Archive for June, 2008

Now in Pennsylvania

No Comments » Written on June 24th, 2008 by Rusty & Brooks
Categories: General, Journal, Kenya, Newsletters, Prayers, Updates
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Yes, you read that right.  We are now in Pennsylvania.  We have been traveling all over the country raising support and we are now at Brooks’ brothers house.  Since leaving Phoenix, AZ we have made stops in Los Alamos, NM; Dallas TX; Minco, OK; Tulsa, OK; Houston, MO; Springfield, MO; St. Louis, MO; Mulberry, IN; Peru, IN; Akron, OH; and Youngstown, OH.   We want to thank everyone who we stayed with for their hospitality and generousity.  We would not be where we are today without your willingness to open your homes and lives and let us share our hearts desire with each and every one of you.  We are now only a couple hours from New York and we are going to be spending about 4-6 weeks in this area finalizing our fund raising and preparing to leave for Kenya.  We will be meeting with the coordinators at AIM over the next week to finalize all other details.  Please be praying that everything goes smoothly and that God’s will would be done in our lives.  We are so excited to be this close and know that God has brought us this far and that He is with us each step of the way.  There have been disappointments as you may have previously read, but there have also been great rewards.  With each step God continues to teach us more and more.  We will be sending out our June newsletter in the next day or so for those of you wondering if we had forgotten.  Internet access has been sporadic at best for the past few weeks.  We are now at a place where we have a stable Internet connection so updates should start coming more frequently again.

Please be praying for us as we are entering our final time here in the U.S. for a while.  Pray that the transisition to Kenya would be smooth and that everything would go according to plan.  Thank you so much for your prayers.

I will leave you with this verse that God has had on my heart for a while.  It has reminded me that I can not do everything alone.  With God’s help and with others help we will be able to stand against anything that Satan may throw our way.

Ecclesiastes 4

12 One person can be overpowered.
But two people can stand up for themselves.
And a rope made out of three cords isn’t easily broken.

RM

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Posted in General, Journal, Kenya, Newsletters, Prayers, Updates

Handling Disappointment

3 comments Written on June 9th, 2008 by Rusty & Brooks
Categories: Kenya, Missions, Prayers, Updates

How do you deal with and handle disappointment? What is your first response when your plans get suddenly changed? Do you still have faith to walk a path that you know you’ve been called even when the path is seemingly fading away or changing it’s course?

These and so many more questions have been pondered the last few weeks. We’ve had some amazing opportunities and some stunning changes in direction recently. Our apologies for taking so long to let you know. Our traveling has decreased internet availability; coupled with our needing to take time to really absorb and pray about the turn of events has led to a time of silence online. (Yes, we should have asked for more prayer support. Sorry. What can we say, we’re still learning this constant communication thing!)

Our financial deadline came while we were in Phoenix, AZ. We had close to 90% of our Outgoing monies and just under 40% of our Monthly pledges. Essentially, we had enough to get us there, just not enough to live. We weren’t sure how it would be handled – especially with all the traveling that we were beginning again (2400 miles, 6 states in 2 weeks!) We didn’t know what to expect, but we were hopeful.

Long story a bit shorter… we are not leaving on June 27th. We did not clear financially to go long-term. It was realized that we have almost enough to be able to go ‘short-term’ for 1 year though! This means that we will have to come back after 12 months. We will still need all of our current monthly support while we are there – its just a bit less per month because it was offset by the difference in costs of going short-term vs. long term (if you want more specifics, just ask). When we return we will still have to finish raising the rest of our support needed (both monthly and outgoing, again) so we can go back to Africa full-term.

We prayed, talked, sought counsel, and have decided that this is the path for us to take. We are leaving in August for Kenya! We still need about $3000 total and/or about $100/mo in support to have all of our financial needs met. (This is already 1/2 of what it was 2 weeks ago!)

Around the same time we were certain we were still to go this summer we got more news from RVA. Attendance is down (for the first time in most AIM staff memories). This resulted in RVA not needing one boys dorm for this next year. It also means that we are not going to be dorm parents while we are there. To say that this is disappointing is understating the emotions and heartache that this news created. We have been praying for and looking forward to meeting “our boys” for almost 2 years now. It’s still taking some time to get adjusted to the realization that its not meant to be, yet, and that our expectations and reality will be different. It’s been challenging on Micah as well (Kayla really doesn’t know or understand yet) as he was looking forward to having so many “brothers” around.

Suddenly, life in Africa is completely unknown again! Although Rusty will still be helping with their computer needs as already planned, we will not know what our new roles at RVA will be until at least July. The only thing that we know for certain is that RVA is still where we have been called to go this year. That we are going to be able to minister, work, love, enjoy, be changed and transformed by our time there – with both the students, staff, and national people that we are infusing our lives with. We are essentially going with a clean slate for God to use and guide as He leads.

These last few weeks have forced us to re-focus on what we are really called to do in Africa. We’d had personal experience into the complexities of our emotions and reactions as we’ve been challenged with change, disappointment, and complications. Our lives are being transformed with new reliance on God to direct our steps, faith to go where we’re led no matter how it looks, and fresh perspective to realize its not about what we want or our plans as much as it is loving God and learning to be more like Christ daily. No matter the circumstance, happiness or disappointments.

We appreciate your prayers and encouragement. Thank you!

~BM~

Posted in Kenya, Missions, Prayers, Updates