Leaving in 2 months

It's hard to believe, but June is here and we will be arriving at One Mission Society headquarters just a short 2 months from today! Our days are starting to be filled with planning, packing and visiting (saying good-bye).

In the meantime, believe it or not, we're also working in our garden. It has been a good lesson in slowing down and reflecting on how the Lord cares for us. And we are using that time to talk about how the Lord will be transplanting our family from Pennsylvania to Costa Rica.

Thank your for being with us along the way! We would appreciate your prayers for the following:

1. Praise the Lord for His provision.

2. Pray for our family as we transition: that each of us would trust the Lord with our emotions and that we would be able to accomplish all that is necessary.

3. Pray for wisdom as we consider bringing our dog, Calvin, along with us. (The children are REALLY hoping this will work out.)

4. Pray for the Lord's abundance and His peace in our lives!

Making Plans

It is hard to believe, but yes, we're starting to pack up some of our things already! We are fully funded for 2 1/2 years of ministry and are working towards our goal of complete funding for a 5 year term. We are so thankful for everyone who has been a part of our ministry team and we are thinking of you while packing!

We are making plans to be at One Mission Society (OMS) headquarters for Church Planting training the first two weeks of August, and then we'll leave from there to Costa Rica for one year of language school before heading to Mexico City.

Thank you for praying for us along the way! Here are some prayer requests:

1. Praise the Lord for His provision!!

2. Ask that the rest of our funding (for the 5 year term) would come in before August.

3. Pray for opportunities to share how the Lord is at work in Mexico.

4. Pray for Hannah and Samuel as they adjust to the reality of moving away from family and friends in a few short months.

5. Pray we find a good home for our dog, Calvin.

Paradox

Last week was a wonderful missions conference at Lakeside EC Church. During the Wednesday brunch, Hannah and Samuel shared some of the things they learned at cross-cultural training. The one thing of great impact to them was gaining a new understanding of the word "paradox". As they put it, "Without any good-byes, you can't have any new hellos." As we approach those sad times of good-bye in Pennsylvania, as well as the happy hellos in Costa Rica, would you please pray for us? I (Lisa) recently read this excerpt from "The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions":

Let me learn by paradox

that the way down is the way up

that to be low is to be high

that the broken heart is the healed heart,

that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

that to have nothing is to possess all,

that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

that to give is to receive,

that the valley is the place of vision.

Please pray for us that we learn all He has for us as we learn by paradox. Thank you for your continued prayers on behalf of our family.

Happy news!

This has been a good day for us! We have confirmed that we are about 95% funded and we have a target date of August 1, 2010. Our home church, Lakeside EC Church, will be having their missions conference beginning March 7 and on that day we will be commissioned as missionaries by the Global Ministries director of the EC Church. We are looking forward to that long-awaited day!

Here are our prayer requests for this week:

1. Praise the Lord for His provision!

2. Pray that our remaining funding will come in quickly so we can begin making all the necessary arrangements for our August 1 departure.

3. Pray that our commissioning will be a great encouragement to the church, and that the Lord will bless us all with greater and greater opportunities for outreach.

4. Pray for our health...the cold season has finally caught up with our family.

Thank you for continually lifting us up before the Lord. You are always an encouragement!

New Prayer card

Our new prayer cards have been ordered, and we are amazed at how much Hannah and Samuel have grown since the last one was taken! Can you believe they are 12 and 9 years old? We can't! Where does time go?

It is exciting and hard to believe that they will, Lord willing, be celebrating their birthdays this year in Costa Rica! We are getting closer each day to meeting our funding goal and are overwhelmed with thankfulness for your partnership with us.

Here are our newest prayer requests:

1. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness and for His provision.

2. Pray for us, and for youself, that we would all carry out Christ's calling in our lives with total devotion.

3. Pray that our total funding will come in this spring. We need less than $1,000/mo. faith-promised (for our total term) before we can leave for language school.

4. Pray we can either work out the bugs in our computer or that we can get a new one soon!

5. Pray for Hannah's knee. She had an unfortunate meeting with a tree last month while sledding and sprained it. It is still sore when she is active.

6. Pray for the Mexico ministry team. There is much work to be done and need for more workers to accomplish the task.

OMS has a new name!

Dear Friend of OMS,

We have some exciting news to share:

OMS International becomes One Mission Society

One Lord. One Life. One Calling.

Today, we launch a new name, tagline, logo and mission statement. These changes were designed to help One Mission Society better communicate what we have stood for since our inception in 1901 as The Oriental Missionary Society.

But it is important to note, One Mission Society’s sole reason for existence as a mission organization remains steadfast―to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ spread throughout the world and to see God glorified in all that we say and do. This is the command of the Great Commission. This is our “One Mission.”

God has blessed OMS by using us as a tool in His hands for more than 100 years. Today, One Mission Society is seeing, on average, one person come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ every two minutes. In recent years, thousands of new churches have been planted and tens of thousands of people are actively participating in discipleship programs.

These are historic times to be involved in missions. As never before in the history of the Church, One Mission Society is poised to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Make no mistake: the task is huge. OMS recognizes that we are only a small part of the body of Christ and that we join with many other individuals, churches and like-minded Great Commission organizations called and equipped together for One Mission, God’s mission. This is the unity in mission to which all Christians are called in Ephesians 4 by our one God and Father of all.

One Mission Society currently works in 50 countries. We were founded on the principle that the most effective way to share Christ is by training a nation’s people to lead and multiply their churches. That principle still fully applies today and is the basis of our dynamic four-fold focus: intentional evangelism, church planting, training leaders and strategic partnerships.

OMS currently has six international offices from which missionaries are recruited and sent out: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the Untied States. Today, One Mission Society has 430 missionaries and is a member in good standing with the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

Here is One Mission Society’s new mission statement: By God’s grace, One Mission Society unites, inspires and equips Christians to make disciples of Jesus Christ, multiplying dynamic communities of believers around the world.

David Long

President, One Mission Society

Update on Samuel

Thank you for praying! Samuel is doing remarkably well. In fact, he is recovering much faster than the doctor expected. After only one week from being diagnosed with pneumonia, he was given doctor's permission to go swimming yesterday at his "Gym and Swim" class. He was so happy (as were the rest of us)!
Here's our prayer requests:
1. Thank the Lord for a wonderful time at Wayside Community Church last weekend. And please pray for that church as they receive their new pastor on Thursday, Sept. 23.
2. Please pray that Samuel's immune system continues to get back to full strength quickly. We are taking some time away next week, hoping that some fun and sun will be of benefit. Pray for travelling saftey as well.
3. Please pray that our full funding will come in soon so we can go to Costa Rica at the end of this year (after Christmas).

Thank you, again for your partnership with us in ministry!