An Ode to CEF

I was asked to write this for an upcoming banquet in my local area... and thought it might be cool to share.

At 8 years old (as I often am in stories about my childhood) I sat in Junior Church listening to Jim Wisman tell a story about a gutsy woman, illustrated in pink and white, who loved the Lord. She loved Him so much that she served Him from the time she was a teenager in Scotland to the time of her death in Calabar, (now known as the New Hebrides Islands). I admired her courage and wanted to be just like her… You may be familiar with this story as that of Mary Slessor. Though I didn’t realize it was a CEF lesson at the time, it was already influencing my mind and heart.

My parents hosted a 5 Day club (also when I was 8 years old!) and I remember singing the songs along with the Sumer Missionary, Aaron Schmuck. I invited neighbor friends and was exuberant to see some of them come to Christ.

A little older than 8 now, I remember watching Tom Bump (the director at the time) make balloon creatures and teach us a peculiar song that had A LOT of words, but none on the visual. At a youth group event a few years later, Tom shared how we could be trained to teach the Gospel at a camp called SMA. My best friend Noelle Kimberley was going, so I decided to tag along. Only the Lord could have known how that week in 1999 would change my life!

For the next 6 years, CEF and I were inseparable! I attended CYIA the next few summers as a student, student staff and then intern. I taught clubs all over Michigan, drove summer missionaries around in the white van my parents let me use- affectionately known as the “CEF-mobile”, spoke at churches, scheduled clubs, helped with VBS, taught Good News Club, worked at the fair, went to committee meetings, helped with TCE demonstrations and even went to Kenya to partner in CYIA training there. Throughout these 6 years, I was blessed to meet so many of you who are sitting here tonight!

The Lord used CEF to shape and mold me as a teenager. Whether it was a long talk with Carol Horn while we cleaned out the office basement, or prayer with Helen Stroh from the committee while we cut verse tokens, whether it was listening to a child pray in their own words to show their belief in Jesus or listening to the Summer Missionaries over lunch celebrate what God was doing; I was discipled by this ministry. I learned what the body of Christ really was as I saw families opening their homes to the kids in the neighborhood- making eternal connections with them! And as churches and individuals cared for me too- financially supporting my summer endeavors or covering me in prayer.

In August 2004, I moved to Chicago to attend Moody Bible Institute. Every student there has a Practical Christian Ministry that they are involved with each week. My PCM (for short) was teaching a Good News Club in a southwest neighborhood of the city called Lawndale. We met in the Werner family’s back yard and tried as best we could to stick to the curriculum. My partner and I found that these kids had so many questions- and lacked a foundation in the Word. They were not quite ready for the stories of Joshua and Judges; so we adjusted to the basics of Creation and Who God is and what Prayer is and we saw light in some of their eyes. The Werner family moved overseas and I got involved in some other ministries in the city. I started attending a house church on Chicago’s West side and would teach the children there every few weeks. CEF was never far from my mind though, the training of IPEAR is innately ingrained into my soul! No matter the venue (Teaching children, giving a meal and testimony to the homeless, mentoring college students as an RA), God’s truth changes lives. That’s what I learned from CEF.

Fast forward to May 2008. I graduated from Moody Bible Institute and made this crazy decision to stay in the city… where sadly you cannot see the stars shine like at home in Memphis. I was an international ministries major preparing for the foreign mission field and then found myself living downtown and working at my alma mater in the Vice President of Student Services office instead. I had a regular income and benefits and running water- all things I had been preparing myself to do without.

I am still here in Chicago, working at Moody Bible Institute (though now in the Housing Department), attending the house church and now living next door to the Werner family who has returned from overseas. Junior High girls are a big part of my life and ministry. I participate in a girls running club where we train for a 5k together, while building relationships and awareness about health issues. We are also beginning a Bible Study with the same group of girls from the community. The Lord has woven so many threads of my life (seemingly unrelated) together for His glory.

Though I am not living in Calabar and have a sparse amount of pink and white in my wardrobe, Mary Slessor and all the other CEF lessons have inspired me to live in radical obedience to Christ. Though sometimes failing, I love Him and want to serve Him…. Always.

In the future, I have a dream of managing a guest house (possibly overseas) where missionary workers or Pastors who are tired can come and rest awhile. I would love to be in charge of the daily operations of cooking and changing sheets to hear their stories in exchange. It would be my desire to share those stories with the church to drive us to prayer and service ourselves. Also, it would be awesome to partner in getting some resources to those where Gospel literature is not as readily available. So… I guess we can all wait and see how the Lord weaves those desires together! :)