This is a huge opportunity for CHN and so important as we weren’t able to host our banquet the GETAWAY GALA this year due to the Covid-19 virus.  We as an organization are trying our hardest to make the best decisions possible for our missionary friends, our team and our supporters in this difficult environment. 

October 1st marks the beginning of the Matching Gift Campaign. Thank you so much in advance for your support!

As I mentioned before, we have launched our new Christian Hospitality Network Endowment Fund through the National Christian Foundation. 

Donations can be made directly to the CHN Endowment fund in the form of stocks, mutual funds, direct deposits, checks, cash wire transfers and/or other assets. Please, let me know if you are interested in learning more about legacy planning

A Different Kind of

Shot in the Arm

SIM missionaries’shot in the arm’ – something that revitalizes, reinvigorates; an encouraging stimulus.

This past year we’ve sat with more wounded missionaries than ever, listening to the trials they have endured and gently encouraging them toward recovery.

We’ve guided them to restoration programs, licensed counselors,  accountability partners, medical professionals, and other resources. We ourselves, feeling exhausted inside and out, attended a valuable missionary growth and renewal program in spring. It seems we’ve all felt kind of worn out over the events of the past year or so!

Life continues to be messy for all of us, but it certainly helps to be intentional about praising God!  Scott Rollins, a physician, writes,”Could it be so simple that a positive attitude reduces heart disease and stress-related hormones, improves the immune system and leads to a longer life? The scripture teaches that ‘A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones’ (Proverbs 17:22) and it turns out science is supporting this notion.”

Lately, the Lord has provided us with some exhilarating ‘shots in the arm’ to give us a healthy boost from the tiresome effects of the pandemic, political upheaval, and other disheartening issues.

Rejoice with us for these recent shots in the arm:

• The joy of welcoming new SIM missionaries!
  • As they come for training, we help them prepare for cross-cultural ministry and then stay connected with them once they are on the mission field.  We had 32 long-termers in our July training programs!
• The joy of fellowship with enthusiastic missionary-lovers!
  • RoxAnne was able to spend several days with 77 women representing Women’s Missionary Societies from a number of states. These women are passionate about the Great Commission! Some have been supporting us for decades, giving  and praying sacrificially. It was an honor to be given three sessions to share with them some of the trials and victories our family has experienced.
• The joy of God’s unexpected gifts to our children!
  • One of David’s MK friends, from Kindergarten in Ethiopia all the way through high school in Kenya, recently moved to South Carolina where David & Kim live. Nathan and his wife are vibrant Christians, and the two families now get together frequently. In fact, Nathan and David once again play on a soccer team together. Moreover, Nathan serves God at Water Mission International, where Jimmy volunteered while we were in the USA from 2012-13. Small world; great joy. Jimmy and a Living Water Treatment System
• The joy of seeing our former students become full-time missionaries!
  • When they were still single, this lovely Asian couple was part of the missionary training program we directed in South Korea. After marriage and years of preparation, this past summer they moved to a strongly M-nation where they are serving with SIM.
• The joy of time with grandchildren!
  • Another grandbaby is on the way!

Dr Rollins, quoted earlier, closes his article (full article here)  with this application of Proverbs 17:22 –

“… remember that attitude determines thought, thought determines, action, and apparently thought also determines health… so dance like no one is watching, sing like you are the star, whistle while you work, and laugh until your eyes water”.

PS: We received one of the most unforgettable shots in the arm when we attended a CHN “Getaway” when we were serving in Africa and were struggling to recover from a great deal of trauma. That boost from the Getaway was critical in helping us to persevere on the mission field. Some years later, we had the blessing to attending a second Getaway when we were serving in Asia.

Love, Roxanne and Jimmy

The lessons and questions of a pandemic year

ARTICLE BY: KEN GARFIELD – JOURNALIST | FAITHANDLEADERSHIP.COM

One year into the disruptions caused by COVID-19, faith leaders from around the country discuss what has been learned and what still needs to be asked.

The COVID-19 pandemic suddenly changed many things, including the ways faith communities worship, celebrate rituals, serve their communities and conduct basic business.

One year later, in the midst of another Lent, Faith & Leadership asked 12 church and ministry leaders to step back from the daily challenge of their work and reflect on a question that looks both to the recent past and to the future: “A year into the pandemic, what lessons have you learned?”

Practitioners from across the country who preach, teach, guide organizations and influence others offered a variety of answers: COVID-19 has laid bare the inequalities in our society. It has shown that even small congregations can mobilize an army of volunteers to care for the least of these. It has challenged houses of worship to be more forthcoming in sharing where contributors’ money is going.

A dozen perspectives but one overriding theme: The church world faces a moral reckoning, and it cannot run and hide; for whether this crisis or another, there will be trials that test faith communities’ professions of faith and love.

Click here for full article 

I was driving by a golf course on my way to work today and there was an overweight, middle-aged, un-athletic looking golfer playing by himself.

He was walking off one of the greens with a spring in his step…. and he gave himself a fist pump! He was obviously pleased with himself for saving par or sinking a long putt to register a birdie.

He didn’t think anyone noticed. But I did.

God notices things, too….. all the way down to the little sparrow. In His eyes, you never go unnoticed.

I was reading a commentary the other day about, of all things, Zion. Psalm 2:6 reads … “and I, I appointed my King on Zion, My holy mountain.” Here is what the writer said about the holy mount:

… the paradox of these words run through many of the Psalms. Zion is a modest mountain on the crest of a modest town, the capital of a rather small kingdom, surrounded by vast empires. Yet, the poet boldly imagines it as God’s chosen city, divinely endorsed to be the Queen of nations and the splendor of humankind!”

Did you get that … God notices the small mountain overlooking the small capital of a small kingdom surrounded by vast and powerful entities! In other words, God notices the small and the insignificant. Matt Bird so aptly points out that He ‘notices the unnoticed.’ In the story of Ruth we find a widower and a foreigner who was not expecting to find favor in a strange land. But she did, and when she found favor in Boaz’s eyes she essentially asked him, ‘why have you noticed the unnoticed?”

That’s what God does for us…. He notices the unnoticed. Down to the hairs on your head and your very teardrops!

You are regarded, you are noticed, you are highly esteemed. So, why don’t you do yourself a favor today and give yourself a ‘fist pump’!

He already has!

We hope you enjoyed this devotional from our friend and supporter.