Home Assignment Updates

Welcome to those of you who are new to our monthly updates. We hope you enjoy hearing from us. Soon, we hope to be sharing news of how God is working – directly from Niamey, Niger.

We praise the Lord for those of you who are responding to our updates by praying for us and even expressing a desire to support our ministry to MKs (missionary kids). We were privileged to spend this past weekend ‘at home’, enjoying the missions conference at our sending church. We saw once again how dear to the hearts of these missionary parents are their children. The Lord used this time to reinforce our burden to be a ‘help’ to these parents in this important area of MK education.

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD’S hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.” Number 11:23

Because we believe that God wants us in Niger for the coming school year, I believe that the verses I read in Numbers 11 this morning can be applied to us. When God promised Moses that he would provide meat to feed the Israelites for a full month, Moses questioned God by saying that even if they slaughtered all their herds and caught all the fish in the sea, it wouldn’t be enough. My first thought was that Moses had a lot more nerve than I do! But then I realized that maybe I’m doing the same thing; I’m wondering if God really can provide the support we need in time to go. Just like Moses, I’ve seen Him do it before; but I still don’t see how He’s going to do it again.

That’s where you come in. We do believe that as you pray with us specifically for our support needs, God will provide. Although we’ve heard from many of you that you might like to help us by responding to our $25/month challenge of our last newsletter, we’ve received only a few firm commitments. Some have called and asked how to do this. The easiest way to do this is by clicking this online giving link. You can also send your check (marked for the Gillespies) to:

  Evangelical Baptist Missions
  PO. Box 781438
  Indianapolis, IN 46278

Even though we haven’t bought our tickets yet, we plan to leave the last week in June. We are very busy spending time with family and friends, and collecting and packing the things that we are taking and shipping, as well as ‘taking care of business’. After nearly a year and a half in the states, these last months seem to be flying. Here’s how you can pray:

Additional support; we need $600/month;
Ability to think clearly and plan wisely;
Emotional strength and peace as we say our good-byes;
Housing in Niamey, as well as other settling-in details.

We have shared our ministry with many churches since we have been here in the US. We have shared the wonderful stories of God?s protection during gun battles and bombings. We have shared the amazing miracle of how the missionary kids (MK?s) were instrumental in seeing many come to Christ in the little village of Giti. Perhaps though, we have not been portraying our burden for the ministry to MK?s and how important it is to the cause of Christ in West Africa. This article from the November, 2005 NTM@work magazine expresses this importance for us. Please take the time to read it. (http://www.ntm.org/news/pdf/nawnov0572.pdf, p 26.)

MISSIONS WORLDWIDE SHUT DOWN

Mission organizations announced today that all church planting missionaries will have to leave their ministries and return to their home countries. The mass exodus is not caused by illness, or political upheaval or missionary ?burnout?, but is due to a decision of churches to support only ?frontline? missionaries rather than ?nonstrategic? support role missionaries.

As a result, there will be no computer techs available to keep computers running for translation work, no office people to see that the missionary gets his monthly check and no one to deal with the myriad of government regulations the missionary needs to comply with. There will be no teachers in the MK school, and no boarding home parents to care for the children while parents labor in the tribe. Because there will be no instructors in the Bible schools or missionary training centers, no new missionaries will be able to help plant tribal churches.

There will be no missionaries anywhere for churches to support and tribal groups will remain without the Gospel!

Thanks so much for your faithfulness in supporting us through your prayers and gifts. It is now ?crunch time?. We are expected to be on the field by late spring, so it is time to buy tickets and start packing. There is one problem though; we can?t make any plans to leave until we get the last bit of support that we need. We have many people counting on us to leave soon. The school needs us to fill much needed positions. Some of our supporting churches have raised their support to help us go. We have individuals who are sending regular monthly gifts to help us go. Many others are faithfully praying that God will meet this need so we can go. Although it is encouraging to have so many behind us, it is frustrating to be almost there but not yet able to make plans to leave. God knows all about this, and He has always gotten us to the field ?on time?. Perhaps God wants you to step up and help with this last boost to get us there. If 25 individuals or churches commit to just $25/month (or increase their commitment) by May 31st, we can be on the field this spring ?training the next generation?.

Whether you talk to us when we visit your church or contact us by phone, e-mail or ?snailmail?, your interest in our ministry is truly a blessing to us. One thing you ask quite often is ?How can we pray for you?? One dear prayer supporter emphasized that she needed specifics since God was answering her specific prayers. WOW! She is so right; God meets our specific needs and answers our specific prayers. In our last newsletter, we asked you to pray for a renter for our house when we return to the field. God has answered that prayer by sending us a renter who is flexible, so our unknown departure date is not a problem for him?a very specific answer to a specific prayer! We are delighted to share these requests with you:

? MKs:

? In the months to come, MKs in MK schools throughout the world, especially high school seniors, will be saying difficult good-byes to friends who have become more like siblings, and whom they may not see again.

? They are making important career choices, many to follow in their parents? footsteps and become the Next Generation of missionaries.

? Support: we are at 83% of our needed support.

? Housing: our first major ?need? when we get to Niger will be to find housing.

? Adjustments: living in Niger will be very different from living at ICA, our previous home in Ivory Coast. Rather than living on an ?Americanized campus?, we will be living in the heart of Niamey, the capital city of Niger. (We will need to speak French much more often?just one of the differences.)

? Comfort: we, as well as our families, find these separations difficult.

It is our hope that we will be sending our next newsletter to you from Niger where we will once again be ?Training the Next Generation?. In the meantime, we will continue to send our monthly e-mail updates from wherever God has planted us. We are sincere when we say that we want to hear what God is doing in your live, as well as how we may pray for you.

First of all, we wish to thank all those who have already partnered with us in our ministries. Most of all we cherish the prayers of our friends. We can do nothing without them.

This has been an eventful year for us here in the states. We have been here to see both sets of parents through some serious illnesses. Lois is now good as new with the new joint in her hip. We have been privileged to enjoy our first grandchild, Summer Dawn, who is now four months old. We also have greatly enjoyed sharing our story of God’s protection and blessings while in Africa. We trust that it has been an encouragement to you to realize how God has answered your prayers.

We all know that it is better to give than to receive. While we are ‘on the field’, our concentration is on what we can give and how we can serve. There are needs from the missionary kids that we are called to serve. There are needs from the missionary families that we serve. There are needs in the local African churches that we help. There are many opportunities to give and serve and God gives us a real joy in doing just that.

However, while we are here in the states, our focus has had to change. Much of our time and energy has been on raising the support that we need to get back to our ministries. It is a strange transition to switch to the receiving end. There have been so many who have caught our burden and have come along side us with support. Our home church has increased our support substantially; they now supply 29% of our support. Not only churches, but individuals have pledged to provide monthly support. With such a cloud of witnesses, we are spurred on all the more to return to Africa. Our goal is to leave in May in order to connect with our colleagues on the field who are leaving in June as their help in getting settled will make a big difference in our adapting to a new field. That added pressure makes us pull out all the stops to raise that last bit that we need.

We long to be back to the joy of giving again. We encourage you to consider coming along side us and give us that last push to get us back to the field. Even a small pledge or increase is tremendously helpful at this time.

Soon it will be time to say those tearful goodbyes to our friends and loved ones. We know that the joy of ministry will help to off set the parting sorrows. Please consider your part in helping us return.