To our Buzz friends,
It’s 5:30am Monday morning here in Harrisburg, PA. If I
don’t write to you now, it may not happen for another week or two. Today we
start Essential Missions Components at ABWE headquarters. We are excited to
attend this seminar because it is another major milestone in our journey to
Togo.
Before are home again in September, we will have
accomplished three very major milestones.
1.
The Sahara Challenge-I Evangelism
2.
Essential Missions Components-This week in
Harrisburg
3.
Ryan’s Flight Evaluation and approval to fly in
Togo!
In June, we finished the Sahara Challenge, which was an
I Evangelism course that we took in Minneapolis, MN. We learned a lot
about Islam, but more importantly it taught us how to build friendships and
teach our friends about how to have a desire to know Jesus. God is continuing
to build in us compassion like Jesus.
Last Friday and Saturday our Togo Aviation team got together
with the Togo Team and ABWE Air leadership to discuss the goals of Togo
Aviation as well as what it is going to take to get this ministry going. The
harvest is soooo ripe! There’s a lot of work our team is ready and willing to
do. One of our major obstacles is funding. However, we know that when God
plants a vision in our hearts, He will provide what we need. Our team will need
$130,000 a year to put our Cessna 206 to good use. This would cover the cost
fuel for the airplane as well as routine maintenance and insurance. Maybe your
church or family would like to provide a couple of mercy flights to our
hospital each year. Maybe you would like to fund a church planting effort to a
remote location. Our closest guess at this point is that flights will cost
around $250 per flight hour. To give to Togo Aviation, visit www.abwe.org/give and put in our project
code, 0763033 with your donation.
The focus of Essential Missions Components this week will be
on church planting. We will be learning a little bit about the skills and heart
we should have as missionary aviators in Togo. It’s always a joy to come back
to ABWE headquarters. It’s like going to a giant missions conference every time
because we get to hear about all the ways God is working around the world. We
wish you could be here. God is worthy of our praise for all that He is doing
around the world! What God is doing through His people is EXCITING!!!
On Sunday we begin our travels to the south toward
Georgia for Ryan's Flight Evaluation. Prayer for safety in flight are
always welcome. Also, many of you have been praying for Ryan to complete
his 400 hour flight requirement with ABWE and we are pleased to
announce that that need has been met!
The girls have been pretty good little travelers.
We are thankful to the Coulters for lending us their travel DVD player
for the long road trips. Leslie has done extremely well on the road. She
has also made many friends with her outgoing, vibrant personality. I
don't know if I should be worried about how unafraid of strangers she
is! Thanks to those of you who have been praying for Leslie's nightmares.
Keep it up. Actually, I wouldn't so much call them nightmares. They're
more like arguments with someone in her sleep. Pray for her feisty
little soul. AnnMarie is a little bit of a different story. She is
sometimes happy to sit in her seat and sing. However, by the end of the
day she is quite ready to be done with the whole carseat thing. Please pray for AnnMarie this week. She is in the nursery with some fantastic
nursery workers, but she does not like it AT ALL. She cries most of the
day. Just please pray that we would know how to be graceful parents during this very different time in our lives.
Lastly, I want to attempt to put a little fire under your
buns if I may. If you remember our letter
back in January, you may remember our “impossible prayer request”
for the year. We want to leave for French language school in December. That’s
less than five months away already. We can’t meet this goal without you. Both
of our teammate families are leaving for language school at the end of August.
Our team needs to stay together. If you’ve been thinking about supporting our
family financially, now is the time. As it stands, our monthly support level is
at 54%. We need it to be at 85% by October in order to attend our next seminar.
If we miss this goal, we won’t be able to leave for language school until
August of 2013. That puts us an entire year behind our teammates. We know God
is able. When our faith is weak, our teammates are here to encourage us.
That’s what teammates are for, right? To become a monthly donor, go to www.abwe.org/give. Our family code is
0134443. Again, we can’t do this without you.
We’re looking forward to seeing our southern friends in
August and can’t wait to get back home in September. Until then, thanks so much
for your love and prayers.
In Christ,
Ryan, Stephanie, Leslie, and AnnMarie
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