I was just going through some paperwork and came across the letter that my 2nd born wrote as we were preparing to send out our support letter. I realized I never posted it, so thought I would take a minute now to do so. ~Erin
I want to go to Zambia because I think this vacation may be a life changer for not only me but for my family. I am ready for helping out. I am a little nervous to get my immunizations and the possibility of losing my passport while traveling.
I want to have my eyes opened and see that our every day music practicing and other things that we may not enjoy, the Zambian kids think of as a special treat. I think the point I'm getting at is that when I go to Zambia I want to realize that they are grateful for what they have.
~from child number 2
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
Brat Fry!
This coming Saturday (April 27) our Zambia team is going to be having a brat fry fundraiser. If you live in our area please consider stopping by and enjoy a brat or hamburger and support our team. We'd love to see you! We will be at the Neenah Pick 'N Save on Green Bay Rd from 11 - 5.
We continue to see God working in our lives as we prepare to travel to Zambia. Thank you for lifting our family up in prayer. Please pray that on Saturday we will be able to communicate clearly to the community who we are, what we are doing and why. And please pray that God might grant the fundraiser much success.
Thank you and God bless!
We continue to see God working in our lives as we prepare to travel to Zambia. Thank you for lifting our family up in prayer. Please pray that on Saturday we will be able to communicate clearly to the community who we are, what we are doing and why. And please pray that God might grant the fundraiser much success.
Thank you and God bless!
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Without going into detail, I would like you to pray for a miracle.
I believe what God says in Ephesians 6:12, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." I can't think of a another time in my life when the truth of that verse resounded so loudly as it does today. This next week looks like it will be a week of profound trouble and heartache, or powerful deliverance. I'm praying for powerful deliverance and rescue... a miracle. Please pray with us, God knows the details.
God is good all the time, and I agree with Matt Redman when he sings:
Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Thanks for praying,
scott
I believe what God says in Ephesians 6:12, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." I can't think of a another time in my life when the truth of that verse resounded so loudly as it does today. This next week looks like it will be a week of profound trouble and heartache, or powerful deliverance. I'm praying for powerful deliverance and rescue... a miracle. Please pray with us, God knows the details.
God is good all the time, and I agree with Matt Redman when he sings:
Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Thanks for praying,
scott
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Financial Perspective continued...
Again, I want to remind you that we realize the amount of money we are needing to raise is a lot and we are not taking it lightly.
Scott will be using his vacation time for this trip. We are certain it is going to be used wisely, but will probably feel the sacrifice around holiday time. It's okay though. We are thankful for the time of vacation he has and will work something out around the holidays.
We are also asking our kids to not attend the Bible camp, this summer, that they have come to love. We decided that it would be better for us to use the money we would have to put towards camp towards the mission trip instead. It's good for us to feel the sacrifice and I very much appreciate the kids understanding. I don't think I've heard complaining yet.
We will continue to evaluate our budget to see how we might be able to save more for Zambia. It seems our budget is pretty tight, but it is amazing to watch God stretch our dollars and continue to reveal to us how big He is.
We realize that pennies are not going to be enough for us to get to Zambia. I am asking God to stretch our dollars. He did after all feed 5000 people with a few fish and some loaves of bread, so what's a few thousand dollars, right? I want you to know that we are humbled that you might consider supporting us financially and honored if you would spend these next 4 months lifting our family up in prayer.
Blessings ~ Erin
Scott will be using his vacation time for this trip. We are certain it is going to be used wisely, but will probably feel the sacrifice around holiday time. It's okay though. We are thankful for the time of vacation he has and will work something out around the holidays.
We are also asking our kids to not attend the Bible camp, this summer, that they have come to love. We decided that it would be better for us to use the money we would have to put towards camp towards the mission trip instead. It's good for us to feel the sacrifice and I very much appreciate the kids understanding. I don't think I've heard complaining yet.
We will continue to evaluate our budget to see how we might be able to save more for Zambia. It seems our budget is pretty tight, but it is amazing to watch God stretch our dollars and continue to reveal to us how big He is.
We realize that pennies are not going to be enough for us to get to Zambia. I am asking God to stretch our dollars. He did after all feed 5000 people with a few fish and some loaves of bread, so what's a few thousand dollars, right? I want you to know that we are humbled that you might consider supporting us financially and honored if you would spend these next 4 months lifting our family up in prayer.
Blessings ~ Erin
Monday, April 8, 2013
Perspective continued...
Financial Perspective:
Isn't it going to cost an incredible amount of money to take your whole family to Zambia? Yes, you are correct in asking that question. We will need to come up with $3500 per person. If you did your math right, there are 6 people in our family and we will need to have $21,000. How are we going to pay for this? Well, it is probably my biggest hang up of committing to this mission trip. We do not have the money. It is really quite humbling to ask people to support this trip, but it is what we think God is asking us to do. I will admit that I am excited to see what God is going to decide about this part of the trip. An associate pastor at our church said something very wise at our initial meeting about the Zambia trip. He was talking about being chosen to be on the team and all of the questions that we may have about it. And then he said, "Don't worry about anything. If God wants you to go on this mission trip, at this time, he will get you there." Isn't that amazing? God already knows if we are going to be in Zambia in August or not. So this is really an opportunity for our family to trust God. I hope he changes our perspective about money and that we will continue to grow in our faith as we realize we have more than enough if we know Jesus as our Savior. Money, no matter how much or little we have, means nothing in eternity.
We understand that this is an incredible amount of money to raise. We are not taking it lightly. We want to be wise stewards of the money God has given us. We are literally saving our pennies. Every time we enter a receipt into our budget we round up to the nearest dollar and put the pennies in our "Zambia jar". Our first born son has been leading us in making hard choices. Several times now, instead of buying that soda, sucker or bottled water that he wants, he'll decide not to buy it and instead puts his money in our Zambia jar... isn't that incredible? Already his perspective is changing and I love it! The rest of us are following his example and it is amazing how the pennies are adding up.
to be continued...
~Erin
Isn't it going to cost an incredible amount of money to take your whole family to Zambia? Yes, you are correct in asking that question. We will need to come up with $3500 per person. If you did your math right, there are 6 people in our family and we will need to have $21,000. How are we going to pay for this? Well, it is probably my biggest hang up of committing to this mission trip. We do not have the money. It is really quite humbling to ask people to support this trip, but it is what we think God is asking us to do. I will admit that I am excited to see what God is going to decide about this part of the trip. An associate pastor at our church said something very wise at our initial meeting about the Zambia trip. He was talking about being chosen to be on the team and all of the questions that we may have about it. And then he said, "Don't worry about anything. If God wants you to go on this mission trip, at this time, he will get you there." Isn't that amazing? God already knows if we are going to be in Zambia in August or not. So this is really an opportunity for our family to trust God. I hope he changes our perspective about money and that we will continue to grow in our faith as we realize we have more than enough if we know Jesus as our Savior. Money, no matter how much or little we have, means nothing in eternity.
We understand that this is an incredible amount of money to raise. We are not taking it lightly. We want to be wise stewards of the money God has given us. We are literally saving our pennies. Every time we enter a receipt into our budget we round up to the nearest dollar and put the pennies in our "Zambia jar". Our first born son has been leading us in making hard choices. Several times now, instead of buying that soda, sucker or bottled water that he wants, he'll decide not to buy it and instead puts his money in our Zambia jar... isn't that incredible? Already his perspective is changing and I love it! The rest of us are following his example and it is amazing how the pennies are adding up.
to be continued...
~Erin
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
...Continued from March 27
Perspective. It's the way one looks at something.
I would like to continue some thoughts I've had for some time now and that I wrote down as we were working on our support letter: Family Perspective
Why would we desire to take our whole family on a mission trip like this? Well, first of all, God laid it on our hearts. We cannot control how He works.
Second, we desire to shepherd our family to be Jesus' servants. A mission trip seems like one good way to learn about being servants. Not only will we have an opportunity to serve the children and staff at Villages of Hope, but we will be able to learn how to serve the team that we travel with as well.
Third, perspective. We live in a culture that does not allow one to sit back and have a right perspective with out putting in a lot of effort. We think that this mission trip will be an excellent way for our family to develop a different perspective than our American one gives to us. I have been praying that God might use this trip to change our hearts, inside to its very core, so that we might be able to think, choose and act more like Christ. Yes, we hope that God uses us to love on the children living in the Villages of Hope and serve whomever He puts into our paths. But we also hope that we will be permanently changed as an outcome of this mission trip.
to be continued...
~Erin
I would like to continue some thoughts I've had for some time now and that I wrote down as we were working on our support letter: Family Perspective
Why would we desire to take our whole family on a mission trip like this? Well, first of all, God laid it on our hearts. We cannot control how He works.
Second, we desire to shepherd our family to be Jesus' servants. A mission trip seems like one good way to learn about being servants. Not only will we have an opportunity to serve the children and staff at Villages of Hope, but we will be able to learn how to serve the team that we travel with as well.
Third, perspective. We live in a culture that does not allow one to sit back and have a right perspective with out putting in a lot of effort. We think that this mission trip will be an excellent way for our family to develop a different perspective than our American one gives to us. I have been praying that God might use this trip to change our hearts, inside to its very core, so that we might be able to think, choose and act more like Christ. Yes, we hope that God uses us to love on the children living in the Villages of Hope and serve whomever He puts into our paths. But we also hope that we will be permanently changed as an outcome of this mission trip.
to be continued...
~Erin
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
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