Showers of Blessings: A Sigh of Relief

It seems like the Lord is bringing things together in His perfect timing.  We've experienced the "Calm After the Storm", and now we're receiving the "Showers of Blessing" which allow us to breath "A Sigh of Relief".  

Please let me take a moment to list off these blessing one by one.  There are only a few, but they are HUGE 

 requests that have been heavy on our hearts.

1.  WE HAVE RENTERS!!  We have a family of NINE who has recently moved into our house. 

2.  Our insurance company covered the cost of replacing our roof!  It should be finished soon. 

3.  What we had anticipated to be a $3,500 repair on our truck turned out to be $15.00 cap that needed replaced!!  Praise the Lord!

4.  WE HAVE CHOSEN A MISSION BOARD!  

After much prayer, research, discussions, exhausting traveling, prayer, prayer, and prayer we believe God desires us to join the mission family at IBM Global.  We will hopefully be finishing up our applications soon so we can continue raising the necessary support to get us to the field.  

And as a result of choosing a mission board...

5.  We are able to set a departure date based on our current support raised and projected support increases.

We can not thank you enough for all your prayers and encouragement as we have weathered the storm and are now enjoying these showers of blessings.  Our biggest prayer was that God would reveal Himself to us more fully through this time and that He would be glorified in our lives.  We certainly know and trust Him better!  We have confidence in His perfect timing and trust Him to lead us in the way we should go.  

At the beginning when EBM first closed our prayer was Psalm 143:7,8

"Answer me quickly, O Lord!

My spirit fails!

Hide not your face from me...

... Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,

for in you I trust. 

Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul."

God has answered abundantly.  We feel like we can take a huge "Sigh of Relief", and we are excited to see what He has next in our future.  We are confident that whether it is a shower of blessing or a storm of circumstances He will help us through, teach us, guide us, and glorify Himself through it.

And we can't close without wishing you all a very

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Enjoy this season of blessings and joy celebrating our wonderful Savior's birth.

An Opportunity for Owen

Dear friends,
We can not thank you enough for all your faithful prayers for our family.  God has worked through you in our lives in tremendous ways.  I'm now desperately asking for prayers for some dear family friends.

I'll let you read most of the story on their website, but I'll summarize for you a bit.

Tim and Elaine Dulaney are dear friends of ours.  They attend out church and work in the youth group with us.  They are a wonderful family, and we're so thankful for them.  They have three boys.  The oldest is Benjamin.  When Ben was around 3 years old they found out that he has a degenerative, fatal genetic disorder called Sanfillipo Syndrome, or MPS IIIA.  It has been difficult to see the disorder's effects on Benjamin as he grows, but we all love him dearly and are so thankful for God putting him in our lives.  Their second son is Noah.  He is the same age as Jorja and was blessed to not have the disorder himself.  He is the typical four year old boy.  And now comes Owen.

Owen is 4 months old and through an amnio during pregnancy Elaine found out Owen also has Sanfillipo.  The specialist they were seeing offered them the hope of a stem cell treatment to delay the onset of the symptoms of the disorder and give them more time with him before the disorder took over, but there was no proof that it would work, and would possibly kill him.  At the time the decided against it.  Recently the specialist brought up a similar treatment that is still experimental, but a much better option.  After much prayer Tim and Elaine decided to allow Owen to undergo this procedure.  The procedure will take about six months to complete.  The details of what the procedure requires are on their website, but in short, it will take 8 days of chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant, and isolation as they evaluate how his body is receiving the transplant and he recovers.

Please pray for Owen, Tim and Elaine, and their family as they help with Ben and Noah.  Please go to their blog to read all that is happening.  Owen started chemo yesterday, December 11.

This family could desperately use your prayers, and if you feel led, your finances to help pay for this procedure and all the additional costs incurred through it.  Check their blog for updates and information on how to help them financially.

Thank you so much!  I trust you will pray diligently for this sweet sweet baby and his family.  I can't wait to see how God works mightily through this entire situation.

Please visit their blog and let them know you're praying for them.

just click on An Opportunity for Owen

if that doesn't work go to:

www.anoportunity4owen.moonfruit.com

The Calm After the Storm

Things have sure seemed stormy.  In life and in the weather!  For the past couple of months it doesn't seem to stop raining here in West Virginia!!  We're starting to wonder if God is preparing us for rainy season in Zambia.  We're definitely taking our rain boots with us when we go.  That's for sure.  We're growing a bit weary of the wet and muck, but showers of blessing are also pouring on our lives after the storms of discouragement we've been going through.

It seemed like when our mission board went under at the beginning of September everything else in life decided to fall apart too.  For a while we were confused about the present, and uncertain about the future.  Everything seemed to be going wrong and we were helpless to fix any of it.  I kept thinking that when things seem the most impossible is when God likes to prove Himself by doing something truly amazing.  And the more I thought that the more impossible things seemed to become.  God is proving Himself over and over, and our storms of discouragement have turned into showers of blessing.

As situations would come up we would call the kids together with us and pray for one specific thing at a time.  The kids prayed for the situation and Jamie and I prayed that God would make  Himself real to our kids through the circumstances.  One day we came together as a family to pray for God to rebuild the funds that we lost when EBM went under, and that God would continue to increase our support level.  While we were praying Jamie's phone rang, but we ignored it.  After we were finished praying Jamie checked his voicemail.  It was the pastor of one of the churches in our area.  The church had voted to give us their annual faith giving offering to help us rebuild the funds we had lost, and they had also voted to start our support in November for 5% of our total support instead of in January like originally planned.  What fun it was to call the kids back together and get to show them how in the very moment that they prayed for our needs God was providing.  Thank you so very much, Tri-City Baptist Church.  You are an answer to prayer in so many ways!

We have narrowed down our mission board search and will be deciding by the first week of December.  We're pretty sure we know where God wants us we're just waiting to speak to our team members, the Chambers, in Zambia to get input from them before we make a final decision.

The roof of our house started leaking this "rainy season".  We had it appraised to see how much it would cost to replace it.  Wow!!!  Expensive!!!  But the appraiser said that it was hail and wind damage and to submit it to our insurance company to see if they would cover it.  We got some estimates, submitted it to our insurance company and, praise God, they're going to cover it!!  What a blessing!

As of Saturday, November 19, our house is officially on the market to rent.  Please pray that God provides a renter for our house very soon.  We almost have it empty...  we just have to find the time to finish before someone comes to look at it.

As I type we are having the truck looked at to see what caused our radiator to blow.  Please pray that it's not too horribly expensive, and a relatively easy fix.  If it's what we think it is, it'll be a big fix with a big price tag.  But God is providing, and we're confident He'll provide for this too.

So, as the storms of discouragement end and the showers of blessings fall a bit more freely we have our rain coats and boots on and we're stomping in the puddles enjoying every last drop.  May you feel the showers of blessing as you celebrate this Thanksgiving season and share them with friends and family.  Thank you for rejoicing with us in ours, and your continued prayers and support.

A Plea for Prayer

We see over and over in scripture the power of prayer.  God even says that the effectual, fervent prayers of a righteous man accomplish much.  We're looking for as many righteous men (and women) as we can find.   It seems that ever since EBM closed we've been feeling a little bit like Job.

Everything in life seems to be going wrong right now.  We're still prayerfully researching mission boards, we found out we can't sell our house without taking a loss so we're going to have to rent it, the roof on the house started leaking like a sinking ship, Warrick started with croup early this year and the other two kids are sick,  Jamie is having trouble with his school schedule, and the list could go on and on.  Needless to say, we're exhausted.

Speaking of the mission board situation.  Our trip visiting mission boards was wonderful.  It answered a lot of questions and we feel we got a really good idea of who these boards are.  Now we just have to figure out which one God has for us.  It was quick, and exhausting (our 13 hour drive to New Hampshire turned into 16 thanks to traffic), but we had a wonderful time together without the kids.  The kids had a great time with family in Cincinnati.  Please continue to pray for our wisdom and discernment in this big decision.

Okay, back to the prayer topic.  We've been calling the family together to have consentrated prayer together.  Last week we sat down in our "living room" and had the kids pray for our support to continue to come in and for our start up costs for the field.  While we were praying Jamie's phone rang, but of course we ignored it.  When we were finished praying he checked his messages.  There is a church in the Parkersburg area who has a faith giving offering once a year.  This year their church decided to give it to our family to rebuild the start up costs we had saved for.  What a blessing!!  The church had also voted to start supporting us on a monthly basis in January, but they felt that giving such a large offering to a missionary they didn't support didn't make much sence.  So they voted to start supporting us in November for 5% of our support level!  Jamie and I have been praying that God would show to our kids, and remind us of, the power of prayer.  While we were praying He was answering!!  It was so exciting to be able to gather the kids just a few minutes after they prayed and tell them how God was answering while they were expressing their needs to Him.  What a faithful God we serve!!

We have amped up the prayer time we spend as a family, and we see and know that God is working.  We are asking for you to please do the same.  Would you be willing to spend just five minutes a day praying for our family.  We need rest, energy, renewal, wisdom, discernment, good health, and just for things to start working out.  We have absolutely no doubts that our God is faithful and powerful and soverign and good.  We trust Him completely to work out His will in our lives.  We just need for Him to show us the next step so we can continue to follow Him on this journey.  Please pray with us as we wait patiently on the Lord.

The Great Search Has Begun

Who knew there were so many mission boards??!!  Just when we think we have it narrowed down someone has a suggestion for a new one to check out.  Thank you so much for all your encouragement and support!

Our tentative plan for the next few months is for our sending church, Bethel Baptist Church in Parkersburg, West Virginia, will be receiving our support.  They've re-activated an account they opened for us last year when we took our survey trip to Zambia.  (Has it already been that long?!)  Please make out your check to Bethel Baptist and put Jamie and Mandy Missions in the note.  Our church has been so willing to help in whatever ways they are able to.  We've been so blessed by Bethel Baptist!

Last Wednesday, September 14, Jamie and I were able to talk with our team mates in Zambia. We had a wonderful time reconnecting and encouraging each other.  Another couple planning to join our team is in Zambia right now on a survey trip.  Please pray for Mac and Leeza McCuley as they discern God's plans for them.  Mac and Leeza had just started the application process with EBM when everything happened.  Now they have to start over with another board.  Pray that our team would have wisdom in which board(s) to go with and which direction God is taking our ministry. 

A huge praise from our conversation with the Chambers is that in Nambaaza a monogamous couple just received Christ.  They have ten children!! but so far have remained pure in their marriage.  Please pray that God would give them strength to follow His plan for marriage and they would grow in their faith and understanding of God and His word.  

Jamie and I are going on a trip!!!  Without the kids!!!  No, it's not a vacation, but a trip to visit the home offices of some of the mission boards we're looking into.  We'll be traveling to Nashua, New Hampshire on October 3 then on to Pennsylvania October 5-8.  We'll be able to interview with three different boards and have a better understanding of how they work and how our family would fit within their ministry paradigm. 

Please pray that we would have wisdom and discernment.  Please pray that God would be glorified through this trip.  Please pray for Mandy's parents as they have our kids for the week!  Please pray that questions would be answered and direction would be given.  We're excited to learn about these boards and how God is using them around the world.  

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!

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.