Stateside ServiceI've been stateside now for nearly four months, and it's been flurry of activity:
KINGDOM FOUNDATIONS: After spending a week of June at MTW headquarters with 21 new missionaries in training, I am serving, along with another missionary in the Jackson area, as a cohort leader for seven of those new missionaries. We meet every two weeks online to discuss courses they are taking online, to pray, and to encourage as they raise up a network of supporters.
RECRUITING: I joined other missionaries from my region at the PCA General Assembly in Chattanooga in late June, spending our time connecting with pastors, ministry leaders, and families. Please pray that God will call some of these people to serve as long-term missionaries in Australasia.
In July, I recruited at the MTW East Coast Missions Conference in Centreville, VA; and I anticipate recruiting at seminaries across the southeast US during the fall semester.
CHURCH PARTNER VISITS: Recent missionary visits to partnering churches include Chattanooga Valley PCA in July, and Bryce Avenue PCA in Los Alamos, NM just last week. BAPC was celebrating their 50th anniversary; it was there that  I spent my first year after college teaching in their Christian school. They were my first exposure to the PCA. I learned this past week that they left the mainline Presbyterian church in 1975 because of the Wynn Kenyon case, in which Kenyon was denied ordination because of his views on the ordination of women pastors. Kenyon went on to be ordained in the PCA and to teach for many years at Belhaven University, and was an elder at my church in Jackson.
  Support Update
With one church joining my ministry team (pending approval of their session), I am currently in need of raising an additional $823 in monthly pledges.Did you know that since I first joined MTW in 2009, the US dollar has lost about one-third of it's value? A partner giving $100/month in 2009 is now giving the equivalent of about $67/month. I am so thankful for my many ministry partners, and feel some guilt for asking for more; but would you consider increasing your contribution by 25%, or perhaps even 50%? I know that some are not able to do that, but perhaps that is something you could do. Would you please prayerfully consider increasing your monthly or annual contributions in order to send me back to the work to which God has called me in Sydney? Or perhaps you've been receiving my newsletters for many years and praying for my work. Thank you! Your prayers are critical to the work of the gospel in Sydney! But perhaps you would like to also partner with me financially. To increase your contributions, or to begin financial partnership, select one of the following options: - Contribute on the MTW website. Above my name, you can choose "recurring;" then you can indicate how often you would like your contribution to recur.
- Or if you prefer a less techie method, email me, or if you prefer to be an anonymous partner, email Cara Christiansen at MTW. Tell us how much you would like to pledge on a monthly or annual basis.
THANK YOU for your prayers and your faithful financial partnership. You are an indispensable part of this ministry team. |
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The church Session has asked that I focus on developing an outreach to international students. With SOW chapters at four universities, internationals comprise 20-50% of the student bodies, many of them coming from China, as well as other countries that are difficult for missionaries to reach.
Every missionary periodically spends some time back "home." These furloughs, or as MTW calls them "Home Missionary Assignments" (HMAs) are not vacation, but involve different work. What does that look like? For me, I'm keeping busy with:
