We’re Making History

For the next two weeks, I will be traveling in Ethiopia, Egypt and Israel with Randy Daniels, vice president of international ministries, and Jeff Jones, director of operational effectiveness, for Buckner International. We will also be joined by Buckner volunteer JoAnn Bridges from Midland, Texas and later Mike Stickler, from Faith-Based Solutions.

For the first week, we will be evaluating our projects with Bright Hope in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, visiting our community center in Bantu, and scoping out a new location for a future community center and school in the Addis Ababa area.

The second week we will be in Cairo, Egypt meeting with the Charity Shepherd Organization (part of the World Evangelical Association) to discuss future ministry endeavors. We will then go on to Israel, where we will meet with the Baptist Association and scope out potential ministry projects, visit an orphanage in the West Bank, and look for office space in Nazareth.

This trip will be pivotal to the international ministries of Buckner. With each new relationship formed, there are countless lives that will potentially be changed. Children, otherwise cast aside, can receive hope through education. Mothers and widows, unable to provide for their families, can receive training and learn new trades. Orphans, abandoned or abused, can find safe and loving care. Lives will be transformed!

It’s an exciting time for Buckner, and I’m honored to lead you on our journey through this blog. We've already seen God’s hand on our trip. Today in the Frankfurt airport, while eating breakfast at McDonalds, we ran into Jedd and Rachel Medefind from the Christian Alliance for Orphans. Jedd, who is the executive director for the Alliance, an organization that helps connect Christian orphan care and adoption ministries around the world, and his wife Rachel were bringing home their daughter, who they adopted from Ethiopia. We each shared a little about our work and current “mission,” and were able to encourage one another in our service to orphans and widows. How’s that for divine orchestration!

Please continue to check back here for pictures and updates on our trip. If you have any questions about Buckner’s work in these countries, please leave a comment and we’ll respond.

- Jenny Pope
Publications Editor
Buckner International