Praises from our family:
1. I praise God for all He is doing in our lives. Last month, we got an e-mail from Kim (our
partner in Liberia) saying, “We are ready for you, you can come anytime!”
2. Our house still needs to sell. Last month we hosted three open houses. Two of the open houses had no visitors. One open house had one visitor who seemed somewhat interested. Please pray with us that our house will sell. Our house needs to sell before we make our big move.
3. While in the States we have continued ministering here. We felt the Lord told us to start a Bible study on our street. 6 out of the 10 families on our street are part of this group. When we stated, there were 3 believing families on our street. Last month, one man gave his life to Jesus for the first time. Our street is feeling more like a family now that the group has been started! Next week, the group will be hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for our street. Once we leave for Liberia, others on our street will take over this ministry. We praise God for all He is doing.
4. I have taken a temporary job working for Piqua Monuments. I told the Lord that I wanted work wherever He wanted me to work. My heart’s desire was to be a missionary to whatever workplace He led me to. My neighbor works at Piqua Monuments and told me of their job opening. I took the job because I feel the Lord is calling me to be a minister to my street until He moves me to Liberia. Now, I get paid to set headstone all day long with my neighbor. My neighbor and I have become close friends as a result of working together! I praise God for what He is doing! He is good!
5. Several years ago, I wrote a survey through the New Testament curriculum. Last week, I felt the Lord telling me to teach the course one more time before we move to Liberia. We started the class yesterday. My hope is to be able to train someone who will offer this class once a year here in the States within the network of house churches to which be belong.
6. The rainy season has passed in Liberia therefore construction on our rooms has started again. As of last week, the rafters on our rooms have been set! Praise God!
1. I praise God for all He is doing in our lives. Last month, we got an e-mail from Kim (our
partner in Liberia) saying, “We are ready for you, you can come anytime!”
2. Our house still needs to sell. Last month we hosted three open houses. Two of the open houses had no visitors. One open house had one visitor who seemed somewhat interested. Please pray with us that our house will sell. Our house needs to sell before we make our big move.
3. While in the States we have continued ministering here. We felt the Lord told us to start a Bible study on our street. 6 out of the 10 families on our street are part of this group. When we stated, there were 3 believing families on our street. Last month, one man gave his life to Jesus for the first time. Our street is feeling more like a family now that the group has been started! Next week, the group will be hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for our street. Once we leave for Liberia, others on our street will take over this ministry. We praise God for all He is doing.
4. I have taken a temporary job working for Piqua Monuments. I told the Lord that I wanted work wherever He wanted me to work. My heart’s desire was to be a missionary to whatever workplace He led me to. My neighbor works at Piqua Monuments and told me of their job opening. I took the job because I feel the Lord is calling me to be a minister to my street until He moves me to Liberia. Now, I get paid to set headstone all day long with my neighbor. My neighbor and I have become close friends as a result of working together! I praise God for what He is doing! He is good!
5. Several years ago, I wrote a survey through the New Testament curriculum. Last week, I felt the Lord telling me to teach the course one more time before we move to Liberia. We started the class yesterday. My hope is to be able to train someone who will offer this class once a year here in the States within the network of house churches to which be belong.
6. The rainy season has passed in Liberia therefore construction on our rooms has started again. As of last week, the rafters on our rooms have been set! Praise God!
Praises and Prayer Requests from Liberia:
1. PLEASE PRAY: There are 2 lots adjacent to our home in Zwedru. These 2 lots have 4 buildings being built on them. 3 of the building are 90% complete. The 4th building is 45% complete. We would like to buy these lots so that the ministry could host 2 week long workshops to train church leaders. Do to the low reading and education level in Liberia, it is best to train leaders in person rather than giving them training material to read on their own. We believe this opportunity will help us in our mission to see that there is a healthy church in every town and village of Liberia. We have sent a letter to the owner of the land letting him know of our interest. Please pray for this opportunity. If the land is bought, I will likely play a large role in this ministry. Funds have already been donated for the purchase of this land if the owner is willing to sell.
2. PRAISE GOD!!! The Gospel is continuing to move forward! Here is a bird’s eye view of the amazing things God has done in Liberia in the past 10 months. By God’s grace, we are now working in 269 locations. 10 months ago we were working in around 150 location! Praise God! In the past 10 months God has helped us start new works in over 119 new locations and baptize 344 people. Just last month the ministry started working in 14 new villages, distributed 11,000 pages of teaching material and baptized 13 people. Praise God for what He is doing!
1. PLEASE PRAY: There are 2 lots adjacent to our home in Zwedru. These 2 lots have 4 buildings being built on them. 3 of the building are 90% complete. The 4th building is 45% complete. We would like to buy these lots so that the ministry could host 2 week long workshops to train church leaders. Do to the low reading and education level in Liberia, it is best to train leaders in person rather than giving them training material to read on their own. We believe this opportunity will help us in our mission to see that there is a healthy church in every town and village of Liberia. We have sent a letter to the owner of the land letting him know of our interest. Please pray for this opportunity. If the land is bought, I will likely play a large role in this ministry. Funds have already been donated for the purchase of this land if the owner is willing to sell.
2. PRAISE GOD!!! The Gospel is continuing to move forward! Here is a bird’s eye view of the amazing things God has done in Liberia in the past 10 months. By God’s grace, we are now working in 269 locations. 10 months ago we were working in around 150 location! Praise God! In the past 10 months God has helped us start new works in over 119 new locations and baptize 344 people. Just last month the ministry started working in 14 new villages, distributed 11,000 pages of teaching material and baptized 13 people. Praise God for what He is doing!
3. PLEASE PRAY FOR RIVER GEE COUNTY! In February we will be starting a new church planting hub in River Gee County. We will be sending one of our core team leaders to join two trained leaders in River Gee to start this hub. Our prayer is that there would be a healthy church in every town and every village of Liberia within our lifetime. Our vision is to start church planting hubs in every county of Liberia. From these hubs churches will be started in every town and village of each county. Our ministry provides funding only for these hubs. The churches that are started are self-supported from the start. A church planting hub costs between $1,000 and $1,500 a month to fund. That is literally all the funding that is required to reach an entire county for Christ. Will you please pray for River Gee as we begin this new work there. We are still in need of the funding for this hub. Pray for God’s provisions. Also Pray for Sino County. We have leaders trained and ready to start a hub there as the Lord leads. Praise God for what He is doing!
4. PLEASE PRAY FOR ALLISON SMITH: Last week Allison Smith arrived in Liberia. She is a single lady who specializes in special education. Allison will be spending 3 months working with the two schools we have started as well as working in two prisons we work at. She has come equipped with curriculum and training resources for these schools and will be starting literacy training within the prisons. Please pray for her as she trains both teachers and students. Allison spent her first week in Liberia flat on her back, very sick. We think she either got malaria or typhoid. She was treated in an area hospital and is recovering. She is hoping to begin working with the schools next week. Please pray.
Update from Melanie:
Hello! Thank you for your prayers and support! It is fun serving Jesus, our Savior together! This past month, we visited several house churches, including our street’s house church. God has been using these times to encourage us and others. This past Sunday, God used the time to remind me to be careful with my words and actions in regards to my precious children and husband. I could do everything right and then say or do one thing wrong and it could really scar them. (So many times, I may make a comment under my breath or I may make a face which can be wrongly interpreted.) So, that is my prayer this week. I want to make every moment count for my family. Also, we took a couple weeks off of dairy and realized that this would be good to stay off of it in preparation for Africa. I pray that you all will have the best thanksgiving yet and that God will continue to bless you in all the ways that only He can! Love in Christ, Mel :)
Update from Christian:
Dear Friends and Family,
I am going to be moving to Africa soon. Here are some of my thoughts about moving to Africa. I am excited to move. It is going to be fun. We are going to have friends to play with every day. I will be eating monkey, bird, mice, snake, rat, deer, and other animals. It is going to be fun. There is no hunting season there so I can hunt anytime I want. Here are some ways I hope God will use me. I hope He will help me change lives in Africa and help start churches in every town and village of Liberia. I am hoping to help the mission by hunting for food. I can also help the friends I will have in Africa learn how to read, write, and do math. I want to help them learn about the Lord. I will also get to be on the motorcycle with Dad helping plant churches.
Let me tell you about one of my recent hunts. Dad, Tommy and Don were out working on the lawn. Tommy ran in the house and told me to go get my gun. I was thinking there was a squirrel they wanted me to shoot. Tommy told me it was a raccoon. I didn’t believe him. Dad came in and told me that it was a raccoon and to do 10 pumps on my BB gun which puts a bunch of air in my gun to shoot the bullet. I was going to load the gun with BB’s but dad said wait a minuet, you are going to kill this thing, load it with pellets. So I got the pellets and loaded the gun. I handed Daddy the extra pellets to put in his pocket. I got on my coat. Then daddy told me the plan. The plan was to go around our play boat where the raccoon was sleeping and stand next to the pine trees for the shot. When we were in the garden behind our house, Daddy told me the plan again because I was not understanding. We got between the trees, I said, “Where is the heart. Dad said shoot in the middle of the body. Dad said I killed it on the 1st shot. I did 3 or 4 extra shots to make sure it was dead. Two shots were to make sure it was dead. After it was dead I asked if I could shoot it one more time. Daddy said yes. Then we threw it into the woods. I am glad it is dead because the raccoons have been coming to our house and eating our cat food. The raccoons would eat Noah’s food and try to fight our cat. In the past we created a homemade trap but the raccoon got away. One time the Raccoon was going to try to kill our kitty. The Raccoon had our cat cornered but Daddy helped the kitty. I am glad the raccoon is dead.
Update from Grace
Hi, my name is Grace. I have a story for you. I got my two teeth out right next to each other. Daddy pulled really hard on the first tooth. That was when it was hanging on the side. When I woke up in the morning Daddy kept telling me, “let me get it.” I felt it moving around in my mouth. Then it was on the other side of my mouth and I picked it up.
On my second tooth, Daddy did three yanks and I didn’t do any yanks. It took three yanks and it was out. When it came out, it flew through the air and landed on the counter top. That tooth was bleeding. Sometimes are fun and sometimes aren't but the most fun part is spending time with Jesus. So, don’t get frustrated about anything because there is nothing to get frustrated with. So be joyful, always, pray continually. The Bible also says that if you walk one mile for someone, go ahead and walk the extra mile with them. The Bible also says to respect your mother and your father. So, God is always with us, no fears. Please be praying that our house will sell so we can go to Africa. So, happy days are happy days, no fears or crying, obey your father and mother, and go the extra mile. If you don’t know what that means, I can explain. This is how I am going to explain it, if your mom and dad tell you to do your chores and you are done with your chores, just help them. That is going the extra mile. That is what it is like to be a family and to have friends. The Bible also says that if someone grabs your coat, then give it to them. It is kind of hard to do things God’s way but that is ok. It is God’s grace and it is part of knowing Him. So remember, respecting is respecting. So if you have any problems fighting remember that family is family. So, remember don’t get angry, go to the extra mile, and also give thanks to the Lord. Bye, remember my name is Grace.
Update from Tommy
I’m Tommy,
Hi. I am a missionary to Africa. They have bumpy roads in Africa. We will be teaching people about Jesus in Africa. I want to teach people about Jesus. In Africa I will hunt. I like to play with my legos. I like to make boats, cars, airplanes.
Update From Don:
There are good people who live in Africa. Today I have school. Mom says I need school. She makes Tommy, Grace, Christian and I do a lot of school. I have learned that we need to worship only Jesus. The Bible tells us not to worship false Gods. In Africa we will hunt all kinds of animals to eat. We will hunt monkey, alligator, birds, snakes, and raccoons. I want to shoot and eat a tiger. In Africa people are baptized all the time. I like to hear stories from Africa. I have heard that there are bad roads in Africa. These roads make cars dirty. I don’t like bad roads. I like to play with my brothers and sister. God has given me a good family. Jesus, thank you for giving me my family. Please help Kim in Africa. Please help our family go to Africa. Please help Kim. Please help Africa. Thank you for the legos I play with. Please help me know and do what Jesus says. I love you.
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