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Staff Reports
Reports of recent Trips and Work by Godspeed Missionary Care
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Staff Missionary Reports
Reports and Experiences of the Godspeed Staff
"...Greet Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord...greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ...
my dear friend Stachys...Apelles, tested and approved in Christ, Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas,
Philologus...Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord"
Rom 16:8ff
Christmas Greetings 2002 (and the year in Review)
Names some familiar, some not, many not mentioned again in all of the New Testament, but each one dear to Paul, each one the name of someone who supported, prayed for, aided, and sustained Paul through his journeys. As Karen and I reflect over the past twelve months, God brings to mind the names of those who have prayed for, advised, supported, and sustained us as we too have traveled here and there...
...here (in the U.S.) God provided opportunities for us to work with missionaries in training in Indiana, later to speak on missionary stress to literally hundreds of individuals at a medical missions conference in Kentucky, and throughout the year, times at our home base in Maryland where we have met with missionaries visiting from different countries.
...and there (internationally), God has taken us to missionaries on several continents: In South Africa and Mozambique we saw continuation, closure, and beginnings...we had the opportunity to continue our work with one team in Mozambique, being asked to lead a retreat seminar for them and another large missionary team from South Africa. We celebrated with still another team in Mozambique the closure of a four-year work that God has allowed us to be part of from the beginning, as a U.S.-based missionary group incorporated Mozambicans into their team, and has now handed off the baton to them. This new Mozambican-led missionary effort is continuing the work of introducing others to Christ. They have asked us to provide ongoing training and consultation for this developing organization, and we look forward to beginning that work in 2003. We also had our first visit to Hungary, addressing the medical and counseling needs of a missionary family there. And God blessed us with several trips to Ukraine, where we have ongoing work with an ever-enlarging team of Ukrainian missionaries, who are committed to bringing Jesus to the future leaders and professionals of that post-communist country.
The Godspeed Missionary Care web page, www.missionarycare.org, continues to be a resource for missionaries all over the world; in 2002, more than 90,000 "hits" have been made by individuals downloading information on missionary stress, medical conditions, and links to other helping agencies.
And in 2003, please pray for...
- our continuing work with missionaries-in-training preparing for service with a mission agency based in Indiana (January and July)
- a U.S.-based missionary church-planting group's request for us to meet regionally with the missionary-pastors who serve with them throughout the U.S. Our first conference with these pastors will be in early February in New York.
- another opportunity, in late February, when Barney will travel to Thailand to present lectures on depression and stress to more than 150 missionary doctors serving all over that part of the world, and will visit a mission care agency to provide consultation.
- counseling opportunities with missionaries in Spain and France tentatively scheduled in May, followed by a return to Ukraine in late June and early July to work with two different missionary groups there.
- in Spring 2003, a possible move of the geographic home base for Godspeed Missionary Care further south. This would provide a more economical location to work, and put us closer to others involved in missionary care and training, increasing our opportunities to serve and to train others in the process. We will keep you posted on this development...
More blessings: In our last newsletter I mentioned that we were in need of funding for the Thailand trip and for a digital camera that would allow us to share with others the who and where of Godspeed. A friend of the ministry made the camera possible, and another supporter provided enough frequent-flyer miles to purchase a ticket for the Thailand trip.
We thank God for His continued provision.
So... to all our fellow workers in Christ, to those who work hard in the Lord, to the households of the many others whom we call dear friends, and to you, whom we love in the Lord, we send greetings, and gratitude for all you mean to us and have made possible in our lives. May the Christmas Season and the year to come bring us all closer to each other, and to Him...
Godspeed,
Barney, for Karen and the Godspeed team
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