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CMF Board Meeting

Doug — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:35:59 +0000

The CMF Board of Directors meeting finished today. Here are a few highlights:

Rick and Nancy Jett of IDES (International Disaster Emergency Service) were the guest speakers. In the twenty years of partnership with CMF, IDES has contributed $567,996.74 to CMF projects. Both Rick and Nancy were surprised by the total, and so were we! God’s people are very generous in the time of need. May He continue to bless His church and IDES.
River of God: An Introduction to Mission, edited by Stephen Burris and I, was released last week, and each board member received a copy of the book. (if you are interested in a copy, email me and I’ll give you the details regarding purchase).
The Board received a report that CMF ministries (and our ministry partners) had planted 96 churches in 2011. This is the most churches we have planted in a year in our 63 years of existence!
Two families were commissioned to minister in Thailand. They are in fund raising and are praying to arrive before year’s end.
Naomi Kouns was installed as a CMF emeritus for her many years of service.
Contributions in 2011 were up 7% from 2010.
Globalscope (international campus ministry) has 22 recruits raising support.

Old Friends

Doug — Sat, 05 May 2012 03:51:32 +0000

The last two weeks have provided quite an opportunity for Robyn and I to connect with several old friends. We went to Trinity, Florida to be with Greg and Becky Johnson. Greg and I go back to 1966 as missionary kids in Ethiopia. We were later missionary colleagues in Kenya working among the Maasai, and then Greg joined me in Indianapolis for several years to focus on business as mission.

Robyn and Becky reminisced about how our daughters (2 for them and 2 for us) were born just weeks apart. It was so much fun to see Jocelyn and Kristin again.

After worship at Generations Christian Church where Greg preaches, we taught an evening session of Perspectives (Pioneer Church Planting), and then on Monday we made our way down to the Florida Keys for several days of vacation. We enjoyed seafood, birding, hiking, and the show at sunset on Key West. We boated out to the Dry Tortugas, before returning home, spending one night on Marco Island.

Tally of new birds for the week was ten, a high number, largely because I had never been in this part of the country before. So I could check off numerous seabirds from the part of the country (Magnificent frigatebird, gray kingbird, brown noddy, etc.).

Immediately after returning to Indianapolis (one day at home) I flew out to Oregon and Washington. Monday I stopped at the Toppenish Wildlife Refuge (getting the bank swallow) before continuing to Ellensburg to visit my cousin Don Green and to share with members of his mission’s committee.

Tuesday I returned to Portland to be able to collect Robyn who flew in on Wednesday. We made our way to Eugene to be with family for several days prior to the commencement season at Northwest Christian University (tomorrow). After commencement we will hurriedly get back to Portland to catch the flight home to Indianapolis, arriving at midnight (hopefully). The CMF Board meeting begins Sunday afternoon.

This has been a whirlwind, but a very enjoyable time with old friends and family.

Painting the Mother and Child Wing

Doug — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 13:39:55 +0000

The Cy-Fair Christian Church from Houston, Texas raised $50,000 to construct a new wing for the clinic at Ewaso Ngiro in Kenya. The clinic is home to the Maasai Health Services, and is part of a clinic system established primarily by the work of CMF International. The Cy-Fair Church had been involved with Maasai medical ministries for some twenty years, years in which they supported missionaries Dave and Dr. Suzie Snyder. Last year minister Ron Lewis and missions minister Larry Metcalf visited the clinic, which gave rise to their desire to add the new wing. John Sankok is the director of Maasai Health Services and it was his dream (he shared this dream with me back in 2007) of having a wing where the mothers and children could be treated so that they would not need to come into contact with those who had tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and other transmittable diseases.

The group of sixteen from the Cy-Fair Church fulfilled two projects. First, they gave a new coat of paint to the waiting/reception area of the clinic, which had not been painted for seven years. John desired some paintings that would be entertaining to the older childlren, and fortunately Cy-Fair had the artist who could do that. The second project was to put the first coat on the outside of the new wing, as well as painting the metal doors and windows. The group worked long hours, enjoying their interaction with various members of the community and clinic staff. They especially appreciated the opportunity to visit a nearby Maasai village and see the inside of the home.

Congratulations to Cy-Fair for a job well done!

Kenya pipeline explosion

Dan Leinbaugh — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:39:57 +0000

During my recent trip to Kenya I happened to be outside of Nairobi when the explosion occurred in the slums that killed more than 100 people. The people were resident in a slum called Sinai. Many of them lived on or in close proximity to a gasoline pipe line that had ruptured. With gasoline flowing, many took their containers to get some free gasoline so that they could save some money. Some reports were that somebody threw a cigarette away which caused the explosion.

What could be more indicative of the urban poor slums around the world where life is so tenuous? Crowded conditions; forced by poverty to live wherever there is available space; the desire to care for one’s family in desperate situations; and the ever present threat of things like disease, fire, corruption, and robbery.

We work in a slum in Nairobi in partnership with Missions of Hope International. We have nine schools in the slums. That pipeline could be have erupted in the Mathare Valley where we work. It could have been people we know who were burned to death.

We are working to bring the love of Christ—to advance the Kingdom of God—in this area. Even so, the reminder of last week will last a long time.

CMF Wall of History

Doug — Fri, 20 May 2011 18:28:17 +0000

Wednesday was a super day! This past year we renovated the CMF Mission Services Center. We moved a few walls, replaced some of the art work and totally repainted the office. Rather than one or two colors, we now have half a dozen colors in the various offices and cubicles.

One idea our design team had was to make a “wall of history.” We picked out 50 things of interest, wrote up a little text, and then our artiste’ Joyelle went to work. What a fabulous job she did in pulling it all together. It takes up two walls in the hallway. The walls go around the corner so are at a 90 degree angle, meaning you can walk around the wall of history when you walk down on hallway and then turn left. Interestingly, the walls come together right by my office door so every time I walk out of my office I can see the wall.

I won’t say more because I want you to come and take a look. It really brings CMF history to life. Come and see! Robyn is due here in half an hour to take a look. It will take about 15 minutes to see everything and read everything.

CHE Training

Doug — Tue, 17 May 2011 14:14:26 +0000

This week we are offering training on CHE and are pleased that twenty-two people have come for the training, one from as far away as Colorado. CHE is a kind of Christian version of ABCD, “Asset Based Community Development.” (Actually, maybe I should have said that the other way around.) As an organization, CMF partners with FAME, a medical mission group. FAME is a strong proponent of the CHE strategy toward community development. CHE stands for Community Health Evangelism, but CHE is not limited to health issues.

Those doing the training this week are Linda Brock and Judy Fish. Both have extensive service in Africa and nowadays spend a good deal of their time in teaching CHE around the world. Some of those taking the training are missionaries, some of members of church missions committees, and some are recruits to work in other countries.

Our CMF home office is fortunate to have a room, the Charles Cook Center, where we can have training sessions for this many people (but not many more!). Charles Cook was an early leader of CMF who stayed with us in a variety of roles for over fifty years. He and his wife Barbara’s photo are on the wall of the room.

Congratulations Allison!

Doug — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:25:53 +0000

This past week-end Robyn and I drove to Kentucky Christian University for the graduation of Allison Thwing. She is the daughter of my cousin Patty, so I think this makes Allison my first cousin once removed or something like that. It was a great family gathering with my aunt Louise and uncle Jerry, cousin LuAnn and her husband Al and son Jacob, the Allison’s family (Don, Patty, Jaime and Peter).

Allison graduated with a degree in nursing. She received the Service award in her nursing school. Besides being Magna Cum Laude, she presented the class response at the graduation, which was quite an honor. We are all proud of her.

Allison was a REACH intern with CMF last summer in Kenya. She wants to get some experience in nursing and then to pursue a Master’s degree in Public Health with an emphasis on world health issues. We hope that turns out to be with CMF!

While at the school I saw my friend David Empson, Director of the National Missionary Convention. David’s daughter was graduating. Good times all around.

Back in Indianapolis, Allison, Patti, LuAnn and Louise stopped in for dinner. They are embarking on a two week driving trip headed back to Oregon. Before dinner we went for a walk in the Ft. Harrison State Park. I saw a prothonotary warbler, first time for me in Indiana. I know right where it is nesting and I am going back later today to try and get a photo. I’d seen this bird several times in Texas and Oklahoma.

Good times all around.

Chesnut Banded Plover

Doug — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 05:57:56 +0000

What a great day for birding! We drove from Nairobi down through the Rift Valley, going south to Lake Magadi, one of the lowest points in inland Kenya. When we lived in Loita you could see Lake Magadi from the Enguruman escarpment, but I had never been there.

The lake is well known in Kenya as soda ash is collected there. The factory has been in existence for years. The lake floor is scaped and the salts are collected. I think they are used in making cement.

Along the route we saws lots of birds, many of them lifers for me. I’ll post a list in a week or two. The prize of the day was the chesnut banded plover. The bird has markings similar to many plover, with the major difference being that the band across the chest is a brilliant red rather than the usual black and brown. We probably saw a dozen of the birds in a couple of ponds, sharing space with flamingoes, little egrets, and lapwings.

Happy birthday Dad!

The Water of Life

Doug — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 05:03:17 +0000

Picture youself in a desert. There are a few thorn trees, and a few date palm trees. Other than that, desolate. The inhabitants of this desert in northern Kenya are the Turkana people, a nomadic people who have herds of goats and a few camels. They do not stray far from their traditional culture. They live with a bit of meat and milk. They sell their goats for some goods.

When they need water, they dig a hole in the sand and about ten to fifteen feet down, they get water, sometimes. Life is very tough. So when missionary Gene Morden began doing water projects some years ago, the people were ecstatic. Gene has several means of securing water. One is through hand drilling with his team of people (think digging post holes). Once they reach the correct depth, they install a hand pump, and clean water is the result. We got to be there when one of these wells was to be completed. Imagine the excitement and joy among the people as they eagerly waited for the first drips of water. There was singing, dancing, and praying. Lives will be changed, for the better.

Another method is using a block of solar panels, which then run the pump. Lots of sun in northern Kenya. There is enough water that is pumped so that the people can plant small garden plots. Here is a people, nomadic through history, now (of their own will and under their own work) have small gardens that produce year-around. We saw fresh tomatoes, spinach, and numerous types of legumes.

These projects are not charity projects that lead to dependency. The missionaries have lived in the area for more than ten years. They speak the local language, have earned the respect of the people, and the people do the work. In fact, when we were there, Gene was in the States. Everything, from getting us to the areas, digging, installing the pump, and digging, was done by Turkana people.

I will never turn on the faucet again without remembering the joy in those people’s faces when they got their very first pure water in their area. Sure, they will have to carry the water from the pump to their home, but the distance is much closer, and the water is pure. That is what Jesus brings, because He is the water of life. The people prayed to thank Him for providing their water.

African Mother

Doug — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 23:25:10 +0000

When we were on our first furlough, back in 1983-84, Robyn attended some college classes at Fullerton Junior College. One of the classes was in poetry. She wrote the following poem, one of my favorites. She was encouraged to enter the poem in a contest for a local newspaper, and she won! I think she received $50. Prior to the furlough, we had lived for four and a half years in Kenya, most of it amongst the Maasai people. Here is the poem.

African Mother

Kilimanjaro sits on bone-dust earth, her bare brown back supporting a skeletal wall.

Thorn-bush children chase and scrape as skinny chickens scratch ashes, snatching yesterday’s maize.

Broken beads and hapless thatch decorate the dirt, tin lids and cast-off cardboard lie waiting.

Kilimanjaro sits, strong fingers thrusting thread and color through lifeless leather,

transforming the dried hide to a wedding gown awaiting rain.

In a couple of weeks, I’ll be back in Kenya, and some of the time will be amongst the Maasai yet again. This time it involves teaching a class in addition to a Board meeting. I can hardly wait.