Boston Chapter of CBE Builds Community with a Korean Meal

Mimi Haddad
CBE President

To sample authentic Christian community is to sample, if only momentarily, the joy that awaits us in heaven. A recent gathering of the Boston CBE chapter meeting, held in the home of Elder Gene and Dr. Jewel Hyun, gave many renewed vision for the glories of Christian community, a community with a clear and decided purpose—releasing women!

This was certainly an evening that launched new vision for the work of CBE. Let me share a few highlights with you.

Walking into the Hyun home, you find yourself immediately enveloped by Christian love! There is laughter and invigorating discussions coming from every corner of their house, while the Hyuns together complete their preparations of an exotic Korean cuisine. This impressive husband and wife team have, together, advance Christ’s kingdom on many frontiers. The colorful feast covered several tables and facilitated the most lively fellowship, conversation and bursts of laughter.

Gifted leaders, in abundance, serve the CBE Boston Chapter. I had a moment to catch up with several, and their lives of service offer a ready answer to the question; Why are so many churches and denominations embracing biblical equality, unlike any time before? The assembled leaders were dedicated, brilliant, honest, humble, hard working, and most of all devoted to Christ with unleashed courage.

Our exotic meal was followed by the happy news that Jewel had located an ideal location for a CBE conference in Africa! With certainty and enthusiasm, Jewel presented a PowerPoint show that cast vision for a conference site in Kenya, a location that may well become our first conference in Africa, in 2008.

While the evening was still young, we had many verses in Korean to decipher as part of the evenings activities. Winners received handcrafted gifts from Asia, rewarding their knowledge of Scripture and linguistic abilities.

Jewel then opened her heart, and shared her journey into biblical equality. To know Jewel and her husband is to recognize their gifts of leadership that flow abundantly from their lives. Yet, after many years of service, and after many conversations that explored the biblical basis of shared leadership, the Hyuns have decided to leave a church they have founded, to find new horizons and places of deeper service in an inner city Church in Boston.

Finally, our host made an impassioned speech regarding her commitment to CBE. Together with her husband, they have placed CBE in their will because they want to see many more people use their gifts in service to Christ without gender bias. They believe that God is using CBE and our work will mean greater effectiveness in advancing the gospel around the world.

We ended the evening in prayer, asking God to guide our paths, and strengthen our faith.

I thank God for this incredible group of people. They are as tenacious in their commitment to one another as they are in advancing the mission of CBE. Their energy and determination fill me with courage. As a great author once said, “beside such as these can I safely abide.”

Lord, bless the Boston Chapter and keep their hearts and minds focused on you. And, may their tribe increase!