This Spring, International Ministries (IM) will offer donors a way to double their gifts to Kristy Engel and other IM missionaries. This is a wonderful opportunity to make a gift of support to Kristy's ministry and see it doubled immediately.  All donations (new OR additional) that are clearly noted as "Matching Gift for Kristy Engel's Support" will be matched 100% until the available funds are used or until the deadline of June 15th is reached.  This means the earlier you make a donation, the more likely I am to receive the matched funds.

The donations that are given during this time are used to reach my fundraising goals that help pay my salary, make sure I am able to go to all of the places that I serve around the world and also help provide the supplies that are needed for my service.  I would ask that you prayerfully consider making a donation between April 15th and June 15th.  And, if it is possible, would you be willing to sign-up to be an ongoing supporter, even for $10, $25 or $50 a month?  By having regular, ongoing monthly support, I can focus my time on serving overseas and sharing the health care ministry that I know I've been called to provide.  Thank you for all you have done to support this ministry!

Please remember... 

The matching grant begins April 15th and donations must be labeled or indicated, "Matching Grant for Kristy Engel's Support" to qualify for this doubling.  A link will be available for online giving starting April 15th on the International Ministries website.

 

 

February brought International Ministries' Global Consultants together in Cairo, Egypt for a conference with the Egyptian Baptist Convention.  What a phenomenal place to begin my time as the new Global Consultant for Health!  Except for Mike Mann, all of the Global Consultants were there (see the above picture) along with our Area Director, Ben Chan, and the Regional Director, Charles Jones.  We met with various pastors and church leaders from Egypt over three days to discuss each of our ares of expertise and discover how they can be used in development within the churches in Egypt.  For a newbie to the group, I was a little overwhelmed by all of the experts I was grouped with, but they all welcomed me and made me feel connected immediately.  

Our Egyptian bothers and sisters were incredibly receptive and welcoming, as well.  The dialogue and questions during the conference were phenomenal!  It was so much fun to watch the interaction, new bonds being formed and ideas being exchanged between people who previously didn't realize they had something in common!  Support systems were emerging and it is my hope that several of us will be invited back to continue to build on the seeds of ministry that were planted.

I was able to lead a discussion on Positive Deviance, which was the first time that I had presented this to such a large group.  Once we got over the translation of the words and began explaining the concepts, I began to see lightbulbs of understanding shine and excitement begin to see how their own communities may already have the solutions to problems they thought were insurmountable.  It really was exciting!  If you haven't heard about Positive Deviance and are interested to learn more, you can read about it online at:www.PositiveDeviance.org.

 

It was REALLY hard to choose a picture to put with this section of my newsletter!  I had pictures of old cars, Spanish forts, ordination services we attended, market areas, food...the list goes on.  We were busy but in a very good way for the two weeks of our time in Cuba.  I say that because if you know anything about Latin culture you understand that busy often means conversation over a cup of coffee (really good coffee!) or discussion of ideas sitting on someone's porch with the breeze blowing to keep you cool on a hot afternoon.  This isn't to say that we didn't spend plenty of time in vehicles driving between locations or visiting seminaries, churches, outreach centers, etc. but the very best parts of the trip for me were the conversations. And for me, that is often the best part of a trip to Latin America or really anywhere in the world, for that matter.  I was able to sit down with a first-year medical student and talk to him about what health care was like in Cuba.  I also talked with a pastor/mother/wife about her life and caring for her daughter when she was sick while also trying to answer the call to ministry.  She shared many things with me about her life...dreams, worries, joys...sometimes while we worked in the kitchen together to prepare our group meal or sometimes while others were out and it was just the two of us in the home.  What I learned from these and other conversations in Cuba was that yes, there is a great need for better access to health care, whether that be medicines, visits to the right physicians or services but there is something that they have which we often lack here in the US...their community pulls together to try and meet each other's needs.  There is a network that is behind the scenes trying to fill-in the gaps and make sure that the most at-risk individuals get what they need.  At least, that's what I saw in the church communities that I worked with.  It isn't always possible to meet all of the needs, that is true.  But they try.  They do what they can and they do it with great love.  Finally, on our last day in Cuba, I had the opportunity to preach at the International Christian Community church for International Day of Women. What a great opportunity where people from all over the world worshipped! Most were there because of the embassies that they represented so I got to stand with a lot of VIP's, which was fun.  In the end, they invited me back to preach again, any time!