BIRTH OF C-GEMS
The long-term effect of that short-term mission trip was to come back and finish what Destination 2000 AD started. The Lord began a thought as the catalyst to the task ahead: “Destination 2000 AD made us aware of the Biblical Mandate for missions from Genesis to Revelation. But it did not show the people of African Descent who do not have a mission ministry how to get started nor did it show those of us who had some type of ministry, how to build a strong, and strategic mission team.” Thus, in August of ’97, the Holy Spirit began Christians Globally Effecting Missions Strategy or C-GEMS. The Lord sent a multitude of counsel, including Dr. Chester Williams, director of ICAM, in the early months of collaboration. We prayed, sought God, and He gradually shaped the ministry to seek to serve as agents to aid Churches of African Descent to make a significant impact in world missions.
Our Story
OUR DIRECTOR
In 1994 Billie June Whitley, led a team of four churches to present Destination 2000 AD with Bob Sjogren and Jill Harris for 200 adults and 50 children respectively. This great missions education increased her burden for the unreached people of the world, especially the 10/40 window, which houses nearly 3 billion who have never heard the name Jesus in their own language.
The Holy Spirit led her to encourage the missions team and anyone who were led, to begin praying for these unreached, for just 20 minutes every first Sunday of the month after church. Then they prayed quarterly, every 4th Wednesday. In 1995, the Holy Spirit prompted her to lead her church in praying through the 100 Gateway Cities of the 10/40 Window the whole month of October.
After three years of praying for the 10/40 window, the Lord used Billie June and her church, Harambe, as part of the answer to their prayers. She was asked by the Director of Inner City and African Ministries or ICAM (whom they had just begun to support) to take a short-term missions trip to Thies, a village outside of Dakar, West Senegal, and The Gambia. There she, with the aide of a gifted young college graduate, administered medical aid and over the counter medicine to the people.
Become a Volunteer or Partner Today
The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. If you are a full-time career, cross-cultural Missionary and would like to become one of our network missionaries, please send for our review your vision, goals and country where you are serving to C-GEMS PO Box 25225, Philadelphia, PA. 19119.