He helps Zambians care for AIDS patients
LUSAKA, Zambia (BP) -- Troy Lewis' deep, melodic voice is brimming with emotion as he talks about the people of Zambia. The IMB missionary's heart became burdened for sub-Saharan Africa during his college and seminary studies.
WEEK OF PRAYER: South African youth turn from despair
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (BP) -- It's hard not to be happy around 12-year-old Olwetu. She greets visitors with an infectious smile and sparkling eyes. Usually surrounded by friends, the outgoing South African seventh-grader is constantly smiling, laughing and talking.
But this is not typical behavior among Olwetu's peers -- hopeless is the best word to describe youth from the nation's Xhosa minority in the slums of Cape Town. Most young people here must deal with a myriad of issues -- abuse, violence, drugs, gangs, rape, loss of one or both parents, poor education, HIV/AIDS, poverty. These problems have far-reaching tentacles affecting every family in the township. "We began to see students that were asking ... 'What do I do when I've been raped by my uncle?' 'What do I do when my father and mother are abusing me?' 'I don't have any food at home.' 'My mom and dad don't have work.' 'My mom and dad are dead and I live with my aunt,'" said Bruce Erickson, a Southern Baptist missionary in Cape Town. "There are so many kids that live in such difficult situations without hope. They don't see a future for themselves here in South Africa. They don't see a future for themselves in their homes." Originally from California, Erickson and his wife Sheri have served in South Africa for nearly four years; they have three children, one of whom is in the U.S. attending college. Focused on reaching Xhosa youth in Cape Town with the love of Christ, the Ericksons use their educational skills to interact with the students at their schools. Thirty percent of South Africa's population is age 15 and under, compared to only 13 percent in the U.S., according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on health care issues in the U.S. and abroad. "What an incredible opportunity for us to reach a huge part of this population and really have a chance to impact a nation for Christ," Sheri said. The Ericksons lead a project for OneLife, an International Mission Board initiative to connect students in the United States with missions projects around the world. The Cape Town project's goal is to minister to South African learners -- primary and secondary school students. "We teach life orientation classes, which is sex education, character building, being a good citizen and also learning how to deal with bullies and gangs and abuse -- different things that the kids would face in their life," said Sarah Cowan, a journeyman missionary from South Carolina. She and Michal Mitchell, a journeyman from Illinois, have been assisting the Ericksons in the youth ministry. "After school, we have leadership clubs or girls [and boys] clubs, worship services...TRUSTEES: Global ‘harvest’ at hand, Elliff says
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (BP) -- Is the "unthinkable" about to happen? Are Southern Baptists about to miss one of the greatest harvests for Christ the world has seen? International Mission Board President Tom Elliff asked these questions in his report during IMB trustees' Nov. 15-16 meeting in Springfield, Mo.
Cancer builds couple’s reliance on God
DURBAN, South Africa (BP) -- When Roger Hesch was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, he immediately took it to the Lord -- who told him He was using the sickness to display His glory. 
"In the face of his illness, [Roger] set his face like flint, as it says of the Lord Jesus," his wife Meg said, "and [was] just determined to experience this with God ... and to not turn away from God in the face of his suffering."
WEEK OF PRAYER:
Cancer becomes one of God’s ‘greatest gifts’ to IMB missionary
DURBAN, South Africa (BP) -- Roger Hesch should be dead. After stage 4 bone marrow cancer decimated his body, his recovery encountered several life-threatening setbacks, each of which should have overpowered his ravaged immune system. Doctor after doctor told him the chances of survival were next to nothing. 
But God had more for Roger to do. Years earlier, after graduating from high school in his hometown of Little Falls, Minn., Roger spent a year in South Africa as part of an international exchange program in Johannesburg that exposed him "to the bigger world," he said. He and his wife Meg met while attending college in Minneapolis and were married in 1980. Early on, the couple made a commitment to say "yes" to God's leading, regardless of what that meant. They said "yes" to Roger attending seminary and pastoring two Southern Baptist churches. "In January 1986, I was speaking on the Great Commission and while I was preaching, God said, 'You can't encourage other people to do what you are not willing to do,'" Roger recalled. It was then the couple said "yes" to serving overseas as missionaries with the International Mission Board. "We said we'll go where other people can't or won't go," Roger said.
WEEK OF PRAYER:
Cancer becomes one of God’s ‘greatest gifts’ to IMB missionary
DURBAN, South Africa (BP) -- Roger Hesch should be dead. After stage 4 bone marrow cancer decimated his body, his recovery encountered several life-threatening setbacks, each of which should have overpowered his ravaged immune system. Doctor after doctor told him the chances of survival were next to nothing. But God had more for Roger to do. Years earlier, after graduating from high school in his hometown of Little Falls, Minn., Roger spent a year in South Africa as part of an international exchange program in Johannesburg that exposed him "to the bigger world," he said. He and his wife Meg met while attending college in Minneapolis and were married in 1980. Early on, the couple made a commitment to say "yes" to God's leading, regardless of what that meant. They said "yes" to Roger attending seminary and pastoring two Southern Baptist churches. "In January 1986, I was speaking on the Great Commission and while I was preaching, God said, 'You can't encourage other people to do what you are not willing to do,'" Roger recalled. It was then the couple said "yes" to serving overseas as missionaries with the International Mission Board. "We said we'll go where other people can't or won't go," Roger said.
Cancer builds couple’s reliance on God
DURBAN, South Africa (BP) -- When Roger Hesch was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, he immediately took it to the Lord -- who told him He was using the sickness to display His glory. "In the face of his illness, [Roger] set his face like flint, as it says of the Lord Jesus," his wife Meg said, "and [was] just determined to experience this with God ... and to not turn away from God in the face of his suffering."
Women’s health is urgent to IMB workers
RICHMOND, Va. (BP) — Women who have no concept of what a germ is — how do you teach them about good health practices? “If you don’t have an education where you understand that, for instance, bacteria and viruses and parasites that you cannot see are causing you to be ill … then it’s a […]
Women’s health is urgent to IMB workers
RICHMOND, Va. (BP) — Women who have no concept of what a germ is — how do you teach them about good health practices? “If you don’t have an education where you understand that, for instance, bacteria and viruses and parasites that you cannot see are causing you to be ill … then it’s a […]
Dying woman’s faith grips health worker
RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- "Why have you come to see me?" family nurse practitioner Jenny Byrd* gently asks a woman named May*. Without a word, the thin, frail woman lets her wrap fall to her waist. Tears roll down Byrd's cheeks as she stares at the rotting flesh on the woman's chest ...
