Host families, a vital part of short-term missions experiences

Over the summer, a dozen families from the alliance of Pittsburgh churches volunteered to serve as host families of the members of the Latin American team of CCI professors. Here are the responses of some of the Latin Americans and a Pittsburgh host family.

Rixy points to where she recently served as a short-term missionary (9 months)
in Niger, Africa.

Rixy Leiva, El Salvador (recent short-term missionary to Niger)

In one month’s time, I have gone from abject poverty in Niger to the lap of luxury in Pittsburgh with these gracious host families.  I am enjoying both since they proceed from the hand of God.

Rixy at her going away party in Niger just prior to her arrival to Pittsburgh.

Rixy in the "lap of luxury"

Manuel and  Duglas were hosted by Mac and Susie McCabe

Victor Hugo, Gloria and Evelyn were hosted by Shirley & Jim Crawford

Gloria Martinez, Mexico "We are here in Pittsburgh with the folks who have opened their hands to give generously and have bent their knees to pray for us. This gives me a more complete perspective of God’s Kingdom work."

The sweet memories that Norma Lampersk had of her time with the Latin Americans: 

Things that took me by surprise: I was amazed at the fact that despite my lack of Spanish, we were able to communicate quite well with a dictionary, and hand gestures/ "acting out".

Moments we knew we were being used by God to help: 

Just the witness of the pure love and laughter which we shared during meals, quiet times, times of travel. 

The tears in my eyes when I said that final good-bye. :(.

The feeling of "no stress", hey this is fun!!!

The joy of seeing them watch a Latin movie on TV that we had rented.

it was a wonderful experience. Thank-you Henri Doren for the part YOU played in organizing everything.

Reactions of the professors the first time they saw the entire set of CCI/LA publications

When the team of Latin Americans arrived to Pittsburgh, our first activity together, after having spent a couple of days with their host families, was to be presented with the entire set of CCI/LA's written curriculum for which they were being prepared to take over. Even though many of them had been teaching several of the manuals for years, these were the latest editions. Moreover, they had never seen all the materials together, not to mention the statistics of the fruit God had borne.

Evelyn Umana, El Salvador
Look at these books, there is far more than paper here, far more than ink, far more than attractive covers and layout, there are thousands of lives, even 1.3 million lives impacted for Christ. These book have evolved from the first time I received them as a student in 1993 into something I see now like a cadillac.

Norma Canales, Honduras

 I was greatly impacted by the statistics shown on the pyramid. I started serving with Lisa when she arrived in Honduras in 1990 and have taught those very courses over 40 times since I began an instructor. It was like God said: “Norma, your name is not only in those books as a contributor, but the names of thousands of campers are in the Book of Life as well! I was so moved that I started balling and the images of hundreds of camp counselors and program directors I have trained with those materials flashed through my mind. In my mind, I fell down and worshiped the Lord for giving me the privilege of serving him in Christian camping for the last 23 years. 

Alvaro Cordero, Bolivia
 I have worked with a number of non-governmental organizations to help the people of my country. One thing I can say of CCI/LA is that it provides a better way for the church to teach and impact lives for Christ. These publications are so complete that you will find something for everyone.

Analu Cornejo, Peru: 

What I see in this presentation is obedience to a call from God on the life of Lisa Anderson-Umana to equip the Latin church for the work of the ministry through Christian Camping. Glory to God! 

Rixy Leiva, El Salvador

 These materials are ours because we have helped to form them. Our lives are written on each page; our steps in leadership are illustrated there; our spiritual formation has taken shape with the turning of these pages. It has not been easy first to be students of these courses, then instructors of these courses, and now professors teaching the instructors. 

Duglas Aguilar, Guatemala

I have worked with Lisa for the last 10-12 years in graphic design, lovingly laying out the pages of each of these publications but as I see them all together and hear our testimonies, I am amazed at the breadth and reach in each of our countries they have had. 

Alfredo Umana, Honduras: 

"I remember the first time I saw these training manuals in 1992. They were in their first editions and now, more than 20 years later, I can barely recognize them. They are very impressive, well diagrammed, with written, and continue to change lives just like they changed my life so many years ago."

Karina Zara from Argentina con nuestro profesor, Jim Plueddemann

I am amazed at the extensiveness of Christian Camping International, Latin America's curriculum. As a professor of this material, I ask myself: Can my teaching do it justice? 

Safwat y Pearl Habashi

 I attended Lisa's presentation and we were overwhelmed by the immensity of what Lisa has done during her 30 years with CCI. The video clips give you a glimpse of the magnitude of the work. So far 1,300,000 children have benefited from their efforts. The testimonies I heard from the leaders she brought to Pittsburgh were very inspiring. These were all professionals in various fields who pledged their free contribution to maintain the programs in their countries.

Roger Rumer from Memorial Park Church (man in the black tee shirt) Thanks for passing along the video from Lisa Anderson-Umana. I watched it earlier this morning and it set the tone for my day. I too am praising God for the work that He has done through Lisa’s faithfulness. I also noted that Lisa was impacted by Naomi Sauter’s witness as a missionary and inspired to do something. What began as a “mustard seed” of Lisa’s first mission trip to Native Americans was grown into a fruitful tree of the ministry to Latin America. God is magnificent! Roger Rumer 

(see the links below if you haven’t been able to watch the videos)

  

Links to English video clips

Publications video, part 1

Publications video, part 2

Publications, part 3

Publications, part 4

We are on the right track! Strategic initiative of CCI/LA –Formation of a multicultural team of professors

Until now, the two professors responsible for teaching these Institutes for Forming Instructors have been two missionaries, two North Americans. The task at hand is to broaden this team of professors in a number of ways. How the top tier of our Leadership development pyramid is being broadened (see arrow):

• Instead of just one small team, we are creating two teams, one for the region of South America and one for Mexico/Central America.
• Instead of just two members, each team will have approx. 6 members, making for a pool of 12 professors to draw from.
• Instead of just one culture being represented, ten will be represented, from North to South: USA, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina.

We have started this process and feel God’s confirmation that we are on the right track! A flame burns in the heart of a number of very proficient instructors with a yearning to become part of this multicultural team of professors and they are counting the cost to belong to it. With the exception of three of us, all the rest are volunteers. God did a mighty work just to get these professors to Mexico and He used many supporters from around the Globe who prayed and gave generously so we could begin the process of preparing them to be professors of the IFI.

Here are the professors-in-training:

Gloria Garcia (Monterrey, Mexico)

Evelyn Umana (San Salvador, El Salvador, she's the one standing up)

Rixy Leiva (San Salvador, El Salvador)

We all aspire to be like Bob Sabean, who at his 74 years of age, continues to serve faithfully, impacting our lives with his wisdom, Biblical insights and historical perspectives.

Someone has to lead the games!? That would be me! I love to play, to teach others how to play, and to teach others how to lead games!

What do you love to do?

Tell us about it by clicking on "observations" below and sharing!