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Wednesday 26 November 2014

Shoe-box Campaign and Deficit Update

I wrote last month regarding some significant developments in our ministry that have tested our faith in God and in people.  Here are a few updates as to where things stand today...

First was the Weihnachten im Schuhkarton campaign:
The response so far has been amazing.  We have had several churches, schools, MOPS Heidelberg and Campus für Christus already join in with us in the effort.  When I first started the campaign I was praying hard that we would receive a box for each child at the Sinsheim camp - originally 126 kids 0-15 but then we added 16-17 year olds which brought the total up to 140.  I honestly didn't think it was possible without God orchestrating it and setting it on the hearts of this community and so far we've already had 197 boxes committed.  This caused us to go back to the refugee camp and request two additional camps - the one in Walldorf and the one in Helmstadt-Bargen.  This added an additional 38 children.  Sunday I will speak at the Hosanna Gemeinde in Heidelberg and request their help in getting boxes for these remaining children leaving a 20% buffer in shoe boxes in case people don't turn them in as they have committed or more children arrive at the camps.  Any extras will be given out to give out to new refugee families that arrive over the next few months.  Tonight I got an email from a pastor in charge of two churches in the Sinsheim area expressing his desire to join with us as well and asking how they can best get involved so Friday I will request additional camps with children close by so they can participate.  Please pray God would be glorified through every person that gives, every child that receives and every heart that is touched through the process.



Secondly was the huge and seemingly insurmountable deficit we found ourselves in about 6 weeks ago.   In just 6 weeks we've seen God work through people in both words of encouragement and in lots of prayers on our behalf and in financial support as well.  Of the $24,000 needed we have been so blessed to now receive nearly $16,000 expressly toward the deficit and an extra $300 per month to help toward the $720 in monthly shortfall that our budget necessitated.  If you want to help you can do so by going to www.pioneers.org/give.  For a one-time gift, select "Give to a missionary", input our names and account number 136050 and your preferred method of payment.  if you want to give monthly select giving options and then either the EFT, CC or Online Bill Pay option. We thank you in advance for whatever you can do.  Remember - prayer is the most valuable thing anyone can give.  

God is so good to us and may He be given the glory for eliminating this deficit completely. 

Things to pray for:
·         The above shoe box campaign and our remaining deficit
·         Chloe’s German language learning ability and for the friendships she is beginning to make at the kindergarten.  Also pray for relationships to build between us and Chloe’s classmates parents.
·         Alan’s continued efforts on our missions loft and the often exhausting work he has been putting in not taking too much of a toll on him physically
·         Alan’s mom Margaret has additional tests this week to try to determine what is causing the blockage in her bowels which has plagued her for the better part of a year
·         More volunteers are needed for the growing number of refugees that want to learn German
·         Our full-timers coming over within the next year to 18 months – Tyler Bowman from Alabama and Nicole Demers from Delaware
·         Our short-term teams coming next year – Edge from the USA and The Great Exchange
·         Several short-timers and full-timers currently in the investigatory process of joining us in the future
·         Continued healing in my moms eye
·         Growth in our Monday night bible study
·         Strong relationships and partnerships to continue to form and build between us and other missionaries, churches and student organizations in the Heidelberg area
·         A pretty major unspoken request that we’ll update you more on when we are a bit further down the path