Monday, September 22, 2014

We praise God as His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
Our soul rests in His embrace.
Thank you Lord.


Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Our Journey


Our Journey
          I have worked as a commercial/ industrial HVAC service technician for the past 20 years. Four years ago, Anthea and I sensed the Lord’s call in our lives to apply with TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance Mission) and go to Zimbabwe, Africa to serve the Shona people. Anthea came to know the Lord through TEAM missionaries who planted a church on her parent's farm in Zimbabwe. Because of her relationship with TEAM and our connection with TEAM through Columbia International University where we met, partnering with TEAM in Zimbabwe was a natural response. After an intense application and interview process that lasted several months, we received our letter of appointment on May 9, 2011, welcoming us to the TEAM family as appointees to Zimbabwe. We will be working directly with Hands of Hope, a local ministry in Zimbabwe. Our work will consist of developing a piece of property into a skills training center. We will be teaching a number of different marketable skills to orphans who are aging out into adulthood. This is directly in conjunction with the HIV/AIDS project that TEAM started in Zimbabwe. 
          Our training with TEAM in the months that followed helped prepare us for our long road of deputation while working a full time job. During that time, God used several people to pay off our van, which in turn helped alleviate some of the financial strain we were having. I was working about 70 hours a week with my employer while trying to develop our support team.  November of 2013, TEAM asked us to prayerfully consider going on salary so we could devote more of our time and energy to complete our deputation process. At that time, we were unable to go on salary because of our obligation to paying our school loans but prayed that the Lord would make the way possible. February of 2014, God rose up individuals anonymously  to pay off our school loans providing the opportunity for me to resign from my job and go on salary with TEAM. Once going on salary with TEAM we have six months to finish raising our support before funding for our salary runs out; currently October 31. June of 2014 we sold all of our lawn equipment, tools, and our van prior to flying to Zimbabwe for a one month vision trip.  While we were in Zimbabwe, we were able to connect with many pastors and the Hands of Hope leaders we will be working with.   One urgent prayer request we had while in Zimbabwe was that God would place the right people in the right place at the right time for getting our questions answered for immigration and reentry into Zimbabwe. Well, God did just that. God used several people to inform us of Anthea’s entitlement as a Zimbabwean. We were advised to apply for residency based on the fact that Anthea was born and raised in Zimbabwe. We submitted all of the necessary paperwork and on August 19, 2014, a Zimbabwean attorney notified us that we have been approved for a two-year residency because of Anthea’s Zimbabwean entitlement. Praise God! 
          So what does this mean for us now? We sold our home, our van, all of our tools and lawn equipment. We are currently cleaning out our rental home of things we can’t take with us. God has provided loaner cars until we leave as well as storage for a few of our belongings. We have a house in Zimbabwe waiting for us. We have our area of ministry in place. We have our residency visas and approval for entry and work. We are ready to go! Our plan is to leave for Zimbabwe mid November but lack the funds to sustain us on the field. We currently need $2300 per month by the end of October to fund us completely. We do understand that with God, nothing is impossible. We continue to trust the Lord as He raises up churches, small groups, and individuals to become a part of the financial team who would help send us to the field. The Lord is our Provider! 

Sunday, February 3, 2013

January news Loves in Zim blog

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

     "Consider the eagle, born to fly. A natural yearning within the breast of the young eagle leads it to mount up on wings and ascend into the sky with a thousand feet of clean air beneath its wings. The eagle may, on occasion, walk on the ground or perch in a tree, but everything about him is designed to fly in the air. If our eagle had its wings clipped, preventing him from flying, he still would have the burning desire to mount up on wings and ascend into the sky. his ability, however, would be so impaired that he could never lift off the ground. He could not be true to his nature.
     Such is the plight of humanity. We are born to ascend into the very environment of God's presence where we belong; but something has clipped our wings, disabling us from responding to the cry from within. 'Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are going over me' (Ps. 42:7). Because man is shut out of the presence of God, he suffers many maladies."                                                                                             A.W. Tozer