April Prayer requests and Praises

It's the first of the month and as promised I am updating our current prayer requests and praises. It has been a very busy month. As I sat in the classroom this morning across from Grace, I saw her very tired eyes and I realized...we have been going like crazy lately. I never even noticed how tired we all are getting until I looked at her this morning. It also made me think of what the Bible says about growing weary. Isaiah 40:29-31 says it best...
"29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." That is one of Lance and my favorite passages. It will be our theme as we press ahead through the next months. The Bible also says in Habakkuk 3:19 that ..."19GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places." These scriptures are the strength for the journey.

This month has included many individual meetings, letters, phone calls and small group presentations; as well as Bible studies, Perspectives classes, Financial Peace classes, house showings, and a tiling job for a friend. Like I said, we have had a full calandar. It has all been worth it though as we have met with many friends old and new. We have gained many partners and also watched God work in great ways. He opens doors we have not even knocked on, and lifts us up when to tasks seem too great. When we look at the finish line, we know that all this will be worth it. The chance to work for Him and increase His kingdom with our work at Agape Flights will be well worth this investment of our time and our efforts.

And now for those prayer requests and praises...

Praises

God has opened many hearts and is providing for more ministry partners every day.

Lance's parents have decided to walk on this journey with us and our supportive of our calling.

God continues to encourage us when the days get tough and long.

Items keep selling from the house, some that are not even advertised.

Relationships are continuing to grow and develop.

A particularily important one-on-one meeting with a fellow missionary took place this month that really encouraged us and refined what we are doing. That was a "God thing"

Prayer requests

Parkview Church is preparing their budget this month. Pray that they will see the value in our work with Agape and come on board with financial support.

Safe travels as we have many out of town appointments this month and a trip to Green Bay to be with family for Easter.

Parkview has given us the privilege of being introduced during the services. Please pray that the congregation will be open to hearing our story and individuals will be moved to support us.

The sale of our home. We know that God's timing is perfect so we are trusting Him to sell the home at the right time.

That God will open the doors to us to people outside of our network and into His network. We are now starting to work on referrals from friends and church members. God has amazing ways of connecting people. Please pray for our friends and the referrals they suggest to us.

Pray for our girls to remain patient with us as we continue meeting new partners. They have been really well behaved through all of this and we pray they will start to understand the meaning of why we are doing what we do. I think they are starting to "get it". The other day Grace said to us at supper, "Mom, we haven't shown ..... the Agape video yet? We really should show them, they need to see it." :)

Thanks so much for all the prayers and support you have each offered us. We are so grateful of your willingness to pray for us. Please let us know how we can pray for you also. We would love the privilege of lifting you up to the Father as well.

We hope you all have a blessed Easter. He is risen!!!

In His service, Lynn, Lance, Grace and Hope

Quotes from Perspectives Class

Lance is currently attending the Perspective class at Grace Church and every week he comes back with some great quotes. This week we wanted to share with you some of the great quotes about missions he has heard.

Note: These are not exact quotes but rather paraphrased as fast as he could write.

Mary Slessor- Scotish Missionary

"Lord the task is impossible for me but not for thee. Lead the way and I will follow. Why should I fear? I am on a mission for the King."

William Carey- father of missions, pioneer missionary to India

"To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map."

“Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.”

“The future is as bright as the promises of God."

Hudson Taylor-missionary to China

"The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed"

"God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply"

Brad Buser-missionary to Papua New Guinea 20 years

"Christianity has turned upside down. 1980 years you Looked in the Word. Now, we look inside ourselves."

"If you are Living for your Dreams, you are living in Sin. Live for His Desires."

Lessons from the Road

As the support raising marathon continues, we have been learning lessons every day. I thought I would take a minute to share some of our most important lessons with you.

1. Thank the Lord at all times.

We have experienced a lot of positive responses in our attempts to raise support and we have also experienced some negative responses. We are learning every day that we need to thank the Lord for both. We know ALL things come from Him and He is the one who is ultimately the provider of our support. We realize that some people will be called to financially support us, some will be called to prayerfully support us and some people will not be called at all. We will praise Him for each person we encounter on this journey and we will thank Him for each one of them. For only He knows the reasons of each person's heart and we trust that He will bring each person we need to contact into our path. We are grateful for each person who will hear our story and for each person who challenges us. The challenges only give us more time to honor and praise Him who we are working for. The opportunities to defend Him and His calling on our lives are our testimony.

2. When one door closes, another one opens.

God has been very faithful in this process. When we feel discouraged and start to get distracted, He opens a door we were never expecting to be opened. The other day, for example, after a disappointing meeting we were welcomed home by a friendly phone call which lifted our spirits and fed our souls back up. He has been surrounding us with incredibly supportive friends who are constantly encouraging us and helping us. And only God knows how the perfect timing of a phone call can be just what we need to keep us going. As it says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 "God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." When we are tempted to get off track and allow situations to discourage us.... we know God will be faithful and pull us back on track. Everytime we have gotten into a situation that challenges us, God has been there to open another door and keep us in line.

3. The economy may change but Jesus is the same.

Hebrews 13:8 says "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." No matter what happens in this world, God doesn't change. Even though the news media wants everyone to believe that the economy is in the tank and big changes are going on in the world. The fact remains that God is the same and if you stay focused on Him and not the world, you will land on your feet and prosper. We have learned how to fully rely on Him through all of this and we are much stronger for it. Our prayer is that everyone can stay focused on Him and see His provisions in their lives as we have seen Him provide for us.

4. Prayer works.

Even though we have always believed in the power of prayer, the fact that we are seeing prayers answered everyday is such a reminder of its power. Since we have started posting our prayer requests and praises, we have just been watching the prayers be answered. We have such amazing prayer partners who are lifting us up and we are so grateful. God is listening to all of them and working them out one by one. In Mark 11:10, Jesus says, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe you have received, and it will be yours." We are witnesses everyday to the power of prayer and we are so amazed at what He can do when we ask. I think sometimes we have just forgotten to be faithful and ask.

After considering all of these lessons, we also wanted to share with all how exactly the support building is going. We have been blessed with many, many prayer partners who have agreed to join us. We are so excited to have all of you on board. We have also had many folks who have agreed to financially join us. The exact numbers are hard to pinpoint because many commitment cards are still out. But for now, we have 16 financial supporters. The numbers are growing everyday, so we will keep you posted as we moving forward.

Many thanks to all of you who God has called to walk this journey with us. We appreciate each of you.

Never give in!
In His service, Lynn and Lance, Grace and Hope

March Prayer requests and Praise reports

March Prayer requests and Praise reports

Since it's a new month I decided that today would be a good time to update our prayer list and praise reports. I am going to try and stay on a monthly schedule for now and update the lists on the 1st of every month. As needs arise, I will update the prayer requests and praises more often. Thanks to all of you on our prayer team. We appreciate you very much.


Praise reports.

• We are all healthy again and feeling much better.
• The parade of potential home buyers keeps going. We are having many showings of the house and are very excited about all the action. Sunday is an open house.
• Meeting with support team members is going well. We are receiving a lot of encouragement and positive responses from the folks we have been meeting with.
• Still selling lots of "stuff" If you need anything for your home or garage, give us a call and we'll make you a deal.

Prayer requests

• Quick and easy sale of house
• Our home church of Parkview will become a sponsor
• Relationships will continue to grow as we meet with potential sponsors.
• Patience as we run this marathon of team/support building and remembering this is not a sprint.
• Our families, that they will come beside us and walk with us on this journey of faith
• That the work of Agape will help spread the gospel and love of Jesus to many hunger and needy people
• That our hearts will listen to God's leading and we will be obedient to His will and calling as we go through this process.
• For our girls, that they will be patient with us as we make calls, stop to visit with friends and talk alot. In the end, we pray that their hearts and minds will be focused on Him and He will be their provider.

Thanks for all of you for lifting us up to the King. We appreciate you.

Also, thanks to Megan and Hannah for the fun "chicken playdate". The girls can not stop talking about our morning at the farm. :)

Never give in!

In His service, Lance, Lynn, Grace and Hope