As I reflect on the almost five
month we have been here I am humbled by God’s amazing grace. Typically when new teams form out of
various backgrounds to embark in frontier missions in sensitive areas,
division, identity crisis, and disillusionment are at the door. However, I am thankful to say God is at
work in the darkest of places through the weakest of people for His great
glory. Our team continues to grow
and we both love and like each other more and more each day. We all have strengths and weaknesses,
but together we compliment each other well. We are not only growing as a
community here, but also through out the M.E. Individuals and teams have been
approaching us about linking arms for the spread of the Gospel throughout the M.E. We are also only months away from
the start of our school that will host twelve students for their training and
sending throughout various regions. We are also continuing to form local
relationships throughout our city and develop our language skills for the
future church plant.
Considering the growth now and what is still yet to come we are in the processes of writing out our statement of faith, building multipliable cross cultural structures, and Biblical community development. Rather than focusing on the big and future, we want to focus on the now and local. Our hope is that God would do a great work through us locally so that we may in the future be vessels of God worth modeling. We are working on apologetic, discipleship, and evangelistic materials that may be used locally, and be translated in the future to assist others in surrounding regions. Please pray for the purity of the Word and blade of the Spirit as we humbly work to do something greater than us. We are also pursuing relationships with others who have been doing this longer than us, and have materials already made. Please pray that God would open doors for the expanse of His kingdom.
Very soon will be a change in our schedule. We will be making more time for language acquisition and splitting our meetings, as a group, due to local laws in existence within this country. A large chunk of our day will be focused on studying, continuing classes, and also a stricter time with language partners. We are excited and curious as to how all of these changes will affect our community and family, but are also excited that as we grow there is flexibility in our schedule to allow for trying new things. There will also be a shift in our gathering together as a team. We have been meeting together in one house Monday-Friday for prayer, worship, and the study of the Word, but are about to split into two groups. We are excited for the growth within our community!
As a family there has been much to adapt to. We are all doing well however, and the pregnancy sickness that has been very present is starting to decline. Thank you so much for all the prayers you have been praying for us! They are felt and much needed. As our schedules change and we take on new roles here a continuing grace from the Lord is upon us. To be honest we aren’t sure what things will look like as we shift or how we will adjust as a family. However, we feel a strong unity in our marriage and a nearness as we are all in this together. If you have been standing with us in prayer please continue to do so; if you haven’t been, we greatly covet those prayers. As we have said many times before… we need you as a body to be the ones holding our rope as we continue to plod.