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Africa Missionaries Meet for Inspiration, Planning
KRIBI, CAMEROON (June 6, 2006) - Inspiration, mental health and strategizing were part
of the agenda of a recent retreat for Covenant missionaries in Africa.
Attending the retreat in May were 36 missionaries and their families from
Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Congo and Cameroon.
Donn Engebretson, vice president of the Evangelical Covenant Church inspired
the missionaries with a presentation in which he encouraged them to live out
their identity in Christ. "Our job is not to make ourselves great, but to
believe what God says about us is true," he told the missionaries.
Engebretson reminded the missionaries they have been raised with Christ. "It
is not a mere possibility, or a probability, or a potential, it is an
accomplished fact," he said. "You are not an orphan desperately trying to find a
home and a place. You are not cut loose without anchor and mooring. You are not
bereft of resource and possibility. You have been raised with Christ."
Curt Peterson, executive minister of the Department of World Mission,
recounts that "Donn's message touched our lives, and gave us a renewed sense of
our identity in Christ and the freedom to live in Christ, without guilt but with
joy."
Peterson also met with the missionaries to strategize future evangelism and
development. O'Ann Steere, a commissioned and licensed counselor, met with each
missionary family to provide support, counsel and care.
Leaders also dealt with the armed robbery of two missionary families that
happened during their vacation prior to the retreat. No one was injured, in what
Peterson called an "isolated incident."
Tim and Helen Smith, and Roy and Aleta Danforth were robbed when thieves
burst into their hotel room. The thieves took money, four computers, a satellite
phone (which was recovered), and cell phones. Two suspects were later arrested
and charged.
World Mission will replace the equipment, and personal losses will be
reimbursed through the Mission Benevolence Fund. Anyone wanting to contribute to
the fund can do so by mailing a check in care of World Mission, Evangelical
Covenant Church, 5101 N. Francisco, Chicago, IL 60625 and designate the gift.
Florence and Keith Gustafson, interim regional coordinators, organized the
retreat. The Gustafsons are filling in while Pete and Cindy Ekstrand are on home
leave.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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