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Shirley
Townsend-Jones
is serving as a Church and Community
Worker with the Bennettsville-Cheraw Area Cooperative Ministry,
Bennettsville, South Carolina. She coordinates, implements and
supervises programs as a part of the Cooperative's ministry that meets
the spiritual, social, ecumenical and educational needs of the member
churches and community. This includes ten sites of Vacation Bible
School, SBC Resource Center, educational and spiritual leadership
training, summer camps, after school tutorial, scouting, mission fairs,
health fairs, Strengthening Families for Renewal life programs, Shalom
programs, and housing, food distribution and transportation for the ten
rural churches that comprise the cooperative ministry. This cooperative
is the first rural ministry to become involved in the Communities of
Shalom. Reflecting on her ministry, Shirley says, “My work continuously
involves reaching out to the poor, the abused, the abandoned, the sick
and the aged, the poorly housed and the malnourished. God’s mission is
being carried out through the programs and other services we provide
through the cooperative ministry. During the summer our Vacation Bible
School reaches out to over 500 children and youth.” Shirley came to this mission assignment in 1991 after serving for nine years as Director of the Rockingham District’s Black Church Development Program in her home annual conference, North Carolina. She has a B.S. in business administration from North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC. She and her husband, Vincent, have two children, Vincent, Jr., and Brittney Nicole.
Brenda Kay Waddell Awad
is serving in Palestine with her husband, the Rev. Alex Awad. They are
involved with a small international church in East Jerusalem and in
supporting the ministry of Bethlehem Bible College (BBC). Brenda
performs various functions in her role as the pastor’s wife –from Sunday
School director and teacher, to women’s group leader and hospitality
coordinator. At the Bible College she spends approximately 30 hours per
week assisting with English administrative needs and developing
proposals for the College’s worldwide support base. She fills in as an
English teacher when there is a need. In addition, she works with other
UM mission personnel in the region to facilitate UM group visits. In an
effort to bring about reconciliation among Palestinian and Israeli
believers in Christ, Brenda and her husband, Alex, participate in and
support the activities of Musalaha (Arab-Israeli Reconciliation
organization). The Musalaha ministry conducts annual activities (women’s
meetings, theology of the land seminars, desert encounters, and leaders’
events) that foster ties between the two groups and promote peace and
understanding amid much diversity. A native of Fleming-Neon, KY, Brenda
says, “My parents taught me and my ten older siblings the value of hard
work, honesty, and faith in God. My parents' influence, plus interaction
with school missionary programs and church groups led me to accept
Christ and the basic tenets of Christian faith at an early age. I
committed my life to God to serve wherever the Holy Spirit would lead.”
Acting on this rich Christian heritage and desiring to prepare for
Christian service, Brenda attended Lee University in Cleveland, TN,
where she received a B.S. degree in elementary education. While at Lee
University, she was active in missions and felt the call to serve as a
missionary, not knowing where God would lead. One scripture verse that
seemed to follow her was Acts 1:8, “And you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” In 1979, the
Awads responded to the call to go to Bethlehem and assist with the newly
formed Bethlehem Bible College where they spent the next six years as
independent missionaries. From 1985-87 they served at Hope Secondary
School, a charitable boarding school for young people from ages 12-18 in
Beit Jala (near Bethlehem). Most of the students were victims of
previous wars and occupations in their land. During the course of this
ministry the Awad family was forced to leave Israel because they were
refused renewal of their tourists’ visas. In 1989 the Awads were
commissioned as GBGM missionaries, but spent the next five years
struggling to obtain visas to enter Jerusalem. During that time they
served as mission interpreters in various locations on behalf of the
GBGM: as Mission Interpreters In Residence (MIIRs) in Ohio from 1989-90;
peace and justice educators in upstate New York from 1990-91; and MIIRs
in the South Central Jurisdiction from 1991-94. In 1994
Carol DeWitt Crawford is serving with the East Angola Conference. She is assigned to teach at the Theological School at Quessua Mission near Malanje, Angola in west Africa. Prior to her assignment to Angola, Carol served for 20 years in the Red Bird Missionary Conference. During that time she served for 16 years at Henderson Settlement, a mission institution in Frakes, Kentucky related to the General Board of Global Ministries. Carol was also appointed 6 1⁄2 years as pastor of the Wallins United Methodist Church, one of the 24 United Methodist Churches in the Red Bird Missionary Conference. Carol served as a World Division Missionary with GBGM from the late 1980’s to the early 1990’s in Mozambique, Africa. There she taught home economics and English as a Second Language to adults at CEMUDRI, the United Methodist Center for Rural and Industrial Development. Carol was Director of the Conference Women’s Training Center in Maputo during its initial year of operation. Carol has a Bachelor of Science degree in vocational home economics and a Master of Arts in Special Education from Auburn University, in Auburn, AL. She received a Master of Divinity and Doctorate of Ministry in Evangelism, Missions and Church Growth from Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, KY. Carol is an ordained elder of the Red Bird Missionary Conference. Married, Carol and husband Tim, also a GBGM missionary, are the parents of two daughters. Abigail is married to Michael Dobie and they live in Nicholasville, KY. Hannah will be entering Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, KY in August 2007. top of page |
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