Dessert AND Silent Auction

Wow! We have been so overwhelmed by the response of friends and family to make desserts for our upcoming dessert auction! Thank you to everyone who has offered their extraordinary talents towards the event coming ... soon! OCTOBER 24TH, 7 PM, West London Alliance Church (750 Wonderland Rd. N.)!

Silent auction!

Well, good news--we are adding in another element to make this a fun night out for friends, family, coworkers, neighbours--whoever you might be or bring! A SILENT AUCTION! Yes, after some thought and discussion, we decided a silent auction would be the perfect element to add on to the night--especially if you'd like to get in some early Christmas shopping or don't have an avid sweet tooth.

So here's the dealio--we need help in two areas. If you can arrange something for the silent auction--maybe it's some sports memorabilia, a donation from your business or spouse's business, a gift basket, one of those Christmas gifts you never ended up using but someone else would love (as long as it's in new condition), a work of art, a collection of handmade objects--we would love to have it! Please let us know!

But I would say our biggest area of need is people to join us for the event! Where we stand now, at 75% of our monthly MAF ministry funds, is crucial--but we've kind of hit a plateau, and after some discussion, we've determined the plateau is due to the fact that we need to expand our circle of contacts! So we're looking to you--friends, partners, and family--to help us expand our circle. Bring some of your girlfriends, your grandparents, your coworkers, or your neighbours out to the auction, and enjoy a classy, fun night out! We would love to see tons of people come out for a good cause.

Matthew 25:40--The reason we serve.

Finally, I think it's been a while since I've given this last part due justice. In the midst of fundraising, one of the key things that keeps us motivated is realizing WHY we are fundraising. It's not just so we can travel the world and do something we love doing. We seek and need support for the important work we will be doing through MAF in Angola. Every dollar donated monthly or one-time allows Marcel to help keep the three planes in Angola flying. Those planes are "life links" to so many people whose ministry, well-being, or hope depend on them. Sometimes, those planes are helping missionaries directly planting churches in unreached people groups. Sometimes, those planes deliver Bibles for the first time in a tribal language.Sometimes, they provide emergency food and nutrition in the midst of a terrible famine. Sometimes, they are saving a teenage girl whose pregnancy has taken a sudden turn for the worse. Sometimes, they are delivering a team of surgeons who have dedicated a week, two weeks, or many weeks out of their successful careers to serve long days in rural clinics, treating people who know only limited health care. ALWAYS, they are paving the way to the future--a future without minefields in rural Angola, a future for children who don't yet know Jesus, a future for the small-scale farmer, whose goods get delivered to market in the big city, a future for the "least of these" in Angola and around the world.

Turning Off Auto-Pilot and Turning on Contentment

I've noticed a theme in my life every September--I wrestle with contentment. It's at "back to school" time each year that I suddenly feel gaping holes in my heart that just long to be filled--a desire to teach, a desire to have a full-time job, a desire to be in Africa now, not later.

Thankfully, I'm able to name my struggle--it's a struggle with contentment, because it allows me to battle it. I only had to look back to a blog I wrote a year ago to find the exact same struggle, with some amazing words of encouragement right from the Bible:

"6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses." 1 Timothy 6:6-12

Ahh, yes, wonderful words of life. Words I need to hear, as it seems like our "uphill climb to Angola" is taking much longer than I hoped for, as we are running thin on new contacts, as I face dissatisfaction with job details or daily routines in life. The reality is, we will never find contentment or satisfaction in the fleeting things of earth, but to always keep a heavenly mindset--setting our hearts on godliness--is a massive task that takes much prayer and much focus. It takes us "turning off" auto-pilot and deliberately lifting up our struggles to God, coming to Him in thankfulness despite our feelings, and trusting Him despite our limited, human understanding.

So, if you are reading this, please pray specifically for me (Kelly) to keep my focus on God, and not on the things of this world. Likewise, I know some of you struggle with the same thing, so I will lift you up in prayer. Hopefully we will both turn off the auto-pilot (letting life control us, and instead, letting God walk us purposefully through life) and turn on contentment found only in Him.

Help us reach our last 30%!

Hey there friends!

It's not my favourite thing to post about our financial needs, but this past week Marcel and I were discussing this little reality--we start language studies in January! That's in 4 months! *Gulp!*

That's four months to get everything in order for visas, passports, immunizations, etc., AND raise our last 30% of our monthly funds.

To give you an idea, and also to help us remember how many people have already loved us and supported us, let's put this into some concrete numbers. Since last November, we raised over $35,000 in one-time funds for our MAF ministry (which are already going to good use with all the visa work we have to do!). But even bigger and more shocking than that is the fact that we currently have over 70 supporters who support us at approximately $5000/month! WOAH!!! That just makes my heart leap for joy and praise God!

But we still have approx. $2200/month that we need to raise for our MAF work ... in just under 4 months.

We're looking for about 40 more supporters, in four months. We hope to do this via presentations (see the side bar for our upcoming presentations), one-on-one meetings, our YUMMY DESSERT AUCTION, and LOTS, AND LOTS, AND LOTS of prayer!

Thank you to everyone who prayed through August with us, continues to pray for us, and those who continue to advocate on our behalf as we look for more opportunities. We are so very thankful!

And stay tuned ... our Sept/Oct newsletter is coming out soon!

Help us get to this special place--the hangar in Lubango, Angola!