Hard at Work

I wish this post was about how hard at work we are. How we have made leaps in meeting our neighbors, finding secondary jobs, and getting involved in the community. Unfortunately that is not the blog post you are going to read... as much as we want that to be the case, other forces have been at work to prevent that. Mainly Satan. 

When we first arrived, we got everything unpacked fairly quickly, met some of our neighbors right away, got to fellowship with our church for Christmas, had a wonderful first service, and immediately began a small group in our home. It seemed as though everything was just falling into place! I suppose that made Satan pretty worried, because he immediately got to work. 

Church members were traveling to visit family and an impending birth made it difficult for us to meet as a small group. Then illnesses swept through our church, plucking us down one-by-one so that meeting as a whole became impossible. We had first-time guests that seemed promising, but they haven't returned. And a meal with our neighbors almost occurred, but then fell through with no explanation. Trips to urgent care with our youngest, and daughters down hard with the flu. Visits from friends canceled or altered. No progress with secondary jobs, and health insurance still pending.

While all of this leads to a lot of frustration, heartache, and weariness, it does not lead to discouragement. How can we be discouraged when we serve such an awesome God? He has called us to this field and we know that if we remain faithful He will provide and be glorified. So, we press on! We have to continually remind ourselves that we have only been here a month. Building God's church takes time. We will look back on all of this and be amazed at what God has done!

And in the meantime, God continually reminds us of His presence and His desire to have us here. We are getting the opportunity to be loved on by our new church family. We got to help welcome a new baby boy into our church and we are praying he is the first of many additions. We got to interact and meet business owners in our community which I hope is the beginning of some valuable friendships. Ben has begun forming relationships with the city council. The girls have started into school and seem to be transitioning well. Our sending church blessed us with a van load of pounding items. (For our northern friends, this is where they give you a pound of this and a pound of that to stock your pantry.) And precious friends came on their "way" home from Tennessee to deliver it all (plus the items we left at our house in Arkansas). Plus they loved on us and encouraged us.

So, if Satan thinks he can bring us down, well he has another thing coming. He has surely underestimated God's people and God's grace. I hope I haven't just challenged Satan, but in case I have, please keep the prayers coming! While God is invincible, we are not. We are all too human. In fact, I almost lost it today on my dear, sick child when she whined about her quarantine arrangements. Please pray for our family to get healthy, along with our church members. We all long for the day when we can ALL meet together again. Please pray for opportunities for us to interact with our neighbors. Please pray for secondary jobs that will fit our schedules and support our desire to reach people. And most importantly, please pray that the Holy Spirit is at work in the hearts of those around us, and that we are ready to meet them where they are. 

We love you all. We pray that you are soldiering on in your own fields of harvest. May none of us forget who's care we are in.

Peace and Blessings, Anne

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38

Praise God!!!!

 

Thank you so much for your prayers....we have a house! On our visit to Georgia we were able to look at two prospective homes. The one was a perfect house. The right size, large yard, in a cul-de-sac, but... If we were just moving to Georgia to relocate, it would have met every one of our dreams, but the neighborhood seemed too quiet. There was no activity. It only has about 30 houses, is slender, and situated on a hill. Not ideal for walks and interacting with neighbors. SO after prayer, we decided on the house pictured above!

The house itself is gorgeous. The only drawback is there is absolutely no yard. However, it is situated in a bustling neighborhood just down the street from it’s own walking trail and park. While we may not be able to host barbecues at our house, the park has picnic tables and grills. This way we can invite anyone walking by to join us! (Hey, and we don’t even own a grill anyways! One less thing that needs to be purchased!) We are also within walking/bike riding distance to Rianne’s school, the public library, and Tanger Outlets! Lots of opportunities to interact with our community. We are soooo excited!!!!!

But, reality has also set in....just 3 weeks to say goodbye to Arkansas, just 3 weeks to pack up everything we own, again...just 3 weeks to make our next transition. I see a lot of tears in the coming days. Already, they kind of hit me when I least expect it. It’s hard to function like a normal person when Satan is trying to overwhelm you with stress on every side. So, here is our most recent list of immediate prayer concerns. We really do appreciate every prayer lifted up.

1. Our home in PA is losing its amazing tenants in January. Pray that we can find amazing tenants to take their place. We just found out our mortgage is being significantly raised in January, so it is very necessary that we get that home filled.

2. We have several doctors appointments scheduled before we leave and our insurance is uncertain. Please pray that it will remain in effect throughout our duration here so we don’t have to cancel them. I also received a LARGE bill from some blood tests I had done that apparently our insurance barely covered. Please pray that it is a mistake and I won’t really owe that much.

3. This rental process is quite expensive and stressful. Please pray for protection over our financial situation.

4. Prayers that car insurance will be cheaper in GA, for us to find good part-time jobs that won’t take away from church-planting, and good inexpensive health insurance.

5. Prayers for our new neighbors. That we will get plenty of opportunities to meet them all, and share our lives with them.

6. And as always, prayers for the souls of Henry County. That their hearts will be receptive to the gospel.

In all of this stress and worry, we are also filled with anticipation. We have seen God provide in crazy amazing ways before, and we know He will do it again!

Lastly, if you are in Arkansas please plan on joining us for a Missions Revival in Malvern! First MBC of Butterfield is hosting the 4 day event. The schedule is below. We hope to see you there! (If you would like a flyer to share with your church, please let us know ASAP so we can get one to you!)

Sat. December 2-Donation Dinner from 6-8:30 pm

Sun. December 3- Blake Parsley (The Amazon Project) 7 pm

Mon. December 4- BEN FISHER!!!! (Missionary to Georgia) 7 pm

Tues. December 5- Doug Clements (Missionary to Solomon Islands 7 pm

We hope you can make it! A love offering will be taken each night to be split between the 3 missionaries.

Much Love, Anne

“We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.” -1Thessalonians 2:8

Prayers Please!!!!

Before I get started into today’s post, there is something weird I want to share with you. I noticed it the last time I blogged, but I thought it might be an interesting tidbit that you would like to know too....Here it goes....Are you ready? 
When I started this blog many moons ago, I had to choose a font to type in. Do you know which font I settled on? Georgia! I think this is so weird! At the time I never dreamt that God would call us to Georgia, but here we are! So weird!!!

Anyways, right now is a very busy time for us, but it is also a crucial time for prayer. I wanted to pop on here and update you so we could have some more prayer warriors asking on our behalf. Thank you for taking the time to read this, thank you for every single prayer you remember to ask in the coming month, and thank you for sharing our requests with others.

I am typing this from a hotel room in Georgia. We are here to visit with our church family, (I even got to go to a baby shower today for one of our members. Isn’t she adorable?!?!?!)

We are also here to search for a home to rent. We have some very specific needs and we are running out of time before we would like to move, so major prayers are needed here. We are meeting with a realtor tomorrow to look at a few houses. We are praying that God will set aside the perfect place for us.

Our next prayer concern is for the moving process. It’s hard to be moving again so soon. Plus, when we moved the last time, we thought our next move would probably be to Africa. So, in that move we got rid of practically all of our furniture. Thinking about furnishing an entire home is really overwhelming. We are hoping to be able to furnish our new home as inexpensively as possible while at the same time not looking like we just graduated from college. We plan on using our home for ministry, so while we don’t need the finest, we also want our visitors to be comfortable.

When you have a family of 6, there are many opportunities to need medical care. Please be praying that our current health insurance can remain in effect until we need to get new coverage, and that our new coverage will be affordable and good.

As you know, Ben is almost done with school. Please pray that he can finish well and be able to find the time and stamina to write an outstanding thesis. While he no longer is delivering pizza, his time is just as strained with preparing for the future. It has been a challenge to divide his focus and effort between so many needs.

Our last and most important prayer request is for the people of Henry County. We really love this church and want to be effective in reaching the lost. Please pray that their hearts will be ready and that God will clearly direct us as we seek to serve Him.

Thank you all so much! Every single one of your prayers is so appreciated. 

Many, Many Blessings, Anne

It's the Little Things

So, now here we are, entering another phase of transition. Even though I am really excited about our move to Georgia, there is a part of me that is in denial. I feel like I just went through the goodbyes, the uncertainty, finding doctors and favorite restaurants, and learning the back roads. Am I really ready to do this again? For a girl who spent her entire childhood in one house, and her entire marriage in one house (up to this move), I don't feel ready. I know God is already there preparing the way, but it is still very daunting.

Already the transition is upon us. We now attend our sending church. It feels incredibly strange to not be worshiping with our family across the street. I miss them all terribly. I have no idea what the Christmas Cantata will be, what is needed for the next potluck dinner, who is not well, or what is on the agenda for the business meeting. I wonder if Annika will remember Ms. Donna in the nursery, or if there is a new family sitting in "our" pew. I miss the wonderful people at Oak Grove, yet God is knitting us into a new family.

I am continually amazed at the individual members of our sending church, Emmanuel MBC. From the very moment we began investigating partnering with them to continue the work in Georgia, I could see the love in their faces for that church. I know without a shadow of a doubt, that this is a sending church devoted to prayer. I know that when we make our move, we will not be given a handshake and a "see ya later". I know that our departure will be wrapped in prayer. Emmanuel is invested in Faith of Locust Grove. Not just on a corporate level, but on an individual level too.

You may be wondering how I can be so confident of this at such an early stage. It's because of the little (and BIG) things. It is how Ms. Neva always checks on us to see how we are doing, and excitedly assembles a team of Stuffers to send out our first newsletter. It's how the Blackerbys call to inform us of the shift in Hurricane Irma and how it might affect Ben's departure from Atlanta, encouraging us to find an earlier flight, with the assurance that the church would handle any extra fees. (Thank goodness they did! We had no idea!) It is how the Secretary, Sara, asks for a list of friends and family that we would like included in the mailing list.  It is how the Odens saw our desperate need for a newer van and thus donated one to us! It is in the weekly words of encouragement and interest of so many others. I know it won't be long until they are all like family to us too. And in the meantime, we are so glad that God has placed us where He has. We knew our sending pastors were all for us, but it is such a blessing to know that the entire church is too!

And you know what the cool thing is? Just because I'm not a member of Oak Grove anymore, I haven't been disowned. Just tonight I was included in a Girls Night Out with them. I don't know if they know, but that means the world to me. They will always hold a very special place in my heart. 

But now, I must put on my big girl pants and press forward. There are new names to remember, people to meet, and friendships to be made. Thank you Jesus for this opportunity to enrich my life, and enlarge my family.

Ready or Not- Anne

"Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth." -3John 1:5-8

We Have Our Mission Field!!!!

July was quite a month!!!! We spent the entire month visiting family and friends, visiting churches, and speaking at chapel services at a kids' camp. It was funny when we were originally asked to speak at the kids' camp as the missionary speakers. We weren't sure how to respond because we weren't officially missionaries yet...But, because the theme was about preparation (and we have A LOT of experience with that) we felt fairly confident that we could do it. Little did we know that on the very same day camp started we would become missionaries! We'll get to that in a moment. First, let me take you back several months.

When we moved down here, we wrote God a blank check about how He wanted to use us. I thought I knew exactly how that check would be filled out, but we still prayed seriously about every opportunity that came our way. As we met missionaries, we would pray about their fields and see if God wanted to use us there. He never seemed to respond positively. Churches approached Ben about being their pastor. We prayed about that, and still no positive response. The whole time we kept feeling like God was pulling us to Kenya, and so we embraced that and continued to move forward. Only, things didn't seem to move forward...

And then, last fall, Ben started his class at seminary on the Book of Acts and Church Planting. He didn't tell me until December, but another opportunity was placed before us. One of his teachers is a pastor of a local church who has a mission point in Georgia. They had lost their missionary that fall, and were in desperate need of a new one. The church had declined a good bit, and they weren't sure who they could send down there to get things going again. So, like always, we once again started praying. We spent his entire Christmas break praying about it.

This time, we didn't get a definite 'yes', but we didn't receive that definite 'no' like we typically did. So, in March, we went on a whirlwind weekend trip to visit the church in Atlanta. Ben preached; we got to fellowship; they asked us the hard questions; and, the following week, they called Ben and told him they voted unanimously to call him as their pastor.

Frankly, that was not the response I had expected. God still had my heart hovering over Kenya. I was doing my best to stay open-minded, but I was just so thoroughly confused by what God was doing. Ben reminded me of our blank check, and how God sometimes requires more preparation than we think for the task He calls us to. It was no coincidence that at the time I was doing a Bible Study with my neighbor on Paul's life and his missionary journey. Paul had a lot of work to do, important work, before he reached the Greeks. So, we continued to pray and allowed God to lead us.

In May, when Ben had finished his grueling semester, we went back to GA for a full week to work with the church and survey the area. Ben was able to preach a couple of times, we got to do a couple of service projects with the church, and even got to attend the graduation of several of her members. We kept waiting for God to shut some doors, but everything stayed wide open. Meanwhile, a church was seriously praying about sending us to Kenya, so we didn't feel ready to make any final decisions. We continued to pray. 

I think Ben would have made a decision a lot sooner if it wasn't for me. This stubborn girl didn't want to give up the possibility of reaching the people of Kenya. I knew that desire in my heart came from God (I NEVER would have come up with it on my own!). So, even though I could feel God's pull towards Atlanta at this time, I just wanted God to clearly tell me 'no' about Kenya. But He didn't.... I think He didn't because it isn't a 'no' to Kenya. It's a 'not yet'. He has better things in store for our family right now. He has opened up an opportunity where Ben can grow in his leadership skills, his preaching skills, his discipleship skills, his ministerial skills. A place where our oldest can graduate high school in an environment he is comfortable with.An opportunity for our family to serve and prepare for whatever God places before us next. And, I cannot forget, He is giving me another time to rely on Him fully, to expand my faith, and to teach me more than I ever knew I had to learn.

So, right before we left to go North, Ben told me he made a decision. He would answer God's call to Atlanta. He said that was the hardest thing he had to do: to follow God and risk disappointing me. But, God is faithful. And just as He did before, He had prepared my heart for that moment. I was ready to follow Him too. 

Two weeks later, as we opened up Kings Camp, we received the call that Emmanuel Baptist Church in Malvern, AR had voted unanimously to send us out as their missionaries. God is so cool.

We have a lot of work ahead of us. Ben will finish up his Masters of Theology this fall. He will fly once a month to Georgia to be with the church there. The rest of the time we will be getting to know our sending church better, visiting supporting churches, and visiting other churches to share what we hope God will do, through us, in Georgia. If you are interested in having us share with your church, or helping us through this time of transition, please visit the "How You Can Help" tab. We plan to move and be on the field full-time in December. We thank you ALL so much for all of the prayer, support, and assistance you continually provide to us. To God be the glory!

Here We Go!!!!!- Anne

"So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the Gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us." -1Thessalonians 2:8 

Unplanned

In college, my dad bought me a really nice DayTimer planner. Do you remember those? Back before calendars and memos that you could pull up on your phone, you could purchase a planner made from paper. In a leather cover. With 3 metal rings that you could open and close to add more papers in. Tabs to separate your months and an address book. It was wonderful!

My planner was so elaborate that I could schedule out every minute of my day. Which I did. I loved that thing and felt completely lost without it. That is why Ben had to hide it from me for a week. I don't know if he had a sense of the uncertainty our future would bring and knew my obsessiveness with order would be detrimental to following God's call, or if he wanted to see just how crazy I was before he asked me to marry him. In any case, that week was one of the hardest weeks I had experienced up to that time. I was worse than a teenager without access to a cell phone. I didn't know how to go through the day. I was sure I would forget something important. I found myself immobile most of the time because I just wasn't sure what to do. 

I kind of think Ben knew what he was doing...

After that week, I still went back to my planner. But, I found that it was okay to just schedule the big things. I could just look over my day in the morning and not pick it back up until the next day. Life became so much simpler.

Over the years, Ben and God have worked together to strip me further down. In fact, just 2 days ago I finally put a monthly calendar up for June after our fridge lay bare since April...or was it March? From the outside I fear that I may look like an irresponsible  adult. Like someone who is habitually late and is voted most likely to not show up for things. It's not that I no longer care. In fact, I care a great deal. It hurts my soul if we are late to anything. It's just that...I have no idea what we're doing!

It seems silly to have a calendar up when you aren't even sure what to write on it. Right now I know Annika's birthday and birthday party are coming up. I know we have her 1 year checkup and a car seat appointment. I know we are headed North later this month for my cousin's wedding. Next month we will be speaking at a kids camp. Beyond that....I really don't know. I know some general ideas of where we may be when. But no specifics. I thought it was amazing that God could have me on a path towards being a missionary. But it is equally amazing that He has me in a season where I have absolutely no control of my schedule and I'm still functioning. 

Over the past couple of years, God has shown me how to depend on Him for finances and daily needs. He has shown me how to depend on Him for friendship and comfort. And now, He is showing me how to depend on Him for my plans. Faith is an amazing thing. For an unbeliever it may look like insanity, but for a believer it is a daily, conscious act of obedience and prayer.

So, when you ask me about my plans, be prepared to get a blank stare, some mumblings, or even an exasperated "I have no idea!" I'm not trying to be difficult. I really just don't know. The good news is, God knows exactly where we will be, on every single day, and I have the faith that it will all be good. So, when you think of us could you please say a prayer? Pray for our protection and provision while we follow God wherever He leads us, and for God to give us some clear answers.

I don't think I'll ever have a planner again, but some direction would be nice.

Faithfully Following, Anne

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Fighting for Peace

As we enter this holiday weekend, my heart is bursting with gratitude for what a magnificent God we serve. That "He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness...He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2: 6-7...8) We have been memorizing Philippians 2: 3-11 for several weeks now with our kids We stumble through the exact words to use and what comes next, but the enormity of their meaning is not lost on us.

Unfortunately, though, Satan doesn't want me to be filled with unbridled joy, appreciation, and awe for a God that deserves even more. Satan is using this time to distract me with things like worry, fear, and uncertainty. I'm pretty stubborn, and I don't like to let Satan win. So, I've been doing my best to clothe myself in God's armor. I feel bad that I have to send Him into battle for me after all He has done. I wish it was a battle that I could just easily win because I have already been given so much. But, I am a weak sinner, and so I must depend on God. 

Thankfully, He is gracious and knows exactly what I need. Not only has He equipped me with His Word, His promises, and a LOOOOOONNNNGGGG list of examples of His provision, but He has also given me a godly spouse to lean on. I am so grateful that when I am at my weakest, He seems to have already bolstered Ben to be strong for me. Hearing him speak back to me the truths that I know, but have doubted, brings me such comfort and assurance. I am grateful that I can share my worries with Ben and know that he will counteract those worries with godly wisdom and truth.

When you are feeling particularly weak, I hope you have someone you can turn to that can audibly tell you what God's promises and truths are. God is absolutely the one fighting for peace for you, and doing the hard work against Satan, but to hear someone else say what God has been telling you all along, is such a sweet gift. I hope this is a gift you have received and one you will be quick to give. 

Happy Resurrection Day! Because we have been given the gift of salvation, there is Joy in the morning! 

Blessings, Anne