MercyTimes: I Have Been Onboard the Africa Mercy for Over a Month Already!

As I reflect over this past month I have to admit that it has been a roller coaster of emotions. I feel so humbled and blessed to be back serving with a ministry that I love so dearly. I often think how amazing it is that out of the billions of people in this world I have been chosen to serve on this ship for this period of time. So then why have I been unhappy? Why do I find myself crying? Why do I feel sad when I get to be part of something so amazing? These are the questions I have been asking myself.

When I was at home I found myself yearning for the ship; yearning to be back in a community where I felt like I fit in, where I felt like I knew my place, where I felt known. Now that I am back I have found that I don’t fit in, I don’t know my place and I don’t feel known like I did in the past; the community has changed. It has not been easy but I know that the Lord has me where he wants me to be. This season has caused me to press into Him more, to learn more about who I am in Christ and more about who He is. We serve an amazingly loving and merciful God.

Slowly I am beginning to find my place in this community again. I have joined the kids ministry team and have started leading a Bible Study. I am blessed to be able to serve in these extra ministries on the ship.

We are in our fifth week of surgery. We have met people with such tragic stories. It amazes me that even today there are still people who don’t have access to proper medical care. Ibrahima is one of those people. He was injured in a fire. Scars began to contract and bend his knees. Soon he was no longer able to work or take care of himself and had to rely on his older brother to carry him everywhere. Ibrahima lived like this for over a year. Recently he had surgery onboard the Africa Mercy where his burn contractures were released and he took his first steps! What a privilege it is to see peoples lives, like Ibrabima, being transformed every day!

Thank you for being part of this journey with me. Without your prayers and support this would not be possible.

Praise:
- The first four weeks of surgery have gone well
- For full wards - patients lives are being transformed!

Prayer:
- For a young woman named Fanta. She has a malignant tumor that we cannot operate on. Pray that she would find comfort in Jesus during her last few months of life.
- That patients wounds would heal and not get infected.
- For my small group as we go through the book of Ephesians.

Floating in His Mercy,

Krystal

Coming Alongside What God Is Doing

September has flown by. We have seen God do so many things and are excited to see what He will continue to do through the rest of this school year. As mentioned in a previous update, Conestoga College in Kitchener is a college that we’re now helping at this year. We weren’t sure what was going to happen as we stepped into the role of re-launching this ministry, but God was working before we got here. We started the school year meeting with the 5 students who messaged us over the summer wanting to get involved. And each week there are more and more Christians seeking to find community on campus through Power to Change.

This past week, Ashton* came out to our weekly meeting. He is an international student from India from a Hindu background, but has been seeking out different religions since coming to Canada. He said,

“I don’t know what my parents would think of me if they saw all the different [religious] apps on my phone that weren’t Hindu.”

But he is curious. Ashton is currently living with a group of Christians and is going to their bible study as well as Power to Change and people in his life have already shared the Gospel with him a couple times.

Pray that Ashton would understand the Gospel and accept Jesus as his Lord and Saviour before he goes home back to India.

A picture of Brock University students at Summit last year.

Ashton is one of the 350 students from campuses across South Western Ontario going to our annual Summit retreat this weekend. Students look forward to the fun, relationships being built and learning from God’s word. Please pray that students would hear from God and trust in Him as they take faith steps coming out from the weekend.

"Your app has changed our ministry!"

Jill, a busy missional team leader, is leading a team of 60 student ministry leaders in giving each of the 33,000 students at Texas State University, just outside of San Antonio, a chance to discover Jesus. Our team recently received a message from Jill that our team’s work on the MissionHub app, “... has really changed [their] ministry.”

In any student ministry, the first two weeks of school are key. Students are more available, open and curious than any other time in the semester. Jill’s team had more than 800 freshman students asking for more information about taking a next step in their spiritual journey or getting involved in the student ministry.

“Because of MissionHub, in just 2 weeks we were able to reach out to 500 of our contacts, share the gospel with many and see 8 students trust Christ for the first time!” Jill wrote to our team.

When our team received Jill’s email, many made fist pumps, celebrating that our product is helping change lives for eternity.  We knew we were hitting the mark when Jill said, “The MissionHub app has made our fall launch process so much easier.”

Because of your partnership we are removing barriers and helping our field teams share the gospel more effectively on campus. Thank you for helping us lead the next generation of digital missions.

Below: Back to school, with a break

• Wyatt and Gwenyth started school mid-August

• Fall soccer kicks-off

• Family vacation in Outer Banks, NC

"That's a Really Long Email Address!"

Entering a new stage of life and ministry.

When we wrote our May update we mentioned that Phil had stepped down as Ghana Director and was taking on a new global role! June 1 Phil officially became Deputy Global Director of Strategic Development and the associated email address is Global.DeputyDirectorStrategicDevelopment@sim.org. More than one person has commented on the length of that email address (Thankfully DGDSD@sim.org also works.) But what does his new role actually entail? To quote our International Director, Phil's role is to "lead strategic developments focused on facilitating SIM teams so that ministries are well defined, planned, resourced and evaluated. He will work with with SIM leaders to promote integrated ways of thinking about ministry so that vision statements, mobilisation processes, team formation, resourcing approaches, evaluation methods, and communication strategies are all aligned with our Purpose and Mission." Simply put, as SIM celebrates 125 years of ministry, Phil is being asked to help SIM as an organisation focus on ministry - to pursue kingdom outcomes in all that we do.

Usually when we see a signboard, we expect to learn where we are or the directions to a place we want to go. The one above seems to miss that mark! Phil's new role and Cara's graduation from Sahel Academy in May 2019 mean that we believe that this is the right time for us to move on from Ghana. We love Ghana, the Ghanaian people, and our SIM team here and it will be very hard to leave, but we have great peace that God is telling us that this is the right thing to do at this time.  The signboard we see says "change location", we just don't know where to... Phil's role is not location specific, provided he has access to good internet and an airport, so our next location is more likely determined by where Andrea can best contribute with her passion for serving in Personnel/HR. We value your prayers for us as we trust God to lead us in the next step. (We anticipate being based in Canada for the latter part of 2019 while Cara settles into life in Canada so we do not anticipate being in a new location until early 2020).

We are expecting to leave Ghana after being here for 19 years. Here is a picture of our celebration with Pat Robertson who served for more than 38 years in Ghana, and before that she had been in Ethiopia so she served almost 48 years as a missionary. Maybe you can't commit to 48 years; can you commit to 8?

Family Time!

We are privileged to have roles in SIM that allow us some flexibility of location and we were able to spend 6 weeks in Canada in July and August to see Kieran and Liam. An extra special gift was being given access to a cottage for a few days in early August before we left.

Our Boys Together in 2004 and 2018.

Update on the Fulani Team

Last time we introduced Dawit, Eshetu, Asefash and Mesfin, our new Fulani team. Thank you for praying for their residence permits. They received them and have now settled into life in Tamale and are starting to learn Fulfulde as well as spending time with Fulani in Buipe. Their children, Barnabas, Naomi and Abigiya, have started school. Pray for them to make good friends. 

Andrea has been working for many years on her studies and in May she graduated  from Emmanuel Bible College with a Bachelors of Religious Education: Professional Studies - Christian Education and Intercultural Studies. While in Canada in July, Andrea was able to actually receive her degree! Congratulations for your hard work and perseverance

Whats on the horizon?

Over the next few months we expect

• Phil to spend time in Kenya and Guinea working with leaders.

• To welcome new teammates to the Ghana team.

• Cara to attend a student leaders conference in Hungary and then come home for a week in October.

• Andrea and Phil to spend time in Greece as mentors for Leader Development and then visit one of Andrea's Middle East teams.

• Phil to participate in a training event for new SIM global leaders.

Prayer Fuel!

Praise Items

• For the opportunity to spend some time together as a family in July and August.

• That Liam & Kieran have good part-time jobs to help offset the cost of university.

• That Cara is settled back in at Sahel Academy for her final year.

• That Penny is enjoying her new role as Ghana Director. 

• That SIM Ghana residence permits are being granted even though our re-registration is still not completed.

Items for Prayer

• For Kieran in his final year of studies (his overseas placement did not happen), Liam in 2nd year, and Cara in Grade 12.

• For wisdom for Cara as she makes decisions about university programs to apply for.

• For Andrea as she assists Penny and prepares to transitions out of her Ghana role. For wisdom for her Middle East role.

• For a personnel coordinator and business manager to serve the Ghana team after we leave Ghana in June.

• For wisdom, good relationships and safe travel for Phil as he advises and encourages SIM teams around the world as SIM strives for greater ministry focus.

• That things would work well for Andrea while Phil travels.

August/September Update

Dear Christian Family at WBC,

It was good to be on the platform two Sundays ago. Thank God I’m not finished yet. I am in Stratford this Sunday.

Thank you ever so much for your love, prayers and continued financial support. Be assured of our sincere appreciation for your prayers and financial help.  We trust that the One we serve together will truly reward you in His own wonderful way.

We are doing so/so, getting older and sure noticing that. As I mentioned on Sunday, I have an appointment with a specialist at the University Hospital in London on Oct.29. Let’s hope and pray that he will be able to tell me what’s wrong with my hip and what should be done about it.

About 1100 copies of my book, “The God Who is real” have been sold in Canada, Belgium and Holland, praise God. And orders are still coming in. Pray that the book will touch many hearts.

We had two short visits from two different Belgian couples in the last two weeks. It was great to speak Flemish again and to have these dear believers in our home, it made us feel so lonely for the folk in Belgium. However, we are in touch, almost daily with believers and unbelievers over there, by email and Facebook. I corresponded with one woman and was able to help her as she saw no reason to live any longer.

May the Lord bless you all and thank you again for standing with us.

Loving greetings.

Yours, still in His service,
Richard and Marina.