Saturday, October 30, 2010

Sierra Leone Update 10.28.2010

Dear Ones,

The last 10 weeks have been indescribable! To think that we could part with our home and everything in it in such a brief period of time is nothing short of a miracle, but of course, “with God all things are possible!”

WE HAVE TICKETS!! We will depart DFW on Friday, November 5th at 2:33pm. We had hoped to be in Sierra Leone a couple of weeks ago, but God’s timing is perfect, and we trust HIM!

WE WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS! In a favorite Chambers devotional he says, “The key to the missionary…is not the key of common sense, nor the medical key, nor the key of civilization or education or even evangelization. THE KEY IS PRAYER!” How true this is!! Every prayer you have prayed on our behalf means the world to us!

WE WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP AND ENCOURAGEMENT! We are at a loss as to how to express our gratitude for your encouraging words, emails, notes on Facebook , and your help in so many ways around the house. If we try to mention all that folks have done for us, we will certainly leave something out. Just know that we are overwhelmed and humbled!

WE WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT! We don’t even know what to say here. Your trust in us and your generosity have brought us to tears again and again. Please know that we will do our best to represent our Precious Lord and all of you to the people we minister to in Sierra Leone.

Prayer requests:

• Tom learned earlier this week that he will need to do more exterior painting on the house since the buyers are doing a VA loan.
• We have some last minute shopping to do for clothes for Tom.
• Our last goodbyes to family will be emotional. Please pray for our parents, our kids and our 6 grandchildren.
• We are at about 90% of our projected financial need through December. We trust God to continue to provide.
• Safe travel.
• We will hit the ground running when we arrive in Sierra Leone. We’ll need to register with the country and secure several permits.
• The project we’ve been asked to coordinate will roll out in November impacting 190 families and 2 orphanages, with an additional 100 families and another orphanage to be added in January.
• Physical strength as we adjust to the relentless heat in Sierra Leone.
• May our focus remain on Christ! Everything else will fall into place!

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
May God bless YOU!
Our love in Christ!
Tom and Becky

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

HOPE CENTER: Jui, Sierra Leone


Our apartment is just up the road from the HOPE CENTER. We will work out of the center in partnership with various organizations.
  • Transform Your World, First Baptist Church of McKinney
  • Global Ministries, First Baptist Church of Arlington
  • GCPN, Global Connection Partnership Network
  • Restore Hope Project of Sierra Leone
  • Buckner International
  • Baptist Global Response
  • University of Texas at Arlington, The Africa Program
  • The Evangelical College of Theology, Jui, Sierra Leone
  • Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone
  • and numerous others

Friday, October 8, 2010

Sierra Leone: "Sweet Salone"


from Bradt travel guide:

Salone, as it is affectionately known (and Sweet Salone for extra affection), is not always an easy country, or a happy one. Plenty of things don't work, and won't work for a good while yet. Energy, water, roads, education, health - these basics are erratic, if present at all. Travel across the capital is tough, let alone going a few miles down the coast or trekking upcountry.

But Sierra Leone's love of life, the determination to make something of itself, even while it shuffles at the very bottom of the UN's human development index, shows a spirit the world should gasp at.

RESTORE HOPE PROJECT: Sierra Leone, West Africa

Today the HOPE CENTER is being dedicated!
We can't wait to be there!