Mission Accomplished!

We’re home again! After a full two days of travel to and from Tanzania we’re still a little jet-lagged and tired, but otherwise recovering well from the trip.
We’re pleased to report - Mission Accomplished!! It was a very busy and tiring 2 weeks, but extremely rewarding.

We spent time at two schools that our church built, one in Mairowa and one in Kondoa, Tanzania. The school in Kondoa looks great! The children there have been at the school for almost two years. An added bonus (that was a benefit to us) was that their English skills were very good. The children recently took academic assessment tests and the 1st graders at the Kondoa Integrity School (KIS) tested equivalent to 3rd graders at other local schools.

We had such an amazing time with the staff and students at the schools. When you see how difficult life is for these kids and then see them at school, laughing and learning with big smiles on their faces, it’s a great reminder of why we’re doing this. These children LOVE their school! In fact, the Headmaster told me that he has to shoo them off the school grounds at the end of the day because they hate to leave. What a blessing to know that the schools are enriching their lives so much.

Most of the people we visited come from the Maasai Tribe. You can learn more about them here. While there we also drove along rutted dirt roads to visit many families in their homes. The traditional Maasai dwellings (called bomas) are small dark structures, built in a dome shape like an igloo, but made primarily of mud. You can see a couple of examples below. In one of our visits a family from our church was sharing their story with one of the single mothers when asked how she could “believe” too. They were able to share the Good News with her and she prayed to receive Christ!! Wow! What a thrill that across the cultural lines and differences, they were able to share the hope of the gospel with this precious woman.

We also had the privilege of visiting and participating in an African church service. My husband, Fred preached, the kids presented a play and 3 team members shared their testimonies. It was a joy to be able to spend time in worship together with them as well.

Another gift was sharing our journey first-hand with two of our board members who came along as well. Rosanne Burck and Barbara Uhlmann chose to enjoy the adventure with their older grandsons. It was an experience that they’ll never forget and will always share as a dear family memory.

People often think that when they take a short-term mission trip, they are going to serve and minister to others. This is true-they are and they do. What they don’t realize, but discover when they are on the trip, is that they are the ones that are served and ministered to by the people they meet. God uses these new friends in faraway places to bless our lives. This trip was no exception: the Tanzanians touched our hearts and our lives.

Thank you so much to all who supported, encouraged and prayed for our trip. As always, the Lord was with us every step of the way. You are a gift to us!

New Website Launched!!!

We're excited to announce that our new website has launched! Please be sure to bookmark it and come to visit often to find out about our latest news, events and travels.

www.GreaterReach.com

See you there!

Ministering in Tanzania

My husband and I are leading a group of ministry friends and their families to Tanzania this month to visit the village our church has adopted and the school we are developing in another small community. This two week long trip will help us in developing relationships with the people of Mairowa and Kondoa: primarily, the many fatherless children we feed and help to educate, the widows we help and encourage, and the women without husbands who are raising children alone.

Two board members of Greater Reach are going with us: Rosanne Burck, our Board Chairperson, is traveling with her grandson, Jordan, and Barbara Uhlmann, our Board Treasurer, is traveling with her two grandsons Mark and Andy Smith. These two women have been instrumental in the development of Greater Reach and Fred and I are delighted that they, along with their families, have such ministry hearts.

Please pray for them, us and the entire team as we seek to bring the love of Christ to this struggling part of the world.

Insights from the Jordan Team

When my husband Mark and I were invited to join Fred and Kristin and Greater Reach Ministries to journey to Jordan, we were both initially apprehensive and in awe of the door that God had opened for us…Why us, Lord?? What do we have to offer to this ministry, how could we possibly be of use to You there??

While most visitors go to Jordan for the sole purpose of seeing the magnificent rock-cut city of Petra, which is truly a feast for the eyes…or the amazing Biblical sites, they may miss the opportunity to experience Jordan’s greatest natural resource… it’s incredibly gracious and hospitable people…never have we experienced such an outpouring of love and warmth!!

We know the Lord went before us, clearing away any obstacles and preparing our hearts and minds and those of the attendees. We were deeply touched by the commitment these couples had to the instruction and the enthusiasm they had to share it with others! It was our joy to be there to share and encourage them. I think we learned more from their open hearts!!

Teaming up with AWT~ Arab Women Today, in a predominantly Muslim, male-dominated society, the concepts taught (conflict resolution, stress management and communication) provided the attendees with new insights, totally unfamiliar to their culture. Only upon our arrival in Heaven will we know the outcome of how our love and support during these seminars will further the message of who God wants us to be and how we are to love and respect one another.

The work being done by both of these ministries is transforming the lives of Arab women! Greater Reach Ministry truly lived up to their name, vision and mission statement!

Lives changed. Hearts blessed. Believers encouraged...

...as we travelled to the country of Jordan, a Muslim country known for its hospitality, biblical sites, and Petra. We conducted three seminars in three different communities over a two week period in mid-May.

• Greater Reach Ministries taught seminars for at least five different church denominations: Baptist, Nazarene, Evangelical Free, Pentecostal, and Alliance
• Topics covered: conflict resolution, communication, developing intimacy in marriage, motivation, seasons of a woman’s/man’s life, stress management
• Seminars presented in three different cities to 100’s of people
• Amman, Husn, and Zarqa were conference targets.

A sampling of comments from those who attended these meetings:

o “This is the first time we have ever learned how to grow deep in our marriage and the first time these topics have ever been taught in our church! Thank you!”

o “The stress management session helped me to realize that I do have a lot of different things causing stress, and it’s not always my spouse’s fault. I am sorry for blaming him for everything”

o “This has changed my life!”

o One husband said, “I realize I have been too selfish. I will start now to be more selfless, even saying yes now to a small request my wife made which I had said no to before.”

o Another woman said, “This conference was life-changing. My husband and I have made a commitment to change our life-style. The time here has shown me that we need to spend time together to develop our spiritual intimacy as a couple.”

Goals Reached: The goal of uplifting women in the Middle East, who are limited in many ways and not as respected as men, was achieved.

• Women and men were equipped and encouraged in their walk with God and in their marriages. Walls were broken down and hurts were addressed.


• The time in Jordan was well-spent:it was God-inspired and God-led.

We're home!

What a ministry trip we had in Amman, Jordan! Our conferences went so well, we can do nothing but thank God for all the answers to prayer, for all the many ways every aspect of our time was covered, protected and God-led. We are grateful!

We were blessed with good health, rest and safety. God wonderfully protected us in every way! Crossing the border between Jordan and Israel is very difficult, yet we passed through safely. International travel can be exhausting, yet each day we awoke rested and ready to go! Our flight connections were smooth and stress-free. What a blessing that was!

We asked that God would raise up visionary leaders to work alongside GRM: we have deepened our relationship with Arab Woman Today, especially our friend Ruba, a visionary leader. She and I look forward to developing more ministries together in the future. She would love for us to come back soon!

We also had a two-day side trip to Nazareth to visit the family of one of our good friends with Christar, which was also a special treat. To walk where Jesus walked in both these countries is such a privilege and thrill. I am always struck by how quickly time goes by when I am there. Two thousand years is nothing in light of eternity, and here we were, teaching God’s Word near where Christ was teaching not so long ago.

Photos and more will be coming shortly so be sure to come back and visit again soon!

Quick update from Jordan

It has been a busy week!

We are now getting a 5 hour breather and then off we go again tomorrow.

Things have gone really well in our first days here! We teach again tomorrow night and then all day Friday, plus lots of individual meetings.

It's been cold in Amman and hot in Nazareth, where we were yesterday and today.

Thanks everyone for your encouragement.

God is changing lives and answering prayers!