After seeing her son come back from a short-term mission (STM) trip with a deeper sense of God, Shelley Neal began to long for the same experience – to visit a new place and a new people, and gain a new understanding of God in our world. When her church became a STEP partner with Rwanda, Shelley and her family were part of the first STM team to visit. 

After a day of visiting the genocide museum and Children of Hope, a CBM project that supports orphans and vulnerable children, Katie, Shelley’s sixteen-year-old daughter, asked in tears, “Where is God in all this?” CBM Global Field Staff Kathleen Soucy responded, “In you!”

“This was a pretty pivotal moment in Katie's faith journey,” says Shelley. “It empowered her to see how God could work in her life…to make a change. Back home, Katie works with a determination to spread the message about Children of Hope…and to use the abundance of resources available to her to the best of her ability and to take nothing for granted.”

They decided to continue supporting Children of Hope as a family. 

“We wanted to follow up with the promise that we made to those children that we would STEP alongside and support their learning as they develop the skills to sustain their own life and help each other. We promised to tell the people in our world of the wonderful progress that they have made. I have great hope in their ability to make life better for themselves and their brothers and sisters.  I have a lot to learn from their determination and reliance on God to provide.”

As part of CBM’s mission to encourage passionate discipleship for local and global mission, we have produced a global discipleship to help individuals, small groups and churches deepen their commitment to God’s Kingdom purposes. The Call to Follow: Living the Way of Jesus in the World is a six-session resource that weaves together core biblical truths, modern realities and contemporary examples of people who are both hearing and responding faithfully to Jesus’ command to follow him into the world. Each session begins with a short overview and accompanying video that introduces the theme for study.

God is already moving and working in the world. As God’s people, our purpose is to follow Jesus into the world – to share his love, truth and grace – in words and actions. As we follow and encounter Him, God’s mission becomes our mission, our stories become part of his story, and our lives are transformed. We invite you to the journey.

For more information or to purchase and download The Call to Follow: Living the Way of Jesus in the World, visit www.thecalltofollow.org.

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