We're at 92.5%
We're being considered by a few churches in the area for support.
We are mailing out a new newsletter soon.
We are also mailing out postcards. These are for supporting members to keep and remember us by. (a picture to go on the fridge) They are also for others who have mentioned not receiving a commitment card and that they wanted one.
We've put a new face on the ministry's website.
Check it out here: www.gimpel.tv/newsletter
You can see the new newsletter there online, but it should be coming in the mail to you.
10/27/2006
10/23/2006
The Weekend
This weekend we worked on our newsletter and some prayer cards.
I was able to share a bit of my thoughts in our adult congregation class, as well as help out in AWANA for their first night.
We're at 92.5%
We're going to North Carolina in January for 7 weeks for training.
Then, if we're at 100% by then, with our Visas in hand, we'll leave the country.
Between now and then we need more financial partners, we need prayer, we need to pack up, we need to store our belongings and we need to buy airfare to PNG, and we need to get our Visa's completed.
I thank God that he created in us, something that feels good when we do good. How simply good you feel when you do something cheerfully for someone other than yourself is part of what God instilled in our nature.
To be used of God is an extreme honor, one that adds value to our existence. IT is never meant as an opportunity for individuals to be elevated but for Him to be glorified.
That is our attitude as we go into this.
We look to heaven. We are not bound by the restraints of this world because this world will be made new by Him who has called us into the work ahead of us.
The wonderful thing about heaven, is heaven's a wonderful thing.
(to borrow a line from A.A. Milne)
I was able to share a bit of my thoughts in our adult congregation class, as well as help out in AWANA for their first night.
We're at 92.5%
We're going to North Carolina in January for 7 weeks for training.
Then, if we're at 100% by then, with our Visas in hand, we'll leave the country.
Between now and then we need more financial partners, we need prayer, we need to pack up, we need to store our belongings and we need to buy airfare to PNG, and we need to get our Visa's completed.
I thank God that he created in us, something that feels good when we do good. How simply good you feel when you do something cheerfully for someone other than yourself is part of what God instilled in our nature.
To be used of God is an extreme honor, one that adds value to our existence. IT is never meant as an opportunity for individuals to be elevated but for Him to be glorified.
That is our attitude as we go into this.
We look to heaven. We are not bound by the restraints of this world because this world will be made new by Him who has called us into the work ahead of us.
The wonderful thing about heaven, is heaven's a wonderful thing.
(to borrow a line from A.A. Milne)
10/14/2006
The Yard Sale
It is getting closer, we're purging ourselves of our possessions.
My family is not especially materialistic. When any four of us see something we want, our second thought is usually "do I really need it?" This is another one of the subtle characteristics I've seen in this family that reminds me that God has been preparing us for a life of mission work. But no matter how good you think you are at living simply, a yard sale opens your eyes to the sea of junk that has infested your home.
Today I looked out, and I saw so much stuff, that at one time was valued and new, and now, is a burden to rid ourselves of. It is an endless cycle.
Becoming a missionary, you can only take so many things with you. You have to decide what is junk, what is essential to keep with you, and what is storable. Then you have to pay for shipping for the essentials and storage for the storables. This levies quite the price on whatever you decide to keep. The logical side of my brain says "put it in the dumpster" but my wife makes a good point, we should try to sell what we can, otherwise it's wasteful. Now that the yard sale is over, she feels justified that she gave it her best shot to avoid waste, and we took it all to our local charity.
I figure each item has 4 prices. 1. Original purchase 2. Storage 3.Labor in trying to sell 4. Labor in donating or 4. Cost to take to dump.
And that's IF we get rid of it. I have entertained thoughts of a massive bonfire, but have you seen how much firewood is these days (-;
We have tried to live simply, but you never truly realize how far you've missed the mark until you've had a yard sale. And each yard sale is a symbolic moment. Like a New Year's resolution. "I'm going to stop buying junk." It is a cost of being a family and having roots. You acquire things. The important thing isn't the cost of these things, or the amount of these items. The important thing, is that we maintain the proper attitude towards them. God's kingdom is more important than our kingdom of junk, and all our worldly possessions can burn in a fire before we value one of them higher than every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
A Yard sale is a recognition of all the junk one has accumulated, and an effort to simplify.
My family is not especially materialistic. When any four of us see something we want, our second thought is usually "do I really need it?" This is another one of the subtle characteristics I've seen in this family that reminds me that God has been preparing us for a life of mission work. But no matter how good you think you are at living simply, a yard sale opens your eyes to the sea of junk that has infested your home.
Today I looked out, and I saw so much stuff, that at one time was valued and new, and now, is a burden to rid ourselves of. It is an endless cycle.
Becoming a missionary, you can only take so many things with you. You have to decide what is junk, what is essential to keep with you, and what is storable. Then you have to pay for shipping for the essentials and storage for the storables. This levies quite the price on whatever you decide to keep. The logical side of my brain says "put it in the dumpster" but my wife makes a good point, we should try to sell what we can, otherwise it's wasteful. Now that the yard sale is over, she feels justified that she gave it her best shot to avoid waste, and we took it all to our local charity.
I figure each item has 4 prices. 1. Original purchase 2. Storage 3.Labor in trying to sell 4. Labor in donating or 4. Cost to take to dump.
And that's IF we get rid of it. I have entertained thoughts of a massive bonfire, but have you seen how much firewood is these days (-;
We have tried to live simply, but you never truly realize how far you've missed the mark until you've had a yard sale. And each yard sale is a symbolic moment. Like a New Year's resolution. "I'm going to stop buying junk." It is a cost of being a family and having roots. You acquire things. The important thing isn't the cost of these things, or the amount of these items. The important thing, is that we maintain the proper attitude towards them. God's kingdom is more important than our kingdom of junk, and all our worldly possessions can burn in a fire before we value one of them higher than every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
10/05/2006
Limbo Life
There are a lot of things that need to be done in a short amount of time.
We are currently at approximately 90% funding. 100% is required before we can leave the country or even book airline tickets out of the country.
To find the remining 10% of supporters, we're praying, writing letters, and making calls. We've exhausted our own personal relationships as sources of financial partnership, and are branching out to churches and other areas where we share common interests but no common relationships.
God has chosen for us a path that looks like individuals are going to be the main contributors instead of churches. That is exciting for many reasons, but I'm attempting to make this blog more logistical than emotional or spiritual, so I'll leave out a lot of the why's etc.
We have been sending emails to groups of people who are technically minded believers. Christian aliases at work, things like that.
If you have a christian alias at your company, and are willing to send an email for us, I have one composed that I would love for you to send. Thank you
So while we're patiently waiting on God to unveil the final 10%, one inch at a time, we have other things to do:
-finish our work permit applications and visas.
-finalize our training - we have 8 weeks in jan/feb/march time frame to finalize training.
-find storage for our worldly possessions that we are neither taking nor ridding ourselves of
-pack
-quit work and leave
As of now, it appears that since we do not know when 100% will come, we can not know when we will actually be leaving the country, but we DO know that all things would be MOST smooth if we could be packed and moved out before we leave for Carolina at the end of January to finalize our training.
Please pray for our funding to come in quickly.
Please pray for creativity. We are finding ourselves stretched to come up with new funding ideas.
Many of the churches we've reached out to, have responded with "we only support members" types of reactions, which is understandable. The final 10% is what is known as, the second HALF of financial support. IF that is true, we will patiently and joyfully accept that as God's will, and we go, whenever He says go.
There are several other logistics, but we're starting to cross items off the list which is making this very real for us. Our house is beginning to be emptied out slowly, our boxes will begin being filled.
We are having a garage sale on Oct. 14th, to unload most of our stuff we won't be keeping.
All of this adds up to.. "this is really happening".
IT is an interesting place to live, not being sure WHEN but having a goal, and a hope. For those type A's which both my wife and I are, it is difficult to not have a concrete calendar, but we remind ourselves that we can't push God, and we wouldn't want to.
Thank you for praying
We are currently at approximately 90% funding. 100% is required before we can leave the country or even book airline tickets out of the country.
To find the remining 10% of supporters, we're praying, writing letters, and making calls. We've exhausted our own personal relationships as sources of financial partnership, and are branching out to churches and other areas where we share common interests but no common relationships.
God has chosen for us a path that looks like individuals are going to be the main contributors instead of churches. That is exciting for many reasons, but I'm attempting to make this blog more logistical than emotional or spiritual, so I'll leave out a lot of the why's etc.
We have been sending emails to groups of people who are technically minded believers. Christian aliases at work, things like that.
If you have a christian alias at your company, and are willing to send an email for us, I have one composed that I would love for you to send. Thank you
So while we're patiently waiting on God to unveil the final 10%, one inch at a time, we have other things to do:
-finish our work permit applications and visas.
-finalize our training - we have 8 weeks in jan/feb/march time frame to finalize training.
-find storage for our worldly possessions that we are neither taking nor ridding ourselves of
-pack
-quit work and leave
As of now, it appears that since we do not know when 100% will come, we can not know when we will actually be leaving the country, but we DO know that all things would be MOST smooth if we could be packed and moved out before we leave for Carolina at the end of January to finalize our training.
Please pray for our funding to come in quickly.
Please pray for creativity. We are finding ourselves stretched to come up with new funding ideas.
Many of the churches we've reached out to, have responded with "we only support members" types of reactions, which is understandable. The final 10% is what is known as, the second HALF of financial support. IF that is true, we will patiently and joyfully accept that as God's will, and we go, whenever He says go.
There are several other logistics, but we're starting to cross items off the list which is making this very real for us. Our house is beginning to be emptied out slowly, our boxes will begin being filled.
We are having a garage sale on Oct. 14th, to unload most of our stuff we won't be keeping.
All of this adds up to.. "this is really happening".
IT is an interesting place to live, not being sure WHEN but having a goal, and a hope. For those type A's which both my wife and I are, it is difficult to not have a concrete calendar, but we remind ourselves that we can't push God, and we wouldn't want to.
Thank you for praying
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