Trinty PCA Missions

Book Translation

2008-10-02T11:01:00.001-04:00

We'd really appreciate your prayers as I work with Mrs. Sato on yet another book translation. This time we've been asked to do Max Lucado's 'Facing Your Giants' on the life of David. It's a great book with some keen insights on living a victorious Christian life...Click here to read the full post.

A Note from the Mackeys

2008-10-02T10:58:00.001-04:00

It seems weird that by this time next year, we might be living in the Amazon jungle! Wow. - and with a little baby. It seems like too big of a job for us to be doing the Lord’s work in a tribe - and you know what - it IS too big of a job for us. The great thing is that it’s NOT our job - it’s the Lord’s!!! We pray that we will keep abiding in Christ day by day so that the Spirit of God will work through us. Pray that we will be vessels of the Lord. Thank you!

A Note from the Pearson Family

2008-09-24T18:35:00.002-04:00

Howdy from Texas! We miss you all! Things are "ramping up" at a rapid pace here. Todd is less than 60 days from deployment. His hours are a bit long at the moment, but he should have some more free time next month. Please keep him (and us!) in prayer as he prepares! He had to do his first notification this past weekend, and it turned out to be a family we knew. We ask that you also remember the Cox family as they have lost the husband/father to an attack in Afghanistan.

Thomas has started first grade and is loving it. We are still homeschooling, so far it is working out great. Reagan is frequently reminding us that she is the princess, and Jackson is crawling at lightening speed and my guess will be walking soon! The children and I will be visiting in December and January, and look forward to worshiping with you !Drop us a line sometime, we'd love to hear from you! wepearsons@yahoo.com or find us on Facebook (as several of you already have! :) )

The Schultz's

2008-09-23T16:18:00.001-04:00

Dear Ministry Partners,

We are only a few days away from the beginning of our new fall term. The Lord is blessing us with 55 adults and 16 kids from 20 agencies heading to 26 countries. What a privilege and serious responsibility God entrusts to us with His servants!

In recent letters I have referred to an organizational and staff problem I have been dealing with. I am pleased to report that we closed the book on that issue this morning and our staff are now united again. This is truly an answer to prayer as we were dealing with a seriously divisive issue. Thank you for praying for me in my leadership and for us as a staff. Working this through was very difficult and painful. We each had to admit how we contributed to the problem with poor communication but more importantly with sinful attitudes and actions. As we let the Holy Spirit do His work we were able to “own” our own issues and submit them to Him. Please continue to pray for us as spiritual warfare is real and we want to be clean before Him. Isn’t it interesting that even though we can be mature believers serving the Lord we can still let ourselves fall into sinful attitudes and actions. We never rise above this and so we must always be alert!

Here at CIT we teach what it means to live out of the gospel, conflict management, and team principles so we now had to choose to live out what we teach. I wonder how much this recent division stood in the way of our effectiveness in the past few months. I look forward with confidence to what more the Lord can do now that this is cleared up. We truly want to live out of Philippians 1:27:

“Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ; so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” NASB

The Lord has provided us with a new Facilities Manager but we are still looking for a part-time/full-time cook for 2009.

Praise/Prayer:

Restored unity in our staff division
The power of the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts.
Significant ministry in the lives of this next group of trainees
New cook

Thank you for standing with us in your prayers and finances.

George and Kathy

The Schultz's

2008-09-23T16:18:00.000-04:00

Restored unity in our staff division
The power of the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts.
Significant ministry in the lives of this next group of trainees
New cook

Thank you for standing with us in your prayers and finances.

George and Kathy

A Note from Joel Colon

2008-09-23T16:05:00.004-04:00

Dear Friends and Family,

I returned to Ukraine about a month ago, on July 25^th, after three months spent in America raising support and visiting family and friends. Although God did not provide all of the additional monthly support that was needed, he did provide some generous one-time gifts to help reduce the deficit that I am currently running in ministry expenses.

By now I think all of you have heard about my engagement to Irena Savochka, and our upcoming wedding on September 27^th. The ceremony will be here in Ukraine, just outside the city limits of Kyiv.

Irena was able to join me in America for the last month before I returned to Ukraine, and God provided the right circumstances that allowed her to meet all of my immediate family. My sister and her husband live on the west coast, but attended a conference which we were able to meet them at in Tennessee. Also, my brother who lives in China returned to the States for a month, arriving about a week before Irena and I flew back to Ukraine, so we were able to spend some time with him as well. We were also able to visit some of my extended family in New England and some of Irena’s extended family who live in Missouri. We were blessed by the way that God gave us opportunities to meet so much family in such a limited time period.

We have been busy since we returned to Ukraine, with lots of preparations still left to be done, and just over one month left to go. As frequently happens, when I begin working on something that is so closely tied into culture, I learn much more about the Ukrainian and Slavic mindset and perspective. Specifically, I have been learning a lot about marriage traditions and expectations in Ukraine.

Having moved out of my last apartment before I went to America because of rent increases, Irena and I began looking for an apartment that would be suitable for starting our life together in October. With the help of Ira’s contacts we were able to find a nice one-room apartment just outside the city for $650/mo.

August is always a slower time of the year, as this is the month that most Ukrainians take their yearly vacations, and as usual, many businesses, companies, and even churches are running reduced schedules or shutting down their offices completely while people are away. Antioch has had many of our people gone as well, with some on vacation, and some of us making needed trips back to America, or being away for children’s camps and mission trips. This week we began meeting together again for prayer and planning for the upcoming months. Please pray for the many teams and training centers as they hold new rounds of meetings and trainings after busy summer programs. This coming month will be a large gathering of teams in the west, to talk about coordinating vision and strategy across multiple oblasts.

As I reported in my last update, the pastor of the Spanish church, Raidel, was asked to go to Brazil by the company for which he works. The decision to go was made only after considerable prayer and God seems to have opened up many new doors for him since he arrived. He is due to briefly return to Ukraine in the beginning of September to get his wife and young son, for whom he has been preparing a place. While this has been a time of joy and excitement for them, it has also been a time of sadness at their having to leave the Spanish church and the close friendships.

Raidel’s leaving has also highlighted the leadership needs that the Spanish church has, and the need for a better definition of its focus and future. This is the only Spanish language church in the city and I strongly feel that it is needed to reach out to the many Spanish-speaking students and businessmen who make Kyiv their home. Although there are some other capable men who have taken a keen interest in the church, at this time I remain the only one who speaks Spanish and understands Hispanic culture. Because of this, and at the request of the church, I have agreed to become the principal leader of the church for this interim period. I am meeting and praying with the main leaders right now regarding the direction that God would have us go. I am open to facilitating some major changes, provided that it results in an effective witness to Spanish speakers in the city. Please pray with us about what God desires for this church.

Praise God that:

1. Returning safely and signing a one-year contract for a nice apartment.

2. Several good months financially to reduce the ministry deficit.

3. Things are coming together for the upcoming wedding.

Please Pray for:

1. Upcoming wedding: Traveling relatives, organizing people and places, countless minutia.

2. Clear direction from God for the Spanish church, my role, and its future. Please pray also that God would reveal the leader that He desires to take over after this interim period.

3. Reconnecting with the various Antioch teams before their upcoming trainings and gatherings.

In Christ,

Joel

PS If the pictures don’t come through you can see them at:

http://web.mac.com/joelcolon

Birth Announcement of Logan Bertram

2008-09-23T15:55:00.004-04:00

Praise the Lord! Logan Gabriel Bertram has arrived and is doing great.
He was born on August 21st, 2008 at 1:14pm.
9 pounds 14 ounces

A Note from the Wenger's

2008-09-23T15:52:00.001-04:00

Starting in May to the present time we traveled many miles, watched God work in the lives of people in various places, enjoyed the wonders of His creation, both in nature and in our precious grandchildren, and faced some weeks of hard work because of water damage to the floor in Jim’s office. The water came not from storms but from leaving the dehumidifier on accidentally while we were out of town. What an unpleasant mess to face after a relaxing week in the mountains!

The May trip to Venezuela remains a highlight for us, and Jim continues to hear from the professors there who want to be effective witnesses in their various universities. He uses email, now that we know each other, to answer questions and encourage them in their initiatives. There are three locations in Venezuela where the vision cast by our team can be implemented. PRAY for Christian and Julieta as they launch a new ministry to students and professors in Valencia, for Alvaro, a professor in Merida, and for Aleive, one of the professors in Maracaibo. Christian, a Venezuelan Campus Crusade for Christ staff member, ably translated for the lectures about the damage that pornography does to those who view it. Along with lectures on other topics, that one was received well by the students in two venues. Please continue to pray for believing professors there and throughout Latin America where the doors are open for their influence by life and by word.

After working many Saturdays to remove wallpaper from an upstairs bedroom, Anne was glad to have Jim take over to repaint those walls in early June. The incentive to get that job done was to welcome visitors from Finland, whom we met in the 1980’s when the father, Antti, was a student at the Univ. of South Carolina. Now, with two of their three children, they came to America to celebrate a special birthday for Antti. They were able to join us for the final night of VBS at our church where Debbie, Mark’s wife, was the Bible teacher along with her father. We helped too since it was family oriented with teams made up of all ages who moved through a schedule of crafts, games, and Bible time each evening. It was fun interacting with four of our grandchildren there along with others on our team.

Both Jim and Anne taught Sunday School throughout the summer. Anne’s class was for those who have completed second grade. Jim’s was the choir class - ages not disclosed!

By late June it was time to travel to Arlington, VA for the National Faculty Leadership Conference sponsored by Faculty Commons. Culminating much prayer, long hours of preparation, and hundreds of e-mails and phone calls, the conference unfolded in blessing and challenge for some 300 people who attended from this country and eight others. Half of those were professors and another twenty-five were graduate students. Relationships deepened for some and hearts were touched by what was heard. Some comments made about the conference follow.
--I have been challenged to incorporate my Christian beliefs in my research.
--Clearly, I have been challenged to be more intentional in my witness ... and I have already started to follow-through with this.
--It’s inspiring to meet with hundreds of Christian professors from all over the country and the world!

Jim was able to hear personally the story of an African professor who has suffered for the faith and interact with him. We continue in contact and pray for him. Morning prayer times around tables, after coffee and muffins, were encouraging as we poured out our hearts for the lost in the universities today.

Following the conference we had time to relax in the Shenandoah Valley and found again that mountains lift our spirits and refresh us immensely. Time to read, take some walks among the trees, and be away from phones, computers, and the routine duties was welcomed.

But then, as mentioned before, we arrived home and found a mess. Our very large personal library meant tons of books, bookcases, and all furniture had to be transferred to other places while the floor was replaced. While we were at it, we decided to replace the carpet upstairs at the same time. Fortunately we have two bathrooms upstairs as well as the living and dining rooms where we could put everything. You can imagine our delight to learn that a team from the youth group at our church was willing to help us do some of the moving. They also took on outside work that needed to be done, since it was being neglected while we tackled the inside jobs. On that particular day we had 21 people working in and around the house, since the carpet laying team was there at the same time. We have nothing but praise for those wonderful young people, ages 12 to 18 who worked hard, with great attitudes, and even listened to us share a bit of our testimony and ministry. What a blessing!

We were able to spend some time with our grandchildren in between the various ministries and projects of this summer.

We read in a report by Ravi Zacharias, well known apologist, an assessment we know to be true. “The attacks upon the Gospel are stronger than ever and a new breed of anti-theists wants to evict all ‘religious belief’ from the academy and the public square. Their own dogmatic materialism is held with such ‘religious fervor’ and is seen by themselves as intellectually sophisticated while any belief in the transcendent is seen as nonsense.” He went on to say that his ministry is committed to prayer, rigorous study, and to proclaim the power of God to bring men and women to Himself.

We also are committed to that effort through Faculty Commons, faithfully holding forth Truth by our life and our words as God gives us opportunity. Your support for us and your prayers for the universities are essential to our being able to do that. We will write more about the specific tasks ahead for the fall at a later date. Please pray for us as you are reminded.

Gratefully,

Jim and Anne Wenger

Birth Announcement of Tekoa Mackey

2008-09-23T15:46:00.002-04:00

Praise the Lord! Tekoa has arrived and is doing great. Ginger's water broke Monday morning. Her contractions started Tuesday morning at 3:30 a.m. We arrived to check in to the clinic at around 8:30, and he was born at 11:45. No drugs, no epidural, no induction - all natural! Thank you all so much for your prayers. Please give us a few days to get some pictures and video on the internet.

Tekoa Everette Mackey

August 19, 2008 11:45 a.m.

Pictures of the Mackey's Opening their gifts from the Baby Shower

2008-09-23T15:34:00.003-04:00

Gustav Bearing Down on the Kay Family

2008-08-28T15:56:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to write an update on Gustav. The last update I just saw a few minutes ago (10:50) revealed that the storm is 4 miles per hour away (wind wise) from being a hurricane. It is now in between Hispaniola and us and the worst of it should hit later today and into the night (Thursday). They are projecting 20 plus inches of rain in some areas on the island with mudslides and flooding. Bud has secured the things in the driveway, got gas in the van and picked up a few things at the store. I've collected water. We've already lost a banana stalk last night. I think he tied up some others -- awnings are down, etc. ready for the wind. We are going to start bringing in the loose things from outside now.

The kids are excited:) It is a miracle that we finished school at 10:45 and now we are all getting ready. Please pray for the church people of which some are in very low lying areas where flooding could mean losing lives. I heard there were evacuations already taking place because of the projected amount of rain we are to receive.

All for now. I will try to write an update after the storm passes if we still have electricity.

The Bertram's New Website

2008-08-27T19:54:00.001-04:00

We’re trying something a bit different with our website now. Hopefully it will be a bit easier to navigate and a lot simpler to update! Our hope is to update it every few weeks so that we can share our adventures with everyone more frequently! Baby pictures, prayer needs, the works! Please feel free to explore our site, email us with any way that we can improve it, make it easier to use, or just more informational! We’ve added a few updates, some more recent pictures of Emily and Ultrasound pictures of the baby! There is also information on what we are doing, where we are headed and a calendar of events to keep you updated on our plans! We’ll see how you all like it before we decide whether or not to keep it. Our desire is to keep everyone as informed as possible about all that is going on in the Bertram household! Thanks for continuing to pray and support us! You are a huge encouragement to us both!

To see the site just click here: http://sites.google.com/site/bertramsbyfaith/

Thanks again! Let us know what you think!!

Update from the Schultz Family

2008-08-27T19:50:00.004-04:00

Our summer here at CIT has been going very well. We have had a good enrollment – much better than the spring. Our fall enrollment looks strong for which we are grateful. It sure makes a difference in the budget!

We have had two work groups (adult and youth) from a church in Indiana who have built a wonderful picnic shelter for us and created a new volleyball court. We are so grateful for these volunteers who also paid for the project!

Our cook on staff and on loan from World Team is leaving at the end of the year and we really need to find another one or even a couple. Cooking usually involves mostly lunches at various times and is in many ways a part-time job. This would be a wonderful opportunity for a semi-retired couple. Know of anyone?

Our staff in the Kids Intercultural Training program has reported that two children have accepted Christ as Savior during this term!! What a blessing this is for these children and for their missionary parents! During this week Kathy had the older kids build boats from cardboard to see whose would float the longest in the CIT pool. It was a fun and learning exercise!

Because of our growth at CIT we have been experiencing some organizational growing pains, which has created some staff pressure points. George is working on some new processes and changes to further develop staff unity and effectiveness. He is also considering developing a personal council of reference to help him with perspective and helpful ideas as well as personal growth.

For Father’s Day Kathy gave George a trip up north to assist Nathan with his youth group on a camping trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The trip was filled with camping, hiking, canoeing and working with kids. It was especially meaningful to watch Nathan serve in ministry and handle a very difficult situation with maturity, passion, and skill.

Thank you for your continued involvement with us through prayer and finances as it makes this work of training missionaries possible impacting the world for Christ!

Praise:

1. Wonderful supporters

2. Two children accepting Christ

3. Great summer term

4. Good visit with Nathan

Prayer Requests:

1. Finding a new cook

2. Organizational development within CIT for greater effectiveness as we grow

3. Wisdom in creating a council of reference for George

More volunteer work groups needed

Mackey Update

2008-08-27T19:44:00.002-04:00

Time has really been moving along here in Brazil. We have been anticipating the arrival of our little boy. Ginger has been staying healthy and is adjusting well to all the changes that have been taking place. We only have about FOUR MORE WEEKS! During that last week or so we will be staying at a house that is in the same town as the clinic; by staying there, we will only have a ten minute drive to the clinic (verses 1 hour).

These last few months have been very fruitful for us and we seem to have gotten off to a great start. We are involved in many activities in the church throughout the week and have begun some great friendships with not only individuals but families. This time is giving me a great head start seeing that classes don't start up until August. Pray for great comprehension of the culture and language and the ability to communicate just about anything.

This will probably be the last update we send out before our little guy is born into the world. Please pray for us as the Lord prepares us for what will take place in the upcoming weeks and months. Pray that the clinic will let me be present for the delivery (it is a small place, so if Ginger goes in to delivery in the middle of the night there will be less people and they will let me be in the room). Pray for a package of baby items that was sent down, which is being held up in San Paulo.

We thank you all so much for your prayers and support; we could not be doing this without you.

Interested in partnering financially? Go to http://www.ntm.org/give/645

Get to know us more at: http://web.mac.com/chris_ginger

Joel Colon

2008-08-27T19:37:00.002-04:00

Irena Savochka and Joel Colon would like to formally announce their engagement to be married. They will be married on Sept 27th in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Note from the Mackeys

2008-08-27T19:31:00.002-04:00

As our knowledge and practice of Portuguese is growing, so is my belly! I'm now at 7 months with only 58 days to go (his due date is August 20th).

Needless to say, we're excited about becoming parents!

It's hard to believe that we've now been in Brazil at the New Tribes Mission base in Vianopolis for over a month. We've been very involved in church, and welcome our new friendships. I am already somewhat comfortable in the Brazilian culture, and I'm proud of how fast Christopher is not only learning Portuguese, but also mixing in with the Brazilian men. He even goes shopping in town by himself, and keeps our wheels (cargo bike) in working order!

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We think of you often, and could not be here if it weren't for you.

Update from the Mays

2008-08-27T19:26:00.004-04:00

Thank-you for praying for us during our two-week

Singapore

trip. We fell in love with

Singapore

. With everything written in English, and only three subway lines to contend with, it was easy for us Tokyoites to get around. East meets West in

Singapore

, enabling us to eat food from all over the world.

Amanda's home church, The Peoples Bible Church, warmly received us, transporting us to and from the wedding, to church services and the airport. The three-day retreat with the church people gave us an opportunity to appreciate our Singaporean brothers and sisters in a deeper way. Getting to know Amanda's family better and meeting about 80 of her relatives at the wedding was a highlight. We feel honored to be related to the Ng family. Henry and Irene (Amanda's parents) are highly respected as senior pastor and we came to admire them even more as we got to see them in action.

Aaron and Amanda are finally on their official honeymoon, staying at a mountain cabin in Sisters, Oregon. They will be working at Multnomah Bible College this summer and will be able to move into their own apartment in mid-July on-campus. I'm sure they would appreciate your prayers as Aaron finishes up his last year of school and as Amanda looks for full-time employment.

Alecia continues to teach at Belgrave English School until her return to college on August 27th. She is learning flexibility and patience as her students range from age 2 to 14.

Gerald is quite busy this summer with the added responsibility of "holding down the fort" at Family Forum Japan while Tim Cole, the director, takes a short home assignment. Gerald is also teaching a “continuing education” theology class again for 8 weeks this summer and fall. The course is designed to better equip Christians to “rightly divide the word of truth”exposing them to the breadth of the Bible’s major teachings. Please pray for his 8 students as they work through this potentially life-changing study.

I'm leading a 4-week Bible study on the book of Acts for a group of seven ladies. I'd appreciate prayer for one of the unsaved ladies in this class, Sachiko, who is active in church but hasn't yet received Christ as her Savior.

We had a great gospel concert on June 21st, joining in with 300 other voices to praise God through the energetic thrust of black gospel. Our own little black gospel choir of 12 members has been asked to sing at a local City Festival on July 13. It will be the first time for our small choir to perform on our own aside from the big concert. Several of the members are unsaved, but are open to the Gospel.

Thank you for remembering us in prayer. We are powerless without prayer.

A Wenger Report

2008-08-27T19:24:00.001-04:00

Lately we have been packing our suitcases and hitting the road often. And we’re not finished yet! Next Tuesday we leave for Arlington, VA where we will participate in the National Faculty Leadership Conference. By providing Christian fellowship, encouragement, and training in ministry skills, the conference hopes to move professors from being observers to join those who invest in the lives of their colleagues and students with reference to eternal matters.

Our goal is to build movements of Christian professors on every campus, so that each campus will have faculty who point students and colleagues to Christ. We have pre-conference staff meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, June 25 and 26, but on Friday, June 27 we will welcome the professors and graduate students to the weekend conference. Please join us in praying that the Bible exposition, the academic discourses, and the practical helps offered will be well received and will result in fruitful exploits for God in the year ahead. The secular university is considered a stronghold of the gods of this world due to prevalent philosophies that are not in line with God’s Truth. Much prayer is needed to see any changes in the climate on campuses across our land.

One of our colleagues in Faculty Commons went Home to be with the Lord on June 11 after a short but intense battle with ALS commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. She was only 54 years old and had a significant role in leading the women of our ministry in addition to being a godly wife, mother, and influencer in her community and church in Minnesota. Such a loss reminds us that life is short and what we do each day should count for eternity.

We are blessed to be able to devote ourselves to this ministry and your partnership is necessary for our doing it. Thank you for your faithful prayers, encouragement, and gifts. The price of gasoline may have negatively affected the number of professors who will attend the conference in VA. We know you are noticing the rise in all your expenses too. We pray for God’s blessing and help for each of you.

Bertram Update

2008-08-27T19:19:00.002-04:00

Just click on the picture to read the update.

Update from Joel Colon

2008-08-27T19:09:00.002-04:00

It is nice to be back in the States for a little while, but since I keep forgetting my camera in the car, this update won’t have the usual assortment of pictures with it, sorry. I will try to get some pictures posted soon.

There are so many things over the last several years that I have gotten accustomed to doing without and have either forgotten about or stopped missing them. I like going through the stores when I come back and I am always fascinated by the various new American products, food items, and computer toys that appear. I never stop missing the peanut butter and spicy food, but this time I was also drawn to some of the new technological gadgets as well… J

Antioch has begun its usual summer slowdown with fewer meetings and trainings scheduled for June and July. Churches always have a lot of evangelism, children’s camps, and activities planned for the summer months, so we don’t hold too many training sessions. Although most of the Antioch team are very active in their local churches during this time, the summer months also allow us time to do planning and preparation for the upcoming busy fall and winter months. Please pray that God would bless the summer evangelism and outreach projects that directly contribute to the church planting efforts of the leaders and teams, which we have trained through Antioch

The Spanish church continues to experience the ups and downs of a foreign language church in Kyiv. Summer months see many students returning to their home countries or traveling abroad for work and vacation. The weather is beautiful though and the ones who remain have been having picnics and get-togethers down by the river. One big bit of news is about the current leader/pastor Raidel. He has been working at a company that recently asked him to move to Brazil for several years to work more intimately with the company offices there and in other South American countries. He has prayed quite a bit about this and God seems to be opening all the doors, so he will most likely be leaving in late July. We don’t know yet what exactly this will do to the church and who will be stepping up to fill some of the opening leadership needs. It will mean that I will have to preach a little more frequently at first and help out more with coordinating among the other leaders. Please pray that God will lead us in determining how to best continue this ministry.

Since I haven’t written very much about my girlfriend Irena in the regular updates, it is perhaps not all that surprising that I have been answering as many questions about her as there are about the good things happening in my ministry. J For those of you who have been keeping up with it, Irena did receive her American Visa (God blessed her with a five year, multiple entry Visa) and she will be coming to the US in June for several weeks. She will get to meet some of my family while she is here, and we even hope to connect for a couple days with my brother Ramon, who will be back from China for about a month starting in late July.

Speaking of Ramon in China, he continues to live in Chengdu and teach English as well as play/sing in the band Redwater. He was riding his motorcycle with some friends on May 12 when the 7.8 earthquake hit. He was just slightly outside the earthquake epicenter when it occurred and God miraculously kept him and his traveling companions safe as the roads and towns were wiped out around them and they were forced to hike out of the devastated area. He is doing well, although he reports that the continuing aftershocks continue to do more damage, wake them at night, and affect people’s nerves.

Support raising update:

It has been wonderful to be able to spend a little more time in America this time and share with many of my supporting churches and individuals, as well as present the ministry before new groups. Although much of my time and weekends have been busy, I still do have available times and dates in June and July and would love to share more about my ministry with you. If you or your church is interested in hearing more please send me an email to joelcolon@mac.com or call 828 286 1572 and we can arrange a time to get together.

I am looking to raise about $1700 more in monthly commitments for the expanding ministry expenses of training and coaching pastors, leaders and church planting groups. This breaks down to about 34 churches/couples/individuals willing to commit to $50 a month. Please pray whether God is leading you to partner with me in this ministry.

Praise God that:

1. My girlfriend Irena received a Visa and will be coming to the United States for a visit in June.

2. My mother received her Doctorate of Nursing from USC after a long educational journey.

3. God kept Ramon safe through the earthquake in China.

Please Pray for:

1. That God would continue to open new doors as I raise funds until returning to Ukraine in late July.

2. That the Spanish church would receive clear direction from God in the midst of Raidel’s leaving.

3. Summer evangelism and children’s ministries during the summer months.

In Christ,

Joel

PS If the pictures don’t come through you can see them at:

http://web.mac.com/joelcolon

Report about Kevin Bertram's Trip to Cambodia

2008-08-27T19:05:00.002-04:00

I just received an update from Kevin this morning. He said they made it in safely from their long flight. Also they have toured the capital city of Cambodia to get more familiar with it for future (when we are living there and have to go there to get supplies). He also mentioned that he has already a ton of stories of things that have happened to them in the last few days. They make their first visit to the Cambodian tribes tomorrow. This is the beginning of some serious jungle/wilderness travel for them. He was saying that they may need to hike for a few hours if the road is terribly muddy. Be praying for them as they continue to travel into the other villages as the road conditions and living conditions become more and more difficult. Well, that all for now, hopefully I’ll receive more news later.

Emily

Family Forum Japan

2008-08-27T19:02:00.001-04:00

The pace at Family Forum Japan has picked up considerably this month with a new book and DVD series coming available, and our speaking staff kept busy giving seminars on child rearing, marital relationships and sexual issues. Please pray for both the speakers and our administrative support staff, particularly as we prepare for one of our prime seminars in June. That will be an advanced training session for teachers, pastors, youth leaders and other Christians preparing to present the message of a biblical approach to Sexual Abstinence to the youth of Japan. Please pray, too, for God’s provision for general support income. We’re facing a serious crunch financially trying to pay our people, as well as cover other ministry expenses. More than anything we need more friends to join us by supporting Family Forum even just $20 a month.

And here at home in the book department, we've been giving away a new book called Manga Messiah. The life of Christ is pictured in Japanese Manga (cartoon form), a new way of getting the Gospel out to the many people who enjoy manga. We've been pleasantly surprised at the positive response we've been getting. Pray that God might use this book to bring people to salvation. It can be used to spark an interest in reading the Bible.

Wada-san, the manager at Debbie’s women's gym, continues to change from a negative to a positive disposition at work. God continues to open up windows of opportunity to share the Gospel with her. Yesterday Deb talked with her a bit about the spiritual significance of the Narnia Chronicles. Please pray that God will continue to soften Wada-san's heart and that she will put her faith in God.

Our Bible Study Fellowship class is coming to a close as we have our sharing day this week on what God has been teaching us in the book of Matthew. It amazes us both that there are non-Christian ladies coming to the study. Despite the load of homework, Ayuko, an unsaved friend with no Bible background, continues to attend week-to-week. Please pray that Ayuko will meet Jesus in a personal way.

Speaking of coming to a close, on May 21st, our good friends Tom & Ginna Sloan released their 32-year-old son Joshua, from this earth to heaven. After 2 years and 7 months of battling brain cancer, Joshua is in the arms of Jesus. He and his wife Sadie fought victoriously, making a huge impact on all of us. You may have prayed for the Sloan family, as we mentioned them several times in prayer letters. Please continue to pray for Sadie and the two girls, ages 5 and 2, as they adjust to a new life without Joshua.

Finally, we'd appreciate prayer for health and safety as we fly to Singapore on June 2nd for the “Big Day.” Aaron and Amanda are already there, preparing for their June 7th wedding.

Thank-you for teaming with us in impacting Japan for Christ!

The Wenger's are Back from Venezuela

2008-08-27T19:00:00.005-04:00

We’re back from our trip to Venezuela. Our team of six traveled to Maracaibo, Venezuela, on May 13, spent three days doing classroom talks, lunches, training seminars, and individual conversations at two of Venezuela's top universities, on Saturday toured the old city and debriefed with the local Campus Crusade staff, and then flew home on Sunday. This trip had God's blessings throughout: many heard the message of salvation and responded, believers were challenged to allow God to use them as salt and light where they are, and our team from the US came alongside the gifted local team to share in what God is doing there. Here are some highlights of how God answered your prayers:

1. Traveling in and out of Venezuela was perhaps the hardest part of the trip. We were paying some kind of travel tax every time we turned around, and the paperwork and logistics were annoying. We literally ran out of money from paying the required and unexpected taxes, and still had one more tax to pay. God provided through one of the professors, Tom, who had his American Express card with him--the only card the airport bank in Caracas would accept.

2. All talks were met with great interest and spiritual openness. It was gratifying to see university students so enthusiastic and interested in a presentation, plus being able to share the gospel right in the classroom—such a privilege! Tom, Phil, and Wes (our two profs and one grad student) spoke numerous times in various venues and at each of the two universities the remarks on the comment cards were encouraging. Our hosts told us that the Venezuelans can be bluntly critical if they don't like something, so the absence of negative comments really indicate how spiritually prepared the hearts of the students were. We were able to talk one on one with some of those who attended the lectures. Thankfully our Spanish flowed again! Now the local staff and believing students will follow up those who indicated a decision and more interest.

3. God also did a great work in the lives of the Venezuelan professors. Although fewer attended professor outreaches than the student gatherings (just like in the US!), the ones who came, both Christian and non-Christian, appreciated the Biblical and practical input offered. Venezuelan professors who follow Jesus feel isolated, so it was great to develop friendships with them and help them see how God can continue to use them. The four active Christian professors we met in VZ are involved in ministry in some way. We will follow up with e-mail that will have added impact after having met them face-to-face. The two sessions Jim led for exploring ways to help them give us a framework for proceeding, Lord willing. Another trip at some future time may also be possible and would be welcomed.

4. Thank God for His protection. Because of student elections on the campus, there were incidents of tear gas bombs being thrown around the various buildings where we were. We were never in danger, and students who came to class were able to attend our lectures when their professors did not show up. We were kept safe in cars and while walking on very uneven pavement. God also prevented everyone from any sickness the entire time. We enjoyed some good meals, including many of the delicious tropical fruits.

5. We really want to say Praise the Lord for this long-awaited privilege, and for which you gave and prayed with us. May God be glorified and His kingdom enriched because of this. As you are reminded, please pray for believers in Venezuela who may have limited time for such freedom of expression. Pray also for the continuing follow-up of those who made decisions or indicated interest in knowing more.

An Update from the Schultz Family

2008-08-27T18:58:00.003-04:00

In April Kathy attended the MK (Missionary Kid) Caregivers Consultation in Kansas City, KS. This conference is designed to further equip those who minister to MK's. One of the values of this consultation is, "The care and development of missionary families must be intentionally planned by caregivers." Since CIT is proactive in our training of families, Kathy went to the consultation to share and gather ideas for our program. Of particular interest was why some mk's walk away from the Lord-good checklist to pass on to families.

This spring our Childcare Coordinator (ages 0-5 years) resigned and it has been a harrowing time trying to find the right person for the position.
Just last weekend, the Lord provided 2 applicants-and none too soon as the CIT summer session begins May 28. We praise the Lord for His provision of our summer staff as well. We should have a full house of 30 children-ages 2 months through 14 years. How exciting!

On a personal note we had a really nice visit with Nathan and his wife Beth in PA a few weeks ago. We saw their church where Nathan serves as Middle School Youth Pastor. We also did a one-day quickie trip to New York City - Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and got to eat in a wonderful Brazilian restaurant!

We are also enjoying having daughter Beth living at home these days. Joel is here for a few months (back from the Ukraine) and it's great to have him around as well!

Praise
1. A very helpful MK Consultation
2. Finding a childcare coordinator

Prayer
1. Special leading of the Lord for Kathy to choose between 2 wonderful applicants 2. Incorporation of the new childcare worker into our staff 3. Skill and stamina in teaching the good number of kids coming this summer

We continue to be so grateful for your prayers and support. Thank you so
much.

A Note from the Mackeys

2008-08-27T18:55:00.002-04:00

We have safely arrived in Brazil. We serve such a mighty God! I just want to say that you all are INCREDIBLE! You are the best team that we have ever been a part of. Thank you for all your prayers; God answered everything that we asked for and beyond. We made all of our flights just fine and still cannot believe that when we arrived in Miami at gate J7, our connecting flight to Brazil left out of gate J8! (If you have ever traveled overseas, this is unheard of.) Upon arriving to Brazil we went through immigration just fine, and when we went to claim our bags for customs check. . . . they looked at our passports and waved us through with no questions or even touching a bag!! After 20+ hours of traveling we arrived with ALL of our luggage and were treated to a typical Brazilian meal. We are now still settling into our apartment at the New Tribes Mission base where we have already begun Portuguese study.

In the next few days we will be adding to our website a ton of pictures and even a short clip of our drive into Vianapolis. http://web.mac.com/chris_ginger

Thank you all again for your prayers and we will continue to keep you up to date with the events of our lives and what God is going to be doing.

Update from the Kays

2008-08-27T18:52:00.001-04:00

Many of you know we came back to Jamaica after our home assignment under different circumstances. The student pastor (28 years old) who was to graduate in June and take over the pastorate of Spanish Town Tabernacle, died suddenly in January. We arrived on the island on a Tuesday and went to his funeral the next Saturday. It was a bittersweet time, though, seeing our friends and co-workers again under these circumstances. It has taken the congregation some time to grieve and find their way after this tremendous loss for the church. We are thankful to the Lord for providing others to do the various things our student pastor used to do such as leading the service, leading youth group, witnessing, preaching, etc, however, Karl is still greatly missed. Please pray for his wife, Jody, as she continues to grieve the loss of her husband.

In the midst of this, we are thrilled with what God is doing in the church. There were four people who went forward to receive Jesus as their Savior the weekend of February 24 after the church service. On Good Friday a man in his thirties came for the first time and was asked if he was a Christian and he said “That’s why I am here. I want to become a Christian .” Devon became a Christian that day. We found out that he has his own business working in the same exact location of a man we knew over ten years ago named Clinton (from Kingston) who had his own business there, but has since migrated to the States.

Sherry lives with Devon. We found out that for a few Sundays she stood outside the door after worship service and called Donette over to give her tithe for the church. Sherry didn’t come to service because of her work schedule, but continued to give her tithe. She finally came to church the week before Palm Sunday for the first time. She was thrilled to be able to come and be a part of the service. She is not a Christian, but we see God working in her life. Please pray for her and Devon as they grow in the knowledge of God. Also after the Good Friday service, there was a young lady, Tracy, in her twenties who had been coming to church consistently for about a month. She came up right after service was over and said “I’m ready! I’m ready!” She accepted the Lord that morning!

A few Sundays ago after church, two teenage sisters made professions of faith. There are five sisters of which four came to church. They came out to youth group the Friday before. Later that evening when Bud and Dad went witnessing in the community they ended up at the Arnett’s house where they sat on the veranda with all the sisters and their mother and father. They had a piece of fabric hanging as a door to their house. Their house was deep in the ghetto. As they sat there on the veranda speaking with Mr. Arnett, (Daniel) they found out that no one in the household works. He made a comment, “My children are my life, my pension, my retirement, my everything.” When we heard this statement, we became a bit concerned for the girls in this regard. Many times in a situation like this, young girls are forced into a compromising lifestyle just to survive. During the course of the conversation talking about the Lord, Daniel said, “Why do you care about me?” Dad’s response was, “Once I wouldn’t care, but now Christ lives in me and His love causes me to care.”

They were also able to visit a man whom we’ve had contact with before, Patrick Brown. He is the father of two of our Sunday School children. He made a profession of faith that same evening. A few days later they saw him again and were able to encourage him in his walk with the Lord. They also “ran into” a man they had met months before who made a profession of faith while they were working on the church building. His name is Max. He just “so happened” to get off work early that day and they “just so happened” to be on the same path leading into the community when their paths crossed. Coincidence? No! We discovered that he hasn’t come to church like he said he would because he works seven days a week. Please pray for these dear ones whom God has called to Himself that they will make the time to meet with us and or find themselves in church so they will begin to grow in their new found faith.

A group of ten young adults have joined the 2-7 discipleship class offered during the Sunday School hour. It is a wonderful time of accountability and growing in the Lord. Please continue to pray for this group as they take this class that they will find the time during the week to study the lesson and memorize the Scripture passages.

Please pray that the truth of God’s assurance of salvation, answered prayer, victory over temptation, forgiveness and guidance will sink deep into their hearts as they go throughout their spiritual life.

For those of you who haven’t heard, we have been blessed to have Pastor Clark Lindsay offer to put together and update a blog site for us. The address is: kayschronicle.wordpress.com

We try to update this as often as possible. This site will contain more information on what is happening here in Jamaica from day to day and will keep people informed of updated prayer requests as well as including some pictures. God has so abundantly provided for us throughout the years and this is just another example of His goodness.

An Update from Todd and Jamie Pearson

2008-08-27T18:49:00.002-04:00

Hi all! Sorry for the bulk message, and the delay. We don't have internet at the house yet and I am sitting in a parking lot with the laptop! I just wanted to be sure you all knew we made it safely and get you our new address. I will send more as soon as I can get up and running at the house, as well as get that blog I've been promising going.

Todd started work this week, and is very happy with his new assignment. He is the chaplain to the 303 MIl Battalion (Military Intelligence).

We found a house, it is beautiful. It will be up to visitor speed here soon ;) so start shopping for airline tickets!! :) For the moment, our cell #'s are the same. Home phone will be hooked up middle of next week (with
internet!!!!)

A Note from the Wenger's

2008-08-27T18:40:00.002-04:00

Praise God that the funds needed for our ministry trip to Maracaibo, Venezuela May 13–18 are in hand and the schedule of events is almost complete. We are excited about the prospect of a harvest in the evangelistic opportunities planned, as word from the Venezuelan staff is that there is widespread openness in the universities to hear and consider the claims of Christ and the Gospel message. We want to assist the professors who go with us and to offer help to believing professors in that city’s universities as they continue ministry to their students and colleagues, in a 68,000 student state university and a smaller private school. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday will be spent in various venues for lectures, testimonies, and interaction over meals.
We count on your prayers for God’s enabling the 6 going from the U.S., and for getting to and from the places designated for each of us. Pray for health, safety, stamina, and our spiritual alertness as we speak with many there. Tuesday and Sunday are travel days to and from VZ, and on Saturday we will debrief with local staff so that the value of our visit can be assessed. We plan to see a bit of the city that day too. All in all it is a quick trip with a full schedule.

May 2 to 4 we will be in Georgia for a reunion at the Radiotherapy Clinic where Jim was treated for prostate cancer last spring. We will see friends and hear lectures by doctors where questions can be answered too. Upon our return from VZ we will prepare for summer which includes hosting guests from Finland in our home followed by the National Faculty conference in Washington DC in June. Our family members are all doing well with each family approaching the end of another school year. Even Mary Beth has been studying and working this year. We are grateful for God’s blessings on us in so many ways. Thank you for your part in that blessing!
Gratefully, Jim & Anne

A May Update from the May's

2008-08-27T18:33:00.003-04:00

Yes, "our month" is already here! It has already proving to be an exciting month with big things happening in our family life.

Alecia successfully finished her second year of college and is back in Japan teaching English to Japanese children from ages two to ten. Thank-you for praying her through all her papers and exams. In celebration we decided to do a photo shoot for her. It's a Japanese tradition to dress a young woman in a kimono at age twenty, when she becomes an "adult". We thought we better take advantage of the chance before her 21st birthday! We have a friend in our area who owns many kimonos, and she helped create our Japanese princess as you see her in this picture.

Aaron has a very exciting month ahead. First, he'll be finishing off his junior year at Multnomah Bible College, and his fiancee' Amanda graduates on May 16th. Then the two of them head to Singapore to finish off final preparations for their June 7th wedding. Amanda's dad, Henry Ng, is the senior pastor at People's Community Church, where the wedding ceremony will be held. With Gerald giving the message, and Henry officiating in the ceremony, it is going to be a family thing.

For all the family and friends in the Portland area, there will be a wedding reception on August 16th. We know that many of you are unable to attend, but we appreciate your prayers for God's blessing on Aaron and Amanda as they start a new life together. Aaron has one more year of school which qualifies them to live in the married student apartments at Multnomah Bible College. They are seeking the Lord about doing ministry in China or some other limited access country in the future.

News from the Mackey Family

2008-04-08T09:10:00.002-04:00

Chris and Ginger have an announcement for everyone about Baby Mackey on their blog! Click here to see what they have to say.

Support Needed for Joel Colon!

2008-04-04T17:02:00.002-04:00

Dear Friends of Joel Colon:

It is with undisguised pleasure that I write to you on behalf of our colleague and my son Joel. First a brief note of history. In September of 2004, Joel accepted the challenge to serve the Lord in Ukraine with SCPI. At that point he made a one year commitment and you graciously accepted the challenge to support him in prayer and financial resources.

In March of 2005, Joel arrived in Kiev with support adequate to meet his living expenses and ministry goals based on a short-term commitment. A year after that (2006), believing that God had more for him to do in Ukraine, Joel made a long-term commitment to the work without a corresponding increase in his support base.

We have witnessed God’s hand of blessing on the SCPI ministry in Ukraine and God’s hand on Joel’s life in ministry. The work in Ukraine has greatly expanded and Joel has been a great asset to the Antioch (SCPI) team.

Expanded ministry, both for the team, and for Joel, has necessitated increasing expenditures; all of this within a context of a nation with a rapidly escalating cost of living. Apartments that rented for $250 a month in 2005 are now over $800 monthly. The city of Kiev now has the 10^th most expensive cost of living in the world.

Budget adjustments and creative living arrangements have held at bay the need to seek greater funding for Joel’s personal needs as well as his contribution to the team’s ministry expenses. However, the time has come to address the pressing financial needs.

Two things are needed in order for Joel to continue to minister in Ukraine with adequate resources: first, a continued commitment from you his supporters to continue to provide at your current level of giving. Secondly, a twofold effort on your part:

1) If at all possible, increase the amount of your contribution. Many of you are already giving sacrificially and I thank you for your generosity.

2) There is also a need to expand the support base. Joel needs more churches and individuals to partner with him for the work in Ukraine. Joel is scheduled to return to the US for an extended period beginning in April. If you have family, friends, neighbors and church contacts that may have an interest in Joel’s ministry please make arrangements for Joel to follow up on those contacts. You can contact Joel at joelcolon@mac.com

You can also contact me at colonjames@bbellsouth.net or 828-286-1572.

I would be delighted to assist in arranging for any home or church meetings during the next few months. Of course, all of this bathed in prayer for God’s leading and blessing.

I look forward to God’s provision through you His people.

Jim Colon

Update from the May Family

2008-04-04T16:56:00.003-04:00

With cherry blossoms in full bloom, birds waking us up with their morning songs, and temperatures rising, spring has definitely arrived in Tokyo!

This past Sunday was a special day. Mrs. Kawaguchi, a 78-year-old grandma whom Debbie befriended some time ago, came to Hope Bible Church for the first time. She and her family are devout Buddhists, and yet she responded to Debbie’s invitation to church. We were amazed when her 50-something son saw us off as we picked his mom up. He knew she was going to church, yet didn't object. Earlier last week Mrs K. broke into tears of joy when Debbie took her some flowers for her birthday. Perhaps because of the flowers she felt an obligation to respond to Deb's invitation to church. In Japanese, this is called "giri". Japanese are masters at building up "obligation" by giving presents or doing good things in order to get back what they want. But, in reality, we know that her going to church is beyond "giri". GOD definitely is the one that draws people to Himself and we give Him the praise. Please pray that this lady and her family might come to salvation.

Earlier last month we asked prayer for Mrs. T, whom Debbie is leading in a weekly Bible study. Thank-you! Those prayers were answered! This lovely Korean lady attended Easter services after having been estranged from the church for many years. God is working healing and encouragement in her heart, and she is showing more signs of understanding of and desire for God’s Word. Praise the Lord!

Below you will find two pictures. Gerald is pictured with Junko Takenouchi (75), who was baptized last July. Gerald had the privilege of leading her through an intensive Bible study for nearly a year before we left on home assignment last spring. She continues to grow in her spiritual walk: this lady who first came into Hope Bible church with a very sour disposition now exhibits a new joy and appreciation of life in the Lord.

Debbie is pictured with some of the members of our gospel choir along with our music director, Ken Taylor. Gospel choirs have gotten to be such a rage in this country that Ken is directing almost 30 choirs. Many of these choir members are non-Christians. We have a natural opening to share God’s message of hope as we explain the words and concepts in each song. Please pray with us that God will draw them to Himself through the gospel message in the music.

We hope you are enjoying this fresh new season of life and growth. May God bring much spiritual renewal in your lives too!

An Update from the Schultz Family

2008-04-04T16:52:00.003-04:00

After a record-setting year in 2007 our enrollment numbers are down in 2008. From what I am hearing I believe the slowed economy is making it more difficult for new missionaries to find full funding. Until they get their support they can't come to CIT. This is creating budget issues for us so your prayers are appreciated.

You may remember we have been pleading for help in recruiting someone for a Facilities Manager position. The Lord has given us two very good options now, both of which could be on board in the next 3 months with full or mostly full funding! We are now wondering if we can effectively use both of them. From famine to feast! Please pray for special wisdom for me as I work this through.

There are other staff changes in the works as well. My administrative assistant will be reducing her hours to 10 per week so we will need to replace her position. We have someone interested but we are still working through several challenges. The person in consideration works in our Childcare Dept. so that would create a hole there if that move happened.

Kathy's primary role is to lead our Kid's Intercultural Training program. She will be traveling to Kansas City next week to the "MK Care Consultation." In addition to learning and sharing she will also be looking for recruits to help in our program here. We can use one or two kids program workers. Know anyone?

We are blessed to have a church volunteer group coming next week from Indiana who will be erecting a picnic shelter and volleyball court.

Our Strategic Master Plan process is slowly proceeding with another important meeting scheduled for April 23. The Lord has been providing some very highly qualified people to help us. Pray for special wisdom.

Kathy and I had hoped to travel to CO in May to visit our friends and supporting churches but with all of our recent travel and now staffing issues we feel it best to postpone until 2009. We trust our Colorado friends will understand.

And finally let me say again how grateful we are for all your encouragement and involvement with our ministry here at CIT. Your partnership with us is essential and we say thank you for your prayers and gifts. Below are a few student comments regarding their training here at CIT.

Disappointing News from Chris and Ginger

2008-04-04T16:45:00.002-04:00

Thank you VERY much for all your prayers regarding our visas. As you know, we went to re-apply for our visas at the Brazilian Consulate on Tuesday.

Despite our extremely fine-tuned Consulate interaction skills, the verdict is that they didn't even accept our papers!

Here's how it all went down:

*We got there at 8:30 am.

*They took our papers in the back to look over them.

*We sat and waited until 11:30 am.

*They asked us to come in the back to talk.

*They told us that they are not able to accept our re-application since we were already denied once. In order for them to accept our papers, they would need specific instructions from the bigwigs in Brazilia.

The funny thing is that weeks before our trip, the bigwigs in Brazilia told our NTM leadership that the Consulate did not need instructions from them to accept our papers.

So, as you can see, we're in a catch-22.

All we can do now is wait and see if proper communication takes place between Brazilia and the Consulate. If not, we will take a different route.

This is obviously not what we wanted, but above all else, we know the Lord is in control. We trust that if and when the Lord wants us in Brazil, He will pave the way. Until then, we just need to "trust and obey."

Thanks again. Your prayers truly upheld us during our 3+ hours of waiting.

Christopher and Ginger

Happy Easter from The Kay Family

2008-04-04T16:43:00.003-04:00

We trust that each of you had a wonderful Easter as we reflected on the sacrificial death of our Savior and His glorious resurrection. We want to share another blessing so that all of you can rejoice with us for another miracle God has done for the new work in Spanish Town. As you may remember, one of our continuing prayers has been that God will lift the financial burden off our Jamaican brethren as they struggle to pay off the mortgage for Spanish Town Tabernacle. Many of you have given sacrificially toward this goal and we really appreciate it. We are confident that God will richly reward you in due time. However, God has also been working... click here to read on.

Update from the May Family

2008-04-04T16:34:00.002-04:00

"HE IS RISEN. HE IS RISEN INDEED!" This morning we started our Easter service with this familiar greeting, and ended it with testimonies and baptisms of THREE new believers at our local international church, Kurume Bible Fellowship. We have been privileged to be a part of this congregation since last Fall, where Gerald is able to join Debbie when he isn't scheduled to preach elsewhere.

Next week we look forward to being at Hope Bible Church, where we had the privilege of ministering for several years. Gerald will be preaching and we hope to invite friends this week from the Mitaka area who are NOT going to church anymore. Sometimes it is helpful to be the "visiting" speaker, encouraging people to come to church just because we are only there occasionally.

Janice Lee, a 10-year-old Korean girl to whom Debbie teaches English and Bible, was so excited to find out that Jesus rose from the dead. All this time she thought that Jesus dieing on the cross was the end of the story. She beamed with joy when she realized that Jesus is alive today! Janice always listens so attentively when Deb tells her Bible stories and it is evident that the Holy Spirit is working in her to believe His Word.

At Family Forum Japan (FFJ), the sexual abstinence seminars are keeping the staff busy. Training pastors, youth leaders and church members to effectively teach young people Biblical abstinence is an urgent need both in the church and in Japanese society in general. Please pray that Family Forum can find ways to share this important material to this needy society, perhaps even in schools, opening the door to the Gospel. We're SO thankful for recent gifts that were sent to Family Forum. Paying the salaries of our Japanese staff continues to be a HUGE challenge however. If the Lord lays it upon your heart to partner with us financially in impacting Japanese families for Christ please let us know. We'll be glad to let you know how to participate.

Our gospel choir has grown in number, and hopefully in volume and quality as well. Some Christians from Hope Bible Church have joined this group of young ladies, giving us even more opportunities to share what Jesus means to us.

Our kids are on Spring Break this week in Portland. Alecia is staying with Grandma and Grandpa Reece and Aaron is at his apartment nearby. With Aaron and Amanda's wedding coming up on June 7th, they're getting out invitations, getting their rings fitted, and all those fun things that couples do before their BIG day! The wedding will take place in Singapore at the church where Amanda's dad, Henry Ng, is the senior pastor. Gerald has been asked to give the message. They are expecting about 500 people to attend the wedding, mostly church people and Amanda's relatives, who all live in Singapore. We are so happy that God has provided a wonderful help-mate for Aaron.

Have a Blessed Easter, and may His hope fill you anew.

An Update from Joel Colon

2008-04-04T16:28:00.002-04:00

It has been a bit long in coming, but here it is in the middle of March and I am finally getting out my first update of 2008. The last couple months have been busy and filled with lots of plans for the upcoming year. It is springtime in Kyiv, but after a slightly warmer spell last week, it was snowing again this morning.

January was busy as I tried to sandwich as much as possible around and into a two-week trip back to North Carolina for meetings with my mission organization SCPI (Saturation Church Planting International) We discussed how Antioch has been progressing, and what the next stages of development should look like in terms of time frames and objectives.

Just after returning to Ukraine there was dramatic change in our team... Click here to read on.

Update from the Bertram Family

2008-03-11T10:15:00.002-04:00

Baby Sunshine! That’s what we call him…her...um...it..? We won’t know if it’s a boy or a girl for another month or so. We have begun picking out names, but we really don’t want to call it a boy’s name of it’s a girl or vice versa…might give it a complex even before it’s born! Anyway, the doctor says everything looks good so far!

The estimated due date is August 16th 2008! It’ll mean some changes for summer plans but I guess changes kind of come with the territory! Many have asked “Where will you be when you have the baby?” The honest answer: We really don’t know yet. Most likely we’ll be back here in Missouri because classes start up again on the 18th! We don’t expect Emily to make it to the first week or so, but it would be better to do the least amount of travel as possible after little Baby Sunshine makes his…or her grand entrance…or exit…I guess.

Kevin and Emily's Website: bertramsbyfaith.com

Encouragement from the Bertram Family

2008-03-11T10:06:00.003-04:00

During a severe drought in the Kalanguya Tribe a Tribal Believer was asked how he was able to continue praising God while he was literally starving. The man replied with a confused look and said:

“Whether or not we have food and water has nothing to do with the fact that Christ has paid the penalty for my sins!”

In times of difficulty I often neglect the Greatest Gift that God has ever given. I focus on the negative circumstances that change with the wind, and ignore the concrete FACT of Christ’s Sacrifice of Love. He died for me when I had no merit of my own; He continues to draw me to Himself despite my failures; He continues to provide His very Spirit to exhibit holiness in me; I am completely and eternally secure in the Loving Grace of my Lord and Savior! So what’s a little drought?

Image: philippine-travel.co.uk

Update from the Wengers

2008-03-10T20:33:00.004-04:00

The splash of brilliant yellow daffodils lining our front walkway delight us each year whether they appear early or late. Most of the month of February was brightened by these harbingers of spring and they are still lovely into March this year. Mind you, the rest of the yard is still a muddy mess since rains came during and after replacement of the sewer line the last week of 2007. If we can be patient and work hard we know we will get the lawn back little by little.

Seasonal changes are one of the ways God speaks profusely to us about His wonderful character. We find that transitions in ministry continue to present changes for all of us in Faculty Commons and for the Campus Student Ministry. The transition is designed to make us all more effective in reaching the entire campus for Christ, faculty and students. Recently we had a personal conversation with Jay and Laurie who are helping bring about the necessary changes. It was helpful to learn what we are expected to do during the interval between present conditions and the expected formation of integrated teams in every location where we can minister. Thankfully the planned trip to Venezuela is approved for May 13-18. So we continue to work hard, be patient, and little by little expect results.

Those going are a Faculty Commons colleague, two Christian professors, a PhD student who plans to become a professor, and both of us. We continue to brush up our Spanish language usage, and communicate with the staff in Venezuela about the details of the trip. One comment made referring to the unstable political situation in that country brought a thrill to our hearts when Keith, the CCC Venezuela Director, wrote:

P.S. I’ve been in Venezuela since July ’02. The news from Venezuela is always interesting and the events economically and politically keep us looking up. BUT the harvest is so incredibly ripe here that it is impossible not to get hit on the head with the fruit falling off the trees. We have a church youth group here this week and they are IN the schools doing dramas and sharing their faith in Christ… invited to come.

When the harvest is ripe, we can trust God to go before and prepare the way for our part in it. We are grateful for those who pray for us and with us about professors in Latin America, as well as those here in our own country, who want to be part of gathering the harvest.

We need $2,725 dollars for airfare, the hotel room in the city of Maracaibo, and for our meals and ministry expenses for this trip (includes helping to pay translators, their travel and meals, and a meal event for a group of professors). Of the total amount $1,825. is already charged to the Int’l Account and due by April 10. This is a faith-challenge, since we do not have it in our regular funds. We are moving ahead trusting that God will supply this.

Should you wish to contribute to these expenses, make checks payable to CCC, PO Box 628222, Orlando, FL 32862-9841 or online www.give.ccci.org, noting that your gift is for CLM Int’l Acct #1995901. Using this account number designates it for our use for this trip.

Expectantly trusting God,

Jim & Anne

Image: flickr.com

National Hoops Update

2008-03-10T20:28:00.002-04:00

Our family is very excited to be back on the road doing tournaments and ministering in churches. We love what God has called us to do!

Finals in New Orleans: The Finals for this year went very well, with JV and Varsity teams coming from Chicago and playing against a Salt Lake City team and a Denver team. The Chicago teams won each division (JV and Varsity) The players and their sponsors had a very exciting time, enjoying the All-Star events and playing on a real NBA court! We were excited that all of the participants (27) attended Sunday School, the Morning Worship service, and then our own National Hoops afternoon service. At each service the Gospel was preached... Click here to read more

A Note from the May's

2008-02-29T16:47:00.001-05:00

Each of us just have to write to let you know how God has answered your prayers for us and those around us since our last May Memo.

Debbie-

Do you remember Kevin, one of our TEAM missionary kids, who was suffering from terrible sores in his mouth and throat? He was diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson syndrome, an allergic reaction to medication which can be fatal. After days of excruciating pain, 16 days in the hospital, and 10 kilos of weight loss, Kevin was released from the hospital. We enjoyed watching him eat and listening to him talk (two things he really couldn't do for almost three weeks) as he stayed with us for five days. Through this difficult sickness and suffering, God strengthened Kevin's spirit, giving him a vibrant testimony of God's faithfulness. We were glad we could help the Bridgman family through this crisis and see first-hand God's healing power. The doctors were amazed at Kevin's quick recovery. Your prayers along with hundreds of others from around the world no doubt made the difference.

Last Saturday I had lunch with Yumi, a 23-year-old young woman whom I met for the first time last month. Someone from Oregon introduced her to me via e-mail. Yumi speaks English fluently, having spent several years in the States, even graduating from art school in New York. She's a typical young person today, with very little ambition in life and feeling unloved by family. I was able to talk to her about some serious issues and give her a copy of a new animated version of the gospel called Manga Messiah. I'm thankful that she is open about talking about the Bible. Please continue to pray that Yumi will find that Jesus is the one that she needs, rather than the things that the world has to offer. And pray that the newly published Manga Messiah would draw people to God through the dramatic pictures and the Gospel message.

I've started teaching a Korean lady English and Bible at her home. Mrs. T. is a Christian, but has stopped attending church for a few years. She is so happy to open up the Word again and realizes that she needs to get back to church. Please pray for us both as I work with her through some personal issues. Her husband and 23-year-old daughter also need to get back into a vibrant relationship with their Savior.

Gerald-

Our Mitaka Gospel Choir's rehersals will start up again this week. We might have up to three new members, who showed interest in joining us after they heard us sing at a gym Christmas party last December. Pray that through gospel music, we will have opportunities to share our faith with these women and with those for whom we perform.

Whew! I'll be teaching my last Integrative Theology class this Thursday evening. The five students seem to have appreciated the eight classes and will hopefully use what they've learned to impact their world for Christ. I've been asked to teach this course again in the summer. Please pray for wisdom as I continue to make changes to improve the material to make it a more effective disciple-making study. Pray too, for the Christian Life Training Center's graduates this coming month. All are adults in the work place, who have felt a desire to deepen and broaden their grasp of Scripture to become more effective disciples for Christ.

Just recently Sato-san and I finished the translation into Japanese of yet another Max Lucado book, entitled "3:16." It is an in-depth look at just the one verse of John 3:16, drawing out many implications of those grace-packed words. Please pray for the final stages of editing and publication by Word of Life Press here in Tokyo. I'm already determined to make use of the book in my Theology class later this year. Please pray with us that it will strengthen and enable many Japanese Christians to be even bolder in their walk with Christ.

At Family Forum Japan we are just about ready to put out the re-release of the training DVD "Sex, Lies and the Truth." Aimed at youth, this powerful presentation lays out the lies of the world related to sexual relationships, "safe" sex, and illnesses like AIDS. With a clear presentation of Biblical principles we hope this media will be used in churches and schools to fill a woeful gap in the moral training of the youth of Japan. We're also gearing up for a series of family seminars and sexual abstinence seminars. These are the core of FFJ's ministry and take a great deal of work on the part of our handful of staff members. As you pray for those would you also pray for and consider how you might join our financial support team...we are facing a huge funding crunch and are looking to our Lord to provide funding for staff salaries, our radio ministry and publishing projects.

Finally, I've also been privileged since last fall to have an itinerant preaching ministry in several small churches in the greater Tokyo area. It's sobering and exciting to see both the struggles and God's working in these little bodies of believers. Please remember Oppama Bible Church's International fellowship, Nokendai Bible Fellowship, and Grace Bible Church, and that my rather simple Japanese will, indeed, communicate what God wants to give to each group.

Thank-you for being part of our team!

Medical Clinic Outreach

2008-02-29T16:45:00.003-05:00

On the fourth Sunday of each month we cancel the evening service and have the medical clinic in our Sunday School room. After service the morning service Angilla Gayle served a big pot of soup and we went directly into the medical clinic. We thank God that He has provided another Christian Cuban doctor to help us when Dr. Noel is unavailable. So now we have two doctors that God has used to help build his Kingdom here in Spanish Town. Over fifty-five people came to church and around thirty were treated...Click here to read on.

Sunday Blessings

2008-02-29T16:40:00.002-05:00

We thought a post about last Sunday’s service would be as much an encouragement to our prayer team as it was to us. It was our “pulpit exchange” service and another pastor from a sister church shared how God is working in his life. He stated that ever since Brother Karl’s funeral, God has been convicting him. He publicly shared that years ago when he got saved in prison in Philadelphia, the presence of God was so wonderful that he really didn’t want to leave prison. God miraculously worked so that...Click here to read on.

Baby Mackey - 14 Weeks

2008-02-24T19:31:00.002-05:00

Hello every one! We want to share with you our latest news on the baby. He/She is 14 1/2 weeks and 6 inches long! We had the appointment this last week and when the doctor saw the baby she said that it has a very strong heart beat and a great spinal cord. We praise the Lord... Click here to read on

See What Jack Campbell has Been Up To

2008-02-22T08:55:00.005-05:00

Dear A-Team

China & Ping

What a full year it has been! Ministry doors have been opened wide to Ethiopia, China, Auburn and Clemson. My trip to China was especially meaningful for the LORD not only gave me several evangelistic opportunities but also allowed me to follow-up on one of the scholars I discipled while he was studying at Clemson. He is now a professor at a prominent university in communist China. Even though he has been a Christian for only three years he has twenty-five students he is training in the Word of God. He is also a leader in his local church. Pray for Ping, because the government is increasing its persecution of Christians in its "preparation" for the 2008 Olympics.

Clemson, Chess & Creation

One of the greatest obstacles our international students have in understanding the gospel is the evolutionary brainwashing they have received in their undergraduate education. This is one of the reasons we were overjoyed to be able to invite and host Dr. Jonathan Sarfati this fall at Clemson. Thanks to the contacts and great support of the Greenville Creation Study Group we utilized the many gifts God has given Dr. Sarfati. He is not only a world renown creation scientist but he is also a three time national chess champion. We invited the greater Clemson community and students to challenge him. He played over fifteen at a time and beat them all. We also had two seminars for Clemson faculty members. Our large meeting in the Brooks Performing Arts Center attracted over five hundred. The LORD used this to give us many opportunities to give the gospel to American and international students. Pray for our follow-up, for many questions have been asked that relate directly to the good news that is only in Jesus Christ, the maker and sustainer of heaven and earth.

Auburn & Classical Christian School

Working with Dr. Peter Doyle has been a real treat for me this year. Here is a man who is 75 (+) going on 17 in his zeal for the LORD, yet having the wisdom and maturity of a tested warrior for Christ. This year he retired from pastoring Trinity Presbyterian Church and is now a full time missionary with RMI. Thus, he has even more time to invest in the lives of student leaders at Auburn University. What a joy it has been to meet many of these young men and women he is discipling and assist him in this blessed work.

I had the privilege to preach several times in the chapel services of the classical Christian school that his church operates and this year they have adopted the Christian Discipleship Castle as their Bible program for their 5th grade. This fulfills one of the goals of our discipleship training, to be flexible enough to teach Biblical truths to graduate level university students and elementary students, at their appropriate level. Please pray the LORD would continue to open doors for this training program to help followers of Christ obey the Great Commission and fulfill the Cultural Mandate.

Ethiopia & Sudan

I have been invited to return to Ethiopia with the same medical group I traveled with last year (Christian Medical and Dental Association - www.cmda.org). We are planning to work again with Damtew, the godly Ethiopian pastor who headed up our mission last year. According to Damtew, we will be going to a different location (Arba Minch) that may attract even more pastors than we trained last year (140 pastors). It will still take us four days to get there from Clemson, so please pray we could redeem the time and all our bags would arrive with us.

Another Christian brother in the Clemson area has asked me to consider accompanying him to the Sudan next year. The mission group he is a board member of has been given a large tract of land by the government of Sudan. They are planning to build medical and educational facilities on this property to help the people of southern Sudan and to train their pastors. As with all of my overseas trips, I can go only if the money is there to fully cover the expenses. So please pray that all the funds would come in if this is God's will. The opportunities for Kingdom expansion really look amazing.

". . . On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.

Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."

2 Corinthians 1:10b-11

A Quick Note from Chris and Ginger

2008-02-21T11:16:00.002-05:00

We have been having technical difficulties with adding to our website. At the school, where we work, we are not able to add anything to the website. There’s some type of firewall that prevents us from doing it. This is a little disappointing because we want to update it more often, but it looks like it will be much less frequent than what we thought.

We’re now in Oklahoma for the weekend, so we’re able to publish to the web.

Numbers 11

2008-02-21T11:04:00.002-05:00

I’m reading through the Bible, and have gotten into the book of Numbers. Even though some of the Old Testament can seem a little monotonous at times, it is still “chock full” of God’s holiness. Reading it gets me excited as I think about awesome God!

Today I read Numbers 11 - WOW, what a chapter! (Click here to read on)

Image: Principle Driven

A Note from The Schultz Family

2008-02-20T14:52:00.003-05:00

Our spring term for training missionaries is now underway. Surprisingly, our numbers are lower than normal especially after all the growth we experienced the last few years. However, this does give us a chance to invest more personally in the lives of those God has sent to us. Kathy has children only for two weeks this spring so she is spending her time discipling a couple of ladies in our church plus spending time with our daughter Beth who has moved home for a while. Registrations for the summer look strong so we believe these low numbers are just an anomaly.

We (Beth included) spent a couple of weeks in Alaska back in January and had a wonderful trip visiting friends and speaking at the mission’s conference of Lazy Mountain Bible Church. It was a privilege to invest into the ministry of the church and so much fun to visit our former place of ministry and be encouraged by so many people. We forgot what “real” cold weather was like but we did enjoy it. We even got to spend a day riding a snowmachine!

Upon returning George led the CIT Steering Committee meeting, led a workshop at the National Missionary Training Forum in Richmond, VA, worked on a committee for the Blackbaud software conversion coming July 1, met with the UWM Board sub-committee for our 5 Year Strategic Ministry Plan, and prepared for the upcoming term.

On Saturday we leave for a weeklong mission’s conference in Charlotte at Calvary Church then on to Shannon Forest Pres. Church in Greenville for their mission’s conference a week later. These are busy days.

Our daughter Beth moved back home for a while in January (we’re happy to have her!) and found a job at a local veterinary clinic as a vet technician. She is also taking online coursework to improve and enhance skills in this field.

We thank you for your continuing prayers and support.

George and Kathy

Please pray for:

Meaningful contributions to the upcoming mission’s conferences
Wisdom in the development of our 5 Year Strategic Ministry Plan
Wisdom for utilization of time among many responsibilities
Finding a Facilities Manager and dealing with staff changes

An Update from the Kay Family

2008-02-13T10:25:00.002-05:00

While we were on home assignment several churches and individuals undertook a project to provide 100 new chairs for the Spanish Town Tabernacle. What a tremendous blessing they are. We are so thankful to all who gave toward this.

With the pressure of Pastor Karl’s funeral we bought 100 new plastic chairs and them spent several hours washing them since they were extremely dirty! We still had to borrow 75 more from C.C.C. (a sister church) and then 50 more from K.T. (another of our zone 4 sister churches). We now know that our building church can hold 310 chairs!

To read the rest of their update, click here...

If you liked this post and would like to know when I add more, please e-mail me at Jim@wolffind.com and I'll put you on my update list.

Catch Up with Chris and Ginger

2008-02-13T09:45:00.005-05:00

Here are a couple of summaries of the Mackey's latest posts on their blog.

Since we are still waiting on our visas, we sense the Lords leading to serve at the New Tribes Missionary Training Center in Missouri. Ginger will help in child care so that students can attend classes, and Christopher will help in the Tech Center, fabricating and building solar panel systems to send to missionaries on the field.

We did have a big event the other day! Christopher was cutting wood in the Tech Center, and cut his finger! We rushed to the Emergency Room, and praise God, he didn't cut down to the bone. He didn't even need to have stitches! The doctor numbed it and put some medicine on it that cauterized his wound. She then dressed it and sent us home. We picked up some prescribed antibiotics and pain pills at the store on our way home. Our big event for the day!!

The mission has provided them with a lovely home and they are pretty much settled in. They have reapplied for their visas, so that puts them back in limbo again. In light of this, they felt this move to Missouri would be the best use of their time in support of their mission. Please continue to pray for their visa to go through and for Ginger as she progresses through her pregnancy.

If you liked this post and would like to know when I add more, please e-mail me at Jim@wolffind.com and I'll put you on my update list.

Introducing the Benezette Family

2008-02-12T16:47:00.000-05:00

Tisha and I had the chance to meet this fine couple while at New Tribes Training Institute for Chris and Ginger's wedding. They made quite an impression on us, so I wanted to introduce you to them and their mission in Mongolia. Here is a little about their family:

Ben, a Floridian, and I (Andrea), a Canadian who grew up in Africa, met at New Tribes Bible Institute in Wisconsin. It was there that our hearts were lit on fire with the passion for reaching those who have never heard the Gospel of Christ. We were married shortly after completing Bible School and continued on with NTM Missions Training. We have three children who are a source of joy and laughter to us!
Aiden is five years old. His desire is to grow up 'big and strong' just like Daddy. He is curious and sweet and loves books and 'transformers'.

Ayrik is three and full of fun and energy. He and his brother are close friends and do everything together. He adores mud and scaring his parents with his crazy antics.

Calvary (two years old) tries to do everything her brothers do. She can jump already and has no problem climbing ladders and going on the slides all by her self. She is very feminine but a bit of a tom boy.

They are back in Mongolia now, and after a run in with the flu, the family is starting to settle back into the Mongolian way of life. Ben is back to studying the Mongolian language (not an easy task) and Andrea has started homeschooling their two oldest children.

They are a wonderful couple. Please be sure to pray for them as the Lord leads.

If you liked this post and would like to know when I add more, please e-mail me at Jim@wolffind.com and I'll put you on my update list.

A Note from CEF!!!

2008-02-11T16:26:00.000-05:00

To all our friends!

You are invited to join us for our 20 Anniversary Celebration Event, Saturday, March 1st 6:30 p.m. at First Baptist North Spartanburg. This fund-raising event is for adults and will include a reception with heavy h'ordevours and fireworks will conclude the evening. Please call our office for reservations. 574-0236

Also!!

Plan to attend our Children's Ministry Conference, Saturday, March 15th at Trinity Presbyterian Church. We have been approved to give 1 CEU if you are a Christian school teacher or 6 DSS hours if you work in a day-care.This wonderful one-day conference will begin at 9:00 a.m. and conclude at 4:00 p.m. The cost is $55 and includes the Children's Ministry Resource Bible ($25 if you already have the Bible), notebook, hand-outs and lunch. Registration is necessary to ensure materials-please call our office to register by March 6th. 574-0236

If you liked this post and would like to know when I add more, drop me an e-mail at Jim@wolffind.com and I'll put you on my update list.

Charge Your Electronics with the Sun

2008-02-11T13:37:00.000-05:00

Missionaries don't always have the resources most of us do. NOT A BIG SURPRISE! When you live in a remote area, doing something as simple as charging your cell phone, or other hand-held electronics, can be a pain. Here is a link to a site that sports a terrific little invention that will solve this problem.

It is called the Solio (so-leo). It's powerful enough to charge all hand-held electronic products at home or on the move, anywhere under the sun. The Solio can accept power from either a wall socket or sun storing energy within its internal rechargeable battery. When fully charged Solio can store enough power to charge a typical cell phone, iPod or Nano at least two times.

If you're on the field, or headed that way, take a look at this product. It could save you some headaches.

Click here for another source of power.

February Update from the Browns

2008-02-04T08:25:00.000-05:00

Dear Family of Trinity PCA,

I am reminded that "a man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his path." We were given the word in December that my unit would not be deploying in March; in fact, we will probably not deploy until March of '09. So, I now have the joy of learning more of the in's and out's of being a battalion chaplain in garrison! This is yet another example of God's goodness to the Brown's as we continue to assimilate into Army life (and Texas!). I still maintain a consistent counseling load, and I recently conducted my first marriage retreat. What a blast! I took 23 couples to a resort on Lake Travis and we enjoyed a glimpse at how "the other half" lives. Please continue to be in prayer for the families of my battalion who are struggling to survive. Also be in prayer for their chaplain. I feel confident that the retreat was helpful in some very practical ways; I ask you to pray that God would grant me more creativity in making it a more "redemptive" time with these couples. I want to help them improve in their communication skills, yes, but I want them to see the very real need of Christ in every aspect of life. So please, pray that the Lord of the harvest would call many of our military families to a saving knowledge of Christ.

Laurel and the kids are doing very well. There are the usual struggles of colds and allergies, but Texas is proving to be a good "first" duty station. We enjoyed the holidays and the different visits from family, but we have settled back into a good routine for '08. Laurel continues to participate in the post-wide bible study for the ladies and is also working with Child Evangelism Fellowship here on post. It will come as no surprise that she is steadily gathering a good network of "Army Wives" that always seem to be helping one another. I have been very encouraged to see how Laurel continues to assess, adjust, and improve with homeschooling and the other activities the kids are involved in. Caleb has enjoyed becoming a Tiger Cub Scout, while Emily is our Brownie Scout. Peter is now truly four. The other week Laurel took the kids to a new co-op that we now have the kids involved in, and during the introductions Peter's turn arrives, and he informs them, "Hi, I'm Peter, the mean one." Zeddie Grace is large and in charge. To no surprise, she is very verbal and all personality. The high point to my day is coming through the door to a chorus of "DADDDDYYYY!!!!" and to have little Zeddie tackle me at the knees.

The holiday visits were a tremendous blessing, but it made us miss our families and various "home" church families terribly. Laurel now has a page on Facebook, so you can get the latest on the Brown's on a more regular basis. Please continue to pray for God to grow all of us in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, and that He would give us the opportunity to come home to Spartanburg for a visit. Thank you for your love and prayers...please keep it coming!

Your family in Christ,
Kyle, Laurel, Caleb, Emily, Peter, and Zeddie Grace

Generate Your Own Electricity

2008-02-02T18:48:00.000-05:00

I'm always keeping my eyes out for cool new technology that may be of benefit to Missionaries on the field. I have a particular interest in electrical generation because Chris and Ginger are part of my family and they may be working remotely in South America soon. That's why, when I came across this article, I though I'd pass it along to the readers at Trinity Missions.

I saw an interview of the fellow that invented this and it looks like it works quite well. The price is certainly right and will get better once they go into mass production. Take a look and let me know what you think.

If you'd like to look at pricing and packages, look here.

Upsate from the Mackeys

2008-01-28T16:29:00.000-05:00

Dear Family & Friends,

With the new year we have decided to have a new name for our newsletters: "Mackey Moments" will bring you the latest of what God is doing in our lives throughout the next year.

The new year also brings with it many changes in our lives. As you all know we have been planing to leave for Brazil this January and we have had visa problems. We just received word that we are going to have to get some new documents and re-apply for our visas. The Brazilian government has made some changes in what they are looking for in a visa application. We are going to receive new documents from New Tribes leadership, and we've been told that even if all goes well with our re-application, we will still not be able to leave for at least 2-3 months.

With this in mind, we sense the Lords leading to serve at the New Tribes Missionary Training Center in Missouri until we obtain our visas. There are positions that we can assist in right now to still be a part of reaching people with the Gospel. Ginger may help in child care so that students can attend classes, and Christopher will help in the Tech Center, fabricating and building solar panel systems to send to missionaries on the field.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support through all of this. We could not do it without you. We are currently at 55% of the recommended support level. We are blessed by this percentage, and we would also love for it to grow!

In His Grip

Christopher & Ginger Mackey

To partner financially go to: http://www.ntm.org/give/645

More information on: http://web.mac.com/chris_ginger

Update from the Mays

2008-01-28T16:23:00.000-05:00

Dear praying friends,

Thank you for praying for our dinner with the gospel choir women. There were several that had to cancel at the last minute because of colds or work. We ended up with only four of the women coming, but it was a more intimate and personal time. We were able to give the ladies a good book which has testimonies of well-known people that they might connect with, along with an introduction to the Christian life. I told them that we are singing Gospel songs, but in order to understand what we are singing about, reading the book would tell them what the Gospel is about. We are praying that they will actually read "Power for Living", and that we can continue to nurture our relationships with them.

Gerald's Integrative Theology class has gotten off to a good start. He puts in a good bit of time in preparation, as it is his first time to teach it, but he finds it rewarding with the good response from the five students. Pray that the study will impact their personal walk and prepare them for ministry.

Yesterday Gerald preached for the first time at Shakuji Baptist Church, where he also introduced the church people to Family Forum. He was able to talk a bit about family issues in Japan and found the folks very interested and appreciative of a ministry seeking to impact the nation through the families. Three ladies became supporting members on the spot! Please also continue to pray for him as he speaks at several other churches each month, providing pulpit supply in small congregations without a pastor or where their pastor just needs a bit of a break.

God keeps bringing women into my life through unexpected ways. A friend of a friend sent me information about a 23-year-old woman, Yumi, who just returned recently from the States. She graduated in art at a college in New York. I met with her for lunch on Saturday and spent 3 hours getting acquainted. God has sent different Christians into her life while she was in the States and is open to spiritual things. Please pray that Yumi will have a deep desire to know the Lord and will start attending church or a Bible study that I have introduced to her.

Could you also pray for one of our TEAM missionary kids who is very sick? Kevin Bridgman, a junior in high school here at Christian Academy has been in the hospital for five days now, but the doctors seem baffled about his condition. He has terrible mouth sores, even in his throat, and is unable to eat, drink or talk. He is running a high fever as well. We took care of him for two days last week, and then realized he needed to be admitted to the hospital. His dad is coming up today to be with him. Please pray that they can diagnose Kevin and that he can get relief from this awful pain.

Thank you for lifting up all these requests. Your prayers are making a difference!

Debbie (& Gerald) May

Update from the Wengers

2008-01-28T16:20:00.000-05:00

Between Christmas and New Year’s Day we roughed it as we did when we traveled in Central America in our early days of ministry. A blockage developed in our sewer line that the plumbers were unable to clear until city workers came 3 days later and worked on their part of the line. Their breaking a water line in the process meant that for some hours we were without water or sewer. We were able to endure calmly and felt extremely thankful for these services once all was restored. Now our front yard is a muddy mess and needs extensive landscaping in the spring.

It reminds us that our desire to minister to professors in Latin America has seemed to have a blockage that had to be cleared. In answer to prayer our communication with CCC campus leaders in Venezuela brought an invitation to go there in mid-May.

At this time we have a professor who is able to go with us. Because of continued transitions in the ministry we are not certain this will materialize, but please pray with us for the best outcome in God’s time. There are fifty+ professors in Maracaibo who are looking for some help in uniting to find a way to minister as believers in their influential positions in the universities of that city.
Locally we have input for dinners for international students where Christian professors speak on subjects of interest, while also sharing their faith testimony. This powerfully impacts those who have been taught that faith and intelligence are contradictory.

Jim & Anne

More on the Mackey's Visa

2008-01-23T08:48:00.000-05:00

Hello All

Here is a note we received concerning the status of our visas:

Dear Mackeys and Nuñezes

Dra. Gilda went to the Itamarati again today. I just called her a few minutes ago at her home. Unfortunately the person she needed to talk to was not there (the conselheiro) but she hopes he will be in tomorrow and will be going back there again. She asked me to contact MNTB HQ in Anapolis asking for updated copies of the mission´s status as a non-profit religious organization. I got on the phone and talked to the people who do this at the mission and Lord willing they will be sending Dra. Gilda the papers she wants to have in hand when she goes again tomorrow. Keep praying. God needs to bring the conselheiro into work tomorrow. She said it is very difficult to do work there in Brasilia as so many people are "on leave" (de recesso) because of the upcoming Carnaval (Mardi Gras) holidays.

I checked today ... GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE!

In Christ,

John Pierce Jr.

Please continue to pray! Time is getting short!

A Prayer Request from the Mackey's

2008-01-20T19:52:00.000-05:00

Dear Family & Friends,

Please PRAY for Dr. Gilda (a Brazilian lawyer) this Monday 1.21.08. She is an elderly woman who works with another mission organization and is helping us out with our visas in her extra time. She is wanting to go Monday for a second meeting with the authority who has control over granting our visas. She has tried to go for the past two weeks, but has been hindered, due to various reasons. PRAY that she will be able to go and meet with this person and will not be hindered any further.

God Bless you as you partner with us in prayer.

Christopher & Ginger Mackey + little "lima bean"

January Update from the Cik's

2008-01-19T17:38:00.001-05:00

UPDATE: CIK FAMILY

January 2008

Seminary Update:
First of all I want to let you know that with GOD’s help I passed all the exams for the first semester. Our Lord is so gracious that He gave me the strength to pass the exams. Praise the Lord! During the winter break, I took a class in Intro to Homiletics (to make the time useful). The second semester will start on January the 22nd. I will use this time for Intermediate Greek 1 and Hebrew 1, Logic, and N.T. Introduction. I pray that the Lord will give me the understanding and knowledge to pass these classes as well. I’m also looking forward to have an internship. Wherever GOD wants me to be, I will be His servant with all the passion of my heart.

Family Update:
It is wonderful to see how Naomi and Noel are growing spiritually and physically. We praise the LORD that both can enjoy the GCA School where they are taught according to GOD’s Word. Naomi is still learning piano with Lucy Ann Adams for the purpose of our musical part back in Austria. She started to play hymns like ”Immortal, Invisible,“ “Holy, Holy, Holy“ and also the ”Doxology.“ We just love to hear her play. We still keep speaking German to our kids at home, so they won’t forget their native language.

Plans for the summer:
Every day we are focusing on the vision that GOD gave us: to bring the Gospel back to Europe and especially to the Muslims. Our plan is to go back to Austria during the summer break to start our ministry step by step.

There are three major reasons:

1) Naomi and Noel should not forget our culture and our language. We also want to visit our brothers and sisters in Christ in Germany, the church which Dr. Klautke is pastoring. This church is the only one in Germany which we know of, where GOD’s Word is properly proclaimed.

2) After the visit from Beate’s parents, we can rejoice. Her father read the book “How should we then live?” by Francis A. Schaeffer which we had in German. We are serious about keeping on witnessing and answering all his questions. He invited us to stay with them during the summer. What a great opportunity to witness to her parents (still Jehovah’s Witnesses).

3) Also my younger sister, Hale, who is still a Muslim, gave birth to a downsyndrome baby in Nov. 2005. After the birth of Selina, she fell into deep depression and she questioned, why GOD would give her a baby like her. Especially she needs to be comforted by God’s Word and counseled. This is a great opportunity GOD is giving us to use our counseling training from RBCTI.

Please pray that GOD will make it possible for us to go back during the summer for our first missions trip. We are praying for cheap tickets. Helpful information about cheap tickets are more than appreciated.

Blessings from the Lord:
“Be still and know, that I am your GOD”. We praise our Heavenly Father, creator of heaven and earth, for all the blessings we have received. He supplied all our needs in the year 2007. Also we can rejoice and proclaim that we only need 27 more families or churches to support this ministry.

Accountability:
My family and I are 100% financially accountable and have a budget which is managed by Pastor Dan Dodds from Woodruff Road Presbyterian Church. All our financial transactions are available for review by any supporter. Please send any correspondence or financial support (tax deductible) to the following address:
Woodruff Road Presbyterian Church (for Cik Family or German Reformation Project)
2519 Woodruff Road
Simpsonville, SC, 29681

Your servant in Christ,
Goeksan Cik

More on the Mackey's Visa

2008-01-19T10:34:00.000-05:00

The best thing we can tell you about our visas is that it’s STILL “hurry up and wait.” We’ve been blessed to recently receive much more information on our visa process, so that gives us a better perspective on what’s going on in Brazil. However, there’s nothing yet to share, since there are still no definite answers. Hopefully we’ll be able to give you some type of new information sometime next week (Jan. 21-25).

Going through the pain of not knowing whether or not we’re going to pick up tomorrow and fly down to Brazil, or we’re going to be waiting for 3 or 4 more months, has been challenging. We have spent much time in prayer and conversation over what to think about our time of uncertainty. We figure that there will probably be more times like this in our lives. The main thing we’ve struggled with is not just the thought of not being able to go to Brazil when we want to, but not knowing ANY time schedule. If we need to wait a few more months, we’ve wanted to have some type of idea. If we’re going to be leaving in 2 weeks, we’ve wanted to have a clue about that. It’s just out of our hands (it’s always been in God’s hands anyway). For North Americans, this is a bit of a challenge (we want everything on our time and as we’ve planned it) - but we have to keep in mind that we’re moving to SOUTH America (a different pace of doing things).

Yes, our pace of life will be changing soon - not to mention by becoming parents! By our first furlough (4 years from now), we’ll be very different people - hopefully for the good, and transformed more into God’s image.

Chris and Ginger's Website

About Jim and Anne Wenger

2008-01-17T16:40:00.000-05:00

Jim and Anne Wenger serve as Latin America Liaisons for Faculty Commons part of the global faculty network of Campus Crusade for Christ International. They also serve as Prayer Coordinators for the ministry. For 30 years Jim was engaged in Christian higher education, as missionaries in Latin America and also in the U.S. His most recent positions were on the faculty of Columbia International University for two decades, as Dean of the Extension Division and Director of the Department of InterCultural Studies. As Professor of InterCultural Studies he taught missions courses including World Religions. When in Mexico he was Academic Dean and Professor of New Testament at the Mexico Biblical Seminary in Puebla, Mexico. Prior to that the Wengers lived in Costa Rica for four years, where they attended language school and worked with local churches in Christian education and camping ministry.

Both Jim and Anne grew up in families and churches that encouraged them to participate actively in fulfilling the Great Commission cross-culturally. At this point in life they are grateful to have been able to go, give, and pray for God’s great missionary purpose.

The Wengers live in Columbia, SC, and have four adult children, one daughter and three married sons, as well as seven grandchildren.

January 08 Update from the May's

2008-01-15T08:34:00.000-05:00

Thank you for your prayers for our family during the Christmas Season. We had some unusual ministry opportunities! One chance was to minister with our kids at the Ladies Gym Christmas Party, and another was up in the mountains at Megumi Chalet where we passed out hundreds of tracts to people who came to see the beautiful Christmas lights and listen to the Singing Christmas Tree. We were able to have some significant conversations with people, as they were curious about Christmas and its meaning.

On Wednesday, January 16th, we will be having the ladies from the Gospel Choir in for supper, our first time to have them in our home. The group of 8 ladies are all members of the ladies' gym where I work out. We meet at the gym for gospel choir once or twice a month. We'd appreciate prayer for our conversation and testimony as we have supper together. At our big concert on December 15th, they became more open and now we are looking forward to sharing with them what Jesus means to us.

We enjoyed some great family time with Aaron and Alecia home from college. Being Aaron's last time before the big wedding in June, we treasured this time as a foursome. And we were able to be a part of the wedding plans, gathering childhood pictures for the power point. Gerald has been asked to speak during the ceremony and Amanda's dad will officiate. He is the senior pastor of a big church in Singapore where the wedding will be held.

Gerald taught his first class in Integrative Theology to five young adults last Thursday. It was a challenge because it was in Japanese, but a great blessing. Pray for him as he will be teaching for the next seven weeks. We pray that the class will really impact these young people in their personal walk with the Lord, and in their equipping for ministry.

Things are back in full swing again and we are excited about what God has in store for us in this new year.

Thank you again for praying,

Debbie (& Gerald) May

E-mail: MayInJapan@aol.com

Some Statistics from West Brazil

2008-01-13T19:15:00.000-05:00

This map shows the tribes New Tribes Mission works with in the whole country of Brazil. The below statistics, however, are just for West Brazil, where we plan to work.

SOME STATISTICS FROM WEST BRAZIL

Number of missionaries on the West Brazil field: 195

Work with: 23 tribal groups

Churches: 78

Pastors: 96

Need at least 20 couples to help to support existing works.

New works to be opened: 5

Number of tribes in Brazil: 257

Just a handful have not already been contacted.

60% of the tribes are in the northern part of Brazil.

50% of the tribes have no missionaries working with them.

Tribal names that the mission works with:

Amondawa
Hixkaryana
Kulina
Nyengatu
Arara
Jaminawa-Arara
Kuripaco
Pacaas
Novas
Asheninka
Jamamadi
Manchineri
Satere-Maue
Baniua
Kanamari
Marubo
Wuanano
Deni
Katukina
Mayoruna
Yanomami
Gavião
Kachinawá
Matis
Zoró

Some Good News from the Mackey's!

2008-01-11T08:16:00.000-05:00

Many have not been able to watch our video, therefore we would like to tell you about a free version of "Quick Time player". We will be using the quick time player on our website now and in the future. We would love for you all to view the info that we have, so click on this link and follow the instructions http://www.apple.com/quicktime/

By the way our big news is... WERE EXPECTING!!!!!!!!

We just had the first ultrasound today! All is well (8 weeks, and 1/2 an inch)

P.S. We would love to have this baby delivered in Brazil!!!!

Christopher & Ginger

Joel Colon Update Jan 08

2008-01-09T21:29:00.000-05:00

WHAT IS SATURATION CHURCH PLANNING INTERNATIONAL?

Our Mission is to mobilize existing church structures and to assist the church in discipling the nations by initiating and facilitating church planting movements.

Our Goal is to see every nation filled with living communities (local churches) of God's people who have accepted their responsibility of creating multiple opportunities for every man, woman and child in that nation to be reconciled to God.

Our Primary Strategy is to identify, train, resource, and release apostolic/facilitation teams in each country of the world which are mutually accountable with us to the purpose. As described through the eyes of one of our participating church pastors, it is:

To repurpose the local church around the mission mandate.
To re-tool local leaders and to become facilitative and equipping (as opposed to "doing").
To release and empower church members to use their gifts in the context of the mission.
To reach every man, woman and child with the gospel, and integrate them into repurposed churches.

E-mail: joelinkiev@hotmail.com
Joel's Blog: Joel Colon

RUF Update Jan 08

2008-01-09T21:21:00.000-05:00

RUF is about a vibrant faith in God that impacts every area of your life.

God is concerned about every area of our lives, and a life of faith is lived bringing Jesus Christ into each of those areas. The gospel is not just about warm personal feelings or intense worship experiences but rather knowing God and being equipped for all of life. Faith is real when it makes a difference in our relationships, in our work and in our play. RUF is convinced that God's Word and his church are essential in this process, so we are committed to help you learn more about the Bible and to establish and develop life-changing relationships. We would love for you to be a part.

e-mail: stephen.speaks@gmail.com

CEF Update Jan 08

2008-01-09T21:13:00.000-05:00

Sharing the gospel message with the children of our community takes diligent preparation. Child Evangelism Fellowship® (CEF) offers numerous workshops, seminars, and courses to prepare its volunteers and others to teach God’s Word to children.

For over 65 years, CEF has been on the forefront of teacher-training techniques. Based on spiritual and educational principles, the training provides proven methods of leading children to Christ, knowledge of effective ways to disciple children in the truths of God’s Word, and ways to equip believers to begin and sustain a ministry where they live. CEF training opportunities include:

Good News Club Workshops

These evening workshops are held throughout the year and focus on teaching techniques and lesson materials that will be used in CEF Good News Clubs. Each workshop includes:

Teaching Techniques
Demonstrations
Fun Songs
Great ideas for Visuals, Object Lessons, and Games
Other wonderful instructions on how to best teach children God’s Word.

Although specifically designed for Good News Club teachers, these workshops are great for anyone wanting some fresh ideas for teaching children. There is no charge to attend these workshops.

Teaching Children Effectively Course

This is a ten week, college accredited course designed to better equip anyone who teaches children. Five CEUs or 10 DSS credit hours are available through this course. he cost is $85 and registration is required. Please call the office at 574-0236 for more information.

E-mail: information@cef-spartanburg.org

Boerop Update Jan 08

2008-01-09T20:51:00.000-05:00

Our Vision
To see every local church in the world become a sending base for the Gospel of Christ so that a clear presentation and demonstration of it is available to all people.

Our Purpose
The purpose of World Thrust is to glorify God through serving as a catalyst, helping pastors and church leaders worldwide to lead their local church to embrace a more effective involvement in the evangelization of the world.

World Thrust International
e-mail: info@worldthrust.com

Bertram Update Jan 08

2008-01-09T20:34:00.000-05:00

Prayer Needs

Please partner with us in praying for:

- The strength and unity of our marriage as we face many decisions and changes

- The continual growth and vitality of our personal walk with the Lord

- The souls of those in Cambodia and the rest of the world who have never heard the Gospel

- Finances for our continued training and trip to Cambodia

- Clarity of communication with NTM Leadership

- That the Lord would send harvesters into the field (Matt. 9:38)

- Wisdom in the beginning to gain partners for life long ministry

- The ability to keep focused on the goal with many distractions

Kevin and Emily's Website: bertramsbyfaith.com

Wolff Update Jan 07

2008-01-09T16:12:00.000-05:00

Greetings from sunny beautiful Papua New Guinea,

We had a wonderful Holiday season this year with our Solong believers. It has been an awesome privilege to be with them and watch the Solong Bible teachers grow in their walks with the Lord. In the past they would teach almost word for word the Bible lessons which I prepared for them. But lately they are going beyond my lessons, studying, preparing and teaching excellent messages on their own.

Robina and I are going through some major changes right now. We are packing up and preparing for an extended “Home Assignment” in the USA. This was made possible by some recent technology advances NTM has put in place here in Papua New Guinea. They installed a satellite internet service called V-Sat at our center in Hoskins. So I now have the ability to continue working on the Bible and other translation projects from the USA over the internet with my Solong Bible teachers. This is an exciting prospect for me, because it will allow me to continue on with my work from the USA while we get our kids settled into American life and will allow Robina to complete her teaching degree which we hope to use when we head back overseas.

This new arrangement has its challenges… like teaching my Solong guys to use a computer, and the frequent visits I will still need to make to PNG to continue checking the Bible Translation with our consultants. But we are excited about the possibilities this opens up to us.

Pray:

- For wisdom in all the changes we are going through

- For our children as New Guinea life is all they know and the thought of living in the USA scares them a bit.

Praise:

- We recently did the final consultant check on another 1000 Bible verses. It went very well and they will soon be ready for printing.

Our plan is to return to the USA the end of March and take a short furlough before diving back into the work. If there are any conferences or special events that you would like us to come be a part of, please let us know.

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support all these years.

With Love,

Paul & Robina Wolff

E-mail: paul_wolff@ntm.org

Schultz Update Nov 07

2008-01-09T16:04:00.000-05:00

Dear Trinity Pres. Church,

As we approach Thanksgiving for this year Kathy and I are grateful for many things and one of them is you. We are grateful to the Lord for your friendship, care, financial support, prayers, and overall love you show to us. You are a blessing we do not take for granted. We pray you have a wonderful Thanksgiving as we reflect on the many blessings God has given to each of us.

With gratitude and thankfulness,

George and Kathy

See where George and Kathy Minister:
Center for Intercultural Training

May Update January 7th 2008

2008-01-09T15:56:00.000-05:00

Dear Praying Friends,

Thank you for praying for my dad. It is making a difference. The results from the EEG didn't show anything out of the ordinary. The doctor doesn't know why my dad had those three seizures, but he hasn't had any since that time. He is quite confused and depressed at this point. The doctors recommended putting him in a rehabilitation center but my siblings and mom felt that he would feel less confused at home.

He is back at home today but that means that my mom is going to need help from family and church friends, which is forthcoming. What a blessing to have the support of family and friends at a time like this! My dad is on anti-seizure medication, an anti-depressant and something to help him sleep. We'll keep you posted if there is any new developments.

Thank you again for praying with us that he won't have any more seizures and that the confusion and depression will lift.

Thankful for your prayer,

Debbie May

E-mail: MayInJapan@aol.com

Cik Family Update

2008-01-09T14:25:00.000-05:00

December 2007

“We are amazed and can’t believe how well-behaved and what strong faith Naomi (8) and Noel (7) have.” Beate’s parents remarked after visiting us in our home for six weeks. We are happy for the opportunity the Lord gave us to have this kind of witness to these Jehovah’s Witnesses.

SeminaryUpdate:

I am daily reminded of the calling of the Lord on my life to carry the Gospel to Europe. My heart is ready to go but I know I still need more training. Sometimes I am frustrated by 2 things:

1. My ability to earn a living but unable to do this here because of immigration laws.

2. Language difficulty to comprehend and read huge amounts of material. Good job offers come from Austria and are a temptation. Why don’t I just pack up and leave? There is no place in Austria where I can receive the good training I am getting here, there is no way.

Please pray for my family and me.

This semester is done and I´m preparing for all the finals. It is in GOD’S hand that I will pass all my exams. It is such a blessing to study at the Greenville Presbyterian Seminary. My next step in my preparation:

Lord willing, I will come under the care of the Calvary Presbytery in January but that does not include financial backing.

Counseling (RBCTI) Update:

My wife and I have also finished the RBCTI counseling course for this semester. There is just one semester left for the two year program.

Blessings from our Lord:

GOD is showing us every day that He will take care of His flock. We want to thank all our supporters for your prayers and gifts. We have experienced so much grace from you all, dear brothers and sisters.

THANK YOU!

We still need 33 families or churches who would like to support us with $50 monthly so that we can stay here to finish seminary.

Accountability:

We are 100% financially accountable and have a budget which is managed by Pastor Dan Dodds from Woodruff Road Presbyterian Church. All our financial transactions are available for review by any supporter.

Please send any correspondence or financial support to the following address:

Woodruff Road Presbyterian Church
(for Cik family or German Reformation Project)
2519 Woodruff Road
Simpsonville SC 29681

Your servant in Christ

GoeksanCik

Contact Cik family: byfaithalone@hotmail.com

Just Got Another Note from the Mackey's

2008-01-09T06:56:00.000-05:00

The last post was an update from back in December. Today I received a new update from Chris and Ginger...Click here to see what they had to say!

For other fun and informative info about Chris and Ginger, check out these posts on their website:

Taking Care of Business

At the Park with Faith

My Cool Nephew and Mother

Mackey Update

2008-01-08T12:21:00.000-05:00

Much has come to our minds during all this visa process.

We're trying to get our one-year Religious Worker visas for Brazil. We were waiting for two months just to hear SOMETHING, and we are grateful to the Lord that we finally did. That message, however, was that we are not "compatible" for this visa. Hmmm.

My (Ginger) immediate thoughts were, "Well, God is at work again. We get to sit back and see what He's going to do." I often am amused when things don't work out like I have planned.

So, as of now... Click here to read the rest