One of the NAB’s international ministry partners is an organization in Brazil caring for children and teenagers in socially vulnerable situations – Chain of Love. Recently, during the hottest summer months of the Southern Hemisphere, they had a number of individuals and teams from NAB churches visit to serve alongside and assist them in ministry.
In early January, they were blessed by a visit from Joe Roever, a farmer from Zion Baptist Church in Okeene, Oklahoma. He helped reorganize and revitalize their compost bin. When he left, it was ready to be used, and he plans to possibly make it even larger when he returns in October. In addition, he worked as a temporary housefather, teaching the young adults to cook some American dishes. He also acted as a life counselor, led Bible studies, and had many wonderful interactions with the children and houseparents.
Late January and early February saw a team mostly composed of youth from Whitecourt Baptist Church in Whitecourt, Alberta, and led by Pastor Jeffrey. Alex and Laura Hekkert were also part of the team; their connection with Chain of Love is so strong and beloved that some of the children they sponsored in the past came to see them!
The youth team served in many wonderful ways, working exclusively with the children, presenting a skit, and, because it was summer, playing refreshing water games. They also served delicious ice cream and led an entire service, including worship, preaching, and testimonies. The adult team members organized an evening event for the Chain of Love men (especially the housefathers) and an afternoon event for the housemothers. They also held a roundtable discussion with the Chain of Love multi-disciplinary team, which included a specialist working with children with special needs, particularly autism.
In late February, an extraordinary individual from The Grove Church in Langley, British Columbia, visited. Andrew Buikema, who had visited Chain of Love a few years ago, painted the inside walls of several homes, which delighted kids and staff with the brightened atmosphere! Andrew visited all of the Chain of Love homes, entertained the children, and interacted warmly with the houseparents. He was so kind that the children asked him to bring his wife next time!
You can keep up to date on all of the happenings at Chain of Love, including reading more about their summer visitors, by checking out their Facebook page. And you can find ways to give in support of this amazing ministry at the link below.
Reframe is a four-week, online training for pastors and leaders to help you assess your congregation’s evangelism readiness. This training will provide an evaluative framework to help you to recognize gaps you may need to fill and distortions you will want to correct, and it will provide a clearer path forward toward helping your church become more evangelistically faithful.
Reframe is not a training that will focus on how to better do evangelism but instead will focus on how to be evangelistic.
- How well equipped is your congregation for the ministry of evangelism?
- How do you evaluate your church’s health in that regard?
- How would you identify equipping gaps in your congregation’s evangelistic faithfulness?
Each training consists of an online, 90-minute session. They will take place 10:00–11:30 a.m. (Pacific) each Wednesday in June (3, 10, 17, 24).
Training is free for NAB ministry leaders. Register at the link below. For questions, connect with Deb Judas.
NAB churches in northern Ohio and the surrounding area are cordially invited to attend the next International Missions Pop-Up.
Experience an evening of engaging conversation and connections around international missions. Hear from:
- Joel David, NAB vice president of International Missions
- Maureen Moody, NAB missionary to Cameroon
- Shan Reed, NAB mobilization director
- Lyndell Campbell Réquia, NAB missionary in Brazil
It can be easy for our churches to feel isolated or like what we do doesn’t seem to make any kind of global impact, particularly when it comes to the Kingdom efforts regarding international missions. This Pop-Up will help your church grasp the larger picture of NAB International Missions, help connect you with other local NAB churches who share a similar interest in missions, and hopefully promote awareness of and engagement with NAB International Missions and missionaries.
This pop-event will take place 7:00–8:30 p.m. on May 8, 2026, at Cross of Hope Church in Parma Heights, Ohio. Refreshments will be served.
It’s less than two weeks until Bonfire in Medina, Ohio.
This year, we are streamlining Bonfire in a way we hope reflects its purpose. There will be two main evening sessions for the entire group, including dinner, fellowship, worship, and unified speakers. During the days, each attendee will join their specific group gathering, or Ministry Track – Multipliers Summit, MAT, Missional Initiatives Collective, etc. – to engage with each other.
It is our hope that your time at Bonfire May 5–8, 2026, will serve you, equip you, and encourage you in ways both specific to your individual group but also in broad ways as a vital member of our conference of churches.
If you are registered, you should be receiving information about your specific Ministry Track in the coming days, so keep an eye on your email. If you have questions, please reach out to Carissa.