“God, please don’t send me to Africa…I don’t think I have what it takes!” This line comes straight from a colorful puppetry sketch I remember performing as a puppeteer at Calvary Baptist Church in Prineville, Oregon back in the 90s. The sketch is meant to be the comical story of a reluctant missionary pleading with God not to send him to the wilds of Africa where he is certain doom awaits him. It might seem easy to laugh at something as silly as that, but I think every Christian can identify with the fear that God is going to send us to some far flung land to serve Him. The bold few who would take Him up on the challenge are rare, especially when it comes to Africa, but I happen to know one of them: Ms. Rachel Dunaway.
I have known Rachel since I was very young. We both grew up in Prineville, Oregon, and her father, Joel Dunaway, has been the longtime senior pastor of my home church Calvary Baptist. It was very easy to see Rachel’s heart for Christ as we were growing up, and so I was not surprised to hear she had chosen a career that would take her straight to the mission field in Africa.
Specifically, Rachel is serving in Lira, Uganda at Calo Me Lare a ministry within Project Hope Worldwide. The specific ministry of Calo Me Lare, according to the PHW website is to “…care for and provide hope for orphans in Lira who have been most impacted by the AIDS epidemic and 23 years of war with the rebel forces of Northern Uganda. Our goal is to provide a nurturing home, a quality education, sufficient medical care, an effective character based mentoring program and an ongoing community that will empower them to establish themselves in a career and serve as leaders in their communities and country.”
Rachel’s specifically serves as a Child Development Specialist. As she describes it, her job is to “…make sure each child feels safe, valued, and loved.” As anyone might imagine, this would be a very difficult job with both cultural and language barriers standing in the way, so Rachel decided to start things slowly by building one relationship at a time. This soon grew into group work, and in time Rachel’s dedication and love were well known to the orphans of Calo Me Lare.
The format of Calo Me Lare is a unique one. The village is comprised of two circles of eight homes each. Each home consists of a house mother who is a widow from the community and up to eight children. Each child attends school and receives training in money management, agriculture, positive character development, and vocational training. Those showing ability are also provided the opportunity to attend a university and ultimately enter a career field of their own choosing.
Having been deeply impacted by government corruption and extremist groups like The Lord’s Resistance Army [a big reason why many of the children at Calo Me Lare are orphans in the first place], opportunities for success in Uganda can seem very rare. And finding Christ-like love from strangers can seem an impossibility. Yet, faithful servants of Christ like Rachel are shining His light and love most profoundly among these children and changing their lives forever.
Now a few years into her ministry at Calo Me Lare, Rachel continues to serve with diligence, and she has had the opportunity to see both the program and the children grow. As she says, “I feel very valued and loved here.” She has even been unofficially adopted into the family of a woman named Irene, and she strives every day to learn the language and the culture of the people of Uganda better. I can’t wait to see what God will continue to do through her and the ministries of Project Hope Worldwide. It is sure to be amazing, but as with every ministry Project Hope seeks help from believers wherever it can. The greatest need is for child sponsors. Sponsorships start at around $38 dollars a month and help provide much needed resources for children in desperate situations. Rachel and other missionaries serving with Project Hope Worldwide and Calo Me Lare also need prayer and financial support so that they can continue to serve Christ in this field and pour out His love in a place where it is so desperately needed. You can visit www.projecthopeworldwide.org to learn more.
The word proud does not begin to describe how I feel about Rachel and others like her who are so willing to go to the farthest reaches of the earth for Christ. You see, their prayer was the exact opposite of our pensive puppet back at Calvary Baptist – “Lord, please send me to Africa. I know You have what it takes!” He does indeed, and I know He will stand alongside Rachel and her fellow missionaries every step of the way.
This Post is Sponsored by:
Click the ad for more details.
The Believer’s Byline is a publication of Thrive Christian Press.
Copyright © 2015 David Scott Fields II. All Rights Reserved.
