January 2013 Newsletter

Hello Friends!

We hope your new year is off to a great start, ours certainly is! We made our first church presentation of the year and have three more scheduled for this month.  As we see January is already half over, we know that our goal departure date is really just around the corner. We are working hard and trusting that God has his perfect timing at work.

We have recently begun talking with Hope61, the anti-human trafficking arm of One Mission Society. This is a new ministry that is targeting six countries prone to human trafficking. One of these six countries is Spain. Spain is basically the gateway to the rest of Europe, with trafficking coming from Africa. We have prayed about our part in this ministry. As church planters, we are establishing new churches that will impact their communities - which will in turn establish even more churches. If we place at the foundation of each church the need to combat human trafficking and the resources to do so, then we can impact the future of human trafficking in Spain.

Many of the victims of trafficking come from the "10-40 window." This part of the world is one of the poorest and home to some of the most unreached countries. Because of Spain's close proximity and need for the Gospel, we feel very challenged to combat the evil of trafficking. So, we want to challenge you as well! This is our January challenge: 10 people committed to 40 dollars per month. That is $40 a month pledged to spreading the Gospel and breaking the bonds of slavery. Would you consider being one of those people?

Praise Report:
Annette and Andrea Rosell recently started a youth group. There are ages 12-19 represented. It is great to have a place for young people to come together and fellowship with fellow believers, learning more about their faith.

As always, we thank you for your continued financial and prayer support as we continue in this journey.

Jeremy and Melissa

Three Things Thursday: Orientation, Church Visit & Newsletters

One: Orientation was great! We spent two days with eight other missionary candidates learning more about OMS and getting to know each other. Most of the time was spend going over our Birkman tests and discovering how our personalities will effect us in our ministry on and off the field.  It was  also interesting to see how Jeremy and I work together according to our results. While I tend to be a "let's go" leader, Jeremy is a "let's be careful." So, while I am pulling us ahead, Jeremy is making sure everything is done well. I guess we are a good complement for each other!
It was a great time to spend with each other and the other candidates as we continue to work on raising our support.

Two: We drove up to Salem EMC in Salem, VA early Sunday morning. The congregation  graciously welcomed us to share the story of our call to Spain. We are so thankful for those who gave and supported this ministry. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Orientation group with Dr. & Mrs. Wesley Duewel

Three: Newsletters! If you are interested in receiving our newsletter please click the page above to sign up! We hope to send these out regularly to keep everyone updated on our progress. We will keep an archive of past newsletters so that you can catch up if you missed anything! I promise not to spam you or send you an inordinate number of chain emails.

Update-Praises and Requests

This update is long overdue! But, the past few weeks have been a whirlwind. I returned from Spain nearly a month ago and since then we have visited three churches and will be at our fourth presentation tonight. At each service we have been blessed with the encouragement and support of everyone in attendance. Several people have made faith promises and become partners with us in this calling. 

We cannot say thank you enough to those who have already partnered with us. But, we do want to say that we have confidence that God will use your gifts to bless the work He is doing in Spain. This journey is just beginning for us but we know that God has already gone before us and prepared the way. We are trusting in His timing and provision for all of our needs. Now, we do pray that you may do the same.

This weekend we will be sharing with Salem Evangelical Methodist Church in Virginia and from there we will make the drive to headquarters for orientation. Because of the timing of our interview and acceptance, we missed the last orientation so we are going a little later in the process than most. Our good friend Mark will be joining us on the drive as he is going for his interview! 

Jeremy and I are nearing the end of school this semester! In a couple of weeks I will finish my final undergrad class leaving only one project and one CLEP test to cover my last credit hours. Jeremy is completing his master's degree with independent study classes in the next couple weeks as well. It is exciting to think about a time when neither of us will be in school!

We have all of this to thank God for but we also look to Him with some requests. Please pray for-

-Safe travels as we drive tonight and this weekend.
-The hearts of those we will share with to be open to God's leading.
-Us to trust in God's timing and sovereignty. 
-More opportunities to share with churches in group settings and also individuals.
-(as always) for the hearts of those in Spain to be softened and prepared for God's word.

Weekly Update #2- Funding Class Cont.

The past week of OMS training/prep in list form:

1) Week two of funding class. Everything is great!
2) We have officially received our assignment to Spain!
3) Our status has been changed from Extreme Walk missionaries to career missionaries.
4) Our profile is up on the OMS website.
5) I have had one meeting with the Spain team for the trip in October and have one this Friday.

Prayer Requests:

1) Time management as we balance work, school and OMS work.
2) That the preparation for October's trip continues to go well.

Weekly Update #1- Funding Class

Each week as we prepare for Spain I plan to post a quick update about where we are in the process and how things are going. Please check back to keep up with us! 

"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work" 
-2 Corinthians 9:8

Jeremy and I started our fundraising class today. This class will prepare us to reach out to potential supporters and be fully funded in (ideally) nine months. We are excited for this class because not only are we going to learn the best way to raise support but we will also be connected with one other missionary couple and three single missionaries. The seven of us will be journeying through our fundraising and preparation together.  

The class is three weeks long, meeting for an hour and half, four days a week. Additionally, there is reading and prep work to be done outside of our meeting times. We know that this class will be extremely beneficial but we also know that it will require many hours over the next few weeks. But this is only a taste of the busy times that are to come as we continue to prepare. 

We are already so thankful for the support of One Mission Society. We are so excited to connect with other new missionaries. We are so excited for the support we have already received from friends and family. We are so blessed to have friends and family who are as excited about our calling as we are. 

As I look ahead to what God holds for us I am not scared. I'm certain there will be days I am frustrated or even discouraged but I am declaring now that I will not let fear become an obstacle in our preparation. 

Prayer Requests-
That God will continue to guide our steps.
Time management as we work through this class as well as work and homework for school.