Sometimes I get to thinking about our big dreams, and I write letters to Christian celebrities. (I wrote one yesterday to Candace Cameron Bure...you just never know, right?) We have wonderful supporters, but honestly could use additional financial support - what missionary couldn't? We’re partial tent-makers, so to speak. I teach part-time, we want to rent the apartment behind our house from time to time, and we’re even considering cooking at a restaurant down the street a few nights a week to provide training, jobs, and maybe even more income to cover extra costs we have in ministry, not to mention the new relationships we can build there.
What costs you ask? We would love to be able to pay for one of our guys to take guitar lessons, so that rather than always using dowloaded videos from youtube for worship time, we can have worship leaders in the future. (We’d need to purchase a guitar too.) We’d like to have a soccer workshop for kids in our neighborhood in order to get to know more families, but need resources for that (a trainer, cones, balls, snacks, etc.). We would love to have our own lawn equipment that we could rent to teens and young adults needing work, and to also save on our own lawn care. We need a scooter so that when I take the car to school or have something with the kids, Seth can have easy transportation to make better use of our time. There are several kids we'd like to sponsor and send to a Christian school next year, but we'll need sponsors for them. And the biggest dream of all….purchasing land. Land is so expensive, but we dream of building a ministry center that would include a small cafe, large meeting room for Bible studies/church, and small apartments to assist families with housing and discipleship. (We're probably talking minimum $250,000 including construction costs, land, building up, etc.) If you're curious as to what that would look like, Click Here for our rough draft and outline of the dream we have for ministry here. Sometimes it's daunting but God continues to encourage us in small ways.
This week we had a great lunch with a pastor friend of ours. He was telling us that just four years ago he began a church with his family and four other couples. Soon after that, God orchestrated it so that he could team up with a missionary from Canada, and they built up a church body together, that is now a solid, well-established gospel-centered church with over 100 people there every Sunday morning (including us!). It was so encouraging to see the evidence that with our faith and trust in the Lord, nothing is impossible with God. We trust Him and His plans. The Bible tells us to hope in Him, to wait on Him, and to allow Him to direct our path. We can trust him and walk wisely, doing what we can to steward what he's provided us, while hoping expectantly for greater resources for expanding ministry to His glory.
Currently we make our budget work for the ministry and for our family. I'm able to get homeschool materials at a discount. I don't get my nails done, rarely get hair cuts (even though its about $4), and we shop in the markets rather than grocery stores to cut costs. Our 10 year anniversary trip was a $15/night cabin, rather than one of the $75-$100/night luxury hotels in the area. We've learned how to be thrifty and content with what we have. We can and will continue like this, but our prayer is that more people will be compelled to support the dream God has put in our hearts. A dream to help young fathers provide for their families and learn how to live for Christ, a dream to help young men who can't find work to start somewhere, whether cutting grass or cooking, etc. A dream for a safe home for people, like orphans aging out of orphanages with no place to go or displaced families. A dream of teaching families God's word in a church that is easily available to the community and focused on serving the least.
Would you pray with us about this dream? Its exciting. We've watched as others have seen God do
big things to make their dreams come into fruition, and we know our God is able. Our God is almighty, all-knowing, all-sufficient, and a good Father to those that are in Him....absolutely nothing is too hard for Him! The other night as Seth was speaking to a mom who is caring for 8 children in a home that isn't at all the best situation, we could only imagine how awesome it would be in the future, to be able to offer a cheap, safe, and Christ-centered housing option to families like this one needing such a place, and needing to know the great love of God. His kindness leads to repentance. We want so desperately to show that loving kindness while sharing the hope of the Cross with those who are without hope. Thank you for your prayers, your support, your encouragement, and your faith as you join it with ours for the Dream we have for Bolivia to know Christ.
Blessings,
Ashley
Blessings,
Ashley
