Give an Orphan a Cup of Coffee

I just read a study that says the average American spends $3 a day on coffee but doesn’t put anything away for retirement. That sounds crazy, but I guess I’ve been known to neglect our economic future while overspending on that quirky green mermaid. 

Our Bible group has been studying Scriptures about wise spending practices. While there’s no directive on how to budget for coffee or retirement, there’s plenty of counsel on money handling and the heart behind it, including the importance of sharing with others less fortunate. As we take an honest look at what God really wants, instead of searching for a justification for our habits, we're finding a wealth of information.

For example, 1 Timothy 6:17-19 says, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

If you can read this, I hope you identify with the “rich”, because most people in this world don’t have that luxury. That means you can help others. The mission to Malawi is not just about feeding kids. You could send your money to one of the many organizations that already does that. Instead, we hope to address the roots of poverty and begin to train kids to help themselves and others, both physically and spiritually. In essence, we plan to make, not just disciples, but disciple makers. 

I wonder if, while you’re enjoying your coffee and putting a little money in the bank for your earthly retirement, you would consider matching what you’re dropping at Starbucks each month to help get us to Malawi so we can do our part? According to God, you would be investing in your eternal retirement account at the same time, and that’s about as cool as an iced mocha latte. 

---------------------------------------------

P.S. Thanks so much to all of you who have already sacrificed for this mission. We're watching the mercury rise:

You can make a donation by clicking here.

Fundraising Progress

We're so thankful to all of you who have given towards this mission to get us to Malawi to work with the poor and orphans. We just started and have already raised a significant amount of money. But, we have a long way to go. Take a look at our progress on the thermometers below. 

Please share the need with as many people as you can, so we can all make this happen together. Remember, September 15th is our deadline. 

In case you're wondering, $10,000 is what it will take to fly our family to Malawi. We aren't planning on taking much with us, so there is no built-in expense for shipping items other than the bags we plan to travel with. Also, the $6,000 per month includes our living expenses and our working fund. We have to budget $1,000 per month each for the following: rent, international medical insurance, food, and education. Hopefully that helps you understand a bit more where the money will go.

Here's the link to our GoFundMe account: https://www.gofundme.com/movingtomalawi

Fundraising Deadline

In an effort to honor the needs of everyone involved in this mission, we have set a deadline for our fundraising efforts. We need to have our moving expenses and monthly commitments secured by September 15 to go ahead as planned.

The family that invited us to step into their shoes in Malawi needs to move to the States by October to start their new jobs. They are offering us their house, cars, and employment status with their current NGO (non-governmental organization)--things that we will still have to pay for but that took them years to establish. They also have long-time and trusted employees, relationships that also take years to form and are a necessary part of life in Malawi. If we don't get there by October, we will have to start over, which will cost much more money and time than we have budgeted for. Starting over in a third world country is not the same as making a move within the United States.

If you have already given a one-time gift or have started to send your monthly donation, we thank you. If you have made a verbal commitment, we ask you to make that a reality now. It's time to make this happen. The sooner we get to these orphans, the sooner they get what they need.

It's easy to give. Comment to let us know you're interested in committing to a monthly amount, or click on this link to go to our GoFundMe account to make a one-time donation: Donate

Thank you!

The Malawi Mission

Here's a link to the GoFundMe account we created.

Click Here


















It's a short video (around seven minutes) explaining what we plan to do in Africa. Please watch it and give us feedback. The details are still in the works, but we want to share the general idea with you, so you can be a part of this mission from its inception. The more involved you are, the more blessed you'll be by the updates as this comes together.

Oops!

If you're reading this, you probably got an email from us with several old blog posts you may or may not remember. Sorry. That was an accident. We're gearing up for a new mission and, in an attempt to refresh this blog, accidentally sent out some old information.

The good news is that some of you contacted us for clarification, and--voilà--now we're in touch again. Nice how our mistakes sometimes work out like that. Another piece of good news is that I promise to never purposely send out that much to read at one time, so you can keep up with us in small bites.

We've taken the trip to Africa since the last post, and you can see the photos by clicking on this link: Malawi Survey Trip 2017.

By the way, I looked over the email list from years ago and don't recognize every address, so please check in to let us know you who are and what you think.

Have a great weekend! We'll keep you posted.

Tickets to Africa

First Published on March 9, 2017

The last you heard from us in the form of a newsletter, we were headed to Brazil on a survey trip. That was in the spring of 2015.  

You were praying with us about a possible return to southern Brazil, where we have lived and worked and hoped to return. We visited our friends and former mission team members, considering the job of overseeing a developing halfway house ministry. We took Jonah with us, and while it was a good trip for all three of us—and for the other two who got to spend some quality time with family in Colorado—it was clearly not something God was calling us to. We continue to pray for the success of our brothers and sisters in Christ who are currently involved in that particular ministry in Porto Alegre but are confirmed that we are not to be physically present in the work. 

Since that trip, we have been investing our energy and resources into The Gem, the non-profit recreation center we run on behalf of the community in Springtown, Texas. We've been working here for five years and have watched it develop into a vibrant community center, offering safe, family-friendly programming that brings people into community with one another and offers Bible studies to those interested in knowing and understanding God and His purpose for our lives more. We have taken this charge very seriously and have even moved into the facility to keep it open when it wasn’t producing enough revenue to pay the bills. 

Now we find ourselves struggling financially to keep this place up and running but see its potential being realized day by day. For instance, we appreciate the board of directors for their recent decision to step down in a gesture that would allow others with fresh vision and energy to assume the direction of The Gem. We’re asking God to raise up individuals to step into the necessary roles to make that happen, and we continually ask Him to make it clear to us what our particular jobs should be.

That being said, we recently received an invitation to participate in a mission to Africa. This happens to be the same opportunity that was presented to us a couple of years ago when we turned it down to pursue the halfway house ministry in Brazil. Another family who had been praying with us about both opportunities ended up moving to Malawi, Africa to work in a medical clinic. We felt that both invitations had been revoked and we were confirmed that we should simply stay put and work at The Gem.

The new invitation is coming from a family in Malawi who digs wells for villages that have no running water. They have been there for twelve years and are moving back to the States in June. We are intrigued at God’s timing to transfer The Gem into our charge at the same time we are being invited to assume the role of well-digging evangelist in Africa. We hope this means that God wants The Gem to partner with a foreign mission, because we are aware of the great need in the world and would like to think that what our community has created here could contribute.

We have taken the next logical step, and John bought tickets to go see the need and how our ministry here might help to fulfill it. We’ve never felt that God wanted The Gem to be just another church in this city, but we have asked for Him to make it more than just a recreation center. We ask you to join us in praying for the miracle it would take to cause these two ministries to work together, if that is indeed what should happen here. We are completely open to whatever God wills but know we cannot face this challenge alone. What can you do to help? Please pray for certain. Also, we just bought very expensive plane tickets to Africa and will need traveling cash on top of that. Any financial gift you would like to send to our non-profit organization at The Gem will be directed towards the trip.

Tickets to Brazil

First Published on March 31, 2015

Against all odds, we finally bought tickets to Brazil for a survey trip in April. We had tentative plans last year to go, but they never came to fruition. We weren’t sure it was a good idea that we consider moving back to Brazil, so we let the powers of the air dictate our circumstances, and the survey trip never happened. This time around the resistance to our plans was just as strong, but our resolve has also grown to the point that we were willing to push a bit harder, trusting that the hindrances were not from God. 

My mother left us over 90,000 air miles to use for travel. The first day John researched the trip, it took him several hours to find an itinerary that would go through Natal and Porto Alegre (both places we have lived in Brazil, and over 2,500 miles apart). Once he had it together and we agreed on the flight details, he went to book two of the tickets with those air miles, only to discover my brother had tapped into the account and commandeered the miles. I suppose we could contest that, but, as I stated in our last newsletter, we would rather not unnecessarily engage any more with the enemy. So, we lost that itinerary.

The next time around, we realized that we couldn’t afford to take all the kids or to go through Natal, so John booked tickets to Colorado, where we plan to leave Andy and Ben with John’s family, while we take Jonah to Porto Alegre. He went to pay using our check card. It was denied. Apparently our daily spending limit was too low, so he asked for that to be raised. It was a Friday and they said nobody could approve it until Monday. So, we lost that itinerary. 

Monday came and we stayed on the phone with the bank for what seemed like an eternity. Then they told us our spending limit had been raised and we could purchase the tickets. We did. A couple of days later we got an email saying the bank ultimately denied the charge and we were not confirmed on that flight after all. They approved the one to Colorado, so we had tickets for our whole family to get to Denver, but no tickets out of Denver to Brazil. It was at that point we realized what we were dealing with. God doesn’t play games like this with his disciples and this was too crazy to be coincidence. So, we pressed on.

Throughout all of this, we have been in touch with our friends and former team mates in Porto Alegre, Kevin and Benay Blume. They’re the ones who planted the seed for our return in the first place. Kevin had the idea to let us line up the itinerary and send him the information necessary to purchase the tickets. We did, and voilà we now have tickets to Brazil! 

So, why Brazil and not Africa for a survey trip? Some of you have been praying with us about those options and know we have been discussing the possibility of both. We feel we owe you an explanation. Here are some key points that helped us make this decision:

• We have been invited into a very specific ministry in Brazil, working on a drug and alcohol rehabilitation farm, teaching and discipling men to integrate back into society. That could develop into any number of things later on, but it is a good entry point.
• The ones inviting us are a couple we worked with in 2002-2005 and feel confident working with again. 
• We have lived in Porto Alegre (Andy was born there), so it would not be like completely starting over.
• We already speak the language and many people have put money into our training for that part of the world.
• A support team is being assembled, including some former team members who plan to stay stateside and work the mission from this end.
• Without our asking, a few individual have already given us money to make this trip and have committed to helping us financially throughout the mission.

Now, all that being said, we understand that our ways are not God’s ways and His understanding is far above ours. If He should choose to let us spend lots of time and money to survey this possible ministry then send us elsewhere, we would gladly go. Please pray for us as we plan this trip—that God’s voice would be heard above all others. 

Our friends sent us this picture, saying the guys at the rehab farm have cleared this site and will soon begin building a house for our family to move into. That’s faith!