Josef Rasheed is the regional coordinator for Africa with Serve Globally. In that role he facilitates, coaches, and serves as a resource for missionaries/global personnel, national partner organizations, and Covenant churches.
Features
The Unnerving Season
Long before the 3-M company invented Post-it Notes, God was already prompting his people to jot down reminders of important events. The Hebrew word zakhor, which means remember, appears 169 times in the Hebrew Bible. The call to remember, along with the admonition not to forget, appears so frequently in the book of Deuteronomy that some scholars say the text puts forth a theology of memory for people of faith.
Exile in Lebanon
Most of my days start with a mindless pattern of taking care of the basics: brush the teeth, shower, prepare, and relax with a nice cup of coffee. Then I decide what the day will be like. If tomorrow happens, I’ll repeat those mundane actions—unless there is a reason for a change. I give little thought to the possibility of my routines being unexpectedly disrupted.
Active Voice
Recently the Companion editors sat down with Kathy Khang to ask her about her new book and how it speaks into today’s national conversations.
Diagnosis Cancer
Cancer is the illness that seems to touch everyone—most of us have a friend or loved one who has traveled this journey. An experience with cancer often forces us to confront mortality and what matters in life while giving us time to consider those questions. These Covenanters graciously share a glimpse of their experience with “the big C.”
Poet’s Imagination Captivated by ‘Middle of Nowhere’
DAWSON, MN (October 15, 2018) – Poet Lauren Carlson was less than thrilled when her husband, Erik, graduated in 2010 from North Park Theological Seminary to accept a pastoral call at Dawson Covenant Church in this rural town of 1,400 […]
When Palestine Becomes Personal
In the kitchen of a home outside of Ramallah, I learned how to make qatayef. My young aunt Duha scooped the cheese into the sweet bread and neatly pressed the edges to fold it. I tried to follow her steps, and my step-grandmother, Umm Tayseer, showed me how to press it with her hands, smiling between a few Arabic words. Soon we fell into a peaceful rhythm, completing the tasty Ramadan sweets.
Five Minutes with Robert L. Owens: Service Continues
Robert L. Owens has been serving in ministry in the Covenant for the past forty-four years as a pastor and most recently as the superintendent of the Southeast Conference. He retired in August.
Discovering God the Good, Good Father
Choose and Choose Again is a mosaic of personal stories collected by author and Covenant pastor J. Kevin Butcher, who founded Hope Community Church in Detroit, Michigan. The stories he shares (as well as his own testimony) display the complexities of people who live their lives as prisoners and prostitutes, as well as those who are lawyers and in business.
Serving Those Who Serve
Women in ministry have been shifting the church’s image of pastoral leadership and are answering the call to serve in a wide variety of contexts. Thirty years ago, the Covenant endorsed a woman as a military chaplain for the first time. Women have been following this unique call ever since.
Unite Us
This summer 5,000 students gathered at the University of Tennessee Knoxville for CHIC, the Covenant’s triennial youth gathering. The theme was Unite, so the Companion convened a diverse group of students from across the Covenant to share about their experiences at the event, how God is working in their lives, and what it means to them for the church to “unite.”
Rebuilding What Matters
Last summer an explosion destroyed part of Minnehaha Academy, a preK–12 school operated by the Northwest Conference. Staff members Ruth Berg and John Carlson were killed and several others were injured. President Donna Harris reflects on what their community has learned in the past year and how they have drawn together.