help refugees in your community and volunteer with them.
OFFERING FOR GLOBAL MISSIONS www.cbf.net/OGM 20
Cultivating Community in Raleigh: As you watch the impact video about Kim and Marc Wyatt, write down words or phrases that are said that connect with you.