Dear Loves Ones,
We are finally back in Texas after being gone for three months. We are glad to be back and we have been able to visit with many of you already! Our first month away from Texas was spent in Colombia visiting my (Johanna’s) family. In August and September, with your support, we were able to attend a Spiritual Discipleship (SD) course and an Intercultural Communications Course (ICC) in Waxhaw, North Carolina! The last two weeks in NC Kurt attended orientation for computer hardware repair and language software that is being used by translators. These three training courses were required for us before we can go overseas.
During our four week ICC we learned much about conflict resolution, forgiveness, culture, and language acquisition, and more. I know God wanted us to attend those courses so that He could show us areas in our lives in which where He wants to mold and make us more like Christ. It has been exciting and challenging to be able to apply what we learned in those courses in our lives today!
How can we pray for you?
We are greatly thankful to God for placing each one of you in our lives. Your love and words of encouragement are such a blessing to us!
Please email or call us and let us know specifically how we can lift you up in prayer. We would love to know how we can intercede for you and minister to you just as you have ministered to us. Thank you again for the impact you have had and continue to have in our family!
Frequently Asked Questions: a) What are we doing now?
Now that we are back in Dallas, we are focusing on building our team of prayer and financial partnership development. Wycliffe has practical formulas they use to calculate what it will cost us to live and minister effectively. For us it will be about $2,814 a month, and we need to be assured of that amount before we will be released to go to a full-time assignment. I know that sounds like a lot of money and it is, but it is based on what Wycliffe believes we need to be involved in ministry full time. This includes Social Security and Income taxes, Wycliffe’s administrative fees, health insurance, housing, common ministry expenses, retirement savings, tithing and living expenses to name a few. We know that God will provide for our needs in His timing and we thank Him for those he has already brought along side us in our ministry. Currently we are receiving 30% of our monthly quota. Please prayerfully consider what part God may want you to play in our ministry together.
We are also in the process of applying for a work permit that will allow us to get visas to live and work in Papua New Guinea. This process usually takes at least six months. In the meantime, Kurt has been able to return to his job to work part time while we work on raising our prayer and financial support team. We thank God that Kurt has been blessed with an employer that has allowed him to work on and off around our work with Wycliffe, knowing that eventually he will be quitting for good!
Kassia and I are enjoying our time together at home. We have been blessed by being able to stay at a missionary house that a gracious family at our church owns. I have enjoy writing our newsletters and corresponding with our partners. I have also been attending a ladies Bible study on Tuesday mornings and have also been mentoring a young girl from our youth group. God continues to teach me many things through ministering to others!
b) How Long Will We Be in Dallas?
Lord willing, we will be here in Dallas until next August. When we arrive in Papua New Guinea, we must attend the Pacific Orientation Course (POC). It is offered twice a year, in January and August. We would like to be able to be there for the August of 2006 session.
c) Can You Help?
YES! First of all you can pray for us. Thank you for lifting us up in the name of Jesus Christ. We are also trying to fill our calendar with speaking engagements. We are excited to share our desire to see God’s Word brought to those who have still never heard it in their heart language. We would love to share in Bible studies, Sunday school classes, church services, AWANA meetings, Life Groups, and so on. Please let us know if you want to hear about the work we will be involved in or are interested becoming a part of our team!
Always in His precious hands,
Johanna for Kurt and Kassia too!
Praise God...
· for raising up faithful partners to support us both in prayer and financially.
· for Johanna’s US citizenship.
· that we are at 30 % of the monthly financial support that Wycliffe requires before releasing us to take a full-time assignment.
· for His faithfulness in providing for us to go to Colombia at the end of the year.
Please pray with us...
· for our ministry here at our church and with friends and co-workers.
· for a strong team that will pray for us and support us.
· because we still have a long way to go to meet our field’s support quota.
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