Our First Full Month Of Pre-Field Ministry

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As of today, April 25, 2022, our first full month of pre-field ministry has officially come to an end. 
It has been a long month of adjusting to a "new normal", and there is still much adjusting to do; but we have been presently surprised by the amount of support we have received from family and friends who are just as excited as we are about this new journey we have recently embarked on. 

It is not surprising, however, that there have been some struggles as well.
Among other things, we are often struggling to learn how to balance full-time jobs with a full-time ministry schedule.
While we are in the process of trying to decrease our hours in secular work and increase our hours in ministry, our hands are tied until we can figure out our housing situation. 
We have reached out to a few churches in the area over the past month seeking missionary housing that may be of use to us as we prepare to raise support and leave for the field. But progress has been slow and nothing has yet been decided or set in stone. 

Regardless, we have had a great response from local churches in regards to speaking engagements. On April 10th, we traveled to Prescott, Michigan to share our ministry with Judson Baptist Church and will be traveling to Durand, Michigan this upcoming weekend to do the same. On May 15th, we are scheduled to present at Calvary Baptist in West Branch, where my missionary journey started four years ago; and on Wednesday, we were also invited to speak at a missionary conference at Beaverton Baptist Church in September.
 
While much monthly support has not yet come in, we are slowly on track to moving past the 3% mark. Our goal is to be at 15% by the end of May as we will then be preparing for our next on-site training at Headquarters in Pennsylvania. 

For those who may not be aware, our tentative training schedule currently looks like this:

June 13-17, 2022- Essential Missions Component Training in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 
July 25-30, 2022- Missionary Enrichment Conference in Pittsburg and Security Training in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 
November 7-9, 2022- Departure Readiness Training in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 

Shortly after Departure Readiness Training, we will then be returning to Australia on a two-week survey trip from the 15th to the 30th of November. This will be Trenton's first time in the country, so please pray that God would calm his nerves and work out the details as we move closer to that date. 

A few other prayer points to consider: 
Please pray for our work/housing situation. 
For our support raising and finances. 
For our current individual development plan training as well as those on-site over the next few months. 
For the upcoming election in Australia as that will determine alot.
And, as mentioned, for the details needing to be worked out in regards to our upcoming survey trip in November. 

There is alot of change currently taking place, and it is bound to continue for the unforeseeable future, but we are at peace knowing that what God has started He will bring to fruition in time. 

Philippians 1:6 - "Being confident of this: that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."




Location: East Tawas, MI 48730, USA

Comments

  1. Rev. B. A. ShieldsApril 25, 2022 at 8:03 AM

    Awesome, and there is a lot going on! We should take your dates and make events for them on your website.

    ReplyDelete

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