A rainbow appears over the campus of Chimala Missions in Tanzania. (Photo via www.chimalamission.com)

A fire has destroyed the dormitory of the secondary school operated by Chimala Mission Hospital and Schools, a church supported medical, educational and evangelistic ministry in the East African nation of Tanzania. No students were injured.

Ben Langford, director of the Center for Global Missions at Oklahoma Christian University, is leading a team of university students and church members on a trip to Chimala. He shares the following report:

Just wanted to give you a brief update on an event that happened last night at the Chimala Mission in Tanzania, where I and 10 students are doing a mission project for three weeks.

There was a fire in the dormitory of the secondary school on the mission. All the Tanzanian students got out safely and no one was hurt, but half the dormitory burned down, leaving only the walls. I and all the students went down to the dormitory and, by the time we got, there it was a raging fire.

A medical missionary at Chimala carries a Tanzanian baby on her back. (File photo via www.chimalamission.com)

The students did great! Some helped to organize the younger children and keep them calm while others joined the bucket brigade which helped put out the fire after two to three hours of work. There is no fire department where we are, so there were literally hundreds of Tanzanians helping to put out the fire using buckets filled with water from a nearby stream. All the OC students were very safe and I am extremely proud of how they responded and served alongside the Tanzanians.

It was a chaotic and somewhat traumatic scene, so I ask that you keep the Tanzanian students, teachers and administrators of the school — and missionaries here — in your prayers. Also, pray for our OC students. Everyone is OK but it is a lot to process and they are very tired from a long night of hard work.

Again, all the OC students are doing well. They even went to a village this morning to do a Vacation Bible School, but prayers would be appreciated.

Nathalie McDonald, wife of Arms of Hope President and CEO Kevin McDonald, with their infant daughter Marlie Ruth, who is undergoing treatment for brain cancer. (Photo via Facebook)

Kevin McDonald, president and CEO of Medina, Texas-based Arms of Hope, has resigned effective June 1.

McDonald and his wife, Nathalie, recently moved to Houston to care for their infant daughter Marlie Ruth, who is undergoing treatment for brain cancer, a press release noted.

Arms of Hope is featured in a front-page story in the latest print edition of The Christian Chronicle. A 2010 Chronicle feature highlighted “The Rookie” Jim Morris’ work with the ministry.

The full release on McDonald’s resignation:

MEDINA, TEXAS - With gratitude and appreciation, Arms of Hope’s Board of Directors announces a change in status for our President and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin McDonald. Effective June 1, 2012, McDonald will resign as President and Chief Executive Officer, a position he began in December of 2008. McDonald, with the Board’s support and encouragement, plans to return to his role as a member of Arms of Hope’s Board of Directors, a seat he held for six years prior to being named President and CEO.

Under McDonald’s leadership, Arms of Hope was formed through the consolidation of Medina Children’s Home (est. 1958) and Boles Children’s Home (est. 1924). Since the consolidation, Arms of Hope has added an urban application of its Together Program by opening a Duncanville Campus, and has developed Outreach Ministry efforts in the inner cities of Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. The organization has experienced record growth through the addition of new programs to help socially disadvantaged children in some of the most economically distressed areas across Texas. In addition to the expansion of the services provided by Arms of Hope, McDonald led the organization as it overcame many obstacles and challenges associated with a leadership transition and various organizational transformations.

As many are aware, the McDonald’s have moved to Houston to find the best care for their baby girl who is undergoing treatment for brain cancer. After much prayer and counsel, McDonald reported to the board his belief that it was in the best interest of Arms of Hope and his family that he pass the torch to a new leader. McDonald will be returning to the Houston office of the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. as a partner, the firm where he was employed for almost ten years at the beginning of his legal career.

“This has been a very difficult decision because I dearly love serving socially disadvantaged children through Arms of Hope,” states McDonald. “Our family’s significant change in personal circumstances and the fact that the initial goals we set for the organization upon my arrival have been accomplished has required me to take a careful look at the needs of my beautiful family and make an honest assessment of what is best for us.”

“It is remarkable to see the transformation Arms of Hope has experienced under Kevin’s leadership and his talent as CEO will be difficult to replace,” explains Jana Woelfel, Chairperson of the Arms of Hope Board of Directors. “Because of the positive improvement we have seen in the quality of our programs, ministry efforts, personnel and board membership during Kevin’s tenure, we are confident a smooth and seamless transition will occur. The Board is thankful for the contributions Kevin has made and we are pleased that he intends to continue to be involved as a board member.”

Arms of Hope’s Board will immediately begin a search to find a replacement for McDonald and is confident this position will attract highly qualified candidates with a passion for its mission of providing much needed assistance to socially disadvantaged children and families. During this transition, Arms of Hope is blessed with a very capable management team and has asked Troy Robertson, Chief Operations Officer, and Scott Stumbo, Chief Financial Officer, to team together to lead the organization until a new Chief Executive Officer is selected.

ABOUT ARMS OF HOPE:
Arms of Hope is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Christian organization that helps change the lives of socially disadvantaged children and families. For additional information about Arms of Hope and its program offerings, please visit ArmsofHope.org.

A songbook at the Nsawam Road Church of Christ in Accra, Ghana (Photo by Erik Tryggestad)

Mr. Ebenezer A. Asamoah, National Administrator of Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD), has called on the government and benevolent institutions to establish more specialized educational institutions for the deaf.

…

Mr. Asamoah said this at the second edition of Deaf Awareness Day celebration organised by the Deaf Ministry of the Nsawam Road Church of Christ at the weekend in Accra.

The Awareness Day was on the theme; “Challenges Confronting the Deaf,” and sought to draw attention to the challenges, limitations and capabilities of persons with hearing impairment.

…

Mr. Asamoah commended the Church of Christ, especially the Nsawan Road branch, for the initiative to embrace the deaf community by establishing the Deaf Ministry.

He also lauded them for taking up the teaching of sign language in the church to enable both the deaf and hearing to interact during and after church service.

Mr. William Sam, coordinator for the over 200 Deaf Ministries of the Church of Christ nationwide, said the church had sponsored some deaf children to schools and other skills learning institutions.

Read the full story.

Bobby Ross and I visited the Nsawam Road church in 2009. The 1,200-member congregation is a powerhouse of African-led missions in the western part of the continent. See our feature on the congregation and its efforts to help establish a Christian university in Ghana.

A student at Makanisa School for the Deaf in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, shows the sign for "I love you." About 200 hearing-impaired children receive Christian education at the school. (Photo by Erik Tryggestad)

Churches of Christ across Africa play vital roles in serving their deaf communities. Read our recent profile of a school for the deaf in Ethiopia.

Steve Bonner, right, leads a prayer alongside Syliva, Mike, Charlie and Luis Duran during a gathering to mark the completion of a home for the Duran family in Tahoka, Texas. The Durans lost their daughter and sister Laela Duran to a fire in November 2011. (Photo by Zach Long, via lubbockonline.com)

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in Texas reports:

About 75 people gathered on Mother’s Day for a multidenominational blessing of a Tahoka, (Texas,) home built in honor of Laela Marie Duran, an 8-year-old who died in a house fire Nov. 18.

Her family — parents Luis and Sylvia Duran, 15-year-old sister Charlie and 3-year-old brother Mikey — moved in Thursday to the home provided to them in a remarkable community success story of cooperation.

“We have been really blessed with community members who helped us so much,” Sylvia Duran said.

…

Steve Bonner, the minister of Tahoka Church of Christ and the organizer of the project, said the house was intended to be a blessing but could never replace what the family lost.

…

Bonner, who said his organizational skills were developed as a youth minister, said the house project brought Tahoka together in many ways.

“The project knocked down walls that existed in the community and blurred dividing lines, such as denominational, socio-economic and ethnic lines,” he said.

“My prayer is that we don’t go back to the way it was,” he said.

A month ago, a community worship service in the front yard of the Duran house under construction drew 500 people for prayers and scriptures in Spanish and English from Church of Christ, Methodist, Baptist and Catholic clergy, Bonner said.

Read the full story.

Minister Franklin Florence, facing, shares a hug with Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. during a recognition dinner for Florence for his civil rights work. (Photo by Jamie Germano, Democrat and Chronicle, via democratandchronicle.com)

The Democrat and Chronicle reports on Franklin Florence, senior minister for the Central Church of Christ in Rochester, N.Y.:

Minister Franklin Florence is a man who holds a special place in Rochester’s history.

He also holds a special place in the hearts of many people.

That was made abundantly clear as more than 700 people gathered Friday at the Riverside Convention Center for a community recognition dinner and tribute that featured as keynote speaker U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill.

“It’s humbling, very humbling to have this kind of outpouring of appreciation. It certaintly is very special,” Florence said.

Florence is best known for leading civil rights struggles through F.I.G.H.T., an organization he helped create, and for mobilizing thousands of people during prolonged battles for jobs with the Eastman Kodak Co. The battles ultimately led to the company’s hiring of hundreds of African-Americans in Rochester.

Read the full story.

The Washington Post reports:

President Obama threw his support behind same-sex marriage Wednesday after years of “evolution” on the issue, and invoked Christ and the Golden Rule in detailing how he has changed.

In an interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts, the president painted his endorsement of same-sex marriage as an outgrowth of his Christian beliefs:

“ … [Michelle and I] are both practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated. And I think that’s what we try to impart to our kids and that’s what motivates me as president and I figure the most consistent I can be in being true to those precepts, the better I’ll be as a dad and a husband and hopefully the better I’ll be as president.”

The Associated Press reports:

The evangelical pastor who President Barack Obama calls his spiritual adviser says he’s disappointed in the president’s decision to endorse same-sex marriage.

The Rev. Joel Hunter of Florida told The Associated Press that Obama called him before ABC News broadcast the announcement Wednesday.

Hunter says he told the president he disagreed with his interpretation of what the Bible says about marriage. Hunter says the president reassured him he would protect the religious freedom of churches who oppose gay marriage.

Chris Altrock

In a panel discussion on The Commercial Appeal’s Faith in Memphis section, Chris Altrock, preaching minister for the Highland Church of Christ in Cordova, Tenn., weighed in:

Many discussions about same-sex marriage in the United States are driven by issues of pleasure or profit; status or stability.

Some conversations state that gays should be permitted to marry so they may enjoy the pleasure of having the same status as heterosexual couples in our culture. They should be allowed to experience the joy of credibility and respectability in the community.

Other discussions stipulate that gays should be permitted to marry so they may be granted the legal profits afforded heterosexual couples. The federal government provides about 1,000 legal benefits and privileges to married couples. Gays should be allowed to have the same stability which comes with these privileges.

This, however, misses the Christian point of marriage. In the Christian faith, marriage is not primarily about pleasure or profit; status or stability. Marriage functions primarily as a powerful visual proclamation of the Gospel. For example, Paul urges the Ephesian husbands and wives to work sacrificially at their marriages because through such costly love the world sees a glimpse of the costly and sacrificial love demonstrated by Jesus for his bride the church. The steadfast and self-surrendering love between a husband and a wife becomes a mini-production of the original story of love between Jesus and his bride.

If we want to have a civil discussion about the status of homosexuals in our culture or about the legal privileges afforded to homosexuals, let’s do so by all means. Jesus would urge us to love our neighbor, heterosexual or homosexual, and to create a cultural climate in which all neighbors are treated with justice and mercy. But let’s leave marriage out of this discussion. From a Christian perspective, marriage has nothing to do status or stability. Marriage between a man and a woman exists to reflect the world-changing love between Jesus and his bride.

Dave Phillips, preaching minister for the Germantown Church of Christ in the Memphis area, also commented:

The President’s revelation to promote same-sex marriage is deeply troubling to followers of the Bible. Compassion for others notwithstanding, his view is contrary to the teachings of Christ, morally reckless and biblically indefensible.  I continue to pray for our nation to honor God and his will.

CNN’s Belief Blog reports that the president’s support for gay marriage has riled religious conservatives but that the political effects are not yet known.

Read other coverage of the president’s announcement by Christianity Today, World and Religion News Service.

See The Christian Chronicle’s 2011 feature “Same-sex attraction: How should churches respond?”

Reader feedback: How should Christians respond to the president’s support for same-sex marriage? Please be sure to include your full name and home congregation, city and state in case we decide to quote you. The Chronicle blog welcomes and encourages feedback that promotes thoughtful and respectful discussion.

The above video tells the story of Sandy Detherage, a member of the High Pointe Church of Christ in McKinney, Texas. Through the simple act of sharing his faith, Deherage, an air-traffic controller, opened the door for God to transform two lives.

Dennis and Sharon Welch in Cambodia in 2010. (Photo by Erik Tryggestad)

His fellow air-traffic controller, who is at first hostile toward Christianity and later converts, is Dennis Welch. He and his wife, Sharon, kept the commitment mentioned in the video. In 2007, Joy and Lynn McMillon interviewed the couple as they prepared for the mission field at Sunset International Bible Institute in Lubbock, Texas.

Three years later, I met the couple in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, as they worked at the Sunset branch school there. (See a story about that trip.) A few months after my visit, the Welches took oversight of a nutrition program for youths in the villages near Phnom Penh.

The video was produced for RightNow Media, a Richardson, Texas-based nonprofit (a kind of Christian version of Netflix) that allows people to watch online video bible studies.

Clint Loveness provided me with a link to the video. I met him at the Pepperdine Bible lectures. He’s a video producer for Bluefish TV, which makes Bible Study kits for RightNowMedia.org.

(Coincidentally, the Welches were there too, talking about their work in Cambodia and looking for additional support.)

Loveness, himself a Church of Christ member, said he’s looking for additional stories of faith and transformation. Contact him for more information.

In the harrowing opening scene of Wiley Cash’s compelling first novel, “A Land More Kind Than Home,” the minister at the River Road Church of Christ in Signs Following takes up a copperhead, prays over it and hands it to an elderly church member, who holds it “like a baby” to show the strength of her faith. The snake strikes her twice, the second time sinking its fangs into her hand so deeply that the preacher and two deacons have to pry it loose.

Read the full review.

It didn’t take me long to figure out that this “River Road Church of Christ” is a fictitious congregation in North Carolina with no connection to the River Road Church of Christ in Albany, Ga.

I visited and wrote a story about the congregation (the real one) in 2002 — and saw no evidence of snake handling.

The real River Road Church of Christ in Albany, Ga., welcomes church leaders during its Southern Africa Mission Project. (Photo via www.riverroadchurchofchrist.com)

I was there to cover the church’s Southern Africa Mission Project, or SAMP. The church brings congregational leaders from African nations, including South Africa and Malawi, and treats them to a week of classes on subjects including team-building, marriage enrichment, leadership and nutrition. (At this year’s Pepperdine lectures, I talked with a group of ministers from South Africa about the program, which is still going strong, they said.)

There are at least two other congregations in our fellowship with the name “River Road Church of Christ” — one in Nashville, Tenn., and one in New Port Richey, Fla.

So, why the unfortunate coincidence? Does Wiley Cash, a native of North Carolina, have an axe to grind with Churches of Christ? Or was he looking for a nondescript name that wouldn’t identify his fictional church with a well-known religious denomination?

Here’s what the author says about his own faith on the book’s Amazon page:

I deeply love my native state of North Carolina, especially its mountains. I hope my love for this region is evident in “A Land More Kind Than Home’s” portrayal of western North Carolina’s people, culture, and religious faith. While “A Land More Kind Than Home” revolves around a young autistic boy who is smothered during a church healing service, the novel’s three narrators all represent my experience of growing up in North Carolina and being raised in an evangelical church.

Like Jess Hall, the younger brother who secretly witnesses the death, I often found myself sitting in church and waiting for something to happen. As a boy I was promised that I would recognize my salvation when I felt Jesus move inside my heart; however, just as Jess does after his brother’s death, I attempted to rationalize the mysteries of Christianity, and I soon realized that we often use faith to fill the empty spaces in our lives. Like Adelaide Lyle, the church matriarch who straddles the divide between religious faith and old-time folk belief, my own religious beliefs are rounded out with a healthy dose of skepticism. While I’m always suspicious of those who pray the loudest, I can’t help but acknowledge the tug on my heart when I witness a baptism, and I can’t account for the inexplicable peace that comes from humming an old-time gospel. But I most identify with the character Clem Barefield, the local sheriff who must sift through his own tragic past to solve the mystery of the boy’s death, because, like Clem, I’m guided only by what I can perceive of this world, and I’m hesitant to get lost in following those who claim to be led by a spirit from the next.

What do you think of the author’s take on Christianity? Do you feel that he represents a regional trend among the people of the southern U.S., or a broader national trend of embracing spirituality while remaining skeptical about church itself?

Also, if you’ve read the book, please share your thoughts about it.

In response to a recent Christian Chronicle blog post, one reader commented:

The primitivism historically espoused by the acapella Churches of Christ has simply lost its appeal in this generation. So also, the hermeneutic that equates biblical silence with divine prohibition has demonstrated its impracticality, divisive spirit and inconsistency. However, the appeal to be “Christians Only” and non-denominational is quite alive and well in our present culture, and this explains, in part, the phenomenal growth of the independent Christian Churches and instrumental Churches of Christ.

It is true that some instrumental Christian Churches are enjoying remarkable growth — including megachurches such as the Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky., as the Courier-Journal reports. Southeast’s weekend attendance exceeds 21,000, up from 13,000 in 1999, according to the church’s website.

But figures released by the U.S. Religion Census last week show the total number of congregations of instrumental Christian Churches and Churches of Christ has declined over the last 10 years. Meanwhile, the total number of adherents has risen less than 1 percent. The specific figures:

2010: 1,453,160 adherents and 5,293 congregations

2000: 1,439,253 adherents and 5,471 congregations

The comparable numbers for a cappella Churches of Christ:

2010: 1,584,162 adherents and 12,584 congregations

2000: 1,645,645 adherents and 13,032 congregations

Figures for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the third branch of the churches associated with the Stone-Campbell, or Restoration, Movement:

2010: 785,776 adherents and 3,635 congregations

2000: 1,017,784 adherents and 3,339 congregations

Carl Royster, data compiler for Churches of Christ in the United States, a national directory of a cappella congregations published by 21st Century Christian, noted in response to a previous Chronicle report:

I am encouraged by the conversations that I am seeing. Part of the purpose of Churches of Christ in the United States is to provide information for discussions and ideas on such things as reaching the lost in the world.

For the sake of better understanding, I feel I should point out that the Churches of Christ are not the only ones experiencing stagnant or declining numbers. This is an issue that many religious bodies in America are dealing with. It was mentioned that the Christian Church/Churches of Christ were experiencing “phenomenal growth.” However, this is not exactly accurate. According to data collected for the Religious Congregations and Membership Study (RCMS) for 2000 and 2010, they actually saw a decline in the number of congregations and a numerical growth rate of less than 1%. In the same studies, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) gained almost 300 congregations, but their adherents declined by almost 23%.

One aspect that should truly be of concern for all Christians in America is the growth in the numbers of those that have no religious affiliation whatsoever. According to a survey conducted in 2007 by The Pew Forum, over 16% reported as having no religious affiliation. What is worse, for the Mosaic generation (ages 18-29), this figure was one in four. If we compare the percentages of the population for the various religious bodies in America, we find that the unaffiliated (if we may call that a religious body) are second only to Catholics (which are about 23%).

This increasing number of “unchurched” really concerns me. I pray the Lord God Almighty will give us more wisdom, guidance, and strength to reach these lost souls for Him and His glory.

See the recent Chronicle news story “Declining numbers, but signs of hope?”

Dottie McBride and her husband, Louis, stand with daughters Rachel and Jessie at their home near Cuenca, Ecuador, in 2009. (Photo by Erik Tryggestad)

Church members in North and South America are mourning Dottie McBride. She died from illness April 30 at age 67.

The native of Nocona, Texas, served for 35-plus years in Ecuador with her husband, Louis. (See her obituary.)

The Nacona Church of Christ supports their work.

Dottie McBride prepares breakfast in her kitchen in 2009. (Photo by Erik Tryggestad)

I was treated to breakfast at the McBrides’ beautiful home in the mountains near Cuenca, Ecuador, during a reporting trip there in 2009. The entire family is involved in benevolence work and ministry to the people of Ecuador.

Their daughter, Rachel Montesdesca, works with the Key Way Foundation, which helps deal with social problems in Ecuador “by providing a haven through which children can receive food, shelter, medical aid and emotional and spiritual support,” according to the foundation’s website.

Here’s a brief summary of their work from from a story I wrote for our Global South series:

Louis McBride was born in Ecuador. His father was a railroad worker from the U.S., and McBride moved there when he was 12. He met his wife, Dottie, in the States, and they committed to five years of mission work in Ecuador.

“It’s been a long five years,” said McBride, who has traversed the country for 31 years, helping win souls and plant churches.

In that time he’s seen Churches of Christ grow, but he fears that many are caught up in doctrinal matters and are more interested in “purifying the church than preaching the gospel.” He encourages churches to refocus on evangelism. He and his family live in Cuenca, Ecuador.

(In case you’re wondering, the McBrides are not related to Bailey McBride, editor emeritus of The Christian Chronicle.)

Memorial contributions may be made to the Ecuador Fund or to the Key Way Foundation, both addressed to Nocona Church of Christ, 311 Cooke St, Nocona, Texas, 76255.