In 1993 I spent five months working in refugee camps in Somalia where at that time people were starving to death all around me. I saw the despair of parents who could not feed their children and the joy and hope when we were able to nurture one little one back to health. Somalia is a Muslim land and we were not allowed to preach, but offering food was a witness as we demonstrated God’s love for the “least of these.” Our world is a hungry place. Early in November the UN estimated that there were 51 million refugees in our world. One million of those are in Lebanon and maybe as many as another million in Turkey as a result of the war in Syria. War, Ebola, destruction, terrorism, natural disasters all create refugees, displaced people, homeless people and seemingly endless hunger. In all this suffering there is a hunger for hope, for truth and love. A hunger for God. CBF’s theme for this year’s Global Mission offering is END HUNGER.
CBF field personnel are the presence of God to some of the neediest people on our globe.
- Chuouki and Maha Buolos work with refugees and the Lebanese who shelter them in Lebanon.
- Greg and Sue Smith work with immigrants in Fredricksburg, VA.
- Jon and Tanya Parks serve the Romany in Slovakia.
- Cecelia Beck seeks to lift the poverty stricken in Shelby, NC.
- David and Merrie Harding have committed themselves to making clean water available to the world’s poorest in Ethiopia.
- Casson and Laura Foushee are currently learning Japanese with the intent of working with the Japanese Baptist Convention in ministering that land.
- Butch and Neil Green serve immigrants in foreign students in Houston, TX.
- And there are those in places so sensitive that their names and work cannot be publicized of the safety of the believers in the area where they live. One such couple live and works in the Middle East.
These are just a few of the more than 130 field personnel who are eagerly waiting to see how churches like ours will give to Global Missions offering this year. They are waiting to see how many of their projects and ministries can be funded next year.
Please pray about how much you can give to be God’s presence in these hungry places. Pray for these missionaries who are on the front lines providing hope in dark, and often dangerous places, in our world. Some are called to go, the rest of us are called to pray and give that God’s love can be show to the ends of the earth.
Shared by Martha Robison Spangler on November 30 during worship to introduce the CBF Global Missions Offering for December.
December’s Special Offering is for CBF Global Missions: This offering supports CBF field personnel. You can give to this offering in several ways:
- Using your Global Missions offering envelope found in your offering envelopes
- Place your offering in the offering plate during worship with the designation: Global Missions Offering
- Give online and designate your gift to this fund at https://www.fbcgso.org/give_to_fbc
- Mail your offering to the Church Finance Office, Attn: Dolores Donahue at 1000 West Friendly Avenue, Greensboro, NC, 27401