Following and Fishing

Relationships continue to deepen.  Please pray for opportunities to continue to the conversation and share truth and grace.  Nebahat (Turkish friend) and Amany (Iraqi friend) and I are enjoying meeting for weekend breakfasts and conversation.

Ummahany has become a new friend and I am trying to talk with and/or visit each week.  Her 6 year old daughter Shanika is battling cancer.  Please pray for them.

Every fall, I attend the European Leadership Summit.  The vision to see nationals established and equipped to make a difference in their home countries continues to grow.  It is amazing to be surrounded by these men and women as well as needing to have Russian translation for half the people in the room!  

We took some time to see Kiev, explore it’s history, and hear current reports for those that have lived through these years of war.  Please continue to pray for the church there to impact society with hope.

I always love having teams.  I appreciate those  that willingly step outside their comfort zone and engage the work here.  For the ways they care for my neighbors and open their heart to hear for God.  This past team from my home church in SC went an extra step.  When I came home from the teaching job, the couple found Ikea and repaired house projects that have just been left for a rainy day.  WHAT A GIFT!!!

Please continue to pray for a breakthrough this fall with following up relationships and making new ones. Thankful to see the community that God has shaped here.

On the home front…Pray for Janelle to work out the final paperwork to stay for this next year.  Pray for Selina, a Swiss exchange student living with us until February.  Pray for Maud, another student who will move in this next month.  Thankful for the space God has given for others to live life together.

July was full of great memories!  Good friends from grad school visited me opening some great exploration in Stockholm.  Friends from Luleå came down for a week for some rest and fellowship.  Janelle moved in!  My Swedish improved during a two week intensive course.  And a team arrived!

Jack, Joan and Paul from Ohio came for a full week to join us in prayer and engagement; as well as simply caring for us.  Having teams with us always helps us meet more people! After ordering some food from the food truck, Jack got into a conversation with one of the workers.  M continued to hang out with us after work the following days.  He shared that after talking Jack, he woke up and desired to read the bible.  Hanging out in the park, we started shooting baskets with a family from Bangladesh whom we got to spend time with for a few days and exchanged phone numbers.  Please join in praying for friendships to deepen and opportunities to share truth about Jesus.

Another team arrives next week.  A couple from Riverbend and a group serving with another mission, called OM, will get to spend another week here praying and engaging people.  Please pray for favor and opportunity.

This week is an important time for Muslims.  Many are gathering in Mecca for the Hajj.  Take a few minutes to watch this video and pray that Jesus would show up and do something new.

Financial update.  With the increase of ministry work, I am looking to decrease the hours for the teaching job.  Still wanting to contribute to support myself, but needing to free up time so that we can continue moving forward with our vision – to see new churches growing among unreached people groups and more workers being trained to serve cross-culturally.  I need another few hundred dollars a month to cover what is needed.  Would you consider joining the team at either $25 or $35 a month?   Just click here to get started.  Thank you!

Relationships with those in our neighborhood continue to develop.  Studies has increased and the pressure they face in desiring to get to university exists.  We have gotten to host workshops learning how to create PowerPoint presentations and developing digital competence.  It was a great gift when Elena asked if we could host her birthday party.  We do stop and have fun!

During Ramadan, we were able to meet new families and had the opportunity to break fast with them and their families.  It was a gift to receive their generosity and be welcomed in to their homes.  Thankful for the friendships that have started.  Please pray for opportunities to sow seeks of truth and grace with every conversation.

We had the opportunity to visit the team in Cologne, Germany doing a similar work.  It was a wonderful time deepening friendships, learning their neighborhood as well as engaging people.  I was thankful for the opportunities to explore questions such as ‘what is the meaning of life?’, ‘how do you define good?’, and ‘how do we deal with the brokenness that surrounds us?’.  There were a handful of ladies that I got to engage and see their hearts hungry to be comforted with the reality that they don’t have the answer.

Janelle is coming!!!  We have a young lady from Ohio who has been preparing to join our team for the past 18 months and the day of arrival is finally approaching.  She has an incredible heart for the refugee and broken-hearted.  Her experiences, education, and simply her being her, is bringing a huge addition to our team.  Please pray for her in this season of transition as well as for favor as she looks for a part-time work to help cover costs and provide a visa for long-term.