On the Road with Mike and Sarah, June 2009

June
15, 2009

 

Hello to our dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

Yes, it is us! We
have not fallen off the face of the earth! We have been completely engulfed by work lately and we are so sorry for
not communicating with you better. Please, please forgive us and keep reading to hear all that God is
doing!

                                    

Seasons

It has been quite a
season for us, in more ways than one. The last you heard from us was probably in March. Spring and summer are our busiest seasons of
the year. We found it hard to believe
that we could be any busier than we already were throughout the fall and
winter, but oh what naivety! We have
also had an especially crazy season in light of the economy and “scares” around
the world. Between the border violence
in Mexico and the swine flu, our mission teams are half of what they were last
year in Mexico. Many have decided not to
go, many are staying closer to home. 

In spite of this, the
Lord is faithful to see His Word spread around the world. This year we have been involved in the
planning and leading of over 4300 people onto mission fields all over the
world. Over 3400 of these people are
going between May 1^st and September 1^st. Our office work and behind-the-scenes
planning is not necessarily the most glorious part of the job, but we do love
the end goal: the Gospel shared, hurting people loved, and our participants
growing in love and knowledge of our amazing God! Please, please be in prayer for our teams
this summer, for the people leading the trips, and the people being ministered
to – that we may all glorify God and see His Kingdom furthered!

On a personal note – we
have been, and still are, going through a tough season. God is teaching us many things about who He
is and who we are. We believe He is
pruning us and sharpening our call in missions. I won’t lie – it is not very fun, but it is very necessary. It seems like a rollercoaster ride right now,
and it is easy to wonder if it will ever end. But, as I read this week in Psalm 29, “The LORD sits enthroned over the
flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with
peace.” So, we will continue in faith –
knowing that God is good and has wonderful plans for us.

Coming Up:

Mike has continued to
take on more responsibilities and is now the director for all ministry
development, both domestically and internationally. While he is in the middle of such a busy time
with our current projects, he is also establishing the projects for next year
and trying to create a world-wide database of ministries and contacts to
partner with in the future. Also, Mike
will be leading at least 2 trips this summer. He is going to lead a youth trip next week in Washington DC (July 20-26)
as well as a youth trip in July to an American Indian Reservation in Montana
(July 11-18). He is also trying to
organize an adult mission trip to Romania in September.

I have also had some changes
in my work since the last update. I am
now working full time in our accounting department. I am the Accounts Receivable person for all
the short term mission trips that we do. So, I stay very busy, especially now, working out payment arrangements
with churches and finalizing numbers for the groups. This change was a huge blessing for us as I
was able to go full time and I will not have to raise support. In the fall and winter, I will have more
“down time” than in the spring and summer, so I will be able to do some mission
trips and traveling with Mike.

Praise the
LORD!

Thank you for your
faithful prayers for us. We have found a
church – which is a HUGE answer to prayer. We have been attending The Church at Lanier Hills for just over a month
now. We anticipate joining soon and
getting plugged into a small group.

Also, we have found a
new apartment to move in to in August! We are both ecstatic about this! If
you have not heard of all the trials and tribulations from our current rental –
just know that I am not exaggerating in the statement “trials and
tribulations”! Our new apartment is much
nicer, is a little further from work, but closer to everything else – and it
doesn’t have MOLD, yeah!!!

Prayer and
Support

Can you believe that we
have been with AIM for a whole year now? It’s crazy! We look back and can
see God’s faithfulness and provision for us. He used YOU to provide our support for the whole year! With your monthly contributions and many
one-time gifts from churches and individuals, we had just enough monetary
support to meet our goal. So, we know
that as we enter a new year with AIM, God will continue to provide. As we have been praying and seeking God over
the past few months, we both feel that we may need to be ready to go on full
support. Currently, we have been on 50%
support (relying on your donations for 50% and AIM paying the other 50% of the
salary). While this is a little scary,
it also seems freeing. Now, before you
go and get all worried and scared – please know that there is no change that we
or AIM are planning – we simply feel God preparing us for a new season. In light of this, we would like to begin
gaining more financial support right away. In the place we are now, it will be a cushion for us, should something
happen. It would also give us the option
to free AIM of having to pay as much toward our salary, allowing more money to
go straight to the mission field. 

Our current goal set by
AIM is to raise about $1800 a month. This is not a huge task if viewed in the light of God’s
faithfulness. If we had only 36 people
commit to $50 a month, we would be at our goal. If we had only 72 people commit to $25 a month, we would reach our
goal. Please know that any amount helps,
whether it is a monthly commitment of $10 or a one-time donation. We have enclosed a support card and an
envelope for you. Please prayerfully
consider how to support us. If you have
questions or concerns, we would be glad to talk with you. Being support-based was not an easy decision
for us to come to, so we don’t expect it that it will be an easy decision for
you.