Buczak Buzz~January 2013

Last year at this time we proposed an "impossible prayer request" to you based on our pastor's challenge to pray for something "impossible" in 2012. Today, we are glad to report that NOTHING is impossible with our God. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and guards the hearts of His people. We had five goals that we hoped to meet with the help your your prayers and we were able to meet all but one. We know that this was not an impossible request to ask of God, but He has chosen in His perfect timing to answer "no" for a time. The goals for 2012 were:

1. Complete our Basic Missionary Theology course from home. Complete!

2. Attend an Islamic Evangelism Course. Complete!

3. Attend Essential Missions Components Course. Complete!

4. Apply for language school. Complete! We were accepted and scheduled to begin school in December, but will be post-poning until we are fully supported. August?

5. Attend Field Prep Seminar. This was the goal we were not able to complete as it required us to have 85% of or committed monthly support by October 24th.

As we review all that happened in 2012 we are humbled to realize that in our day to day focus forward, we often forgot to thank the Lord for the things has already accomplished. However, we have more than what is listed below to praise God for in 2012.

1. We have seen well over a 20% increase in our monthly support!

2. In May, Ryan safely flew the Stinson he had borrowed from ABWE all the way from Renton, WA to Concord, GA and stayed alive despite the dangers he faced (this coming from a wife's perspective)!

3. Last spring we were able to purchase a minivan for our long trip across the country with cash and for an exceptional price!

4. In June, Ryan quit his job and we were able to begin living off of our support beginning full-time Pre-Field ministry.

5. Last summer we traveled over 10,000 miles across the country and down the east coast in our new minivan visiting friends and churches, taking courses, and sharing our vision for the ministry of Togo.

6. On our long trip, we had lots of family time in the car and visiting interesting places that we would not otherwise have had the opportunity to do.

7. In December, I had the privilege of speaking from God's Word at our church's Ladies' Christmas Tea. It was the largest group I have ever spoken to (not counting the groups we've shared our ministry with). The greatest privilege was being allowed to be used by God despite my inadequacies.

So now we face 2013. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year by the way! We have five new goals for this year, which, just like last year's goals could seem to be impossible, but we already learned that nothing is impossible with God. This year we are just going to stick with calling them goals and ask that you pray with us that we would be able to:

1. Share our ministry with 12 churches.

2. Attend Field-Prep Seminar in Harrisburg, PA in April (Required). (85% support requirement before eligible to attend)

3. Complete two French language computer programs. We are using Duolingo and Rosetta Stone. This to get a jump start on our study before beginning rigorous study in language school.

4. Possibly attend a language acquisitions course in Colorado this summer. This is not required, but highly recommended for helping to learn French as well as a tribal language or two in Togo.

5. Reach 100% support requirement and be cleared to leave for language school in August.

6. By Christmas, pass our first level of language school in France.

There has been some confusion as to what a monthly financial commitment looks like, so if you'll forgive me for a minute I'd like to explain. Our support requirement is a fixed amount which covers our monthly living as well as a monthly amount budgeted for ministry. Our mission board requires us to have 100% of our monthly requirement before they will give us leave to move on to language school. The thought behind this is that we do not ask our supporters anything more that what is needed to run the ministry. Therefore, if we allowed to go without full funding part of our ministry would suffer from being under funded. What we need are people and churches who are willing to commit to giving a monthly, quarterly, or annual amount to our ministry account. Our sending board, ABWE, needs to know of this commitment so that they know when we are funded enough to leave for the field. Some people worry that if they give through our board that a portion of the money goes to administrative fees. The answer to this is that, yes, our board does receive a small percentage of our support, however, the truth of the matter is that we absolutely need our board in every way. The endless list of helps they provide to us are well worth the amount they receive from our account. Please believe me when I say that they are receiving less than their fair share for their multiple ministries to us. We carefully chose ABWE to be our sending board and we trust them and know that they will handle every penny that comes in our name wisely.

Having said all that, the total of our current monthly pledges show that we have 67% of our monthly requirement raised. In order to meet the March goal of 85% we need a monthly support increase of nearly $1,200 per month. This could mean 12 families partner with us at $100 per month or 24 families partner at $50 per month. You mathematicians are welcome to play with the probabilities as much as you'd like. Have fun with that :). However, your best mathematical bet is just to pray with us to the God who calls hearts and owns the cattle on a thousand hills will bring across our path more financial partners. Being that our current pre-field ministry involves fundraising, I am not ashamed to ask again if you would consider partnering financially with the ministry God has placed on our hearts for Togo. If so, please email me to request a support slip, or go to www.abwe.com/give and follow the instructions in the orange box on the left-hand side of the screen. I look forward to the day when our prayer letters will be less about money and more about meeting and ministering to people in Togo.

Okay, so now for the part of our letter you would rather I started with; the part about our children. Leslie is doing well in preschool. I'm told she's a lot like Mommy as a "determined" little girl. Being critical of myself I would have called it bossy and strong willed, but determined sounds much better. Children have a way of showing us our weaknesses don't they? She is also loving being a Cubby in AWANA. Being social like her daddy, she really likes to go to be with her friends, but she has been doing well at memorizing her verses and doing her assignments as well. Her favorite things are watching movies, reading books (well, looking at them), and trying to help in the kitchen. AnnMarie (AM) is 18 months now and learning to talk very quickly. Our favorite AM quote is "Oh man!" which she apparently learned from Mommy, though I'd prefer to blame that one on Swiper from Dora the Explorer. She has had a rough week this week. On Tuesday night she fell down the stairs at our friends' house amazingly only suffering a bruise on her head, and on Wednesday she got bit by a dog on her hand as she tried to pet it (I hate that dog!!!). There was a little bit of broken skin on her hand so we have been watching for infection and keeping it well wrapped up with antibiotic ointment. Events like this really help us to be thankful for the way that God made little kids' bodies pretty durable to handle all kinds of crazy things. On a more positive note, as parents there is nothing more sweet than laughter and sloppy, wet kisses from our girls. AnnMarie is more independent these days and not as liberal with her kisses, but Leslie is more than willing to provide as many kisses as we think we need on AM's behalf. Writing in this letter about them helps me to be thankful for the little things they do that bring joy to our home.

As usual, please continue to pray for our spiritual growth. People often think that missionaries must be super spiritual, but as all believers living in imperfect bodies, we too have weaknesses and always need your prayers.

Thank you for your prayer and support for our family. Without your prayer and encouragement, there is no doubt that by now we would have given up. However, you talk to God about us and He encourages us and helps us on your behalf. For this, we ask that God would reciprocate to you the blessing Has given us for His glory. He is worthy!

Buczak Buzz~September 2012

We got back from our big cross-country trip on Sunday, September 9th. We were on the road for twelve weeks and 5 days. That sounds like a long and grueling trip, but really, it was fun! We accomplished many of our goals for the year 2012 and visited many new churches and individuals.

In our last letter, we mentioned that we had finished an evangelism course for sharing the gospel with M friends. We enjoyed the course and have already been allowed to use what we've learned! Many people have asked us how to share Christ this way. We recommend building friendships, saying "hello" and introducing yourself in the grocery store, inviting people into your  home (most immigrants have never been into the home of an American, let alone a Christian), and NEVER arguing. We Christians have a bad reputation for being proud and arrogant; always wanting to win a debate. Invite friends to read the New Testament. The most religious friends are encouraged to study about Jesus. Just think, the mission-field is coming to us here in the states! Get prepared.

We also completed our Essential Missions Components course. This was a thorough course on cross-cultural church planting. There was a lot to take in, but we are excited about being a part of church planting teams in Togo! Realizing that church planting is hard, sometimes back breaking work, we desire to see God glorified in our lives through this ministry. There are so many people walking in darkness around the world. It's exciting to think that God will allow us to be on the front lines where He is working to open the eyes of the blind to His Light!

Here in the states, while we wait for God to open the door for us to leave for language school, we are preparing ourselves, by faith, to leave in December. Last weekend we had a yard sale which only scratched the surface of our preparations. I've begun to realize that it's time to start making lists of things that we will need in Togo. Some items will be two and a half years worth of toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, dish soap, canned foods,... Organizing these preparations are overwhelming at this point. Not to mention our needs for visas, shots... *sigh* I used to be so organized before I had kids.

Speaking of kids, ours are doing well. They are glad to be home and not have to ride in the car for days on end. AnnMarie just turned 15 months and is still not walking. She has, however, taken some steps. I'm not worried though, Leslie learned to walk at 15 months. One day she was crawling and the next she was walking. Then she was a lot more work to keep up with. Leslie still has her bad dreams pretty much every morning at 6am. We know because she gets pretty sassy in her sleep talk. Please keep praying for her in this regard. On a positive note, she started pre-school this month! We put her in pre-school to prepare her for school in France. We thought that it would be wise to get her used to a classroom setting before dropping her off to fend for herself in a French speaking classroom. She loves her school and seems to be doing well. (Update: I wrote this letter about an hour ago and as of 15 minutes ago, AnnMarie has learned to walk. She is now, literally, all over the place! To see a video, see my Facebook page.)

Our percent level rose over the summer. We now have over 60% of our committed monthly support. Our outfit and passage fully funded at 100%. Our prayer support also rose quite a bit over the summer. We met many new friends who mentioned that they would pray for us. We're so thankful to you! I suspect we'll find out in Heaven the ways you prayed for us and how that affected our lives. When you receive your rewards in Heaven for your sacrificial prayers, we hope to be in the front row of this very special ceremony. How fun! May He come soon!

To finish of our 2012 "impossible prayer request," we just have two more goals to meet! We need to have 85% monthly committed support by October 15th  so that we can attend our last training course in November, and 100% committed support by December 1st. We know that nothing is impossible with God and we are believing that God will answer this Prayer request this year. What do you think?

Please continue to pray for our marriage and our family. The Lord has been growing us and blessing us. For us to minister to others, our foundation should be strong against attacks. Your prayers are so important and we know they glorify God not for our sakes, but for His.

May the Lord bless what you put your hand to as you seek to glorify Him today in whatever He has for you.

In Christ,
Ryan, Stephanie, Leslie, and AnnMarie

 

Buczak Buzz~July 2012

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

Buczak Buzz~June 2012

Hello Faithful Friends,

I wanted to send you a quick update on what we're doing. We arrived safely in Minneapolis, MN last night for a one-week course on Islam. We are excited about this class and look forward to learning.

Leslie and AnnMarie did well on the trip across the country. They are definitely ready to be out of the car for a few days. Both girls came down with funny bugs on the trip. AnnMarie broke out in a strange rash and Leslie had a crazy cold and puffy face yesterday. They seem to be alright now.

Next Saturday we begin our trek to Western New York where we will be visiting churches and potential partners for the month of July. From there, we'll travel to ABWE headquarters in Harrisburg, PA. We'll be having a Togo Aviation meeting and attending one of our courses with ABWE, Essential Missions Components. Then we'll travel down toward North Carolina, spend a couple of weeks there and then to Atlanta were Ryan will complete his technical evaluation with ABWE Air. We look forward to seeing so many of our friends and family along the way.

Praise the Lord:
We made it safely to Minnesota with nothing eventful along the way.
We are able to attend this course this week.

Pray with us:
That we will be able to soak as much as possible on how to share the gospel with the lost.
That we will stay healthy.
That we would continue to grow closer to Christ each day.
That God would be glorified through us.

We so appreciate you in our lives!

Buczak Buzz~May 2012

We would so rather tell you all this information in person. I’ve lost track of the exact number of readers we have; somewhere around 450, not counting those of you who pick up this letter off of the kiosk in your church. We would love to sit down and have coffee or lunch with you. It’s a good thing we have plenty of time to fellowship with you in Heaven. May He come soon!

Please pray for Ryan and his friend, Eric, May 18-21 as they fly the Stinson Ryan borrowed from ABWE back to Atlanta. When Ryan brought the plane here in October you were praying and the weather turned out to be perfect just until the plane landed in Seattle. Your prayers for safety and good weather are extremely important and we do not take them for granted.

We’re gearing up for a major 2½ month trip across the country. We’ve decided to go ahead and drive. At this point, we’d like to to sell our 1999 Toyota Camry (Yes, the legendary car Leslie was born in. This is emotional for me .) and buy a minivan. Please pray we are able to get a reliable van and sell our car quickly. Our departure date is the week of June 11^th in order to be in St. Paul, MN on June 17^th. We plan to be back home shortly after Labor Day (see schedule below). If you’re on the east coast and would like us to visit your church or home please let us know. Our purpose is to visit with friends (maybe for the last time before we’re shipped out), and recruit new prayer and financial partners.

We’re thankful for several new partners who put us officially over 51% of our monthly requirement! Our Outfit and Passage fund is full and has a surplus. We’re ready to be shipped out. If you sense God is calling you to give to this ministry we’d be happy to visit with you in person (especially you east coast friends). You may also click here to begin your partnership today.

I almost sent this email without asking you to pray for our friend, Kezia Kispert, who is applying to join us as our nanny while we are in language school in France. We feel a little guilty for stealing one of our best nursery workers from the church nursery roster... but then again... Please pray that Kezia would be accepted (no real doubts there) and be able to raise her support in time to leave with us in December (all this Lord willing of course). We'll get more information on how to give to Kezia's ministry in a future letter.

Micellaneous Snippets

We enjoyed meeting with a new church plant, Faith Bible Church, on January 29^th. Pastor Tim Atkins, his wife, Brenda, and four children were a pleasure to get to know. We trust God is going to do wonderful things with FBC as they reach out to their community in faith to share the story of Jesus. Thank you FBC for your ministry to us on our visit.

February 29-March 4^th we participated in what is often the highlight of our year and much anticipated Edgewood Bible Church Missions Conference at our home church. We were encouraged by Pastor Vern Wilkinson and Pastor Bob Emrich as they reminded us that whatever work we do is not ours. God will build His church with or without us. We are pleased that we get to be a part of His church building work here in the U.S. and in Togo. What a relief that it’s His responsibility, not ours!

Our Kids

Leslie has been asking lots of questions and reciting the story of Jesus death, burial, and resurrection lately. It’s clear that she doesn’t quite get the whole meaning of the story, but we are pleased that she is interested. Thank you faithful teachers in our daughter’s life.

AnnMarie will be 11 months old on the 20^th. She’s officially crawling now and has three teeth as of Monday. Her smile and laughter make our hearts giddy.

Thank you for your continued faithful prayers for us. God is so gracious to us all the time. We have had several opportunities to plant and water seeds here in the Northwest. What a privilege it is to be given this great gift to share with those around us! Please pray that we would be bold to speak the truth when the Holy Spirit wants us to.

Schedule:

Ryan flies the Stinson back to Atlanta-May 18-21

Sahara Challenge-St. Paul, MN-June 17-23

Calvary Heights Baptist Church-West Seneca, NY-June 27

Morton’s Corner Baptist Church-Springville, NY-July 1

Calvary Heights Baptist Church Picnic-West Seneca, NY-July 4

Elton Baptist Church-Delevan, NY-July 8

Rushford Baptist Church-Rushford, NY-July 15

Elton Baptist Church VBS-Delevan, NY-July 16-20

First Bible Baptist Church-Rochester, NY-July 18

ABWE-Togo Aviation Meeting-Harrisburg, PA-July20-21

ABWE-Essential Missions Components-Harrisburg, PA-July 23-27

Grace Baptist Church-Lewisberry, PA-July 29

North Carolina and Triad Baptist Church-two weeks in August

Atlanta, GA for Ryan’s flight technical evaluation-two weeks in August

For other little tidbits about what we’re up to join our group (not fan page) on Facebook, The Buczak Buzz.

In Christ,

Ryan, Stephanie, Leslie, and AnnMarie

Faith in Faith or Faith in God?

Faith. Try as we might, it can't be manipulated. My "impossible prayer request" for the year has been that we would be able to get all of our support raised by the end of 2012 and be able to leave for language school in France after Christmas. So, we pray in faith that God would grant this request, right? Hmm, I find myself praying in manipulation. "Dear God, I'm having faith so you should answer my prayer the way I wish. See how much faith I have God?" No, that's faith in faith. If I try to have faith so that faith will grant my wish it's a wrong view of who God really is. Obviously, He's not a genie in the sky, but I sometimes treat Him that way.

We know that saving faith is a gift from God. Romans 4 and 5 talk about how Abraham believed God in faith and it was accounted to him as righteousness. Then it talks about how faith is a gift from God and no one would have faith unless God had given it to him. So faith in that sense is supernatural. What grace, right! God gave me the gift of faith so that I could be saved! I could stop there and that gift of faith alone would be enough to satisfy me for life.

However, we are also called to faith. We are called to ask God for things praying in faith. I think I'm learning that this faith is also a gift from God. It's the kind of faith that trusts God when you pray that whatever His response turns out to be, you know He has the best plan in mind. This kind of faith is hard. I know what I want sooooo bad. I think I know what's best for me, but am I really keeping what's most important to God first and foremost in my heart when I bargain with God over the things I want. What if God were to give me what I wanted after my little bargaining session? Would I respond with a thankful heart that gave God the glory for the results? Hmm, I wonder. No, it's best to pray, leave my treasured request in God's hands in know that He is going to handle it with far more care than I would. After all, Philippians 4:6 says to "be anxious for nothing." If I held on to that request and worried and fretted over it, it would not be in the safest hands.

So, tonight I am going to choose to leave my "impossible prayer request" in the safe loving hands of God and trust that if He wants us to have all our support raised by the end of the year, He is able. Oh, how I'd love to worry. I choose not to. God's plan is best ALL the time.

“All down through the history of missions, there has never, ever been a missionary who arrived on the field late! They always arrived in God’s perfect timing!” – Wendell Kempton