Dummies Go to Africa!

In 1979 I was in a “camp team” traveling to represent Great Lakes Christian College. That is the summer I first met a missionary who had taken his ventriloquist dummy on the mission field to Rhodesia.

Rod Cameron spent many years encouraging children and students to consider missions. He was the Director of a church camp in Central Indiana. Prior to meeting him, he had written a book, A Dummy Goes to Africa about he and his ventriloquist dummy, “Gabby” and their adventures in Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

Not long ago his son Bruce, wrote Jeff Coon when he heard FAME had remodeled the Birthing Center/Area at Mashoko Christian Hospital in Zimbabwe. Bruce was thrilled because he was born in the previous one!

“Dummies” currently play a role in the story of nurses being trained to go into many villages and teach CPR to community leaders in each village, so that more lives can be saved in these areas! CPR mannequins were just shipped to your FAME global partner overseas which runs the nursing program. CPR mannequins are critical to the training that occurs. So I guess we could say, dummies still go to Africa and make an impact!

Thank you for your partnership with FAME!

Bill Warren
Executive Diretor

6 lbs. at 6 months

I’m in the season of life that when I get on the scale, I hope that the numbers go down!

But the first weeks and months of a baby’s life, as you know, are the opposite. Births are announced with their weight included. We celebrate each successive appointment when they’ve gained a few ounces or pounds.

One of your FAME partners visited a village to give medical care, teach health lessons, and encourage the church planted in that village and met a young mother. She brought her child to the medical clinic and the team thought this was a newborn, only a few days old. But they came to find out that this little 6 lb. baby was 6 months old!

The care given turned the corner for little Josias! This partner is one of the great FAME partners who continue to serve among the villages they visit and they return to train leaders and continue care among the villagers.

Three (3) days ago a FAME team went back to that village and it has been 14 years since first meeting little Josias. This is him! He is strong and healthy, still enjoys balloon animals, and is a testimony of great things happening through God’s power!

Because of YOU and your support, ministries like this are able to intervene with help and hope, even for a mother and her 6 lb. child.

Thank you for your partnership!

Bill Warren
Executive Director

Road Closed!

Road Closed!

Here in Indiana, it’s probably because of Summer road construction. But recently, in Guatemala, a medical team was informed that the community they were planning to visit was not accessible- there was no way for a bus to go over the pass.

So last minute plans were made to go to a community to which they had never gone and had wanted to see if there was an open door for the gospel there. They report:

On our second clinic day, we headed to this new community. Two hours after we opened the door it was apparent why we were here. A little girl was carried into our clinic in a Hyperglycemic Crisis. I saw His intricate planning, and how He aligned everything months in advance for this moment. FAME ministries were a part of His plan. Because of your donations, we had the IV kits we needed to buy us time to get off this mountain and to the nearest hospital. Those fluid boluses helped us save this little girl’s life and we could not have done it without you. Our God deserves all the praise. I am so grateful that He used both of our ministries to not only save Little Hope but also to share the gospel with her entire family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those IV Kits being with the right team, in the right place, at the right time is Amazing!

  • They were donated by someone to FAME.
  • They were received, labeled, and entered into inventory by volunteers and staff at FAME.
  • They were listed on a request form from the partner.
  • They were pulled from the shelf, taken out of inventory, and prepared for delivery by volunteers.
  • They were packed and sent out with the team.
  • They flew with a team to Guatemala.
  • They were supposed to go to one community but went to another because of a Closed Road.
  • A life was saved and the gospel was shared.

All that timing is only possible because of God – but it is also because of YOU!

Thank you for your partnership!

Where Jesus Goes….

601,994.713 Square miles. That is the area of the largest state in Brazil… Amazonas (for reference Texas is 268,820 Square miles). Within this vast area lies the intricate Amazon River system, home to over 32,000 villages accessible only by boat!

One of your FAME partners in Brazil, Central Brazil Mission (CBM) has been traveling BY BOAT from village to village for years, taking the gospel through medical evangelism one village at a time.

CBM’s three-story medical boat, equipped with Exam rooms, Dental suites, a Pharmacy, and housing, travels the Amazon, stopping at villages to treat people in the name of Jesus. People arrive in small boats from nearby settlements and villages to receive treatment and hear the gospel. The team reports, “After providing medical and dental care, we close out the visit with a worship service in the village before we leave. Most of the time, our visit leads to an invitation to return and, ultimately, to the establishment of a new church in the village.” Over 50 churches have been established since 1969 in many of the 70 villages that are their ministry focus.

Earl and Ruth Anne Haubner

Amazing regional impact has occurred. Earl Haubner, the founder of CBM, said last week, “Where Jesus goes, everything gets better.” He continued, “We have observed that where the Gospel is preached, life in the whole village gets better. In fact, village leaders have thanked us for bringing Jesus to their villages. In addition to new-found hope through Christ, the people have a better life through better medical care and nutrition and the whole village benefits from the presence of the church and from the local missionary.”

Your partnership with FAME makes this happen, as FAME supports global partners so that Where Jesus goes, everything gets better!

Blessings,

Bill Warren
Executive Director

 

August Prayer Calendar

Dear FAME Prayer Partner,

Thank you for your continued partnership with FAME through your prayers for the ministry. We are blessed in knowing that you come alongside us with your faithful prayers for FAME board members, volunteers, mission partners, shipments, scholarship recipients, the staff, or church visits or events each month.

This month, with so many of the kids going back to school, we ask that you partner with us in praying for our 9 FAME scholarship recipients who are studying to become medical professionals in their home countries. These Christian students all desire to serve God through their medical professions. Each of these students are sponsored by a FAME Partner mission and are in the countries of Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, India, and Haiti.

Also, please pray for a medical team of 5 midwives and doulas that will be serving in Kenya with Entepesi Ministry the first week of August. The team is a collection of providers who specialize in women’s health, midwifery, and babies. They will be focused on training local midwives in Kenya who treat women in remote villages.

And then mid-month we have another short-term mission team that will be serving with Central Brazil Mission. This team of 12 participants will be serving on a boat trip along the Amazon River. They will be docking at multiple remote villages along the river and will treat patients both physically and spiritually. Patients will make their way on board the boat to be seen by medical professionals on the team.

The scripture used in this month’s prayer calendar is Hebrews 1:10-12. It reads, In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment, they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end. NIV

How wonderful and encouraging it is to know that our Lord, Jesus, is eternal and never changes. May you be blessed by his never-ending love for you!

Thank you once again for your faithfulness and your partnership in prayer for FAME.

Blessings in the coming month,

Click here for the August Prayer Calendar

India

January 10-24, 2026

(*this is a closed trip for Hancock Health)

Estimated Cost: $2,890
Mission:  NACEA (North Andhra Coastal Evangelizing Association)
Missionaries:  
Drs. Rajesh and Soujanya (Mini) Paul

Meeting Dates: 

  1. October 19 3 pm EST
  2. November 23 3 pm EST
  3. December 14 3 pm EST

Financial Dates: 

  1. October 1 (Cost of airline ticket tbd)
  2. November 1 (Ground Costs TBD)
  3. December 1 (Ground Costs TBD)

We are partnering in medical evangelism with host missionaries Drs. Rajesh and Soujanya Paul, Directors of North Andhra Coastal Evangelizing Association.  The area of Machilipatnam, India will be our focused location of ministry.  In India, 443 million people live on less than $1 per day. Almost half of the children suffer from malnourishment – the highest rate in the world. Every day, 5000 children under the age of five years old die from preventable diseases. Economic progress is coming to parts of India, but much of the country still suffers from extreme poverty, malnutrition, disease, and illiteracy. Thousands die without knowing Jesus.

This team will join the efforts of the staff of NACEA in providing healthcare teaching/training of nationals and local residents. Hands-on medical care for patients needing treatment will also be offered.  All efforts will advance the ministry of NACEA in reaching out to people for Christ.

We are seeking medical professionals to join us as well as non-medical team participants.  Physicians, Nurses, NPs, PAs, Physical Therapists, and others are needed.

Come join us as we take a FAME team to India! We are very excited to be partnering with North Andhra Coastal Evangelizing Association. This is a closed trip for Hancock Regional Hospital in Indiana.

We are seeking medical professionals such as Physicians, Nurses, PAs, NPs, Physical Therapists, Pharmacists, Dentists, and Optometrists in addition to the need for non-medical participants on this team. We will be treating patients in the clinic, as well as through medical outreaches into the neighboring villages.

Treating the basic health needs of people who will come seeking treatment is one of the ways our team can be used in ministry. In addition, we hope to provide preventative health education that speaks to the specific health needs of the patient,

Medical outreaches open doors for our hosts to engage in personal relationships with those who come to receive treatment from our team. Through those relationships, the good news of Jesus can be shared, and ultimately lives will be transformed. Our ultimate goal is to bring glory to God in all that we do while serving in India! Our hosts need encouragement as they serve the Lord each and every day in some pretty challenging conditions. We want to join them as co-workers in the ministry they have been called to do. This experience is exciting, challenging, fulfilling, emotional, and most importantly, humbling.

There are needs to be met and God’s love to be shared. Won’t you join us?