January 2018

Greetings in the name of our Lord.

“We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly ³remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”  1 Thessalonians 1:2-3

These words of Paul to the Church in Thessalonica speaks our heart’s message to you as we journey into 2018. Your prayers have sustained us as your Global Ministries Missionaries during the last 3 years and your financial support has allowed us, and many other missionaries, to live out God’s call to people in central Congo and around the world. We do give thanks for you! “You are always there with us” as we work with the people of Congo bringing hope, encouragement, and God’s love in tangible ways through the various projects of the Congo Partnership and our work as your missionaries. You have helped bring sight to the blind, feed the hungry and help them learn to grow their own food through our agriculture program, educate our children in mind and spirit, provide fresh water for the thirsty, and so much more. We pray that in some small way our relationship with you has brought joy, fulfillment, and purpose to you and your congregation.

          We never dreamed in our “retirement” that God would call us to fulltime missionary service. The last three years, and Jonathan’s relationship with the Congo through the Congo Partnership since 1998, have changed our lives. We have been humbled by the love and support so many have offered us in this journey. We now believe God is calling us to yet another phase in our lives and ministry. Effective March 31, 2018, we will be retiring from Global Ministries as fulltime missionaries to Congo. We will continue to work on behalf of the Congo Partnership in a volunteer status traveling each year to Congo hopefully leading Volunteer in Mission Teams there and helping churches in the US stay connected with what God is doing through the Congo Partnership.

          For those of you who have been supporting us as missionaries through the Global Ministries Advance, we are so grateful. As we move into a new phase for our ministry, we hope you will prayerfully consider supporting various Congo Partnership Projects under the capable leadership of our Congolese colleagues. 100% of your giving goes to those projects. If you need information and/or would like to speak with us about this, please let us know so we can contact you. Some of you may wish to work with Global Ministries to support another missionary. If we hear of others that will be going to serve in the Central Congo Episcopal Area we will inform you.

                Our plan is to continue our work in the U.S. speaking on behalf of God’s work through the Congo Partnership and we would be honored to continue that relationship with you and your congregation.  We covet your prayers for the Congo as the country goes through a challenging time economically and politically. Spiritually, God continues to sustain them with a joy beyond measure. We have been most blessed to learn from them in so many ways as they have nurtured and challenged our faith.

          Thank you again for your support. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns. We know God is leading the Congo and us into the future.

In gratitude,