August 17th, 2009
I thought since schools and church ministries are getting ready to "kick-off" their new year it would be a good time to recap my current ministry activities.

Missions

• A couple years ago I started to attend the missions ministry meetings at church. Last fall I focused my attention on the Short-Term Missions ministry team. Over this year the team has been reviewing how we support short-term teams from concept through the completion of their trip. My skills have been usful in redesigning the forms and helping to revise the previous documents with the updates we have made this year.
• Last fall I also volunteered to help keep the missionary prayer letter board up to date with the most recent letters received. I love reading all the letters as I am completing this task each month.

The Mix Ministry (formerly 20/30 Something)

• I have been a part of the leadership team of this class/ministry for several years. My involvement in the STM ministry team over this last year has made it hard for me to keep up the level of commitment that is expected of a member of this team. So - I resigned my position on the leadership team in May, but plan to remain an active member of the class and participate on the worship team until I am ready to leave for Europe.

For those of you who are wondering... Yes, I am still trying to raise my support to go to Europe. I have spoken to three groups and one-on-one with several people over the last couple of months. In spite of these opportunities the pledges have been slow in coming. I would really appreciate prayer for the following:

• That the Ministry Partner cards which were taken from the meetings will not be lost, but will be sent in with pledges. I am currently at 27% of the monthly pedges needed.
• For the meetings a couple of friends are trying to schedule for me with their pastors. The focus of these meetings will be short-term missions trips, but will also be new connections for me.
• How much you can pledge to support me in this endeavor.
• For the short-term teams that are currently preparing to go to Europe.

Great Day!!

Today I shared with the King's class at my church (it is one of three adult classes that are comprised of mostly retired people). I think my sharing went pretty well and I enjoyed talking to several of the ladies after the class. Then I was able to spend some time with some other GEM missionaries that are supported by my church (they shared in my regular class today and I know that some of my friends are considering leading a short-term team to help them). After the service was over, I went to lunch with a friend and was able to catch up with her.

Sharing about my mission

The last couple of Sundays of May I have the opportunity to share with a couple adult classes at my church. Last week I spoke in Crusaders class and I think it went well. Tomorrow I will be visiting King's class and sharing with them - this is one of the largest adult classes at my church so I'm a bit nervous!!

Tool Party Fundraiser

The party was a success and a donation of over $350 has been sent in to my account.

Tool Party to help my Missions Funds

My good friend and supporter, Tara, has offered to donate her portion of the sales at my tool party on May 15th to my missions account. If you are a lady who is interested in tools ergonomically designed for you send me an email and I can give you more information about either the party, or placing an order online that will count toward the party. (You will have to receive and evite with a link to order online so that will be included in my party.)

Winter 2009 Newsletter now in Photo Albums (Newsletter Album)

Thoughts on Support Team Gathering

I recently realized that I have been in the phase of support raising in preparation toward the mission field for about a year now. It was a year ago in February that I completed orientation and was accepted to go serve in Europe with Greater Europe Mission. Thinking back over this year I realized that this has been a time of stretching and growth. I have had to once again face my fear of public speaking (children are easy, adults are so much harder). My patience and faith have both been tested during various times and especially during the last couple months where I haven't seen any increase in my support. Each time God has brought me through and provided. Most recently the provision has come through encouragement from members of the missionary care ministry at church. They are now helping me to make connections with other classes and ministries within our church. Today I finalized a committment to speak to a class in March. This is the first speaking engagement I have had in several months so I am excited to be able to meet with them and share what is on my heart and how God has brought me to this point.

GEM Ministry Barn

I have heard from members of EuroTeam working on the Barn in Kandern that EuroTeam, TEFL and EDot ministries are fully moved into their offices and, during recent weeks, GEMStones Media was in the process of moving furniture into their office. I am looking forward to being able to get over there and join the team of missionaries working in this new facility.Check out photos of the progress at http://www.euro-team.org/, click on Barn Project at the top of the page.

Encouragements

This week has been a busy one! Last Saturday I attended Missions Connection in Portland with several others involved in missions at my church. We were only there for part of the conference and there was so much to try and take in during the short day. I attended a couple of workshops that provided information that I can use in my preparations and fund raising.

Today I had lunch with a couple of members of the missionary care team from church. They wanted to learn from me what I have been doing for support raising and how the team can help me. One thing they are going to help me with is connecting with groups within the church.