"How close do you have to be?"

The newsletter I sent out two weeks ago for getting the final support in said today was the day for getting a ticket. I talked to the travel agent again and I have until tomorrow. So I will wait one more day.

As of today I still have about $475 per month to raise. However, I haven't completely crunched numbers to see if the one-time gifts might be over the target enough to cover the gap for the next year.

I've had folks ask, "Well, how close to you really have to be?" Since my organization is so new and small it's negotiable. 90% would be the minimum. I'd feel better with 95%. Of course, 100% would be best.

It's coming...

Hello Readers -

Here's the support raising update after the long holiday weekend.
The office received a few more commitments and I had a phone call, so now I have $500 per month remaining to raise by Thursday afternoon. It still seems impossible and some ways. To be honest, that is the way I like it. If it feels impossible then God gets all the glory when He comes through.
He delights in the impossibilities!

On the team front: We made a decision that our Vision Trip Team leaving February 8th is still going. God willing, I will accompany them.

Thanks for your constant prayers - and your financial support!

for Martin Luther King Jr Day

I have been back in the US for about ten years of celebrating this weekend. I really can’t remember when Minnesota officially started recognizing the day. I think of this weekend as Racial Harmony weekend. I look forward to the sermon that deviates from our usual teaching. I still remember the first year when our pastor related his changing views, having grown up in the south and now having adopted an African-American baby girl. It was probably the sermon of 1998. It made an impact for a number of reasons. Our pastor told his own testimony, which was powerful how his heart and attitudes had changed radically. I came from East Africa. Kenya had received many Rwandan refugees after the terrible genocide. My office housed a Rwandan man whom was working toward reconciliation among the Hutus and Tutsis.

If this current mess in Kenya is really ethnically charged (I’d like to believe it isn't) than this is a word for Christian leaders there to take note. For this is a word desperately needed in our day both in the US and in Africa. My pastor blogged on the topic and in a few days I’m sure this year’s sermon will be up to listen to as well. What I want to remember is this:

“What you need to do is press the issue of ethnic ill-will on the consciences of your people in the name of Jesus, who came to us when we were more alien to him than anyone has ever been to us.”

If we are ever tempted to think others are not worthy of respect merely for being different, let us think of how incredibly far Jesus stooped, how alien a leap it was to become one of us, not nearly the leap we might take in radical racial reconciliation.

Thank you

for your prayers.

It seems that although some rallies in Kenya resulted in violence and in a few deaths, the rallies this week were not as well attended as some had hoped. (Minor disturbances compared with those right after the election results were announced.) The opposition party promised no more rallies, instead boycotts to show their disapproval of the current government. It seems the average Kenyan would like things to get back to normal. (But with so many internally displaced people, that will take some time.)

On the support note: another $45 per month seems to have been committed. That leaves $625 per month left to raise by January 24th. Less than a week and counting.

Please . . .

Keep praying for Kenya

This is a crucial week. Opposition is still very upset by the election and yet the current government is going ahead with it's new session of parliament. Opposition plans "peaceful" rallies starting Wednesday. With frustrations high, this week could make or break a difficult situation. The average Kenyan longs for peace and reconciliation.

Thanks for your prayers.

Ellen being green

A friend, Ellen in my small group posted a great little article on her Facebook about how to reduce junk mail. I hope this link works. If not, let me know.
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=7603506171&ref=mf

Watching God Work

In the newsletter I sent out this week I promised to keep folks posted here as to the progress of this "last" push to get me out to Kenya.

Here's the situation. As of Wednesday this week I needed $750 more per month to be fully supported at 100%. The catch is that I have been the 'assistant' leader of a team from my church going to visit and learn about Care of Creation. The team of 6 leaders leaves from Minneapolis on February 8. If I am to go with the team, I need to purchase a ticket on January 24. It seems like a lot of gap to close. I need a miracle.

So, after a little coaching from a friend who has been helping me with how to best approach support raising, I drafted a letter to those on my mailing list. By 9:00 pm on Wednesday I was polishing up the final draft. Emailed it off to the printer to pick up in the morning. Thursday at 10:00 I had in hand, postage, folded letters, folded EFT forms, and cut-to-size response slips. I took those along with two sizes of envelopes (one for response slips to come back) over to my neighbors, the Waldemars to help me assemble. Then I realized I hadn't done the address labels. I left them for Whitney and Barb to work on. I got all 250 labels printed and came back.
By 1:00 pm (Thursday) everything was stuffed, stamped and licked, ready to go. I got to the post office in time to make the 2:00 pick up.

So they are in the mail. Somehow God was already at work in his vast economy. By noon today I was already up by $80 per month! Not one of those people had responded to the newsletter I just sent out - or were they. God was already at work.

The other great news is that I am at 100% of my outgoing needs. If more one-time gifts come in they will simply be there in reserve of any shortfalls along the months. If you want to give, please contact Care of Creation, be sure to specify who the giving is for.

Now I need $670 per month. I love watching God work like this. (I'm not big on straining to get a ton of things done in two weeks to move overseas, but God knows what he's doing.)

Watch with me. (I think I'll start packing now just in case of a miracle.)