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Dear

I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do

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because I am going to be with the Father.

(John 14:12)

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Greetings from FillintheblankWordcountryWordWeightBoldText! Would you believe that we’re down to our last twelve weeksweeks of living in location?!? As you might be able to imagine, there’s a fresh sense of urgency and intentionality in our ministry these days. We eagerly desire to make the most of each opportunity to be present in the lives of the people around us, but we’re also learning to trust God with our “ministry of leaving.”   I’ve recently started thanking God for the ministry of leaving. I’m praying that the developing leaders of location would be blessed—not harmed—by our family's departure this season when you are leaving. I’m encouraging the rest of the leaders here in location that they can do “the same works that I’ve done, and even greater works” as long as they remained rooted in Christ. Of course it's kind of odd to wish for their greatest successes to happen without us... but that was Jesus’ approach with his disciples, too. 

In addition to setting church overseas up for success in the future, our focus has started to shift more and more firmly toward establishing a ministry of what you will be doing after leaving international location. To get from here to there, however, we need your help during this season of transition. 

First and foremost (and I don’t just say this as a matter of Christian missionary procedureinternational worker procedure): we desperately need your prayer support! Could you please be praying with us for the church here in international location as well as the future ministry? Also, could you pray for our family? We’re still trying to tasks you are trying to accomplish prior to leaving the field and arrange for moving many of our belongings to state—and we really sense that these things could use all the prayer support they can get! We also need prayer for “good good-byes” with location friends, and we need prayer for lots of grace in dealing with the process of re-entry (which, we’ve been told, can be a very challenging experience). In short: we need lots of prayer!

Secondly, we need practical help. It can be overwhelming, really, to think about our relocation—but we’re trusting God, and the extended Body of Christ, to help us through it. Maybe you’ve got useful stuff lying around in your attics, basements, or garages. Maybe there are some skilled shoppers or “garage salers” out there (navigating the high seas of bargain hunting!) who could be on the lookout for good deals for us. We’re going to need a lot of stuff to get our household re-established in state, so we’d really appreciate your help. Here are some specific needs that we anticipate:

• Transportation: Believe it or not, we’ve been without an automobile for number years now! Suddenly, we find ourselves in a situation where we’ll need at least one reliable family car and likely even a second car. We know this is a big-ticket item, but if you have any leads for us along these lines, we would really appreciate it.
• Electric / electronic appliances: Look around your house and realize how many things are plugged into electrical outlets. We are going to need a lot of these types of items (since the electrical system is different in Continent and North America). For example: a vacuum cleaner, a coffee maker, a television set, alarm clocks, fans, etc. Any help with these sorts of items would be great!
• Furniture: Couches, beds, a desk, etc. We expect it will be more cost-effective to get these types of items in state rather than shipping over the stuff we currently have. Thanks again, in advance, for your consideration!

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Finally, we need financial help. We are praying and hoping that God may be able to help us raise $$ dollar amount in special gifts to Reliant to help us through this season of transition. Even more than the big picture, though, I just ask you to consider whatever you might be able to do at this time. Perhaps you could give a double-gift for this month. Or perhaps you could think of us as you’re hearing back from the IRS, following the mid-April deadline for filing taxes. Could you please pray about giving a special gift to Reliant on behalf of our family’s ministry transition? 

If you feel that you are willing, able, and directed by God to help with giving a special gift, the easiest way to do that is through Reliant.org, which is secure and easy to use. You can find our missionary profile Reliant profile at reliant.org/first.last. Choose the green "give" button. You will then be asked to login to your reliant.org account, which you may create if you don't already have an account set up.

If you prefer to give by check, you can make the check out to Reliant and put our name in the memo. You can send the check to Reliant, 11002 Lake Hart Dr. Ste 100, Orlando, FL 32832-7106.

“If you need help with your giving account, you may call Gift Services at 877-614-4600.”

If this month’s prayer letter seems like an unabashed, straightforward appeal for help—well, that’s because it pretty much is.  We’re humbled and challenged to be “starting all over again,” yet we’re also glad that we serve a God of New Beginnings. Thanks for all you do to help us. We’ll be in touch.