Children of the Nations: News & Updates

Missio Lux Packages Meals for COTN

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:26:55 -0800

On October 17th, thirty members of the Missio Lux community joined Fraser Ratzlaff, Children of the Nations’ Seattle Feeding Coordinator, at the Sammamish, Washington home of Dave and Laurie Bunnel. Their efforts that day resulted in 6,000 packaged meals—a donation valued at $1,500!

Missio Lux, Latin for “Mission of Light,” is “a network of people connected in relationship who are intentional about knowing God, loving people, and serving the world in their area of passion” (www.missiolux.org). Members generally meet in small groups three times a month to enjoy fellowship and plan their service, or “missio,” events and then meet in larger communities once a month for a Celebration service.

“They’re awesome!” said Fraser, who has been working with Missio Lux since May, when they committed to packaging 40,000 meals by November 1. With ten days to go, they have 39,860 meals done and two more events happening in the next week. Fraser mentioned that Laurie Bunnel and Lead Visionary Pastor Tamara Buchan have been leading the effort. “They have a unique heart and passion for these kids,” he said. “They’ve got an awesome ability to motivate others to get involved.”

Missio Lux's October 17th event added to COTN’s total meals packaged so far this year, bringing the grand total to 822,562—that much closer to COTN's 2009 million meal goal. Fraser and the other feeding department staff have events booked for 79,000 more meals in the coming weeks, but the total falls short of their million meal goal. To help them reach that goal, please contact COTN–USA Feeding Director Dave Spoon at 360-698-7227 ext. 1037.

Mosquito Relief in the DR: Flowers that Prevent Malaria

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:22:41 -0700

When Brian Owen turned on CNN one night a few months ago, he wasn’t expecting to learn about a new malaria prevention method. But there it was—a special report on something called the ProVector Flower, aiming to help stop diseases spread by mosquitoes. It immediately caught his attention since he was soon leaving on a Venture Trip to the Dominican Republic with Children of the Nations.

Invented by Georgia Southern University professor Dr. Tom Kollars, the ProVector Flower is an artificial flower which attracts mosquitoes that carry diseases like malaria, dengue fever and the West Nile virus. The flower’s four colors draw in the mosquitoes, but it’s the artificial nectar—a safe biopesticide—that ultimately kills the insects. Now being tested in many tropical, Third World countries, Dr. Kollars hopes to save hundreds of thousands of lives with this tool. The other positive? It’s cheap. Running only about $10 for the flower and $1 for bait refill every three months, it could be much more cost effective for families who can’t afford mosquito nets or who spend significant portions of their salaries on drugs once they contract the diseases.

With thousands of Dominicans being infected with malaria each year—many of them children—Brian knew this flower would be helpful to have in COTN’s partner bateyes and schools. “We had gotten an email about how bad the mosquitoes were down there,” Brian said. “So I thought that it would be really cool if we could get some of these flowers down in the DR.”

Not knowing what to expect, Brian called the company, which gave him Dr. Kollar’s contact information. “I sent him an email to see if he’d be interested in a pilot project in the DR,” Brian said. “That night, he called me. I was shocked at such a quick response from him. He was excited about it because he is a Christian and passionate about kids. He offered to send a couple hundred of those flowers down to the DR with our trip. I was really impressed with the conversation. It left me excited about the potential.”

After emailing with Dr. Kollars and talking with COTN Founder Chris Clark and COTN Dominican Republic Liaison Debbie Moutier, the ProVector Flowers became a COTN project: this Venture Team would put the flowers together and hang them in homes and areas in Algodon, one of bateyes COTN’s partners with. One of the COTN clinic nurses would then monitor the progress of the flowers over the following three months, reporting back to Dr. Kollars.

Once in the Dominican Republic, Brian went to Algodon with a COTN nurse and translator. “We had a meeting with mainly the women and a few men of the batey and just explained the whole concept and invention of the flowers,” Brian said. “We just sat there, answering all their questions and letting them know that the next day we were going to come with the team and hang the flowers up in their homes. We asked if that was something they wanted and they were all really excited about it.”

The team hung about 180 flowers—one or two in every home and then some around the community center, school and church. “The families were really happy,” Brian said. “We would walk around and if we missed a house they would come and find us and want one in their home.”

Before the rainy season started, it was difficult to tell how well the ProVector Flowers were actually working, but since the rains started only a week ago, the people in Algodon have seen a difference. “I heard from the head nurse and she said those who had the flowers in their homes had no mosquitoes in their homes and there were mosquitoes everywhere else,” Debbie Moutier said. “So it is definitely making a difference and they were thankful because there has been a rise in dengue fever again just from this one week of rain.”

And the future of these ProVector Flowers and Children of the Nations? Brian doesn’t want to speak too soon, but he has high hopes for how this invention can further help COTN’s children. “I talked to Dr. Kollars and he said if everything goes well, it would be nice to expand this into other areas of COTN.”

For more information on the ProVector Flower check out this video from the Discovery Channel or visit theprovector.com.

If you have a unique idea or skill that you feel might bless our ministry or impact the work that we do, check out our Utilize My Skills/Talents! page.

Move-In Day in Uganda—Our Children's Village Opens!

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:06:08 -0700

It's official! Our Uganda Children's Village is officially open! After months of construction, our first seven children's homes—Phase I of our Uganda Children's Village project—are complete. Last week COTN–Uganda Country Director Pastor James Okalo was thrilled to lead the relocation of our 29 children from COTN's temporary children's home in Lira to their new home—COTN's Uganda Children's Village—our permanent ministry site, a multi-acre property in the village of Anai-Okii.

"Last Monday [October 19, 2009] when the children were picked up from school, they were transported directly to their new home," shared Venture Program participant Doug Nelson of Silverdale, Washington, who along with his wife Loree were in Uganda for the joyous occasion--their second Venture Trip to Uganda. "The children were so excited, they could hardly wait," shared Hardson Ongura, COTN–Uganda Sponsorship Coordinator and Construction Coordinator of the Children's Home project.

We are excited to move forward with Phase II of our Uganda Children's Village Project (click here to donate TODAY), which includes funding the furnishing of the homes, construction of the first school block, a feeding center and other buildings, and the implementation of our Anai Okii Village Partnership Program.

Firefighters and Swingsets to Sierra Leone

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:04:12 -0700

American or African, children love to play. “One of the things that is of value to Children of the Nations is letting kids be kids,” said Kristen Bushnell, COTN–USA Director of Marketing and Special Events. “In Africa,” she continued, “this isn't always the case.”

Come November 21st, Kristen will be leading a Venture Team to Banta Mokelleh, Sierra Leone, where their main objective is the construction of a playground facility. “The goal,” she said, “is to bless them with the opportunity to be kids, when so many have had to be more mature because of their life experiences.”

Rev. Angie Myles, COTN Country Director in Sierra Leone, expressed great excitement for the team’s project. “This is very important,” she said. “Outside of our nursery school, we were able to put a swing, and I tell you, it was more of a problem for us.” The children got great joy from the swing, but “the number of children,” Rev. Angie said, “put extra stress on our teachers because it was one [swing] for so many children.”

Though the needs of the children are her first priority, Kristen’s dreams for this trip’s impact go far beyond the immediate tasks they will accomplish. “This is a Vision Trip,” she said, “to introduce people to Children of the Nations.” She'll be leading the team of fourteen from Bothell, Washington’s Eastlake Community Church—her home church.

“It’s a mesh of my church and my ministry,” Kristen said. None of her teammates have been involved with COTN before. “Many have never even been out of the country,” she continued. “They’re taking a bold step for their first trip.” Kristen hopes that her teammates will continue to involve themselves in COTN’s ministry because of the impact the trip will have on them.

Two of these team members are firefighters, and it will be primarily their responsibility to accomplish the trip’s other main goal—teaching fire safety courses.

“For you to come and teach about fire safety is an answer to prayer,” said Rev. Angie. “In the city of Freetown this year, we have seen so many houses burned down with loss of life… and we have had several incidences of villages burning down.”

“Do you know,” she continued, “because of my fear of fire, we have stopped using kerosene lamps in the homes. Instead, we are using battery-operated lamps as a safety precaution.”

The team intends to have several members teach fire safety to the children during school while others work on the playground. “Since we have such a large team,” Kristen said, “we can divide and conquer a bit.” They also plan to travel to surrounding villages to hold more in-depth fire safety courses for adults, explaining, for instance, that cooking with fire indoors is dangerous because of the likelihood of smoke inhalation.

If you have skills or experience that you think would benefit our ministry consider organizing your own Venture Team to one of our countries.

The Africa Windmill Project

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:02:46 -0700

It’s not a typical thing to build a windmill in your backyard, but for John Drake, it just made sense. The architect who grew up in Texas—a place known for its wind irrigation techniques—recently designed and built a prototype of a windmill that he hopes will soon be used in Malawi, Africa. The goal? To irrigate crops year-round and help begin to change the drastic malnutrition statistics in Malawi.

The idea started back in 2007 when John went on a COTN Venture Trip to Malawi with Summit Church in Orlando, Florida. Though the group focused on AIDS education, John was struck with the realization that malnutrition is just as serious of a problem: the average Malawian diet being only 300 calories a day. A malnourished person can’t even sustain serious AIDS treatment because they are too weak. And the root of malnutrition? Not enough food, which is the result of not being able to farm year-round due to Malawi’s dry season. “In Malawi, you don’t have freezes, so you could technically have three growing seasons so you could grow different vegetables year-round,” John says. “If you had an irrigation system.”

Once he returned home, John began to experiment with different types of windmills in his backyard. “They need something that can be built locally out of locally found materials,” John says. “I went back in time to the original windmill from about 500 AD. It’s a vertical axes. I kind of reinvented it and simplified it to where it could be built out of bamboo, a sustainable construction material that’s found all over Malawi.”

As the actual windmill took shape, John formed a nonprofit called Africa Windmill Project, which is partnering with COTN to do pilot projects in Mgwayi village in Malawi. They’ll pair the wind irrigation with soil conservation techniques “to try to stabilize the food supply there,” he says.

John returned to Malawi this past March to begin that project with the construction of a prototype windmill in Mgwayi—four times larger than the one in his backyard. With a trial-and-error mentality and help from children and men from the nearby village, the windmill was a success.

“The windmill is designed to be easily replicated,” John says. “The idea is we get it going in one village and have one or two families growing crops year-round on two half-acre farms and then work our way up to get the whole village growing food year-round. Then, in a perfect world, a village close by would take the initiative to start irrigating their crops using wind irrigation—the technology would replicate itself.”

Also underway is a partnership with Bunda College of Agriculture in Malawi where students and professors will conduct research studies on the country’s windmap and how the windmill will affect farming. Their findings could result in grants in the future.

John has high hopes for how the Africa Windmill Project will specifically affect children in Malawi, including those part of COTN’s family. “It will enable the villages to provide food substance to the kids year-round,” he says. “Secondly, when the kids are old enough, the Africa Windmill Project will teach the kids the latest in sustainable agriculture technology and practices so they’ll become the leaders of producing—even if they’re farmers in villages. Because not every kid is going to become a doctor or a lawyer, somebody’s got to become the leader of a village.”

To learn more about Africa Windmill Project, visit the website at: www.africawindmill.org.

How the windmill works...

In layman’s terms, the wind pushes on the square panels, which makes the windmill spin on a vertical axis, which then pulls a rope that has many knots. On the knots are hand-cut rubber washers (made out of bicycle tires). The spinning windmill pulls this rope with the washers through a perforated pipe that’s submerged in the water hole, so every foot of rope that’s pulled out of the pipe brings a one-foot column of water out of the hand-dug shallow well and into a catch basin. The basin fills up with water and then the farmers can release the water out of the basin whenever they need to water the crops.

Songs of Praise from Sierra Leone

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:40:56 -0700

Frances Jongo loves to sing. She helps lead worship at her church and sings with her friends at school and in her village called Ngolala, which is about a five-minute walk from COTN’s school and children’s home in Banta Mokelleh, Sierra Leone. Frances, 19, and her brothers and sisters attend COTN’s school in Banta.

During the summer of 2008, COTN’s Global Interns in Sierra Leone loved listening to Frances’ angelic voice, which went along with her genuine, kind spirit. Global Intern Leader Scott Cook decided the voices of Frances and her friends needed to be recorded.

With the help of other interns and COTN children, Scott set out to create a makeshift recording studio outside of the school—making an open-air room with classroom dividers. The four Ngolala girls—Frances, Isata, Memunata and Mariatu, whom all attend COTN’s school in Banta—were patient and sang their songs over and over again until they were recorded just right.

“Because I established a relationship with them over a couple of months, when I asked them to record their songs, they were really flattered and laughed when I let them listen to themselves on the audio recorder,” Scott says. “It was a neat day to listen to them sing worship songs together in Mende and English.”

A few months ago, Scott was able to edit the audio and transfer the songs onto a cassette tape to send back to Sierra Leone for Frances and her friends. Complete with a group photo, the singing group of ladies were thrilled to hear themselves singing songs about God’s love in both English and their native tongue, Mende.

Click on the Play buttons below to hear a few examples of the girls’ songs. They will give you a taste of what it's like to walk through the village of Ngolala or to attend one of COTN’s village church services.

Track 1: Introductions
Track 2: Mende Song
Track 3: "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus"
Track 4: Mende Song
Track 5: "Praise His Holy Name"

A Child's Story - Mathew of Malawi

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:53:38 -0700

Mathew sat before a giant chalkboard studying math with the other children (his “brothers” and “sisters”) at COTN’s Chitipi Farm Children’s Home. Before Mathew came into the Children of the Nations family at Chitipi, he and his three older siblings, Mark, Abel, and Ida, lived with their mother in Nkhotakota, Malawi.

“Life was very difficult because my father died when I was three years old,” shared Mathew.

As for Mathew’s mother, she begged neighbors for food daily. Even still, Mathew’s hunger was never satisfied. She beat him every day and he didn’t know why. He lacked warm clothes, blankets, and even slept on the mud floor without a mat. Sometimes Mathew was sick with malaria and his mother couldn’t afford medicine.

He just wanted to run away.

But before Mathew tried to escape on his own, in 2001 Esther Lungu, COTN’s House of Joy house mother in Chiwengo Village, rescued the nearly-abandoned Phiri children, whose mother had basically left them to fend for themselves. Mathew did not completely understand where he was going or why, but he was happy to go.

Mathew originally went to live at Chiwengo and then in 2002 moved to COTN’s Children’s Home at Chitipi Farm, where he enjoys having more space on the farm and growing vegetables. His favorite farm animals are chickens; he likes to feed them, and also likes to eat them. Mathew enjoys playing soccer as a goalkeeper and midfielder.

Mathew’s house parents, Bruno and Rounia Spoko, are the most important people in his life. “I feel happy because they didn’t hurt me,” Mathew said. “Life is good because I have a bed and blanket and clothes and shoes and enough food to eat. I think that I can continue to worship God because they intervened in my life.”

Mathew sees his life at Chitipi as a blessing. Even though some of the children [from neighboring villages] are unkind and tease him for being orphan, he is thankful and considers the children at Chitipi as family. Rather than feeling defeated by negative comments, Mathew turns to God. “I just pray to God that they can change their life. I think that God can remove the evil things,” he said.

Besides his house parents, Mathew is supported by other people, both in the Chitipi family and through sponsorship. Mathew’s sponsor, whom he refers to as "Uncle Ben," sends shoes and clothes.

Now that Mathew’s needs are met and he is healthy and safe, he wants to help others to be healthy. “I want to work in the hospital to give medicine to sick people,” said Mathew, reflecting on having malaria years ago. “I want people to know that God is the one who helps people through something.”

Each night before going to sleep Mathew reminds himself that God will protect him. Nicholas, Mathew’s best friend and mathematics study buddy, also encourages Mathew to go to church.
Mathew believes that singing and dancing are good ways to praise Jesus. His favorite Bible story is Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.

“It means that I can continue to praise him and obey him,” he said. “I am a child of God and I know that God is my personal savior.”

Even though Mathew’s father died and he has no contact with his mother or knowledge of her whereabouts, he is at peace. His life is a testimony of the hope, help, and purpose described in his favorite Bible verse, “For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Sponsoring a child can change their life! For more information on sponsoring a child like Mathew, visit our Sponsorship page.

The Portrait Project in Mossyrock, WA

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:29:29 -0700

"Simple Things"

by Drew Stark, former COTN Intern (2000–01), Intern Coordinator and International Liaison (2004–07). Currently Program Director, Canyonview Camp, Silverton, Oregon.

Sometimes you never imagine what God will do with the little things. Yet it is in those small, simple things that His power is magnified.

Four years of my life were spent with Children of the Nations in a little African country that most people in the world haven’t heard of, yet it is in that little country that my heart was changed forever.

Malawi, the “Warm Heart of Africa,” is a simple country in the grand schemes of the globe, but every person I know who has ventured there has been radically changed. It is not the astonishing beauty, the grand adventures to be had, or the ease or comfort of life lived there that changes people. It is the simple things found there that God uses to work the most transformation: the beautiful eye that catches your own, the contagious smile that lights up a face, the small hand that finds its way quietly into your own. These are just a few of the ways that God uses to show His love to the world.

Most of us who have ever left the USA in an attempt to “change” or “save” the world, be it with our vast resources, our higher education, or even our great love, have come home a humbler people, chastised for our arrogance, with the realization that it is not we who save the world, but Jesus himself who claims that power. We are merely the vessels; it is not for us to know how God will use our simple efforts or what great wave of change He may start as a result. Since coming back to live in America, I have been reminded of that again and again.

This past January, I was asked to share about Malawi at a high school in Mossyrock, Washington, where my aunt, Eileen Yost, teaches art. She asked if I had any pictures I could give her advanced students that they could use for their portrait project, and, after choosing a handful of my favorites out of thousands of pictures taken in my years in Malawi, I was ready to share. I introduced the classes to the children whose pictures I’d brought and left a brief biography of each child. I wanted the students to know whom they were drawing—to be connected and feel like they were drawing not just a picture, but a real person.

Now, Mossyrock is not a big city with a huge school and massive student body; 504 residents make for a very small community. Nestled in the hills 40 miles from the nearest “city,” it is not known for its famous people or the huge mark it has made on the world. Its people are mostly content to live simple lives, connected to their families and their land, not too concerned with the troubles of the world outside. However, it is in small places like Mossyrock—and like Malawi—where God can choose to do great things! It was such a simple thing to speak to the classes that day. I never imagined how God would use my connection with the children of COTN in Malawi to affect the lives of people in Washington.

Over the next few months, the 21 students worked and worked on their portraits. My aunt filled me in on their progress, marveling at their diligence and the enthusiasm they had for this project. Many of the kids took their pictures home with them at night, spending countless hours outside of school, determined to capture the beauty of their child! Several of the other teachers in the school were so impressed that they called a local newspaper to write about the project.

In March, the District competitions were held: five of the portraits won out of 4,000 entries. Those five then went on to the State competition in May. Out of the ten winners for the State, two of those were portraits drawn by Mossyrock students of our little African children! Those two portraits are now hanging in the State Capitol in Olympia!

The really amazing thing is how the community has gotten involved. The hearts of the people have been opened to the trials facing impoverished and suffering children around the world. Several projects have been planned for the school district to aid the work of COTN next year (SmilePacks™ assembly, etc.), and the students in my aunt’s art class have begged to do the Portrait Project again next year. Several larger newspapers in Washington have written about the Portrait Project, spreading the word about Children of the Nations and the work that is being done there. God has also awoken a desire in the hearts of many of the students to travel overseas and work with children!

From a very small idea has come a larger wave than was anticipated or hoped for. If you ever think that God cannot use you, that your gifts or skills are too little to be of much use, I encourage you to reconsider. God empowers each of us to do things beyond our own strength, magnifying it to accomplish His much greater plan. I encourage you to consider how you can help change the world today.

Curious how your unique skills or talents might bless our ministry? Check out our "Utilize My Skills/Talents!" page. For information on visiting Malawi through one of our Venture programs click here.

Colorado High Schoolers Give Scholarships to Malawi Students

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:51:29 -0700

When Meggie Anderson returned from a COTN Venture Trip to Malawi in 2007, she felt motivated to share her experience with everyone she could. That meant her entire high school.
Through her former youth pastor, Wendy Dean, Meggie heard about Children of the Nations' ministry in Malawi. Wendy had just started a group in Colorado called Community Treks that gathers people to go on a COTN Venture Trip to Malawi each year. Meggie jumped on board. “Wendy’s enthusiasm passed on to me,” Meggie says.

The two-week trip included a lot of time with people in villages, building relationships and gathering information for how Community Treks could serve best on future trips. “I came home definitely with a different mindset than when I had left, more globally aware,” says Meggie, who at the time, was going into her senior year at Ralston Valley High School in Arvada, Colorado. “Really realizing that so many people at my high school had no idea what’s going on outside of their high school bubble. It was kind of unsettling to me and I felt motivated to share my experience and to continue with the ministry that I had been a part of that summer.”

Meggie’s main goal was education: educating people in her own community about Malawi and at the same time, educating students in Malawi by raising funds for secondary school and college scholarships. “While we were in Malawi, we heard a lot about how education provided a lot of opportunity for the children to be successful and then also once they’re educated, they can share that with their families and the community around them,” Meggie says.

To spread such awareness at Ralston Valley High School and to raise the scholarship funds, Meggie started a club called WHOA, which stands for Warm Heart of Africa, Malawi’s slogan describing its warm and welcoming people. About 20 students showed up to the first WHOA meeting. Meggie gave them an intro on Malawi and told them about her experience with COTN and why she wanted to raise money for scholarships. “A lot of people were shocked by what they heard,” she says. “Most people had never heard of Malawi before so it was really cool to share a whole new country with them. I think they were really surprised by some of the more somber statistics, but there was definitely hope in what’s already going on in Malawi with COTN and hope in the fact that maybe we can make a difference.”

With a number of her fellow students on board, WHOA took off on campus. They had an awareness event for World AIDS Day where they sold cupcakes, Malawian flag bracelets and showed a video about AIDS. In the winter, the club paired a silent auction with the school choir concert. In the Spring, the WHOA club made T-shirts to sell as a fundraiser and hosted a movie awareness night. By the end of the year, the club had raised almost $4,000—enough to help three COTN Malawian teens with secondary school scholarships.

Quality secondary schools, or high schools, in Malawi are usually boarding schools and expensive. “Sponsors help pay for a portion, but because the higher level secondary schools are so much more, COTN definitely needs the assistance in the education area,” says Debbie Clark, COTN Co-Founder and Sponsorship Director. “The WHOA club makes a big difference for the kids they pick.”

Since Meggie graduated in 2008 and moved on to college, the WHOA club has continued. So far, each year a few of the members of the club have gone on a COTN Venture Trip to Malawi with Community Treks. They then serve as the leaders of the club, keeping the goals alive. And it’s through these Community Treks trips that scholarship recipients are chosen. “I work with Yobbe Lungu, COTN–Malawi's Country Director, to identify a list of students who are going on to secondary school and those that have great academic potential,” Debbie says. “Then when the WHOA members go over to Malawi, they are part of the interview process, they get to know the kids and then come back with their recommendation of whom they would like to give the scholarships to.”

This year, WHOA gave scholarships to Alinet, Richard and Martin—three COTN teens who are now students in secondary school. They also gave a scholarship to Moreen, who is attending college at African Bible College.

“I am astonished, really, that WHOA kept going and it's very encouraging that people are feeling passionate about it still. I’m really happy that it continued,” Meggie says. “This year is going to be a great year. They’ve already got plans to do another assembly, some great community building within the club, keeping people motivated about our goal by sharing stories about Malawi with them through out the year—it's very encouraging.”

Meggie stays as connected as she can with the WHOA club, especially now that her younger sister is a leader. Meggie currently attends college at Seattle Pacific University, where she is a sophomore hoping to major in Global Development and English.

A New Path for Long-time COTN Staff, Arlene Raub

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:52:31 -0700

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” (Psalm 143:8, NIV)

The sun rises. The sun sets. It is such a common occurrence that few give it a second thought. Yet this daily cycle has such a momentous impact that every people group on earth has used it to measure the passing of time. And in the poetry of nearly every tongue, the contrasting images of day and night, light and darkness, and morning and evening express the feelings of joy and loss associated with change. The Psalmist, for example, presents the morning as a metaphor for the renewal brought about by God’s love and faithfulness.

Arlene Raub has experienced this love and faithfulness throughout her “day” of ministry at Children of the Nations. This day dawned about thirteen years ago, as she got to know Chris and Debbie Clark, COTN founders, and heard their desire to minister to children around the world. Since then, Arlene has been an integral part of that ministry.

Arlene first served with Children of the Nations by entering data into a DOS program in a small office on the side of the Clarks’ bedroom. About a year later, in January of 1997, Arlene went as an intern to Sierra Leone. The mission was to build a 15,000-square-foot Children’s Home on the outskirts of Freetown in order to provide care for some of the 10,000 orphaned children living on the streets. They started with only $4,000 in pocket, but construction progressed, with trenches dug and footings laid in faith of God’s providence. However, the progress they were making came to a halt when the Sierra Leonean military staged a coup to overthrow the government.

After several tense days, American Marines evacuated 1,000 people, including Arlene and the three other COTN Interns, by helicopter to a nearby aircraft carrier mere hours before the hotel where they were picked up was bombed. Jaws drop when Arlene wraps up that story by saying, “God used that experience to solidify His call for me to become a missionary.”

God had placed in her heart a passion for the children and a desire to impact their lives. So when Chris expressed a desire for her to join COTN’s staff but asked her to finish her Bachelor’s degree first, her immediate reaction was, “You mean I have to spend two more years with my nose in a book?!” But Arlene persevered and earned her B.A. in Intercultural Studies from Prairie Bible College in Alberta, Canada. After graduation, she officially joined COTN on January 2nd, 2000, as the Communications Coordinator.

Since then, COTN has grown in amazing ways. As Arlene said, “It’s God doing the work… He chooses to use those willing to be used, and He is faithful to create a way where there seems to be no way.” In the midst of that growth, God caused Arlene to grow, as well. As she allowed herself to be used by Him, she discovered that she could not rely solely on her own abilities; she realized the value of working in a team.

God showed His faithfulness by bringing that team together, each member with unique skills and talents, to build the ministry of COTN. Arlene cited Proverbs 31:8—a verse God used to call her into ministry—when describing the faith and obedience of her colleagues and their efforts to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”

Arlene eventually transitioned into a newly-created role—that of Sierra Leone Liaison. In this role, she facilitated communications between the in-country staff and the staff at COTN–USA, making sure the needs of the country were known and met. Her travels to Sierra Leone in previous years gave her a personal understanding of the people and circumstances of life in that country—a necessary trait in this new position.

Over the past couple of years, however, Arlene has sensed God preparing her for a change; she has felt the sun setting on her previous ministries. Now a new day dawns as she heads to serve in another field of God’s kingdom. She is stepping into a Client Services Coordinator position with Poulsbo-based Masterworks, a marketing agency for Christian nonprofits. Arlene is happy to be still working with a Christian organization and using her development skills to benefit others.

Though “taking a break to transition and get my bearings,” Arlene plans to continue to serve with COTN as a volunteer, and no one who knows her passion for the children is surprised by that. She barely held back her tears as she spoke of their victories—the physical growth of children once skeletal from malnutrition; emotional healing of those tormented by abuse; girls going to high school, excited about evangelism and sharing the love they have received with others. In fact, the thing Arlene will miss most about serving with COTN full-time is calling COTN's Sierra Leone Country Director "Aunty Angie" [Myles] every week and loving on her and the kids.

Children of the Nations asks that all of our worldwide family would join us in encouraging Arlene during this transition and praying for God’s continued protection and blessings for her as she prepares for a new day. Arlene, we love you, and we will miss you.