Sunday Highlight: December 1, 2024

Serving as a minister can be lonely and challenging, even in the United States, where help is usually close.

What about missionaries serving overseas? Along with the usual ministry challenges, they deal with language, cultural differences, isolation, physical dangers, and all sorts of things. Who helps them when they’re discouraged?

In West Africa, that would be our missionaries, Tim and Annie Tidenburg, and we’re going to pray for them today. They are part of our International Mission Board’s member care program that helps missionaries who need pastoral care, counseling, or maybe just an encouraging word.

Tim and Annie were missionary kids: Annie was born in Kenya; Tim was two years old when he moved with his parents to Tanzania. They served as missionaries in East Africa for many years before retiring and heading back to the States.

But they soon returned to Africa, this time to West Africa, a region where hundreds of our Southern Baptist missionaries serve in a variety of countries and situations. Tim and Annie help missionaries with spiritual, emotional, or physical needs so they can keep serving.

Our church supports the Tidenbergs through the Cooperative Program. Let’s thank God for their careers — and their current ministry.