Two weeks ago we sent out our first support letter. Responses have begun to arrive, and we are so thankful for the support. The personal notes have been sweet and encouraging. Thank you so much for supporting us so fully and generously! In my last entry I mentioned that we were working on a missions service for our church, well, Justin went with God's leading and used a personally meaningful scripture to guide our missions service, and we prayerfully delivered it on Sunday night.
We were a weary family that night recovering from the flu. I was so nervous! I felt like "little us" and "Big God." Did I look as feverish as I felt? Would my voice hold out? During praise and worship I felt the hand of God, and He really showed up. Justin delivered our story well, and with heart. I was impressed with how well he knows me and was able to retell our years of seeking God's guidance in this decision. I shared the "asking" portion of the service...the part where we ask our church to come with us in commitment to the ministry in Peru. I have no idea what I said, or how it came off, but God was awesome. We are so humbled by the number of people who have signed up to be part of our Care Team here at home...they will be our core of prayer support through this process...there's always room for more :)! God also called many to give that night, it's incredible.
On Monday we received notice that our costs for training have increased, so these totals will reflect those changes:
Need: $37,000 for Outbound Budget; $3100 for Monthly Budget
Raised: $2,410 One Time Gifts; $865 Monthly Commitments = TOTAL RAISED $3,275.00
(All monthly gifts collected before departure will go to our outbound expenses, and if the $3100 starts flowing now, we will have our entire outbound budget raised by our target date of January 2006).
This is a true gift to have come so far so fast, because we need $7,000 by March 1st to go to training in Guatemala in April. If we miss this deadline we will be going to training in Thailand in August.
Praise God for being half way to our first goal! Thank you to our incredible Support Team that just keeps growing and growing. If you have more questions for us, please feel free to give us a call! We'll be happy to chat things over.
CARE TEAM! I'm planning our first meeting for either the end of February or the first week in March...I'll be in touch!
I am so excited about this ministry and the way it's growing here in the US...can you imagine what God's going to do in Peru!!
Much Love to All of YOU!
In <><,
Gillian
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
The Flu
Man, last week feels like a year of our life! Sunday morning Nathan woke up with a fever and misery, so I stayed home from church with him. He stayed miserable for a day or two. Justin and I planned to have every night last week to work on our missions service for church scheduled for the following Sunday. Monday night we got a running start on it, and Nathan was well on the mend. We sat and talked through a rough outline...but then Tuesday hit. I was totally wiped out with a fever of 102.3. Wednesday morning Alex woke up with a fever, so Justin went to work late allowing me an added couple hours of sleep, and Alex a little extra TLC. By Wednesday afternoon it was obvious that Alex needed to be seen by the doctor, so I dragged our rugged feverish crowd to the pediatrician. He looked at all of us (including me because I was in pretty rough shape), and sent us home with Flu as the official diagnosis and a prescription for sleep and fluids. On the way home I was pulling into our neighborhood and I heard my sleeping Alex make a horrible sound. I turned around and he was gazing off into space. I shook his foot, tried to wake him up, but his eyes rolled back into his head, and he stayed drooling....AHHH!! I called Justin and told him to "come home because I can't wake Alex up." I yanked the car in the driveway and called 911. Justin got home just as the first responders arrived...Alex stayed "altered" until the ambulance got him to the hospital. This was our first experience with a Febrile Seizure (a seizure brought on by a spike in his fever). SOOOO SCARY. Alex received fluids, a chest x-ray, antibiotics, and some blood work before they released us around 11pm. (Justin's parents took care of Nathan for us).
So where does that leave us with missions??? It left our heads spinning. I was sick as a DAWG, and miserably sleep deprived. Justin was juggling our needs and work, and keeping things together. Yes, we were shaken...shaken to our knees in prayer. Our little band began to mend...SLOWLY...but surely. On Friday night Justin and I put together an outline for our missions service, but we went to bed unhappy with the work we'd done...it was too sterile, it was lacking our hearts and God's guidance. Saturday morning we scrapped what we had and started over with a different approach. What scripture has God used to open our eyes to His will? In searching out the answer, Justin opened a book called God's Little Instruction Book and found a quote, not for the service, but for us, "All sunshine makes a desert. James 1:2-3 says: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." We haven't touched this book in years, and yet here in the midst of adversity, God leads us to Himself through it.
So we ended the week stronger than we'd started. Praise God for His comfort in times of hardship.
Mending in Him,
Gillian
So where does that leave us with missions??? It left our heads spinning. I was sick as a DAWG, and miserably sleep deprived. Justin was juggling our needs and work, and keeping things together. Yes, we were shaken...shaken to our knees in prayer. Our little band began to mend...SLOWLY...but surely. On Friday night Justin and I put together an outline for our missions service, but we went to bed unhappy with the work we'd done...it was too sterile, it was lacking our hearts and God's guidance. Saturday morning we scrapped what we had and started over with a different approach. What scripture has God used to open our eyes to His will? In searching out the answer, Justin opened a book called God's Little Instruction Book and found a quote, not for the service, but for us, "All sunshine makes a desert. James 1:2-3 says: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." We haven't touched this book in years, and yet here in the midst of adversity, God leads us to Himself through it.
So we ended the week stronger than we'd started. Praise God for His comfort in times of hardship.
Mending in Him,
Gillian
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Relationships Abound, and Ways To Join the Ministry
We have been SOOO humbled by this process of support raising, and it's only just beginning. I've seen missionaries at the front of our church telling about their call from God, but I never knew how much vision was behind it until now. My cup runneth over with visions of our new home in Peru (simple and creative home decor :), our CHILDREN and their upcoming multi-cultural and service exposure, the changes happening in us, the people who are helping us get there (THANK YOU!), the people we're going to meet and minister to and with both here in the US and there in Peru...WOW!
Not only are old relationships getting renewed through this experience; we're also making new amazing connections...First my grandpa hooked us up with family friends who were once missionaries in Peru and are now here in the states with Wycliffe Bible Translators. They even knew my mom as a young girl! What a treasure. Then Justin looked up a guy he knew in high school and was raised in Peru to the age of 14. We're now in touch with him AND his parents, so we'll get both a parent AND child perspective raising children in missions. We're thankful for these new relationships, and for YOU!
For the last several weeks we've been drafting our support letter. The weight of this letter is so great. It took several drafts and revisions because words on paper just never seem adequate to relate the depth of our care for you and for this call that God has placed on our lives. We want to take all of you with us, but I just don't think you'd fit in our suitcases! So many of you have asked how you can help, and we are so excited to work with you. Here are a few things this ministry needs right now:
#1: Pray for all involved. When we leave for Peru, we're taking our whole support team with us in spirit!
* Pray as people decide if now is the time to support international relief work and missions. Pray as they decide their level of involvement and ability to give.
* Pray for us as we seek to grow and nurture these relationships
* Give God praises for this awesome opportunity to get to know everyone even better.
* Pray as we prepare our missions service at church on February 13
#2: Join our CARE TEAM!! We need an official group of people committed to caring for our personal and spiritual needs both now and on the field. This includes, but is not limited to:
* Connecting us with people and churches who want an opportunity to be part of intn'l missions by joining our support team and want to hear more from us. (Food for the Hungry is a not affiliated with a denomination)
* Donating time to stuff envelopes, fundraisers, packing, etc.
* Keeping us in your prayers, sending encouragement, and keeping us updated on YOUR lives.
If you think of more for this ministry LET US KNOW!! The minute you make a decision to be involved it becomes your ministry too.
Love in <><,
Gillian
Not only are old relationships getting renewed through this experience; we're also making new amazing connections...First my grandpa hooked us up with family friends who were once missionaries in Peru and are now here in the states with Wycliffe Bible Translators. They even knew my mom as a young girl! What a treasure. Then Justin looked up a guy he knew in high school and was raised in Peru to the age of 14. We're now in touch with him AND his parents, so we'll get both a parent AND child perspective raising children in missions. We're thankful for these new relationships, and for YOU!
For the last several weeks we've been drafting our support letter. The weight of this letter is so great. It took several drafts and revisions because words on paper just never seem adequate to relate the depth of our care for you and for this call that God has placed on our lives. We want to take all of you with us, but I just don't think you'd fit in our suitcases! So many of you have asked how you can help, and we are so excited to work with you. Here are a few things this ministry needs right now:
#1: Pray for all involved. When we leave for Peru, we're taking our whole support team with us in spirit!
* Pray as people decide if now is the time to support international relief work and missions. Pray as they decide their level of involvement and ability to give.
* Pray for us as we seek to grow and nurture these relationships
* Give God praises for this awesome opportunity to get to know everyone even better.
* Pray as we prepare our missions service at church on February 13
#2: Join our CARE TEAM!! We need an official group of people committed to caring for our personal and spiritual needs both now and on the field. This includes, but is not limited to:
* Connecting us with people and churches who want an opportunity to be part of intn'l missions by joining our support team and want to hear more from us. (Food for the Hungry is a not affiliated with a denomination)
* Donating time to stuff envelopes, fundraisers, packing, etc.
* Keeping us in your prayers, sending encouragement, and keeping us updated on YOUR lives.
If you think of more for this ministry LET US KNOW!! The minute you make a decision to be involved it becomes your ministry too.
Love in <><,
Gillian
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