NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

Dear Friend,
Here is a my update for the month of January!  Let me know what you think!
Crystal

::Mexican Host Church: Assigned!::

These two pictures are of my future pastor & church family in Mexico!  Once we arrive in Chihuahua, we have the privilege of bonding with the Mexican culture & Spanish language, and what better way than with them!  Amy & I are really looking forward to this new opportunity to spend a whole month with only our Mexican host family & church.  This will help us in bonding more with our Mexican neighbors & friends.

::Support Tracker::

Amy & I are so close to being ready to head to Mexico and we are continually in awe at how God works through us the prepares us for this new journey!

We have both passed the 50% mark!  Amy has reached 54% & I am at 53%.  Once we reach the required 60% – $1900 – we can plan to leave for Mexico!  If Amy receives 20 financial partners at $10 a month & I receive 22 financial partners at $10 a month we could head to Mexico!

I know that by now you are exhausted & tired of hearing about the support that we need in order to head to Mexico.  This is currently the “obstacle” God is allowing in our lives!  While we would love to set a “leave America by” date, but we cannot until we reach 60%.  There seems to be no special formula or set checklist during our Partnership Development time, but prayer & faith in Him to follow through.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

::Prayer Requests::

- Patience as I wait for God’s timing to send me to Mexico

- My Mexican Host church & family as they prepare for us to come!

- Please pray for the last $220 to come in!

- As I continue to help out with the Awana program with my church

::Praises::

- God has risen my support level to 53%!

- That God continues to supply my needs

Here is another devotional that I read this week!  I thought that it was a good reminder as to why we have "rests" in our lives, and how God knows how the whole song will go!
::Streams in the Desert Devotional::
January 22

He withdrew…to a solitary place. (Matthew 14.13)

There is no music during a musical rest, but the rest is part of the making of the music.  In the melody of our life, the music is separated here and there by rests.  During those rests, we foolishly believe we have come to the end of the song.  God sends us times of forced leisure by allowing sickness, disappointed plans, and frustrated efforts.  He brings a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives, and we lament that our voices must be silent.  We grieve that our part is missing in the music that continually rises to the ear of our Creator.  Yet how does a musician read the rest? He counts the break with unwavering precision and plays his next note with confidence, as if no pause were ever there.

God does not write the music of our lives without a plan.  Our part is to learn the tune and not be discouraged during the rests.  They are not to be slurred over or omitted, nor used to destroy the melody or to change the key.  If we will only look up, God Himself will count the time for us.  With our eyes on Him, our next note will be full and clear.  If we sorrowfully say to ourselves, "There is no music in a rest," let us not forget that the rest is part of the making of the music.  The process is often slow and painful in this life, yet how patiently God works to teach us!  And how long He waits for us to learn the lesson! – John Ruskin