Mobile-ization!

Hey from Mobile, Alabama!

Here at FUGE: Mobile we have instituted a Tuesday afternoon "Missions Breakout" session which campers can attend and hear stories from our staffers who have been to South Africa  and also become acquainted with the resources available to them as they discover their own role in the Great Commission.  

One of these sessions was attended by a high school student who claimed with confidence that she was called to South Africa.  She sat in the Missions Breakout, thoroughly engaged, asking questions and absorbing the information and experience that our staff had to offer. As the discussion wrapped up I began to explain to her the opportunities that were available to her currently, even before she left high school.  I mentioned the fallacy that we often adhere to - that we have to finish school before we can get involved overseas.  She admitted that she had thought this way before, and proceeded to ask me if she could walk with me to the FUGE store in order to grab some additional information about International World Changers and other platforms that she could use to go on mission.  On the way, she explained to me some of the particularities of her calling, explaining that God emphasized His desire for her to reach the people of South Africa daily.  

We reached the FUGE store and I explained some of the things that might be of interest and use to her.  Throughout our conversation, I witnessed the student's earnest excitement for missions in her expression, and it seemed encouraging to her that she could actually go sooner, rather than later.  One of my favorite things about being a Missions Mobilizer has been mobilizing students - showing them that the call to go on mission is immediate, it is current, and it is not something they have to wait for.

A stick doesn't have a home.

Sarah Cowan created the doc: "July Mini Update"

XHOSA: Induku ayinamzi.

TRANSLATION: A stick doesn't have a home.

MEANING: Violence leads to a broken home.

Violence is seen a way of life here. The adults are violent to each other and the kids. Parents abuse their children. Violence seems to be the way to get what you want. And the kids see it. So they are violent toward each other. And the homes are torn apart by parent-child abuse and sibling-sibling abuse. But that's not the way God planned.

School started back this week. It's been great to be back with our learners. But the questions we are asked reveal what's going on their lives...and the questions alone could break your heart. We've been asked many questions about rape, abuse, and "what if someone says I will kill you if you don't have sex with me?" The questions show that it is not just physical abuse and violence that confronts our learners every single day. These are real issues in the lives of our students and give you a peek into some of their daily struggles and issues.

Eph. 5:21-6:4 tells us God's plan for relationships in families. Eph. 6:4 especially tells us how parents should treat their children: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (ESV). Never once does it mention violence being allowed or proper.

Our learners are used to violence being a part of their home. Pray that they will learn that God's plan for families is to be free of violence. Pray that they will choose not to be violent toward others.

Please join me in praying for the Xhosa.

Sarah Cowan – Journeyman to the Xhosa

Cape Town, South Africa


Blessings!  Mark
Mark Robbins
Student Events/Centrifuge/ M-Fuge
One LifeWay Plaza
Nashville, TN  37234-0144
Mobile: 615-461-0449
Fax: 615-251-5699
Office: 615-251-3806
Email: mark.robbins@lifeway.com

Tulane M-Fuge Missions Mobilizing leads to opportunities to share.

Each year I have been a camper and on staff at a Fuge camp I have noticed one thing about the missions table.... it never moves. This year at MFuge at Tulane University I have been moving my table daily into a breezeway to catch students as they are going into the Fuge store and this has proved to be a success not just among students but also with the freshman orientation crew that comes to see the school they will be attending in the fall. 

If you did not know, Tulane is a "Jewish" school. It is the only location Fuge has without a Christian background.  There has been doors shut to the gospel for many years and this summer Fuge has been changing that. I personally have had maids sit in on my Bible study along with many questions being asked about Christ among our support staff team. 

 My missions table is set up right in front of where freshmen coming into Tulane orientation. They also have a lot of questions about who Fuge is and what is the missions offering about. Most of these people may not be believers but when they hear that it is making a difference in the world, they give money to the cause! It is so amazing that the gospel has been shared through just a little table set up around Bruff commons. 

God is so good!

Welcome to FUGE FOR AFRICA!

e So, you're back from camp and Africa is still 6,000 miles away. What to do?

The International Mission Board (IMB) invites you to take the peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa to heart.

Learn...

  • Visit AfricaStories.org to see stories, videos and photos from Africa. God is at work on this great continent, and caring starts with listening and learning.
  • MeetJoburg.com will introduce you to some of the pressing issues in Africa's great city of Johannesburg. You will be challenged by human trafficking, ophans, the AIDS epidemic, and almost countless refugees living in poverty.
  • Check out Operation World to get acquainted with the countries and people of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Pray...

  • There are so many needs and opportunities for prayer! IMB offers up-to-date prayer requests from our missionaries in Africa. Just visit the IMB site and select the Sub-Saharan Africa affinity.
  • Operation World also offers prayer resources such as prayer guides, ideas for prayer events, people group needs, and prayer requests for countries.

Give...

  • The Fuge offering is a great start, but what if you want to do more?
  • Visit the IMB website to discover the possibilities. IMB funds missionaries around the world and receives the support of churches through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. IMB also engages in disaster relief and sponsors special needs giving projects.
  • Baptist Global Response (BGR) is a ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention that addresses human needs all over the world. Visit the website to see how to give to end the AIDS crisis, address world hunger, or help others get health care.

Go...

  • Talk to your church leader about going as a student group. In 2012, International World Changers offers four projects in Sub-Saharan Africa:
    Johannesburg, South Africa; George, South Africa; Zambia; and Senegal.
  • Consider going as an individual. IMB's student website, TheTask.org, offers multiple options for you to engage in mission service for a week, a summer or a semester. Just search for projects in Africa. Or contact us at Studentteam@imb.org.
  • IMB offers students and student groups a way to adopt a small area such as a village, an oprhanage, or a school. Vist OneLifeMatters.org.