I love this time of year! Time with people, decorations, food, altering the schedule to be with more people, and opportunities to reflect and truly be grateful. I have lived on this side of the ocean for ten years now and I could not have stepped into this chapter without you. The continued friendships and support have been my life line. I am grateful for you!
After picking up Madison (a worker from the states serving with me this next week) from the airport, we took the opportunity to bond with the neighbors!I am so thankful for a great snowfall. Over a foot of snow fell providing a magical atmosphere and brightened up the day. This week I will host two thanksgivings, each being 12-15 people. Thankful for the chance to deepen friendships and share the holiday. We held our first annual iron on iron retreat. Three different locations focusing on refugee work taking the opportunity to reflect, plan, coach and encourage one another. These two have captured my heart. The past few months, they are over often studying, baking, just hanging out. Thankful for time in the Bible together and seeing them wrestle with real questions.The first Wednesday of the month I get to help host a dessert night for the 124 apartments in my association. It’s a great chance to get to know immediate neighbors!I had the privilege of getting to participate in a leadership training for the local church young adults group. Amazing hearts and vision to see God move in then and through them. Thankful for a breakfast brunch on my birthday. Thankful for the couples that live close to me and tangible care for me. SarahBeth and Marcus Fuller moved to Stockholm this past March. As they needed to find housing, they choose to focus in the northwest so that we could live near one another. Thankful for these new friends and co-laborers in the gospel. Please pray them as they find their footing here, for Elias who just turned two, and a new daughter on the way.
End-of-year request. Here it is. After working through the budget and looking at what is in the account, join me in praying for the financial needs to met to keep the account I am responsible for in good standing. I am praying for five new monthly patterns averaging $100 each, and one-time gifts totaling $17,000. If you would like to be an answer to that prayer, click here. If you have a home group or someone you’d think would be interested in hearing about this ministry, please let me know!
GCE Advisory Team The last week of September our advisory team met for a few days to reflect on this past year and brainstorm for what could be next. The team exists to serve the network of churches in Europe in areas of equipping, expansion and events. This past year our equipping focused on pastoral care and trauma counseling. Having passion for our vision and development, I am thankful for the opportunity to participate and learn more ways to serve our network in tangible ways that we can see further steps taken.
GCE Leadership Summit There were about forty leaders gathered, a mixture of European and American, to dive deeper into Ephesians four. It was a great time to be together face to face, but of course we were missing our network from Ukraine. Thankful for the opportunity taken to have videos created by our Ukrainian leaders providing an update on their situation, and their lives personally. Having boots on the ground, all financial aid is given directly to trusted leadership to meet direct needs. Thankful for the team of volunteers that continues to oversee this work.
A new temporary roommate As you may be aware, there is great persecution if a Muslim decides to leave Islam. Through my friends, it has come to my attention there is a woman in need of temporary housing as her current situation is no longer safe for her. Please pray for her (we will call her Holly) in the transition to my place this week, for provision in long term need and for our ability to communicate.
Speaking of persecution… You may remember me asking for prayer for a Barbara a few months ago. Sadly, her family moved her back to Syria permanently and she wrote me last month saying she can no longer have any contact with me. Please continue to pray
for her, for protection and for Jesus to appear in dream guiding her on her way.
Friday Night Bible Study One of the prayers these past months of teams has been for a new discipleship group to start. It is happening! We have two young adults who are curious to learn more, have a safe place to process and figure out what steps they want to take in figuring out their beliefs. Please pray for N and A as they take steps forward. Pray for me to listen and love well.
Financial Update The Lord continues to provide for my needs and then some. With some of the gifts that have come in, I am no longer in the red zone for the moment. Still praying for 5 more financial partners averaging $100 a month. I will also be putting together my budget for next year and soon announce an end of the year goal to cover whatever remains for next year’s budget. So celebrate with me in how the Lord continues to provide for this work! If you are able and interested in joining the team, you can click here to get started.
It is a privilege to get to be about this work. It could not happen without the prayer and financial support as well as the friendship I have with so many of you. Let me know how you are doing. Let me know if you’d like a video call to catch up or to share about the work with a home group. It is a gift to keep you in my prayers, so please update me on any specifics!
Through Park Outreach, we met Natasha who had heard of Jesus but never read the Bible. Pray for her as she has been attending bible study and asks great questions.Getting to have teams of all ages engages the work at different levels. I was thankful for the courage and creativity our 10-year-old teammates brought to our team.Getting to rub shoulders with people from different experiences continues to teach me so much. I enjoyed getting to hear stories of Q and her family’s testimony as she grew up in Indonesia.Coffee table outreach allowed us to connect with people from Portugal, Algeria, Lybia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Egypt…and that was just one of the afternoons!Very thankful for a team from my sending church and how they served the work and me!I continue to love time with my neighbors. Ani and I are making Americna Mac & Cheese for her sister’s birthday party.
Because of the investment of time, energy, money, and vacation days, many more people got to hear more about who God says He is, what He has done for them, and have further opportunities for conversation. A Friday night bible study was able to get started where N is soaking in every story, and A (currently professed agnostic) is getting to wrestle with his questions. Because of the teams that were here, we got to do coffee table outreach for four weeks in a row which provided an opportunity for other local workers to come and join us and develop our presence among the community in a very tangible way. Although I think I could sleep for a week, I wouldn’t have changed it! There is more and more fruit of labor being seen as the days unfold. Thank you teams for coming, and thank you all for praying!
Ella is setting out some literature on our coffee table in Arabic, Farsi, Russian, Dari, Hindi, and English just in case someone would like to take some reading material with them. This past month, we had more people take literature than ever before. Ella, a recent nursing graduate, has decided to step into our 3-month internship, which provides intentional objectives for her personal walk with Jesus, introduction to Muslim ministries, and experience being a cross-culture worker. She will split her time between Stockholm, Sweden and Cologne, Germany to see if being sent overseas may be part of her story. Pray for her these months and for us as we continue to learn how to see people further equipped to expand God’s Kingdom wherever He sends them.
An update on me….
I have entered into another term of my doctorate studies. This next month, the prayer is that I will get to start interviewing refugees. I am nervous and excited for this opportunity to learn and grow and hopefully find ways to help equip us to better disciple and raise up leaders of different cultures.
PLEASE PRAY FOR THE FINANCES! The generosity of one-time gifts these past two years is coming to an end. In order for me to get a full-pay check and to stay on the field, I will need to find 12 new supporters averaging $100 a month or a $14,400 yearly gift! Anything is possible. I have no doubt that God can provide and I am excited to get to be about His business. Please join me in praying for this need and if you or someone you know wants to help answer, click here.
Following and Fishing 