The Other Side of the Angel Tree

By Jessica Vana I served on staff at Summit Christian Church in Sparks, Nevada, for more than five years. Each year when the glittering Christmas decorations went up, I would get a little spring in my step and a grin I found impossible to restrain. The whole campus glows with dozens of trees, thousands of lights, and many other special touches. But every year, there was one tree that stood out. It wasn”t a very large tree, and it was simply decorated with paper angels. On the back of each angel was the name of an under-resourced child. Parents, grandparents,

November 19, 2012

Christian Standard

Mission & Evangelism

From Missionary Kids to Mission Veterans

By Paul Boatman David Filbeck, a second-generation missionary to Thailand, is president of Christian Mission to the Orient. Tim Doggett, a second-generation missionary to the Republic of the Congo, is executive director of the Alliance of Christian Missions International (ACM International). Tell us about your early life as a missionary kid (MK). DAVID FILBECK: I was born in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1961, just before my family moved to a remote tribal village in northern Thailand. Dad was a linguist doing Bible translation. Most of my memories up through eighth grade were about my childhood on the mission field. In