One Voice. One Kingdom. One Continent. from Reach Beyond on Vimeo.

Back to the place we still call home ...

http://eepurl.com/ZGs4b

Awesome little media missionaries!

Back in Ghana ...

July in Ghana ...instead of in Colorado?  What were we thinking???

Well, we arrived here in Ghana and there’s a pretty good reason. This July marks the inaugural summer medical internship program for our Sub-Saharan Africa region. Karen and I join five medical and nursing students (check out the attachment) for a chance to see God work in partnership with local communities in Ghana. How cool that our son Brandon, who just finished his first year of medical school, is joining the team too! Our students, from the U.K. and the U.S., will be serving and seeing patients while learning alongside HCJB Global doctors, nurses and Ghanaian medical professionals. It should be an amazing July – despite the heat!

By the way, after a year in Ecuador our son Bryan is serving as a new media intern here at our office in Colorado Springs this summer, before heading off to Grad school at John Brown University in August. So both our boys will be in graduate school this fall.

A friend said recently that not much moss grows under the Cole’s feet, and I suppose that’s true. Thanks for joining us on the journey, through your love and prayers.

Curt & Karen

The leaders of HCJB Global have been meeting in Colorado Springs for the past couple of days.  These are my colleagues, fellow servants and friends!

Ivorian Refugees in Liberia

Learning together in Liberia - Karen's thoughts

The red dust billowed around us as we bumped along the dirt road to a small town in Northern Liberia. The signs of years of civil war were still evident as we passed through towns and villages. I saw burned buildings, broken bridges and people worn and weary, often with eyes haunted by the ravages of war. Finally, 6 hours after leaving Monrovia, weary professors and wives arrived on the ABC University campus, just as the sun was setting over the Nimba mountains of Yekepa. It was breathtaking!


Our call for the next 5 weeks was to engage in the lives of 80 university students. Curt taught a New and Emerging Media course, along with Joseph Kebbie, our African media trainer. Together they shared the joys and struggles of teaching a university level course for the first time.

I had the opportunity to teach a 4 hour Saturday course on Learning Differences in Children. Students with learning issues are often forgotten and left behind in the African school systems. I also had the joy of teaching an in-service to 48 teachers from around the Yekepa region. How rich to see teachers wanting to know how to make a difference in their student’s lives.

Tutoring students became a daily opportunity. So many of them had missed 3 or 4 years of schooling, lost during the war. Some students shared their horror stories ...needing to process the memories that haunted their dreams. Others wanted to forget and look to the future.

The ABC University campus destroyed during the war is now rebuilt. As we walked the roads around the campus, we were often greeted with, “Thank God I’m alive.”

Good-bye was hard. We miss the chapel choir with their rich voices and dancing. We miss Liberia, a country beginning to heal with the touch of the Master’s hand. Above all, we miss the determination and smiles of the Liberian students.

Liberian Musings

So this is what I am wondering this morning, as I sit looking out the window at the green hills of Liberia:


- How does dust get so red?

- Was that really a cricket chirping non-stop at 2 AM this morning?

- Why do roosters crow at 3, 4, 5 AND 6 in the morning?

- How in the world can I actually need a blanket here in West Africa?

- Why am I blessed with so much, when so many have so little?

- Why did so many people have to suffer and die here in Liberia during 14 terrible years of war?

Thoughts both silly and deep fill my mind this morning. We have been here now for about two weeks at ABC University in Yekepa, Liberia and God is showing us many things. We are trying to listen and hear what He is teaching us. Even though we hadn’t spent much time in Liberia before, it is West Africa, and there are common cultural threads that unite people here. With our roots right next door in Ivory Coast, we feel at home.

We have heard stories from the war. Many of the students were refugees for years in Ivory Coast, Guinea or Ghana. Some of them lost fathers or brothers, and a few even lost children. It is heartbreaking, and some of them are still haunted by what they have seen. But they are trying hard to focus on today, to focus on being a part of change and hope in this amazing, beautiful country.
In the midst of learning ourselves, we are teaching. I have 21 students in the new and emerging media communications class, and it’s hard to believe it is almost halfway done. Some of these younger guys are passionate about using new media, even with Liberia’s very limited resources and IT infrastructure. But even better is to see how God is using them to bring reconciliation and change to Liberia. Karen is busy teaching a course on children with special needs and learning problems to the education students. She had 38 students yesterday in that class!

Along with teaching, we are also helping consult and plan on a new radio station for the university. HCJB Global plans to do the installation here during the summer.

So these are exciting days and real cup-fillers for Karen and me. Thank you for your prayers as we continue to serve here until the middle of February. After that, we’ll head back over to Accra, Ghana for a couple of weeks, to be with our regional office staff.

Ah yes …what about that blanket at night? The first few nights we were here, we actually needed a blanket! I have never needed one before in West Africa, so that was a first. Since this is dry season with occasional rains, the nights are cool and pleasant, although our Liberians are complaining of the cold.
Curt (for Karen too)

Merry Christmas Friends,

So how’s this for some Christmas joy – our daughter Carissa is getting married on December 28th …of this year! They will get married here in Colorado Springs the Tuesday after Christmas. Lance is a middle school history/literature teacher and Carissa is now teaching Spanish in a private school. Lots to do between now and then, but thanks for praying for Lance and Carissa and for standing by us during this exciting time! Karen is doing all the flowers for the wedding and I’ll be officiating. Check out the attached photo of the happy couple.

Oh, and sometime between Christmas, the wedding and leaving for Africa in January, we are moving into a new house!

Despite the busyness, we remain ecstatic that God allows us to be a small part in His global missional plan. May the God that is opening doors around the world for voice and hands ministry open doors to your heart during this Christmas season.

Curt & Karen

http://mnnonline.org/article/14997

http://mnnonline.org/article/14997

2 Minute Radio Plant (Nepal Oct 2010).m4v

Curt and I were back in Accra, Ghana most of April. Curt had a busy schedule of media training, visiting partners and encouraging our Sub-Saharan Africa team. I cooked, cleaned, made curtains and even recovered some chairs. But I also spent time just listening, praying and encouraging the women of our team. I have an incredible memory of one morning spent with Eva, a Liberian refugee who serves our team.

It was only 8 AM, but the African morning was hot and humid with the smell of nearby cooking fires lingering in the air. Eva had walked more than a mile to work, so sweat was on her brow as she arrived, a brilliant white smile etched across her ebony face. Numa, the African Grey parrot, greeted her with a "Mornin’ Eva!" No electricity that morning but Eva took it all in stride as she began to sing "Great is Thy Faithfulness.” She sings this to praise God for the day, but also hoping Numa will soon learn the tune!

As Eva sang, she and I began making bread. After a busy morning of laundry, dishes and cooking, we shared a cool glass of fresh squeezed lemonade.  We sat on two short, African 3-legged stools, laughing and telling stories ...sharing what God was doing in our lives.

I asked Eva, "You look a bit tired today, are you OK?" She replied, "Oh yes, but I had a hard night. Between the witch doctor’s chants and my room being very hot I slept very little.“ But then she added something I will never forget. She said that as she lay there in her bed complaining to the Lord, He reminded her of the days she spent hiding in the woods during the civil war in Liberia. God reminded her of the leaves she ate to survive. Then she said, “Now I have plenty to eat and I am not living in the forest, so I really have nothing to complain about."

I was speechless as I sat and listened to her story of hunger, fear and God’s grace during a terrible time of war. Through Eva, I was deeply challenged.

How often do I complain to God? It is so easy to be caught up in the things of this world. Instead of complaining, maybe we should hold out our hands to the Lord each morning, asking Him, “How can I serve you today?” That’s what Eva taught me that day.

Curt's first visit to Monrovia, Liberia

A Tribute to my Dad ...

On February 3rd Dr. John Slater, Karen’s father, passed away after battling Parkinson’s disease for many years. Karen’s parents served as medical missionaries in Africa for 33 years.

As a missionary kid growing up in Ivory Coast, W. Africa, Sunday evenings were a special time for me. Some of my richest memories are from time spent with my Dad in a small village near our mission hospital called Kisankaha.

Late Sunday afternoon I would wrap my African pagne (sarong) around my waist, put my dusty red sandals on my tiny feet and climb into the small white Peugeot truck alongside Dad. As we rode together, we would sing songs, tell jokes and sometimes dive into the deep struggles or concerns of my heart. No subject was off limits. Dad would talk about anything. As we rattled and bumped along the dusty washboard roads on those dark African nights there was an unconditional love that filled the cab of that old truck. I was safe and content with my Dad, and as we neared the village my heart would leap with joy knowing I would soon be holding African babies ...lots of them!

Everyone would sit in a circle with flickering kerosene lanterns and the worship would begin. Beautiful smiles would shine through the darkness as believers shared and prayed with each other. Eventually Dad would preach and our blind friend Koulinyeri would translate the message from French into the local Senoufo Cebaara dialect. No one was ever in a hurry – no one ever worried about the time. There was always a chicken, dog or goat wandering around, but no one seemed to notice.

After the service, Dad would tend to someone that wasn’t feeling well, or check in on an expectant mother ...just trying to ease the harshness of daily African life. Happy and tired, Dad and I would finally return to the car for the ride home. As we rolled back along that same old bumpy road that we grew to love together, I would rub at the white skin on my arm and wonder why my skin wasn’t dark like my friends. The dirt road and the events of the day would take their toll, and I would nestle my head on Dad's lap and fall sound asleep.

As I remember my Dad in this way, it reminds me of our heavenly Father’s love for us. He gently carries us through life in His loving arms when we are tired, worn and weary. He is always there to talk with us about anything if we will just take the time to walk into his presence and share our hearts with Him. Our Lord is never in a hurry and always has time for each one of us.

Towards the end of my Dad’s life, I asked him how he was coping with the pain and struggle of Parkinson’s disease. He replied, "Oh Karen, it is not punishment but polishment. My Lord loves me and knows what I can bear. That is enough." We also talked that day about our bumpy, dusty rides in that old hospital truck to Kisankaha. He remembered our shared Sunday evenings of worship, healing, village life and babies ...and as he did a smile was on his face.

Latest Voice and Hands in Ghana

February was quite a month. Karen’s father passed away on February 3rd, just days before we were to go to Ghana, West Africa. I went on, but Karen stayed with her Mom. Her reflection is on the flip side of this letter.

This trip was to help our new President experience Africa. The timing was great because a work team from a church in Colorado Springs would be there, along with an HCJB Global medical team from Ecuador. Mix in several new partner radio stations and you have a perfect storm of Global Voice and Hands ministry! Here’s a sampling:

15th & 16th Feb - Visit to Tamale and Bolgatanga in Northern Ghana to meet new radio partners (FM station in Bolgatanga should be on the air soon)

17th & 18th Feb - Joined work/medical team in town of Assin Fosu. I counted pills and triaged patients. The teams saw an average 350 patients per day for 8 days!

20th & 21st Feb - New FM radio station dedications in Assin Fosu and Asamankese with chiefs and queen mothers attending. First community radio stations in this part of Ghana. Amazing to hear the stations blaring from every radio in town.

Whew! It was busy, hot and “red-dirt” dusty but incredible to see what God is doing through health care and media. We even squeezed in some time with children, who never tire of seeing their smiles on the digital camera.

April finds both Karen and me back in Ghana! We’ll be helping with our first media partner training event and a regional team sabbatical retreat for our missionaries. Thanks for praying and standing by us.

Curt & Karen

Ghana Voice and Hands Feb 2010

Joyful Christmas Greetings!

Notes from our partners ...in Africa

GRATEFUL!

Recession. Economic crisis. Global market meltdowns.

Are those really things to be grateful for? Well ...yes! These realities have helped us make some key decisions about future ministry. We are honing in on what we believe God wants us to do, which means less infrastructure, more partnership and deeper investment in national leaders. We are grateful for the following this past year:

- First HCJB partner radio station on air in Nepal

- 11 students from Moscow, Norilsk, Dudinka, Tomsk and Voronezh attend a Russian radio training course

- Two new radio stations on air in Ghana

- First evangelical FM station on air in Slovakia

- Launch of mobile medical care ministry in W. Africa, seeing over 5000 patients in Sierra Leone and Ghana

- Many SMS text messages from listeners across the Middle East- Increased air time in key language to targeted people group in N. Africa

- Leadership training with partner Theovision in Nairobi (picture below)