Volume 13
Updates…
The office is brimming with potential. Thanks to the generous support you have provided us I have been able to make updates to International Project’s website and make optimizations. Those updates have led to the number of inquiries about becoming a missionary being DOUBLED! Compared to this time last year. From 1 person a day to 2. Kaitlyn our Mobilizer that deals with initial contacts is being deluged with calls and has 7 interviews to do on 10/4. I have hoping that with God’s help we can double that number again by the end of the year.
Updates
As we continue raising funds we have switched to working part time as that is all that our funding allows us to pay for.
We got to host a young christian woman in our apartment for a couple days while repairs were done on her apartment.
We hired a new administrative assistant in the office which should help us all be more efficient.
Elliott’s sister Emma is visiting from the west coast
Abraham turned 3 this past month and Helena is turning 2 this month!
NYC was flooded last week. It was the most rain I have ever experienced in my life. Some areas received 8 inches of rain.
Right before the storm we got to take a short trip out to long island and see a few beaches and a state park.
Prayer Requests
Pray for us to get better, we all have a throat-cold at the moment.
Pray for Helena as she is transitioning out of needing naps and into needing to be potty trained.
Pray for God to guide our ways in all things.
A Step Into The World Of Missions
For our newsletter this month I wanted to share some stories from our missions in the field. THE STORIES THAT FOLLOW SHOULD REMAIN PRIVATE AND NOT SHARED IN ANY WAY thank you for understanding.
BIG PRAISE! Bengali believer reaching and gathering his own people!
From Christian in Queens NYC:
BIG PRAISE!
“You haven’t made a disciple until the person you are discipling has made a disciple”. It’s what we are laboring towards here in Queens, NY. To see disciples made, churches started through diaspora unreached people groups!
For the past year I’ve been meeting with, training & discipling a Bengali believer that has a heart to reach his own people. He recently led his first former muslim to faith this past July. And this past week he baptized him! This week “R” also began gathering his family, this new believer and a few Muslims to read the Bible!
Making disciples among unreached people groups is challenging on so many levels. Please pray with us for
Sustainable fruit
For these Muslims to see the beauty of the gospel & their desperate need for a savior.
For a church to be identified and formed over time.
We moved to Central Asia!
From Jason in South East Asia
After spending some quality time saying goodbye to family and friends, we finished packing our last bag and boarded a plane the afternoon of July 27. We were hours early to the airport because we didn't know how long it would take bringing in so much luggage. Then we had some stressful but funny adventures:
Our plane was delayed due to storms and overheating, which meant that we couldn't make our connecting flight . . . which meant we watched our plane pull away with all 12 checked bags while we were stuck at the airport. Our kids were counting the cost as they wondered if they'd ever see the stuff they packed to make their new house a home.
The airline gave us a voucher for an Uber to the next NYC airport to catch a direct flight, but we had to hurry to make it in time! So our family and 3 others in a similar situation all sprinted like a scene from Home Alone through Laguardia airport. Except in our scene, our kids kept dropping their bags and slowing down our new friends (who were kind enough to help the kids carry their stuff). All 8 of us jumped into an SUV with luggage piled on top of us (it took Meg 1-2 minutes to figure out how to shut her door because we were so crammed in). Everyone in the car was stressed as we watched the driver slowly drive on back roads, but Everett kept talking about how he couldn't feel his legs and made us laugh. Thankfully, our direct flight was late so we were all able to make it!
After a 9 hour direct flight through the night (Will and I stayed up to fight the jet lag), we arrived in Central Asia. We got our smaller bags, our new SIM cards, waited in line to see about our other 12 checked bags, called a taxi, rode for an hour, and arrived at our Airbnb about midnight. Once we got there, it took us and our driver about 10 minutes to find which address was actually ours. But we did! And we slept.
A few days later, all 12 of our checked bags were delivered to our door! The kids were so happy to see their stuff return. We made it! We believe God is preparing us to expect difficulty in every path worth taking, but an answered prayer at every destination.
Update on Meg's Visa situation:
Plan A: We have 20-30 days to find a place to live in order to get a permanent residence Visa.
Plan B: If we can't find an apartment in such a short time, we'll have to leave the country and come back to reapply for another tourist Visa, which will give us 3 more months to find a place to live and get a permanent residence Visa.
We are content with both plans, but we are praying for the first. Thank you to all who helped make this journey possible! Meg and I and the kids are so grateful for each of you who are reading this, praying for us, giving to us, and serving us in so many ways. Our families and friends are such good gifts. God bless you all!
Students from around the world…
Andy in Harlem NYC
International students are everywhere. The photo is the long orientation lines where we would stop and ask each student if they were interested in English groups or activities. After all orientations were done we got somewhere around 600 names. It was a crazy 10 days.
Now I am meeting students for coffee, tea, or lunch. I have already started reading the Bible with a student from France, mobilizing a believer from Indonesia and praying with a bull rider from Canada. On Tuesday I had my first English conversation group with students from Iran, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Togo, Cameroon and UAE. My second English group is Friday and will be filled with others from around the world. Lastly, we will have 4 Pakistani students over for dinner and games next weekend. So many image bearers that we are praying for God to work in their lives!
Please join us in praying for good soil that would produce lasting fruit for the kingdom. We are grateful for each of you and miss you!!
