When the going is slow, the thankful keep going!

Thanksgiving couldn't have come at a better time this year. It has come after a couple months of slow going ... "trudging" even ... as we wait, pray, and trust that God will help us reach our last 25% of our monthly funds.

As it feels in the moment like God's mercy is running out on us ... a thankful heart will help us to see just how great His mercy is!

We are thankful for the way He has already provided us with 75% of our monthly funding ... even that seemed impossible 11 months ago! And that all of the 75% has come from amazing individuals giving what they can!

We are thankful for friends and family who keep us encouraged and pray for us!

We are thankful for our Portuguese tutor Maura, who tutors us once a week in Portuguese, and who is willing to teach us "full-time" when we are done support-raising!

We are thankful for the random connections we have made whether people or churches, and how they have loved us and cared for us!

We are thankful for MAF and the way God already does amazing work around the world through their ministry!

We are thankful for the staff and unpaid workers of MAF who have led us on this life-changing journey.

We are thankful that even if our dessert and silent auction don't go as planned ... we will still enjoy dessert! ;)

And mostly ... we are thankful for such a big, LOVING God, whose word promises us: "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good deeds, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10) His faithful promises keep us going, along with a thankful heart for all He has done and all that He is. He loves us, He leads us, He rescues us, and He breathes life into us. We cannot see the road ahead of us. (Will we raise all the money we need before the end of the year? Will studying portuguese be difficult and trying? When will we move to Angola? Who does God need us to meet and share our story with?) But He will lead us onward.

BIG MILESTONE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

We won't keep you in suspense any more ... our big exciting milestone announcement is ...

Drum roll ...

Are you ready?!?! ...

We've reached 100% of our OUTGOING, ONE-TIME FUNDS!!!

Hurray! That's $35,000!!!! This is the fund that gets us overseas, gets us through language school, covers things like visas, immigration, moving our life overseas, initial training and Marcel's maintenance standardization, and LAUNCHES our long-term ministry!!

Crazy right? 6 months ago we started on this "Impossible to man, but possible to God" journey, knowing that it would take a miracle (or many small, every day miracles and acts of obedience) to raise the funds we need. And now, we've completed Part 1 of the journey.

All that being said ... we're not close to leaving yet. Don't worry, we're still here for a while. Because as awesome as it is that we have raised our ONE TIME funds, we still have LOTS to raise in our MONTHLY support before we can go. We're almost at 40% of our monthly support. Will you help us SOAR in this next stage of our ministry by praying for us ... specifically for our upcoming London Dessert Night, for God to reveal new supporters and opportunities to us, and for us to trust Him with everything we need?

Thank you friends and family. Because really--this BIG ANNOUNCEMENT would not have happened without you. Your financial blessings have brought us to our knees in thankfulness many times. You are all truly a blessing!!!!

Praising God for YOU!

Yesterday, as we presented to Heritage Fellowship Baptist Church in Ancaster, I said a line which never ceases to amaze me, "We can't get overseas without HUNDREDS of people helping us from home."

HUNDREDS.

That's a lot.

And it caused me this morning to pause and reflect on our partners. Whether you lift us up in prayer, donate a little bit to our ministry with MAF or donate a LOT, or whether you are just a dear friend who loves us when we need it most, we literally can't do this without you.

I'm so thankful for our partners in this ministry. And I want you to know how precious and important you are too--how crucial you are to this ministry!

Planes fly on the prayers of supporters.

Lives are profoundly changed by as little as a dollar a day.

The Bible is taught, translated, and delivered to those desperately hungry for the word.

Death is conquered by life with each medical evacuation flight.

Hope is shared, heart to heart, and hand to hand, in communities ravaged by war and nature.

Your life becomes a legacy, all because you cared.

Thanks friends and family for caring! We love you, and we praise God for how important each one of you is to MAF's work!