Arizona Baptists minister to MKs in Africa

Thunder and lightning filled the Johannesburg, South Africa, sky while rain poured on the earth. But the 20 mission team members — mostly young adults from First Southern Baptist Church at Sahuaro Ranch in Glendale — were undeterred and quickly changed their plans.

They were prepared to be flexible. After all, the VBS they were facilitating was anything but ordinary.

The 34 VBS students ranged in age from 1 to 11 and were all children of International Mission Board missionaries serving in Sub-Saharan Africa. They were meeting in South Africa.

John Walton, youth minister at First Southern, Glendale, was tasked with preparing the daily sermon for the entire group of students, all from different countries.

Walton worked hard to make the sermons as interactive as possible, knowing the children had heard the Bible stories multiple times. He said John Dina, long-time IMB missionary in Sub-Saharan Africa, emphasized to the mission team repeatedly that missionary kids are like any other kids.

Arizona mission team gathers before a day of ministry.

“We hear ‘missionary kids’ and we imagine they’re super Christians out of the womb,” Walton said. “The missionary kid still needs to repent and believe.” The Arizona mission team intentionally included a gospel invitation each day of the VBS, and, on the first day, the daughter of IMB missionaries prayed to receive Christ.

For many of the missionary kids, the VBS was one of the few times during the year when they would get to interact with other American kids or children of missionaries. For those whose parents are serving in rural areas, it’s rare for them to interact with children at all.

Mariah Tellechea, one of the mission team members, was especially touched by the sacrifices IMB missionary families make.

“These kids don’t have stereotypical childhoods because the gospel needs to be shared,” Tellechea said. Even something as simple as a missionary kid’s favorite sport may not be accessible in the area where their family serves.

As part of the VBS led by the Arizona mission team, MKs drew images to represent themselves during a day when the emphasis was “Jesus is for everyone, including me.”

“It taught me that you can live without your preferences,” she said.

Mission team member Kaylee Woodson added, “The biggest blessing was hearing how the Lord has shaped the missionaries to thrive in a completely different world.”

The worship component was particularly impactful for both the Arizona mission team and the IMB missionaries, who loved being able to worship in English again.

“It was such an unexpected encouragement to worship in song with the missionaries!” said David Sherwood from First Southern, Scottsdale.

Kaylee’s husband, Bayani, added, “God has used us to be a blessing through worship and we enjoyed every minute of it. We also loved being with the kids!”

The IMB missionaries expressed tremendous gratitude for the care shown to their children and were in awe of the size of the mission team.

“We are so incredibly thankful,” said Rachel Thompson, IMB missionary to South Africa from First Southern, Glendale. “The team came and provided discipleship to our children, which they rarely receive while on the field.”

Aida Wahbeh (clockwise from bottom left), David Sherword, Matthew Peters, Mariah
Tellachella, Lexi Richards and Parker Jones take a photo at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on their way to South Africa.

Mark Mucklow, senior pastor of First Southern, Glendale, preached daily to the missionaries and led a Bible study for them.

“The idea of preaching to missionaries has always intimidated me,” Mucklow said. “But after having the privilege for five days, I was humbled by their amazing receptivity and the grace they extended to me in hearing from the Lord.”

Mucklow’s son and fellow mission team member, Joel, said, “The personnel of the IMB were deeply impressive as always.”

Andrew Marchbanks, executive pastor of First Southern, Glendale, and Thompson’s brother, served on the mission team and noted, “I think we’ll see over the upcoming years how much God used that week to impact the hearts of everyone involved, from the kids to the volunteers to the families serving overseas.”

Claudia Macdonald, a freelance writer living in Phoenix, is a member of First Southern Baptist Church at Sahuaro Ranch, Glendale.