PJ and Amanda Spencer Serving the Lord with you in ministry Getting Settled… One day at a time.
Hard to believe, but we’ve been in Senegal now for almost 2 weeks. We are progressing in our adjustments every day… PTL! Our “temporary” housing has been working well & we are thankful to have a few friends living within walking distance of our apartment. We’ve had a few adventures this past week – including touring the open-air market, shopping in several boutiques on our street, negotiating prices for a taxi to & from church across town, buying cell phones (and purchasing our SIM cards from a guy standing on the street – this is the best way to get SIM cards, for those of you who may be concerned), and Amanda even washed our clothes by hand.
We are getting more and more comfortable with our new surroundings… the noise from the street doesn’t seem as strange to us now, but it’s still noisy. We know to expect the garbage man in the morning, who honks his horn for at least 5 seconds to let everyone know he’s here. Amanda wasn’t as repulsed as she sifted flour & threw out the maggots left behind. PJ is not as overwhelmed with all the people surrounding him in such a crowded city. We are both “country folk” so city life takes some time to adjust to. But even with all the things that grate against our culture, we have realized that for us this is the perfect environment that God has been using to grow us and mature us in Christ. We all must realize that no matter where we are in life, God has not finished conforming us to His image and He will continue His work in us until that day when we see Him face to face.
We appreciate all of your prayers they have been a great comfort to us as we continue to acclimate here in West Africa. We will keep you posted as God continues to work here!
Safe & Sound In Senegal
You’re probably thinking, “well, finally!”… Yes, we’ve been in West Africa for just over 2 weeks now, and we are just getting the opportunity to update our blog. Thanks for your patience with us! Before we give new details, we’ll recap the last 2 weeks for you…
It was tough saying goodbye to our family and friends in the US, but even through the tears (Amanda’s, of course), we boarded our plane to West Africa with complete confidence that this is what God was asking us to do. We knew that He would give us the strength to proceed, and He did! When we landed in Senegal, we were met by another NTM missionary, which was a very happy sight to both of us. He took us to his home, where we were able to see his family, eat some delicious breakfast, and take a shower (which felt MARVELOUS after the long day of travel). We had a few hours before our flight to Guinea, and so we spent some time visiting with other missionaries at the NTM guest house. Amanda was able to see some friends from our NTBI/MTC days, who now live here in Senegal, so that was a blessing! We headed back to the airport around noon, JUST made our flight (which decided to leave 2 hours early, unbeknownst to us), and flew another hour south to Guinea. We were unsure of what to do to let PJ’s parents know that we arrived so early. Sure enough, because of God’s provision, we saw one beaming face among the crowd outside waving at us. PJ’s dad had been dropping off another group at the airport, and so just happened to still be there when our plane landed. Thank You, God!!
The next day, we drove 5 hours north to the area where PJ’s parents are living. We spent the next 13 days relaxing and enjoying PJ’s parents & younger brother. We walked & talked through many of PJ’s memories from his time living on the center as a dorm student! Several of the national workers around the center remembered PJ, and were so happy to see him. Anyone who knew that PJ had grown up in Guinea was honored that he returned, and that he brought his new wife to see them all! We were showered with ‘welcome’ gifts of fruit, beans, and yuka. We tried all the various foods that PJ loved to eat as a kid, and thankfully, Amanda really liked them all too. 
It was a real blessing for us to have these 2 weeks with PJ’s parents! Within that time, God was continually teaching us. We were both experiencing some culture shock (yes, Amanda more so than PJ), and we had several instances where we had to step aside and watch God’s strength intercede for us! It was a time of growth, and yet we believe it is only the tip of the iceburg.
On Thursday, we hopped in a taxi at 5:30 am and drove back to the airport. We arrived mid morning, but our flight was delayed from early afternoon to 7:40 pm… that was a long day. Thankfully, we made it onto our flight with no problems, and we arrived safely back in Senegal late that evening. We have been staying at the NTM guest house for the weekend, while the missionaries finish getting our next temporary apartment situated for us. Yes, I said next ‘temporary’ apartment… we will have to move one more time, probably sometime in mid-Feburary. We are still working with our church here to arrange who will be our host family, and so once that is determined, we will most likely move closer to wherever they live.
We are so thankful that God has been guiding us every step of the way, and we thank you so much for praying for us with this transition as well!
Tags: New Tribes Mission, NTM
Thanksgiving, shots, visas, packing, and… Christmas!
This is such a wonderful time of year, as we celebrate all of the many blessings God has given us and as we look ahead to celebrating Christ’s birth! With the radio in the background, singing songs of snowmen and mistletoe, we continue preparing for our upcoming departure for West Africa. Our plans are continuing to solidify, and the details are falling into place one-by-one… thank you, God!
We are taking a little break from the madness this afternoon to post an update on the progress. Today alone, we’ve visited the local health clinic to receive our required shots, filled prescriptions for anti-malaria pills, we’ve printed our visa applications and set up more appointments for the days to come. Just when we feel like we’ve checked numerous things off of our lists, we remember something else that needs to be done.
BUT, as we take these few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas to focus on our “to do” list, we do not want to lose sight of THE task that God has given us… to reach people with His love & salvation! We are in the midst of the season where we celebrate the ultimate Gift that God sent us (His Son), and so we must remember that not all have heard of this wonderful news. There are still those who need the chance to hear about the Baby that was born in a stable one night, 2000 years ago. The King of Kings! As you go through your busy holiday season and celebrate His birth, and pray for those who do not know about it yet. Pray that their hearts would be prepared for the day that someone finally tells them!
Today marks 44 days until we depart for West Africa. We appreciate your prayers as we continue to sort through our apartment and decide what to store for the next 2 years, and what to get rid of. Also, we are going to be saying goodbye to many dear friends and some of our family members over the next 2 weeks, and so we would appreciate prayers for that as well. We will be leaving to drive up to NY for Christmas soon, but before that we will be driving out to Wisconsin to watch PJ’s brother graduate from NTBI. Please pray for safety on those trips as well.
We wish you and your families a Merry Christmas & blessed New Year!
Africa-Bound!
We finally received it… the answer we were waiting for, the one we were praying fervently for, the one we were hoping for. It came in the form of an email, but it may as well have been a booming voice for the excitement that it stirred in us. The email read that we were officially invited to come to West Africa in January 2012. We only needed to read it once to feel a growing anticipation and an absolute thankfulness to our God. Whatever His answer, we knew that we would follow Him, but to have the approval to move forward toward reaching the people that God has burdened us for … well, that feeling is just overwhelming! As we sat in our little office staring at each other, I felt the tears begin to fill my eyes… our God is so good!
In the midst of the excitement, there is also a sobering reality. In just over 4 months time, we will be saying goodbye to family and friends, to comfort and “the norm”, to life as we know it. Yes, we will have a lot of challenging days ahead, no doubt about that! But oh, the cost is so little when compared with eternity- and that is where we want to keep our focus. We want to stand alongside as many Africans as possible when we are one day before the throne of our King!
The first step will be for us to learn French and begin to study West African culture. We continue to covet your prayers as we prepare for this big transition!
May 2011 Update… Newly Married!
A NEW CHAPTER HAS BEGUN
Together, surrounded by family and friends, PJ & I turned the page in our story book to a brand new chapter entitled, “Marriage”. We do not know what twists and turns have been written into the narrative during this chapter of our lives, but we trust the Author, who wrote the story long before it began. We have no doubt that we are blessed beyond measure not only in our relationship to the Author of our story, but also in our relationship with each other. It was our deepest prayer that our wedding ceremony be an act of worship to God, and that He would be glorified in what was said and done. From the encouragement and love we received back from our guests, it appears that our prayers were answered! We are so thankful to have had both of our families there with us on the day we gave our lives to each other, with PJ’s parents flying in from Africa and my brother flying home from a business trip in the Middle East! Praise God for the safety of all who travelled to be there with us!
MINISTRY, MINISTRY, MINISTRY
After enjoying all of the festivities/craziness surrounding our wedding, we are very happy to be back to life as “normal” here in Florida. We have resumed our ministries with NTM Mobilization and NTM Homes. PJ has been “enjoying” the hot spring sunshine each day as it slowly climbs to the mid 90’s. As April came to a close, so did the volunteer season at the Homes. From PJ’s stories to the other staff stories to my personal encounters with the volunteers, I know that they are a tremendous blessing to the missionary staff at the Homes each year! With their help, PJ and his coworkers have seen much progress on the expansion of the Homes’ chapel and office building facilities! Praise God for them! Now as the weather heats up, more attention is being directed to maintenance on the landscaping and grounds of the NTM Homes property.
Down the street at the home office, the Mobilization department is in full swing as we prepare to send 4 teams to Papua New Guinea this summer! Two of the teams will be headed to Interface, for 5 weeks of intense cross-cultural exposure and challenging realities! My coworkers and I are praying for God to raise up more laborers from these teams to join the expansion of the Gospel to the ends of the Earth! As a newlywed, I will not be travelling to PNG with the teams this summer, but am excited to see how God will change their lives!
CAUTION: MAJOR CHANGES AHEAD, PROCEED BY FAITH!
As we read on in this new chapter, we see that there is a turn coming very soon in the story. One which has us very excited and yet in awe of it’s magnitude and importance. We have seen the Lord work so clearly in both of our lives up to this point, and we are now seeing how He has been preparing us for what is coming next. Our passion is to see all the people groups of the world reached with the Gospel! And we desire to serve the Lord on the foreign mission field. We were both headed in that direction after training, until the Lord redirected each of us to Florida for this time. We clearly see how He has worked out all of the details, and now the time has come for us to refocus our vision… on West Africa. Together in agreement with our current ministry coworkers/leadership here in Florida, we are moving forward to pursue a transition to ministry in Guinea, W. Africa. Our first step will be French language study. We are in communication with the field leadership there to determine when we will be able to go. So that answer has not yet been determined. It is our desire to be there early in 2012, but we are praying for the Lord to show us His timing. And we will be obedient with the direction He gives.
With regard to our sending churches & supporters, it is vital that we take time to talk with you about this decision, and explain more fully how the Lord is leading in our lives, and what this change in ministry will look like. For that reason, we have decided to take a good portion of time this fall to travel around to visit with each of our supporters and churches to discuss this new ministry direction. Amanda will begin phasing slowly out of Mobilization at the end of the summer, training others to take over her responsibilities. This is a huge change, which we are very excited about, but we want & need your feedback! Please let us know when you’d like us to come to see you this fall. We will start putting together a schedule of our trip. We are looking forward to spending time with each of our supporters & churches!! As we approach these major changes ahead, we are proceeding by faith… thanks for journeying with us!
Welcome, wonderful fall!
From Amanda:
Although I do not get to experience the changing fall leaves this year, I am so thankful to be starting the fall season & all the wonderful things that come with it! Cooler weather (kind of), pumpkin & apple pies, football, school kids running home at 3pm, and the anticipation of the holiday season that will soon be right around the corner. Yes, fall is definitely my favorite season of the year, even if it will look different in Florida than in New York.
This week marks 2 months since I returned from my summer in Papua New Guinea, at Interface. Hard to believe so much time has passed already… those memories are still fresh in my mind! I once again had the privilege of watching God do some amazing things in the lives of our Interface students and staff during our program this summer. Several of the students from the team have already begun phase 1 of training with New Tribes at our Bible Institutes in Michigan & Wisconsin, and there are several more who plan to begin Bible school in 2011! Praise God!!! And for those who are attending various universities around the US, I am so encouraged to hear their updates, sharing that they are making a big impact for eternity right where God has them now! That’s what God desires from us… our faithfulness right where He has placed us for now! Looking ahead, our department is getting details in order as we prepare to send our next team to Interface in January. It is a small team at this point, but we are excited to see God bringing men and women to us who have a strong desire to know more about tribal missions & want to be a part. That’s why I’m here… that’s why you are my partners… to get more of God’s children involved… so that ALL may have the opportunity to know the Savior! I don’t know about you, but that gets me excited!
As far as my life here in Florida beyond my ministry with New Tribes, I am pleased to share that God has led me to a fantastic church! I visited for the first time only 3 weeks after moving down here, and was immediately welcomed into this church family & loved! I was able to get plugged into a small group with other singles in their 20′s & 30′s, and have found some very dear friendships in that group! What an answer to prayer!! Our God is so good! I am not only surrounded by New Tribers who are an encouragement & blessing to me, but also by a family of faith whose passion is for their community as well as the whole world! It has been a wonderful time of getting to know the families in this church and of growth as the pastor dives into the Word with us each week. I have also been asked to help greet at church, which I’m excited about as this will allow me to get to know more names & faces!
God is doing great things through His children around the world, as well as in our home country, and for that HE receives all the praise! For up-to-date reports & prayer requests from different tribes around the world, check out NTM’s website at www.ntm.org. We’re all in this together…. serving an AWESOME GOD! Thank you for serving with me!
Just one more thing…. GO GATORS!
God bless!
MOVING TO FLORIDA!
From Amanda:
After much prayer, faith, anticipation, and unfortunately also anxiety, I have set the date for my move to Florida! It has been a long road of Partnership Development, but it has been a much needed time for spiritual growth as well as for developing ministry partners! I am so thankful for those who have said “Yes!” to my plea for co-laborers in this ministry. Those who have chosen to trust the Lord in joining me through prayer and finances to see more people reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I will be packing over the next 2 weeks, and finalizing my plans & necessary arrangements for the move, and then loading up my car, as well as my parents’ car, and hitting the road on April 2nd. Good Friday, you ask? Yes, we will travel to my sister’s in Virginia to spend Easter with her & her hubby, as well as my brother who is flying in! I’m so excited to have a small family “hoorah” on my way to my new ministry & home!! Then it’s on to warmer weather, palm trees, alligators, and most especially, MINISTRY! (I don’t typically point out the fact that I will have palm trees out my window, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited about it.)
While all of these things are exciting, fresh, and adventurous, on the forefront of my mind has been the anticipation of seeing God work in hearts to bring more of His children into His marvelous ministry around the world! There are still so many who need to hear of His gift of salvation!! Just this morning, I was listening to a testimony of how God welcomed an entire tribe into His family through the powerful work of His word & His Spirit! Can anything compare with that? Absolutely not!! My goal is to get more people involved… to help them to see that they only have ONE life to give. Forget average, forget monotony, forget boring… forget “safe” (which is really only a matter of opinion). Serving on the battlefront of eternal destiny is a life pleasing to God!! Let’s win as many souls to Jesus as our short time allows us… and along the way, grab your brother or sister next to you & get them involved too!
My great news has flowed into some of my thoughts here, but the bottom line is, I’m finally moving to Florida (praise God!) and I am so excited to get started! Please keep praying for me! I am currently at 41% of my total support, so while I am moving, I still need to increase my support. I will continue to press on with that area as well as beginning my ministry.
Keep looking up… He’s right there… Grab a hold of the Truth & savor it every day!
Tags: Moving to Florida
Jesus Loves Me, This I Know
Jesus loves me, this I know… for the Bible tells me so. Little missionaries to Him belong… we are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.
While this song can be heard typically coming from the children’s Sunday school room down the church hallway, I’ve adapted its words only slightly to make it the song of my heart today. How great is the love my Savior for this 22-year old missionary who faces a daily rollercoaster of emotions, ranging from doubt and anxiety.. to encouragement and hope.. to excitement and peace! I praise God for His unfailing love for me. He provides for every single one of my needs because HE LOVES ME! I am beyond words.
Today, I began my day excited to see how God would possibly use me to minister to others. I was several hours into my day when doubt and fear gripped me so strongly that I crumpled in tears. I turned on the radio while I fixed my makeup and tried to prepare for my next ministry opportunity, and I heard the lady behind the microphone ask just one thing to all of us listeners… Are we listening to God today, or Satan? OK… talk about a spiritual wake-up call!!! I was immediately convicted and began talking to my Lord, asking Him to forgive me and remind me of the truth that He will take care of me. I hopped in the car to head to my meeting, and spent the next hour being ministered to by a dear brother and sister in Christ. After this wonderful time of fellowship, I went to the store to buy some dishes that I need for my new apartment (which I saw on sale for a great price yesterday!), and got to the register to find out they were reduced to half of the sale price! I ended up paying $12 dollars…… can you honestly tell me that God doesn’t provide for us?? THEN, I got home, checked my messages, and returned a call to find out that God was again impressing on some friends’ hearts to support me in ministry. And it’s only lunch time.
“And HE has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
For such a time as this
From Amanda:
I have recently been studying the book of Esther, and I am again amazed to see how God, without actually being mentioned, is in the forefront of Esther’s entire story. As the Jewish people come to be in danger of complete annihilation, Esther must step out in faith and attempt to change the course of history. Praise God she said ‘Yes’, right? Looking at her life, and the crazy twists & turns she faces, I find myself asking God what it is that He’s doing through my life. Sure, I have some semblance of a plan for the immediate future, but what about after that? And how will the things I’m involved in today affect the future? Am I slowing down whatever it is God’s trying to do in my life when I disobey? Or is that all part of the process that I must go through to learn more about myself and more about my God? Just some thoughts for today…
My goal is to become a bit more faithful in the updating of this blog. I hope you like the new format… I think it’s great! I will put in more of an effort to posting the things that God is doing in my life… and also how things are going with the ministry, of course!! God bless!
Tags: Lessons from Esther
Update #1 from Interface
From Amanda:
Thank you to all of you who’ve been praying for my time here in Papua New Guinea! I’m sorry for such a delayed update. I’ve been reminded once again that things in a 3rd world country take a bit longer.
From the moment I met the team in LA, and boarded a 11 hour flight with these strangers, I knew that God was going to do amazing things in our time together around the world! He has not ceased to amaze me! All of our flights went without a problem, and we arrived safe and sound… ON TIME… in Goroka, PNG with a whole group of ITF (Interface) staff waiting for us! Most of the luggage made it, with what didn’t being only a few hours behind us. All in all, quite a relief!
Since that moment, it has been a whirlwind of excitement here at ITF! With activities ranging from language & culture study to Ultimate Frisbee, from classes to campfires & time in staff homes, from hiking to amazing meals from our awesome cook, Beth! We are located near several small villages, where we are able to spend afternoons sitting with the people or playing games with the children. This has been an amazing time for me personally because I feel as though I’m finally able to experience a taste of what I’ve been training for! Praise God!! He’s growing & challenging me in new ways each and every day!
We recently were able to spend a day in town… that was quite the experience! To be part of a semi-large group of white people amidst thousands of PNG nationals… you stand out for sure. And everyone watches every move you make.. it’s a bit intimidating. But, it was a great way to experience another facet to the culture here & also a great time to buy some cool souveneirs!!
Thank you again for your prayers!! I covet them daily! I am convinced God still has much to teach me about Himself, and about my small part in tribal church planting! Also, please keep praying for the students who are here at ITF, who are seeking God’s direction for their lives. Will He raise up some of them to go out to the harvest field?? I hope so! Keep praying with me about this!