JCBC Mobilizing in Ethiopia

Pastor King & family, along with JCBC’s Darwin family explore missional opportunities in Ethiopia.

Earlier in the spring, JCBC faithfully and generously funded a missions offering that well exceeded our stated goal. Our goal was to raise $100,000.00 for missions. In the end, you gave $128,992.00. Twenty percent of those funds were to be designated for a clean water initiative in Ethiopia.

In Early June, my family as well as one other JCBC family (The Darwins) will travel to Ethiopia to visit the remote site where the JCBC system will be installed. The primary purpose of the trip will be to liaise with David Harding, President of Water is Life International, who will oversee the project. David and Merrie Harding, who are CBF Field Personnel, are also close, trusted friends. As members of my former church, in Orlando, I had the opportunity to serve alongside the Hardings in both local and global missions. In addition, Molly Darwin (who serves as chair of the JCBC Missions Committee) also knew Merrie Harding, while growing up as a child in Nigeria. The integrity and effectiveness of their ministry makes this partnership a new and exciting venture for JCBC.

In addition to visiting the site of our clean water system, we will also visit and serve in four other distinct venues, where we will explore the possibility of future JCBC missional engagement.

These include…

Sustainable Living Groups (SLGs). These are locally organized, self-sustaining groups of (mainly) village women who are empowered to improve the lives of families in their own villages, through strategic planning, saving, community development and cooperation. Two of these visits will be in Langano (in the Arsi Region), and Dale (in the Sidama Region).

Missionaries of Charity Orphanage, in Awassa. These mentally and physically handicapped children are the poorest of the poor. A day will be spent learning about this ministry network, as well as providing a day of VBS type ministries, with the King and Darwin children taking the lead. We will be taking a collection of soccer balls, donated by the JCBC recreation department, as well as a volleyball net and other smaller items for our time with the children.

Sports Friends Camp.

This is a Christian camp, and is the only camp of its kind for children in the country of Ethiopia. It uses Soccer as a way to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to thousands of children each year, many of whom come from largely Muslim villages and communities. The camp has a holistic approach to reaching the families of the children who come. Many families come to faith in Christ, because of the effectiveness of the Sports Friend Camp. Time will be spent serving alongside the camp leaders, as well as learning about opportunities for JCBC members to participate in this unique outreach.

SIM (Serving In Mission) Clinic and School. Here, we will spend time volunteering in the clinic and learning of ways western medical volunteers can potentially partner through short or long term service.

As God continually calls us to wade out more deeply into the river of God’s sending love. I ask you to join me in praying, as we seek to answer that call, and mobilize our congregational love in powerful ways.

Shaun King
Senior Pastor
Johns Creek Baptist Church