Doors of Opportunity

The beginning of a new year holds so many adventures. Of course there will be hardships and downs to go along with the ups in our lives. But I choose to see the glass half full. I choose to see the positive things that come along and not dwell on the negative. So what positive things are presenting themselves as possibilities for 2011? I can't wait to tell you.

We are finishing up our Intro to Panorama this month. The holiday busyness got in the way of our finishing in December. We are meeting with the Direct Mission Sending Council in a couple of weeks to make the transition from the inquirer stage to candidate stage. We start the Advanced Panorama in February and should be finishing it up in June or early July.  We will be working on building our advocacy teams and prayer support teams. We will also need to begin working on financial support during the next several months and beyond.

We will be going to San Angelo, Texas in March for a week long training with Water for All International. At first we thought John was going alone but they asked me to go as well. I am really excited to be included. It makes sense that we get to know each other because it will be a team effort for our family, not just John.

John has been searching the Internet for sources on making parts of the well on his own, like the pump. He is learning the many different ways you can make them. He has made a few different models in the garage. Jonathan has been quick to volunteer to try them out and pump the water out of buckets.

The Water for Christ team has a couple of people going to Niger this month to do some ground work in that area. They want to see what they are dealing with and how they need to go about gathering the resources needed for the wells there. Then they will make plans to go back over there in teams to drill some wells.

We may have the opportunity to go with Water for All International to Bolivia for part of the summer to work with them drilling wells there. They have asked us to be a part of that if we are able. Right now I don't see the provision for our bills and the trip. But we trust that if God wants us to do this, HE will keep the doors open and provide the provisions we need to do it. We would be thrilled to have the chance to go for whatever length of time provision is provided for. They will be there from June through August.

A few months ago we started a monthly prayer meeting in our home for The Water for Christ ministry. We hold that every third Thursday of the month. Anyone is welcome to join us that wants to be a part of praying for this water drilling ministry.

John and I are working on building prayer teams. That is going to be one of our main goals in the months to follow. Those teams are something we will continue to build all throughout our ministry. If you would like to be a part of that, please join us. There is nothing like prayer. We will keep in contact with the lead person of each team and allow them to share the information with the others. We would like for those teams to share their prayer concerns with us so that we can pray for them, too. At the bottom of this post, on our newsletters and on our Partner With Us page you will find a list of updated prayer needs. Please continue to lift those up. --Terri

     Just for fun: Jonathan staged this pose the day they were out drilling.

Specific Prayer Request

• Pray a hedge of protection around each of us. Spiritual warfare is very real.
• Pray for financial provision on upcoming training and mission trips throughout the year.
• Pray that all debt (car debt, student loans & medical bills) are able to be paid off quickly. The sell of the land would take care of a great deal.
• Pray for provisions for downsizing our income again as John plans to move into a day position that is a lot less pay.
• Pray for our 23 year old daughter as she continues to seek God's direction for her life.
• Pray for our 18 year old son that he will find a way to be self sufficient.
• Pray for our younger two children, ages 11 and 9, as they also prepare to serve with us.