September 2004

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Dear Family and Friends,

While we feel confident and joyful in the work before us, we must admit that it has not been an easy road. Our times of encouragement are thankfully greater, but we have certainly had our share of discouragement as well. In those down times, the Lord has continually lifted us up through scripture, family, friends, and of course the many hugs we often receive!! Our focus for this letter is to give you a snapshot of how we are doing.

For us, September is a wonderful time of celebration and reflection; this year we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary on September 11th. We enjoyed a delightful weekend at Etta’s Place, a B&B in downtown Fort Worth and reflected on the past 5 wonderful years. In looking back, it is still an amazement to see how the Lord has brought us to this time in our lives. In our years together, we sensed that the Lord would take us overseas to Europe in some way, and what a thrill it has been to have His plan unfold before us. He has taken us under His wing to work for Him as missionaries.

The month of September was fairly slow. For a couple of weeks we were discouraged by our lack of appointments and number of people to contact. We could see far ahead with full confidence about working in the Agape office, but the path right in front of us seemed too difficult. We questioned why. Why isn’t financial support coming in quicker? Why don’t we have more potential ministry partners? Why aren’t we already in Germany?

Perhaps the Lord is chuckling right now. His question is why do you want fast food when I am preparing a gourmet meal, you just need to be patient.

So during this time, the Lord has shown us the importance of our need for a support team. While we obviously need the financial support to be able to work in our ministry, we also need the encouragement, prayer, and love that everyone has provided us, especially recently. This must be the preparation part of the meal.

A couple of weeks ago we were reminded of Acts 16 where Paul and Silas were falsely accused, severely beaten, then imprisoned. During this time of pain and imprisonment, Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to the Lord. The Lord used this passage to show us that while circumstances may seem overwhelming, our eyes need to remain on Him. Encouragement came to us not through financial support or potential ministry partners but directly from the Lord through His Word. While that seems like a simple concept, raising financial support has truly challenged us because we are continually focused on the details and numbers. Paul and Silas reminded us that our circumstances and as well the details will forever change, but our trust should always remain focused on the Lord.

So while September started to be a discouraging month, we finish the month with much confidence and joy. We praise God for these dear ones to whom we write. We thank Him for reminding us from where our blessings and provision truly come. And we sit at His table with eagerness yet also patience. As any good chef will tell you, a gourmet meal should only be eaten once it is finished cooking, no sooner and no later.

AIT update (cultural training)

In our last letter, we mentioned the possibility of AIT (Agape International Training) being moved to January 31st. Shortly after mailing our letter we received word that the training was in fact moved. A tremendous answer to prayer for the Lord’s timing!

Until then, we will attend a follow-up MPD (Ministry Partner Development) training in November. We look forward to seeing some familiar faces from our New Staff training and as well to be strengthened and renewed in our MPD efforts!

Many blessings to you,
Thad and Jana