Frank Dimmock - March 2020 Update
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
In October I had the privilege of delivering the World Communion Sunday message at my ‘home church’ North Avenue Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. It provided a great opportunity to share about Outreach’s ministry with refugees from South Sudan. I also joined Nancy Fox, Juan Sarmiento and Jeff Ritchie at the Connecting Mission Leaders Conference in Minneapolis. The conference was hosted by The Outreach Foundation and Frontier Fellowship and was an occasion for networking with mission leaders and sister organizations.
I traveled to Kenya and Ethiopia during November. It was exciting to collect the initial printing of 200 trauma healing books printed in the Nuer language. I carried 50 with me to Gambella, Ethiopia, to distribute among those trained and actively involved in trauma healing. While in Ethiopia, I met with the leaders of the trauma healing program and followed up on the 20 preschools and 43 adult learning centers in the refugee camps.
After Ethiopia, I returned to Kenya to join a group from Southern California visiting the Tumaini Home for vulnerable children at the PCEA Riamukurwe Parish. Ebralie was also with the group and we met with the Tumaini Board. During our visit, the parish hosted the former first lady of Malawi, H.E. Joyce Banda. She also visited the vocational training center, school, and clinic. I remained in Kenya to visit the refugee camp at Kakuma and participate in an advanced training of seminary students at the Giffen Institute of Theology (GIT).
During that training I was privileged to meet Hawida, a 20-year old young woman, single mother of a four-year old, who fled fighting in the Nuba Mountains and walked 1,100 miles via Juba to reach safety in the Kakuma camp in northwestern Kenya (the distance from Nashville to Boston). She was raised in the Muslim faith and is not of the predominant Nuer tribe. She was lonely and hopeless, isolated and pregnant. She longed for hope and a sense of belonging. Last June she was chosen to take part in an Outreach Foundation facilitated trauma healing training and found faith, hope and a sense of belonging in the Christian “tribe” that gathered around her. She is redeemed, and God has a future and a hope for her! She has overcome deep, ongoing trauma – by God’s power and through the training offered by Outreach – she is now training and facilitating the healing of others, and is preparing to complete her high school diploma in the camp. It is an inspiration to be a part of what God is doing in the lives of refugees like Hawida.
Hawida Tau Tau KuKu
In December I completed an online course on alternative care of Vulnerable Children conducted by the University of Strathclyde. I also participated in a workshop held by the World Council of Churches to prepare a document for Christian Health Networks globally. In this new year, I have participated in Global Missions Conferences in Gainesville, GA and Fayetteville, NC, and met with Missions committees in Dallas and San Diego. Several Mission events have been canceled or postponed due to the current Coronavirus pandemic. My next Africa trip is planned for late May to Ethiopia and Kenya. That trip will be confirmed later.
We have launched a major appeal for funds to print, ship and distribute a shipping container of Nuer Bibles (20,000) to refugees before they return to their homeland. Please consider how you and your church might be involved.
Nancy’s father, Rev. David Miller, died on December 23rd following months of declining health. He was 93 years old and had been a missionary in Africa for 40 years with the Presbyterian Church. We miss him. We are expecting grandchild number 7 in early April. Nancy continues to work with a refugee literacy program in Clarkston, GA (when schools are in session). We are currently self-quarantined and practicing social distancing. Our two high school sons have joined an e-learning program from home; AND God is in control.
We seek your prayers for increasing personal and program support to enable the ministries with refugees and vulnerable children and families in Africa to continue. I am grateful for the privilege of serving with The Outreach Foundation and covet your prayers for health and safety. God Bless, thank you.
Frank Dimmock
Read more about Frank Dimmock’s ministry HERE.
THE NEED
The Outreach Foundation is seeking gifts totaling $50,000 for program and support funds. You may make a gift HERE or by sending a check to our office.