. . . Constant in the trial and the pain . . .
My last post wasn't too upbeat. There was a defeatist mood where everything seemed dark and hopeless. Something I need to be reminded about is that no matter what my emotional state is, whatever high or low, however the finances look at the moment, God is good and wants good for me. That remains constant. Right after I posted my "raking leaves" post I got a call from a friend we have known for a few years now. This unnamed hero told me she was praying for the situation and gave me a Psalm to hold onto. It was Psalm 37 and especially verse 25. The Psalmist writes:
She told me to pray through the verses and just ask for the funding we need. So I did.
Ten minutes later I got a Facebook message. It went on to tell how friends of ours would like to support us with a huge one-time gift. I was really surprised. I should have expected something like this I guess. I was praying for it right? I walked around the rest of the day shaking my head thinking about what just happened and how much our Papa loves us.
Two days later I got an email describing how another couple would like to regularly support us. I shook my head the rest of that day too.
On the third day, another email from a real close friend telling us about another big amount. My neck was starting to get sore.
We have taken out the deficit and have a little breathing room. Thank you Papa! This probably means we won't have to be coming home in December! We can stay and continue the work we have here without a huge disruption to things. So thank you to all of you who have given. You know who you are. We're so grateful. Sore neck grateful.
But we're not out of the woods yet. EMM, our sending agency, has a policy that without 100% pledges we'll still need to come home. It's policy. I don't like it, but I understand that times are tough and they don't have the funds that they once had to float missionaries with less than sufficient funding. Please consider helping us out so we can fulfill the required policy and keep up our work here. We're a lot closer than we were a few weeks ago, but we have some more fund-raising to do. I'll keep you updated when I get some hard numbers from our treasurer.
Other than that, we made a trip to EMM's annual missionary retreat last week. It was in Wales this time around. We booked a discount airline flight from an obscure airport near Frankfurt to another unknown landing site in England. I've never been to the UK before and wasn't exactly thrilled to rent a car and drive on the left side of the road, so we booked a nice train trip. The North-Atlantic storm that made the international news, laid down trees on the train tracks and roads all over the island. I think we missed all of our trains we had booked. It was a travel nightmare.
I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
She told me to pray through the verses and just ask for the funding we need. So I did.
Ten minutes later I got a Facebook message. It went on to tell how friends of ours would like to support us with a huge one-time gift. I was really surprised. I should have expected something like this I guess. I was praying for it right? I walked around the rest of the day shaking my head thinking about what just happened and how much our Papa loves us.
Two days later I got an email describing how another couple would like to regularly support us. I shook my head the rest of that day too.
On the third day, another email from a real close friend telling us about another big amount. My neck was starting to get sore.
We have taken out the deficit and have a little breathing room. Thank you Papa! This probably means we won't have to be coming home in December! We can stay and continue the work we have here without a huge disruption to things. So thank you to all of you who have given. You know who you are. We're so grateful. Sore neck grateful.
But we're not out of the woods yet. EMM, our sending agency, has a policy that without 100% pledges we'll still need to come home. It's policy. I don't like it, but I understand that times are tough and they don't have the funds that they once had to float missionaries with less than sufficient funding. Please consider helping us out so we can fulfill the required policy and keep up our work here. We're a lot closer than we were a few weeks ago, but we have some more fund-raising to do. I'll keep you updated when I get some hard numbers from our treasurer.
Other than that, we made a trip to EMM's annual missionary retreat last week. It was in Wales this time around. We booked a discount airline flight from an obscure airport near Frankfurt to another unknown landing site in England. I've never been to the UK before and wasn't exactly thrilled to rent a car and drive on the left side of the road, so we booked a nice train trip. The North-Atlantic storm that made the international news, laid down trees on the train tracks and roads all over the island. I think we missed all of our trains we had booked. It was a travel nightmare.
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| Anika is sick and sleeping against the train window while Naomi show's us what she really thinks of the Queens trains. |
Other than the travel problems we had a great time with our fellow missionaries from all over Europe and beyond. Some are going through some tough times, so you can pray for the EMMers when you come to think about it. Our theme was "Soul care" as well as "Communitas" (purposefully living simply with others for the reason of making disciples). Our speakers were British and Welsh. When we mixed the Yanks and Brits we came out with a cheerfully amusing time. ;)
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| Madeline (right) with her friend Clara at the castle in Cardiff, Wales. |
When we finally arrived back in Kaiserslautern, I found two meeting agendas hanging from the door. Yesterday I went to Karlsruhe to discuss the quality of our FSJ Seminars with some government bigwigs and this morning we had a team meeting here in our living room. We're back!
I just want to let it be know that God is good. He means well with you and me. That's why he was motivated to send Jesus; his love. That's why we are motivated to tell people about Jesus: his love. Thank you for sending us to tell people about the Love that doesn't quit, regardless of the situation.
peace and love,
Mike
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