Looking Back And Looking Forward: Pre-field Ministry 2022

-

 

They say that life is never the same after a survey trip. 


It’s one thing to know there is a need, but its another to actually see it in front of you- the spiritual emptiness, the longing, the darkness, and all the things that happen as a result of it. It’s enough to fill your heart with incessant aching, and your soul with a desire for change. 

They say that life is never the same after a survey trip, and boy have we found that to be true. We knew going into it, that there would be significant change as a result, but never did we imagine just how much. Our perspectives have changed, and with it, many of our circumstances. And somehow we are fully aware that there is no going back. 

Someone once told me that we should never live life as if seeing through a rearview mirror. We are to consistently move forward despite the setbacks, disappointments, and heartbreaks. And as we near the end of another year, we plan to do just that. We’ve turned the page into a new chapter of life and ministry, and the Lord knows as well as we do, that it is for the very best. 

We have high hopes going into this next season of pre-field ministry. While the beginning of our journey was quite trying on us both, we find confidence and peace in moving forward, fully convinced of God’s calling on our lives to spread his Word on the continent of Australia. 

But our calling does not start there. It starts right here, in the small bedroom we call home, writing this letter, preparing presentations, working hard on our studies, and then going out to share the ministry He has laid on our hearts with those churches and/or individuals who will have us come. And we are overflowing with excitement because of it. 

The upcoming month of January is a very busy one for us. The Lord has blessed us immensely with the opportunity to share at a different church each Sunday. Our brand new presentation is complete, as well as our new prayer cards, and we are continuing to work on additions as we feel led to do so. 

The following are the churches we are scheduled to share with this upcoming month. Please pray for our time with them, that the Lord would work in our lives as well as those in attendance. 
  • Sunday, January 8, 2023- Calvary Baptist Church of West Branch, MI
  • Sunday, January 15 and 18, 2023- Hale Baptist Church of Hale, MI 
  • Sunday, January 22, 2023- Home Church In Alger, MI 
  • Sunday, January 29, 2023- E-free Church of Gaylord, MI 

We have more churches already set up for February, but I will include those in our next newsletter toward the end of January. 

In conclusion, we wanted to say thank you to all of those who have encouraged and/or come alongside of us during this past year. We began pre-field officially in March, and there have been so many people who have willingly invested their lives, and/or possessions in order to help us along the way. Your selflessness does not go unappreciated, and we praise God for you always.

I’d like to leave you with a favorite Christmas song of mine, as we close out the year. We pray that the Lord will be your guiding light, and the hope He offers, the candle that leads you through the darkest of times in the coming months. For He, and He alone, is our refuge and strength. He is an ever-present help in times of sorrow and trouble (Psalm 46:1). So, lean into Him, and walk constantly toward the light. He’s always waiting with open arms. 

Happy New Year 2023. 

https://youtu.be/hrTE1dsDzBQ

 
Website 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our First Full Month Of Pre-Field Ministry

-
Image
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 ye
Read more

The Story God Wrote - The Testimony of Hanna Mae Shields

-
Image
  I’m not going to pretend as if I have the words to justify it. Truth be told, there’s not a single set of words in our finite language that can explain the miracle of what He has done. Yet, here I am, asking Him to give me the strength to do just that.  I got saved on a Good Friday when I was twelve years old. Our pastor at the time had chosen to preach on the rapture of the church and how that tied into Jesus’ death on the cross for our reconciliation. He began his message with a video of a large congregation in worship on the day of rapture- half of them suddenly taken, the other half left behind. For those left, there was weeping and there was sorrow at the realization of what had taken place. For them, it was to late. And it was in that moment that I realized the urgency and importance of making myself right with God.  That night, I lay in bed tossing and turning. I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. My heart was burning for a relationship I never knew I needed. My eyes had
Read more

The God Of Open Doors

-
Image
  The God Of Open Doors The devil is alive and well, and if we are being honest, we have never realized this as much as we have these last twelve months of pre-field ministry. This week marks one year since our commissioning at ABWE headquarters in Pennsylvania, and as we look back over all that has taken place since, we are both abundantly aware of the devil's desire to keep us from pursuing God's will, and desperately in awe of God's ability to fill us with the perseverance to go on. This month has been no exception. While we have been extremely busy taking part in multiple ministries at our sending church, including a discipleship program, youth group, and worship ministry, we have also been meeting with pastors over zoom as far south as Tennessee and Georgia, all while dealing with some pretty drastic health concerns. Toward the beginning of the month, Trenton had to be taken to the emergency room where they put him through an extensive round of tests. While they believ
Read more