Dear Friends and Family,
Sara and I are excited to share with you what the Lord is
doing in our life this summer. As most of you know, about four months ago
I went on staff at Park Community Church as a pastoral intern. With each week
that passes, our hearts continue to grow more and more in step with the heart
of Park, learning how to do real ministry in our city. It’s been amazing to be
a part of it so far.
Park’s vision is also to bring the gospel to the nations.
One of their strong partnerships is in Istanbul, Turkey. Over the years, they
have sent a number of full-time laborers and short-term teams to come alongside
the local church as the Lord has provided opportunities.
A few months back, the missions team at Park, knowing our
heart and experience with overseas missions, approached Sara and I and asked us
to consider learning how to lead future short-term teams from Park to this area
of the world. After prayer and leading from the Lord, we couldn’t be more
excited to serve in this way. And, on July 25th my 20-week pregnant wife and I
will be boarding a plane to Istanbul. We’re a bit humbled and amazed that the
Lord would choose us to go on this journey at this chapter in our lives. Don't worry, we're not going forever, just for 12 days.
As part of the process to prepare for our time overseas, our
team consisting of another couple and Donna Crum, our head pastor’s wife, have
been in training together learning about the culture and the people who we will
be going to serve. Beyond being prepared to share the gospel with this largely
Muslim and secular country, we are learning how to biblically equip future
missionaries. It’s been amazing to see Park’s heart for sending short
term teams and their approach in equipping and discipling those as they walk through
this process, as part of the overall global strategy. We’re looking
forward to walking along side others on future short-term teams.
In addition to becoming acquainted with our partners in
Istanbul and the city itself, we will also stop over in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
There will we partner with one of Park's missionaries in doing outreach
to the very secular university students there. Our being exposed to two
different ministry fields will allow us the opportunity to lead a broader range
of teams in the future.
Sara and I are both excited (and a bit uncomfortable, as
well) to send this letter. We have however learned through our training
that the team of supporters behind the missionary, who sends them to the
mission field, is just as crucial as the hands and feet that will be serving on
foreign soil. Having people committed to praying for us as we go into these
spiritually dark places is an absolute necessity as we go.
With that understanding, we would like to ask you to
prayerfully consider joining our support team by either committing to pray for
us or if able, to financially contribute towards our expenses as we’re part of
the team.
If you would like to Financially Support Us
If you would like to financially support Sara and I, you can
do it online by clicking this link, and then on that page
click the link which says 'Summer Leaders Trip to Istanbul and Slovenia'
(It should be near the bottom of the text on that page).
Our Prayer List as We Go
If you will commit to pray for us, below is a list of key
things we would appreciate much prayer over:
- For Sara’s and my heart to lay down our expectations as a part of the team before the Lord, and to gain his perspective on what he has in store for us to do there.
- For the Turkish people. As you may have seen in the news, their country is in much turmoil with many protests. Pray that this atmosphere would create rich conversation around the gospel and that the Turkish church would grow as a result.
- For the local church to be encouraged and strengthened by our time there. That we would be able to lighten their load and serve them well with our days there.
- Pray that the Holy Spirit would go before us in everything we do, and guide our steps as we walk through this unfamiliar territory, meeting new people, and hopefully strengthening the local church.
- Pray for my amazing and courageous wife who will be 20 weeks pregnant when we leave. Pray for protection and health over her and the baby and extra energy for her as she carries this baby as we go.
- For Slovenia - please pray for divine appointments with students as we interact with them during their break from school. We will be working with surveys to assist in determining possible vehicles for future outreaches.
Raef & Sara
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