Steps of Faith

How blessed we have been lately, but also how challenged we have been to continue following the call and trusting that God will bring it to completion!

• We are now at 58% on our monthly support pledges, with steady progress each week. While things have slowed down due to the busy-ness of the holiday season, we hope to re-establish some momentum in the new year and get back to meeting with people to share our vision.
• It was a blessing to share at New Summit Presbyterian in Lee's Summit yesterday. If your pastor or missions board might be open to having us share with the congregation or make an appeal for church support, please reach out and let us know.
• We have arranged with CFCI headquarters for our new departure goal to be April, in time for Seth to start a trimester of language school that starts on April 29. Our estimated departure from the States will be April 20. This allows us to finish fundraising, take care of logistics of selling property, nearly finish the homeschooling year for the kids at HCA, and enjoy this last holiday season for a while with our families (without the added chaos of impending departure!). Andrea will begin language school in August when we have settled in and the kids can begin with the private school there. As usual, God has arranged a plan in His timing that is even better than what we thought we wanted at the beginning...
• We have signed a contract to sell our house with a closing date of April 15, 2009. It's a blessing to anticipate release from the "liability" of remotely owning property, but also a sad thing to let go of a place that we love and one that has created so many ministry memories for us. Please ask God to keep our faith strong while we feel vulnerable and continue to let things go that were once valuable to us. We know that He is teaching us to "count as rubbish" the things of the world in comparison to the riches of knowing and serving Him. What great preparation for the mission field!
• Just when things were starting to look pretty lean for us, Seth has rustled up some remodeling work that should take us into January. If you or anyone you know has work to be done around the house, please let him know! We know that God will continue to show up and provide for us, but it can get nerve-wracking when you're waiting and thinking about the next month's bills! I'm seeing a trend here that we are having to take one step at a time and trust God to show us later where the next one is...Gee, think it might be more training for what's next? ;-)

A passage that has been the subject of conversation around our house lately is from Matthew 25. Jesus is telling his followers about the final judgment, and how he will separate the "sheep from the goats," those who are saved and those who are not. This is important stuff! What is the chief criteria that he gives for this decision? The answer: how we treated the poor and downtrodden in our world.

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink ..." The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

Jesus takes personally how we treat those around us who are in need! He goes so far as to say that we treat Him however we treat them, and that in this way, He will distinguish whether our faith is real. Now don't misunderstand and think that I'm proposing a works-based salvation; that's not my point and is not the truth. The sheep didn't receive salvation because of what they DID for people, they received it because of their FAITH, out of which sprung how they loved and treated other people (and Jesus).

I'd like to challange each of you this Christmas season to think about how to put your faith into practice and do these things that Jesus mentioned. Not just by giving to an organization that does these things on your behalf, but actually getting into the dirt and the grime with needy people. For it is in the personal contact with them that we experience how to show grace, see our own depravity and need reflected, and come to a truer appreciation of our blessings and the grace shown to us. Something radical has begun to happen in our hearts as a result of relationships like these, and we pray that you'll experience the same blessing.

Thanks for the encouraging words, friendship, and financial support that so many of you give us! Together, God will use us as a team to show His compassion and mercy to those around the world who desperately need to see it.

Andrea (&Seth)

Unexpected provision

At a recent church service, we had two couples who've been friends for years, pray for us. One of the men prayed and asked God for unexpected provision for us in our efforts to raise support. I was really encouraged by that prayer because it's been on my lips, too.

God has blessed us in the fundraising journey in a number of ways: He's connected us with people that we've not previously known but who are excited about what God is doing in our lives; He's given us time to share encouraging, intimate prayer with other followers; and He's brought us unexpected provision financially.

The Lord has provided nearly all of our start up costs of $23,000 to begin the journey. In addition, he's provided about 47% of our monthly support need. All of this has come in during the first two months of our full-time fundraising! Currently, 29 couples or individuals have made recurring pledges to our effort. We need at least that many more to make it to our goal.

As the calendar year winds down, now is a great time for year-end giving. We hope that you'll prayerfully consider our mission with CFCI as a recipient of a one-time special gift, or a recurring gift toward our support account. We need to have 100% of our monthly support pledged before we can leave for the mission field. If you'd like to give, see the "Send Contribution to:" tab on the right hand side of this page.

Please join us in praying for more of God's unexpected provision for us during this journey. When he provides for us from unexpected sources, all the glory belongs to him and is a real encouragement to us to see his hand moving and leading us.

Please also pray for God's practical provision for our family. Mission Adelante is graciously paying Seth through the end of the year as we transition into our new ministry roles. In addition, Seth has begun to pick up some remodeling jobs to supplement our income. Please pray that God would provide the income we need, for as long as we need, to complete the fundraising part of this mission.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Seth (and Andrea)

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog, where we hope to keep our friends, family and supporters updated on our mission to Costa Rica! We pledge not to overwhelm you with trivial information or too-frequent posts, but do want to have a means to quickly get the important news out and post pictures and other fun tidbits...

As I've recently been studying the book of Judges and reading the book of Mother Teresa's personal writings, it's really come home to me how God uses not the best-equipped, smartest, or strongest for His work. Rather, He chooses to make His strength known by choosing the weakest and least of all possible vessels. In this way, there can be no possible confusion about who gets the glory for what happens!

Take Deborah, a woman chosen by God to play a key role in the defeat of Sisera's army. How culturally inappropriate was it for a woman to have authority of any kind, much less in a military situation!? She surely would have been viewed as weak and lowly, not qualified to accompany men to battle.

Take Gideon, "the least in his family, and of the weakest clan of Manasseh," who argued with God and tested Him before he would obey His call to lead Israel into battle. Not only did God choose Gideon, but then He told thousands of soldiers to stay in their tents and sent only 300 men into the battle with him. The Lord wanted no doubt about who brought the victory!

Take Mother Teresa, a humble nun turned saint, who loved simply and walked in obedience. She experienced many of the same spiritual conditions that you and I do. She didn't have any special degrees, certifications or qualifications. She had only love for Jesus and desire to please Him above all else, even when she didn't feel His nearness. She made herself nothing so that Christ could be everything.

Boy, does this message hold true with our call to be missionaries! We feel unworthy and ineffectual, out of our league and sometimes overwhelmed at the thought of what will be required of us on the mission field. But I would be willing to bet that's right where God wants us. That way, when He does His work, suffering is eased, and souls are saved, the glory will be solely His, and we hope that people will say, "What amazing things the Lord is doing!" May the church be edified and inspired by knowing that God will use any of us that choose to pursue Him and obey.

A progress update:

• Praise God that our $23,000 lump-sum launch fund is very nearly complete! He has brought unexpected blessings, and very quickly!
• Our support pledges are at 43% of our goal. Please pray that God will continue to move His follower's hearts to partner with our ministry in Costa Rica. We have several upcoming events where we will get to share about our mission plans; please pray that we will communicate well and that our words won't get in the way of what God wants them to hear.
• All five of us have a clean bill of health after medical checks for living overseas! Even with good reason to believe that an issue or two would be found based on past health issues, tests and labs came back clean. We really believe God has worked in this area and brought physical healing so that we may not be hindered.
• We are spreading the word that our house is for sale or rent, beginning with Mission Adelante volunteers who may have an interest in the neighborhood. We'll do a separate post for general consumption with that info a little later, but feel free to contact us if you have interest.

Many thanks for your prayers, kind words of encouragement, friendship and love,

Andrea (& Seth)