Saturday, March 13, 2010

February 2010 Update Letter

Word of the day:
Begin: v, 1: go into the first part of a process. In Swahili, ‘tunaanza’ means, “we begin.”

Dear Friends and Family,

We are excited to let you know that we know our next step! Drumroll please… we are heading out to Tanzania!


Since 1892 our organization has been sending missionaries around the world. Their goal is to form teams in North America, train them, send them out, and give them the tools to glorify the Lord and His church.

It was interesting to see how they saw a mechanic and a midwife fitting into their strategy. So, after nearly a year of praying and seeking the Lord, we feel He has shown us this path to follow. We are excited about the value placed on working as a team, training up leaders, and accountability—something we have seen is notoriously hard to keep on the mission field.

In that vein, Mr. Motorcycle was invited to be mentored as an intern under two of the men responsible for strategizing the teams, training them, and communicating with them once they are sent out. He will not only learn from them on the job, but will also have a chance to observe their lives and allow them to speak into his. We are both honored to be able to accept this opportunity and plan to move to Kansas City the middle of March to begin the internship. During this time we will also be able to travel and raise prayer and financial support for Tanzania.

As further confirmation of this move, Stephanie reconnected with a friend in Kansas City who also happens to be a midwife and has agreed to see us through the rest of our pregnancy and has asked Stephanie to work with her.

Our plan, God willing, is to have our baby this summer and be financially ready to leave by October. We have been asked to be forerunners of the team in the west-central region of Tanzania. It is one of the largest areas in the country. We are hoping to be in Tanzania for about six months to start with while we familiarize ourselves with the government system, begin language training in Arusha, figure out housing and living details for the rest of the team, and travel to the city we will be working out of.

Right now our organization is working to recruit 4-9 adults (couples or singles) to complete the Tanzania team- so if you know of anyone who would be interested, send them our way! The hope is that by March 2011 the team will be ready to be trained together and we will spend some time back in North America before beginning our five year commitment.

When we began our research this past summer, we had no idea this was where God would lead us. In fact, though we had heard of this organization in different ways, we really didn’t know what their heart was. Now, we feel God has taken us so far and given us a new, and yet the same, vision to work towards. Would you join with us in journeying to Tanzania? Some of you may be able to physically come and join us on the field, but we know that not all of you can. Would you ask the Lord what commitment He may be asking of you? Our goal is to raise $6,000 a month to cover living, ministry, health insurance and emergency evacuation, vehicle costs, home assignment, etc. We are also hoping to raise additional special fund of $20,000 towards purchasing a vehicle and setting up a house. We have included a link called 'How to Make a Donation' that you can click on in the side bar should you choose to make a donation. Or send us an email with your home address for a paper form.

We believe the Lord will use us to bring His light and hope to a dark area of Tanzania and we are excited to invite you to be part of this work.

May the Lord continue to reveal Himself and His glory to you each day,

Mr. Motorcycle and Stephanie

*This is an excerpt from our Update Letter.  For more information, please email and ask to be added to our list.


1 comment:

Charisa said...

YAY! This is so exciting! :)