“You are Covered”

On a recent trip we experienced a breakdown with our vehicle.  The fuel pump stopped working and the vehicle “ran out of gas” even though we had plenty in the tank.  At the time we were with an AIM colleague of ours who was in the car.  We had just been telling him how good the vehicle had been for us; then it stopped dead in the road.  We were so thankful that we had traveled about two hundred kilometres that day without problem.  Turned out that our colleague had an AMA membership and, having being in the car at the time of the breakdown, it allowed us to use his membership to have our car towed to a town close by.  In making phone calls we were under the impression that because of the distance we may need to pay a fee for additional kilometres to be towed.  As we got closer to the mechanics shop I asked the towed truck driver how I could pay for the additional cost of the trip.  He turned to me and said, “You are covered”.  What sweet words to hear when your vehicle is broken.

At the mechanic shop we found out that the cost of the repair was quite steep as the pump was inside the fuel tank.  We were not sure how we were going to pay for this but we needed to go ahead with the repair as we had no other means of transport.  After a few hours the vehicle was fixed and we were back on the road with little disruption to our scheduled meetings.  However, that is no the end of the story.  Something even more amazing happened.  The very next day the cost of the repairs were covered by a complete stranger to us who heard of our vehicle breakdown.  They gave nearly the total amount of the repair bill.  God knew exactly what we needed before we even had the breakdown and it all was in place within a matter of hours.  We give praise to God for his provision.

We realized again just how that feels to be “covered” as Christians and have every aspect of our sin taken care of when Jesus died for all of us on the cross.  How many times have we thought about what we could do to pay for what we do not owe anything for?  It was a good reminder, through a “bump in the road” with our vehicle, an encounter with a tow truck driver and a stranger looking to help, that our debts are covered and that God is good in all that we need.

We are fast coming to the end of our planned year here in Canada in the first week of August.  It has been eventful year covering a large part of Alberta in our travels.  We realize during our time back here in Alberta, when meeting with many, many people, that there are uncertain times for people here.  We have faith that God knows exactly what each persons needs are and that He will provide. We want to encourage people that we arrived back in Canada with a lot of uncertainty as well.  Looking back to that time, we left Kenya without a house to live in Alberta, we did not have a car, there was no job lined up, we did not know where our children would go to school.  God has been so faithful to us in providing not just a little in these areas but more than we could ever ask or hope for.  We are trusting that He will do the same for His people here in Alberta as well.

As we prepare to head back we are mindful of a couple of things that we would like to ask that you consider.  First, we need prayer to cover us during this time of transition and our time back in Kenya.  We are definitely in that phase, just after feeling somewhat settled here in Lethbridge, of looking ahead to going back “home”. We have posted a series of blogs that came from an OMF brochure about praying for your missionary.  We would be so grateful if you could do this with us.  You can find that series of blogs here: For the Prayer Partner.

Cassidy, Ella, Titus
Waterton beauty

Second, we are roughly 10% short in our monthly financial support which translates into approximately $700/month.  We are praising God that we are seeing people partner with us in this area.  There are many contributing factors in a shortfall like this.  As our children get older there are increased costs that we need to consider.  The primary issue is the exchange rate of the Canadian Dollar compared to the U.S. dollar and Kenyan schilling that affects us the most.  We need to have 100% of our monthly support amount committed before we can go back to Kenya.  Please prayerfully consider what you can do in this area.  Here is a link for you to be able to find out how this can be done online or through the Africa Inland Mission office in Scarborough: Giving.

We also would like to remind you that there are quite a few previous blog posts that we have been doing to keep people up to date with what is going on in our lives.  Feel free to take a look here at what we have been up to these past few months. Take a look here: Blog.  Hopefully it is interesting.

Until next time…

For the Prayer Partner

In doing some organizing on a day off we came across a pamphlet titled ‘Seven Ways to Pray for Your Missionary” written by Bill Wilson of OMF International.  We thought that we would share it here in a series of “daily posts” on our website for you to become more informed on how you can effectively pray for us and other missionaries that you know.

“There is a living God; He has spoken in the Bible; He means what He says and will do all that He has promised.” – J. Hudson Taylor

Missions is more than God’s people obediently serving Him.  Missions is God at work.  If He isn’t working in and through His people to accomplish His purposes, nothing eternal is getting done.

Think of Paul at Philippi in Acts 16.  He was faithfully teaching about Jesus when Lydia believed.  God led the missionary to the right place, empowered his witness, and opened the heart of the hearer.

In Matthew 9:36-38, Jesus looked at the multitudes and their unmet needs and said, “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”  Jesus compared the huge task of meeting the crowd’s needs with the few people there are to do the job.

What is to be done in this tragic situation?  Jesus answers, “Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers in His harvest field.”  The solution is to ask God to touch hearts and challenge His people to work the harvest.

Unleashing God’s Power

The Apostle Paul was a great missionary who often urges God’s people to pray for him. He linked the success of his mission to the faithful prayer support of the saints of God.  Read 2 Corinthians 1:8-11.

Paul describes some of his experiences as: “hardships we suffered,” “under great pressure.” “beyond our ability to endure,” “despaired even of life.”  Yet he speaks confidently of God’s deliverance.  Paul is sure that God will sustain him as the believers help in prayer.

This passage shows that God actively protects, delivers, and uses us for blessing.  And prayer links us to the most exciting aspects of ministry.  Paul says, ‘many will give thanks.. for the gracious favour granted us in answer to the prayer and effective missions.

The place God wants you in His missions program is something wonderful that you must discover from Him.  But it is His will that you, a child of God, pray for world evangelization.  We don’t dare sidestep this opportunity and responsibility.  Pray. “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17) and “You should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1b).

Pray on Two Levels

Here are two suggestions to help you pray more effectively:

1.Maintain a broad interest in missions around the world.

Keep up with missionaries in various countries.  Some people pray for a different continent every day of the week.

2. Pray regularly for one missionary or a missionary family.

After you’ve cultivated your interest world-wide, as God to put one specific missionary on your heart and commit yourself to that missionary in a meaningful way.  As God leads you, make a definite commitment to Him to pray daily for your partner in ministry.  This special connection to another ministry hols all the mutual benefits of deep and purposeful friendship.

Learn all you can about your missionary: the family, the agency, the county where they are serving, the type of work they do, the people they are working with.

Assume some responsibility in your friendship with your missionary and write regularly.  Send small gifts occasionally.  Have them in your home.  Read their prayer letters fresh from the mail box and pray through them many times. Let your mind expand on the items mentioned and pray in depth for them.

Rejoice with your missionary in his answers to prayer.  Worship God with thanksgiving for meeting your missionary’s needs.

It is not easy to pray for someone every day for an extended period of time.  Ask God to help you pray intensely, intelligently and with His Spirits’ power.

The following is the outline for daily prayer for a missionary.  Each day is linked to a separate post to provide a more detailed explanation of how to pray more intentionally each day.

Day 1 | Relationship with God

Day 2 | Physical and Emotional Needs

Day 3 | Family Relationships

Day 4 | Ability to Communicate

Day 5 | Effective Ministry

Day 6 | Team Relationships

Day 7 | Country and People Group

For Prayer Partners – Day 1

Relationship with God

Too often we assume that missionaries don’t struggle like we do in their relationship with God.  But this is the missionary’s primary need.  Pray that your missionary will:

  • love and study God’s Word;
  • have a strong prayer life;
  • be filled with the Holy Spirit;
  • be maturing spiritually; and
  • make progress over personal sin.

Day 2

Introduction

For Prayer Partners – Day 2

Physical and Emotional Needs

Satan often discourages us through our physical and emotional lives.  Many missionaries live in difficult climates exposed to serious disease.  Pray for good health.

With busy and hectic schedules, missionaries travel often.  Pray for safety, stamina and a sense of priority.  Remember that preventive prayer helps.  When we hear that a missionary is hospitalized for any number of reasons or going through difficult times we pray up a storm.  The wise thing to do is cover your missionary’s health continually.  Pray against discouragement, loneliness and depression.

Day 3

Introduction

For Prayer Partners – Day 3

Family Relationships

Pray for family relationships – husband/wife, parent/child.  Pray for the children, their salvation and spiritual growth, their health and education.  Pray too that their family life will provide an excellent model for local Christians and the unsaved.  And pray against the temptations that destroy families.

If your missionary is single, pray that God will meet his or her needs in this area.  Pray for strong, healthy friendships, and contentment in singleness.

Day 4

Introduction

For Prayer Partners – Day 4

Ability to Communicate

In world evangelization communication is the name of the game.  Your missionary is in ministry to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Whether your missionary is communicating with their life or lips, they must be understood.

Learning a new language and adapting to a new culture are frustrating, difficult and essential to good communication.  Even an elementary knowledge of a language takes years of study and practice.  And a superficial understanding is insufficient for communicating spiritual truths and defending the faith.  Would you listen to a speaker who wasn’t fluent in English?

But to really communicate, the missionary must adapt culturally to identify with those he is trying to reach.  Getting close to the local people and understanding them means adjusting lifestyle and cultural preferences.  Pray that your missionary will have the stamina and understanding to demonstrate Christ cross-culturally.

Day 5

Introduction

For Prayer Partners – Day 5

Effective Ministry

Sometimes you can forget why your missionary is overseas, and why you are praying for them.  Remember to pray for what your missionary is actually “doing” witnessing, visiting, teaching, preaching, counseling, nursing – and pray for the people they are ministering to.

Prayer letters will teach you how to specifically pray for those things.  But include requests for boldness, open doors, open hearts and excellence in the effort.  Most of all, as the Holy Spirit to empower your missionary for productivity. (John 15:16).

Day 6

Introduction

For Prayer Partners – Day 6

Team Relationships

Your missionary is probably not completely on their own.  Normally, missionaries team up with other missionaries, local believers, pastors and evangelists.  Unfortunately, this mix of personalities designed to strengthen the ministry can sometimes be used of Satan to weaken it.  Poor team relationships can spoil the work.  Pray for all the fellow workers your missionary mentions in their letters. Pray that they appreciate and sharpen one another in good and healthy ways.

Day 7

Introduction

For Prayer Partners – Day 7

Country and People Group

Expand your praying to include the entire country where you missionary is located.  The political situation, the government and its leaders, visas, freedom to preach the gospel – ll of these are important factors in world evangelism.  You can also pray that the whole country will open up in responsiveness to the gospel.

Especially pray for the people group that the missionary is trying to reach.  Learn all that you can about them and pray for an indigenous church movement among them.  Here are a couple of resources to help learn more.

Whether you use this guide regularly or use some other method, you can never run out of prayer material.  We haven’t even mentioned your missionaries relationship with their home church, the parents and family left at home and their financial needs.

You have plenty of important work to do in giving the world the message of Jesus Christ.  And you will know God better for it.  No matter how many times you may fail in your daily commitment, you can start it again today.

Introduction

10 Furlough Facts

We have reached the halfway point of our home assignment and thought that we would share with you some facts from our home assignment.  Several are praises, some are information, and others are prayer requests as we anticipate what God has in store these coming months.

  1. Speaking Engagements:  We are blessed to know many people all over the province of Alberta!  So far we have spoken at six different places and shared with many more small groups.  We are blessed when we meet with so many people and learn their stories.  We know that God continues to use these churches in the communities that they are in with growing, vibrant Christians.  We do have a few available speaking times available in April, May and June so if you are interested in having us come and share what we do or to be challenged in missions, we would love to do that.
  2. Travel: In the past six months we have traveled about 20,000Km traveling to different parts of the province to speak at churches and visit many individual supporters.  Living in Lethbridge is not the most geographically central place to all of the areas that we go.  It is a daunting task but we are so thankful for a reliable vehicle and fun family adventures.  We have also been blessed with very good weather that has given us clear and dry roads to travel on.Road
  3. Trip to BC: No time in Canada would be complete for us without a trip to BC.  We are looking forward to making this trip July 11 – 26 traveling to Squamish where Todd grew up and making stops along the way in the Okanagan.  We will be visiting family, friends, and churches in those areas.  We might also try to get to Vancouver Island as well.  We will see what gas prices are like – so far, this has been a wonderful praise.Cassidy field hockey1
  4. Activities: This has been such a fulfilling aspect of our lives here.  We were not sure how this would look while we were back in Canada, but we have been blessed with so many opportunities.  Cassidy has been playing indoor field hockey and has been receiving exceptional training and coaching.  Titus is getting more interested in badminton and is playing at school.  Titus badmintonBoth Cassidy and Titus Ella swimminghave been participating in youth groups at the Evangelical Free Church in Lethbridge.  Ella has been in swimming and is quickly moving through the levels.  Kylie has been getting connected with Field Hockey Alberta and is leading introductory sessions for field hockey with elementary students in Lethbridge.  We have all loved getting involved in our church’s ministry to international students and families living in Lethbridge through gym nights & potluck suppers.
  5. Monthly Support:  This continues to be an area of need for us.  We are so grateful for the partnership that many people and churches have had with us for so many years.  There are no amount of words that we can say to express our thanks to those of you who have enabled us to answer the call on our lives.  It is truly a sacrifice to have done what you are doing for God through us these past several years.  We do, however, currently have a shortfall in our monthly financial support.Monthly support 2016 (Mar)  The amount that we receive each month we are able to use for not only our living expenses but also for hosting students in our house at the school and helping those in the community around us in water collection projects to school fees to buying food for those who are in need.  We are currently averaging 80% of what we need each month in order for us to be able to live in Kenya.  God has been faithful to us in always providing for what we need.  However, we are not able to return to Kenya without being at 100% of our target support amount set by Africa Inland Mission.  We are in need of an additional $1,000/month.  If you are reading this please prayerfully consider what you can do to help in this area of our ministry even if it is $10, $20, or $50/month.  Information on how to give is located on our website for both online giving and approved withdrawal options through Africa Inland Mission who provides charitable tax receipts.
  6. Work:  God has prepared our time back in Canada with unbelievable opportunities to work.  Arriving back provided that much needed time for rest and decompression after living in at a fairly high state of busyness and security awareness. Todd was able to work the first several months for a renovation development company which was an amazing opportunity that gave that feeling of accomplishment after a good day of manual work.  In December he applied with the local school district to be a substitute teacher.  Within two hours of getting on the sub list he was called to sub for a teacher the next day.  By the beginning of February he was hired by a local school a few blocks away to teach a half time position in the mornings.  These jobs have been helping make up the shortfall in our monthly income from AIM and is allowing us to save a little bit more towards our RRSP and RESPs.Wilson middle school
  7. Professional Development:  Coming back to Canada allows us to participate in activities that recharge our professional batteries so to speak.  Having been employed by the school district in Lethbridge Todd gets to participate in teacher professional development activities.  Both of Todd and Kylie have also been achieving NCCP coaching certification and attending leadership conferences that have proved to be very good.
  8. Return to Kenya:  Having passed that invisible line of the halfway point of being back in Canada this year we are shifting in mindset to looking ahead and preparing for returning to Kenya.  This causes us to be excited in our conversation with each other and those that we talk to.  It also causes us to wonder how we are going to see family more and what we need to do by certain timelines. We would like to set out for Kenya again at the end of July.
  9. Family:  We arrived back in Canada to find many changes in our families.  New additions with babies and marriages and getting to know those people as well as the deaths of people that we held dear and not being able to visit with them again.  We are glad for the good overall health of our families.  We are beginning to feel that as we look ahead to leave again that everyone is doing well which allows us to leave with a good feeling.
  10. Big Events:  We are looking at some milestones this year.  Cassidy turns 16.  As a result, we are already starting to look at options here in Canada for when she graduates in a few short years. Titus turns 14 and might just be getting his learners drivers license in a few months.  Ella turns 9 and would like to have her learners drivers license as well.  Todd and Kylie will also be celebrating 20 years of marriage in July.  It seems to be just a few years ago that we were all a young family with us  learning how to parent (we still are learning – we just are not so young anymore).

We are so grateful that we serve the sovereign Lord of all.  We would appreciate it if you could keep these things in prayer for us.  Perhaps praying for one of these a day for the next ten days could be something you can commit to for us.  Also, if you get a chance we would love to hear some facts about your lives as well.