As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and followers of Him,
we are called to be disciples and disciple makers of that great message of
Christ’s forgiveness of sins and hope for eternity wherever we are. Our
location is changing, but our calling is not. This will be our last letter to
you as “official” supported missionaries, but by God’s grace, we will always be
messengers of the Gospel as long as we live.
How can we ever thank you for your prayers, love, and
support over the past 11 years? Our prayer is similar to that of Paul’s in the
last chapter of Philippians where he prayed that God would abundantly bless his
support team in Philipi:
“Not that I seek the gift, but the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received
full payment and more. I am well supplied,
having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a
sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And
my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in
Christ Jesus. To our God the Father be glory forever and ever.
Amen.” Phil. 4:17-20. (ESV. Emphasis mine… obviously)
Logistically, this is what you need to know. If you support
us and your support is taken out automatically, the last payment will be taken
out by March 31st. Again, thank you so much for your faithful
support.
As for our future, it looks good. We are thankful that the
Lord has provided Ryan with a great job that he is really enjoying. He is on a
jet engine technician on the new 777x and also the 737max when that gets back
on the line later this year. An added perk and sweet little gift from God is
that the French that we learned for Togo will not go to waste. Ryan gets to use
the language at work with several employees from the French division. Today, a
co-worker even brought in pain-au-chocolate and other great pastries to share.
I secretly hope he remembers to put one in his pocket for me.
We are also in the process of purchasing a house. It’s a
great little fixer-upper in Bonney Lake. We are looking forward setting up a
new home around the end of March or early April. Our belongings from Togo will
arrive sometime in the next several weeks at which point they will be put into
storage for a few weeks until we can get everything lined up with the house and
are ready to move in.
The kids are doing well. We are keeping our heads above
water with homeschool. You may continue to pray for them as they reestablish
bonds in their relationships with their friends here in America. I won’t deny
that it is sometimes difficult especially for AnnMarie. Being more of an
introvert, it takes her longer to build relationships. All three would be
blessed by your prayers.
You can also pray for our lovely friends in Togo. We miss
them and will continue to miss them so much. I especially miss my dear friend,
Essosimana. She was like a sister to me. I love her so much.
Many have asked about what will happen to the airplane in
Togo. There is still one pilot on the team who will fly and maintain the aircraft.
If you are interested in continuing to support that work, you may contact ABWE
at www.abwe.org and commit to support either Togo Aviation or Jason and
Kathy Laird. By the way, if you were to choose to support the ministry of
Jason and Kathy, you would be supporting a very good missionary who honors God
well. We highly recommend them.
Lastly, since all of this change in our lives has happened
very quickly, we just want to rejoice in our God because He has provided for us
and is walking closely with us through this transition in our lives. A couple of
months ago, I came across this verse from 2 Chronicles 29 where Hezekiah had
become king and began consecrating the temple for the Lord from a state of disrepair
and disgust. The process seems very detailed and it was probably a whirlwind of
a time for Hezekiah and the people with lots of cleaning and many sacrifices
being done all at once. Then the last verse hit home with me where it says, “And
Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had provided for the people,
for the thing came about suddenly.” We would like to also rejoice and invite
you to rejoice with us because God has provided for us as this whole thing came
about very suddenly. He is so Good.
Your friends and fellow laborers,
Ryan, Stephanie, Leslie, AnnMarie, and Christian
The Buczak Buzz is officially signing off. Over and out.
