Sunday, August 28, 2011

Back to the Begining

We want to thank everyone for your faithful prayers and encouragement even though we couldn't completely explain what you were praying for.  We are finally at liberty to share with you all that has been going on in our lives.  And as we share I'm sure you'll agree more prayers are desperately needed.

For those of you who receive or prayer letters you found out in this last letter that we were near 70% of our needed support and had prayerfully set our departure date for March 31, 2012.  Little did we know how our plans were about to change.  The book of Proverbs says that in a heart a man plans his course, but the Lord directs His steps.  I don't believe we've ever experienced, or depended on this more than this last week.

So, we sent out our prayer letter on Aug 16th excited about the future in Zambia that we could almost taste!  Two days later we received information that our mission board was in a huge financial crisis and that problems were on the way.  Like all non-profit organizations EBM has had fiancial stress in the receint economy, and we were aware of that, but not the extent of the situation.  This was no temporary crisis.  We prayed about the information we had been given and worked out a game plan with our sending church pastor based on that information.  That Friday we received an email from our board stating that some difficult decisions had been made, some information leaked, and asking that we would be patient until they could form a report to send to us before Sept 1.  We received that email this past Wednesday, August 24.  In the letter they explained that because of financial difficulties our board (Evangelical Baptist Missions) would be dissolving and officially closing their doors on Sept 2.  They have worked things out with four different mission agencies who would be willing to absorb us into their agency, or we could  have all our finances routed through our sending church if none of the willing agencies would work for us.  But we had to decide by Sept 2.  WOAH!!!!  Hold on a second!!!  This isn't part of the plan!!

Needless to say we felt kind of sucker punched, not by EBM, but by the circumstances.  All the wind of the week before knocked right out of us.  Aren't you thankful that God is NEVER taken by surprise?  We sure are.  And we praise Him for that.

We have much to pray over and consider in the coming months ahead.  We have decided, with the cooperation of our sending church, to have all our finances routed through our church (Bethel Baptist Church in Parkersburg, West Virginia) until we are able to find what mission board God would have us to be with.  We believe it is a decision that can't be made in a week, so we are going to take the next few months to pray over, visit, meet with, and research some different mission boards.  Please be in prayer with us as we seek God's direction in this huge decision.

As far as our funds already at EBM... that is up to the lawyers to decide as EBM needs to comply with all IRS regulations.  EBM will do it's absolute best to make sure we receive back as much of our finances as they are able to, but ultimately it is all in our Father's hands.  He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and I'm pretty sure there's more than one cow on each hill.  All the universe is His and in His control.

So, our adventure has another curve in the road!  It seems that God always waits for the impossible to prove Himself in hugely miraculous ways.  The shock of this situation has worn off for us, now the numbness has set in.  We have absolutely no idea what the future holds for us.  We are going to continue to follow the path God has laid out for us for now, because we believe He still has a plan for us in global missions.  And as we wait, research, seek His face, and humble ourselves before Him we are excited to see what big thing He is going to do through this situation.  When we are weak, He is strong.  He does the impossible through the impossible to prove Who He is.

If you have any questions please feel free to email or call us.  We will answer to the best of our ability, but much is still unknown to us.  We are waiting for a more detailed report from the board.  We can praise the Lord that based on very good information there were no sin issues or improprieties that caused this problem, just overwhelming circumstances and the will of God.  Please pray for all the other missionaries and home staff of EBM as they look for other boards and discern what God's next step is for them too.  The extent and timing of this situation was a shock to even the home office staff (many of which have been laid off), but so far God has poured out His grace and there has been mutual encouragement and support within the board.  Our God is truly magnificent!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

A Lot Can Happen

We so appreciate all of your love, encouragement and support for our family as we have endeavored to faithfully follow God's leading in our life.  We have had a very busy summer and a lot has happened over that time.

A lot can happen in a long time and A LOT can happen in a very short time.  But regardless of how it sends our heads spinning we have a God who is in control with a perfect purpose and a perfect plan.  On Him we can rely, and we do!

We have recently received news that requires a TON of prayer, searching the scriptures, godly council and wisdom.  We ask you to please pray for us as we desire follow no less than God's absolute will in these monumental decisions that need to be made.  As we are able and have more understanding of the situation at hand we will update you all with the details, but at this time we are unable to do more than desperately ask for your prayers and patience.

We have an amazing God who call us to follow Him on this adventurous journey called life.  We are excited to follow Him wherever He leads us and to experience all He has for us along the way.  We've encountered a new phase of this journey and we can't wait to see what God has in store for us.



Thank you again for all the support you have shown our family.  We couldn't have gotten this far in the adventure with out all of you.  We love you and pray for you regularly.  We appreciate you more than
we can express.