Two days ago we had the final of our scheduled open houses for this summer with my parents. A huge thank you to them for hosting, and for the many that attended to hear more about our hearts for our mission to PNG.
During the past month we have spoken in two churches and have been hosted in the homes of four of our donors. We've shared about our heart for this season in our lives at Kudjip and have been deeply encouraged by the prayers that have been spoken over us.
During that process we also developed the following mission statement for our time in PNG:
"To open the doors of physical healing to bring the peace of Christ to the people of Papua New Guinea, while living resilient lives that reflect and glorify God."
This comes from John chapter five. A lame man sits at the healing pools of Bethesda for years. An angel stirs the water and those that are placed in the pool are healed. Jesus asks him why he doesn't go into the water to receive his healing. His reply? "Sir, I have no man to put me in the water, but while I am coming another steps in before me" Healing waters are stirred daily right next to him, but nobody will put him in. We know that we won't ultimately decide who receives healing through our ministry, although I have seen some incredible physical recoveries at Kudjip. God will provide the healing. Our call is to be obedient, serve and place people in the water who otherwise have nobody to do it for them.
We are excited, and nervous, about the real and practical steps we are taking now for our planned departure at the end of September. We are still waiting on entry permits and visas and would appreciate prayers for those things now.
Thank you to Gail Dooley for pictures of our new home in PNG nearing completion!
As we prepare to leave, the theme I'm reminded of again and again is bittersweet. For 11 years Esther and I have been preparing to serve overseas as missionaries. It seemed like a pipe dream for so long that being this close to traveling is a very sweet relief. At the same time, we notice the things around us that we have loved and cherished for the past 8 years of our marriage together. Family, friends and familiar places and routines that our children appreciate. Leaving those things behind stretches our comfort - but we trust and believe that God arranges our new home for the needs of our family.
Another challenge for us comes from our financial needs. We have seen amazing generosity and are so grateful and humbled at those who have given financially toward our mission. It is more difficult for me to see the remaining gaps in our needs and not be anxious. Esther has been involved in a missionary family throughout her childhood and has a more serious exposure to God's faithfulness in those area than I have. But we each trust that God will supply the needs for our journey.
Along those lines, we are awaiting some of the final initial funds to be processed but we should have passed our $12,000 start-up funds. This is a testament to those who have given to us and have already started their monthly support. As of this writing, we have received pledged amounts for $1,380 of our needed $2,000 monthly support. This is almost 70% of our need. Of this, about $900 is already coming in. Thank you for committing your finances as well as prayers to us already.
For those who have pledged to support and haven't begun to do so yet, remember to visit our donation page at
http://web.nazarene.org/goto/Crouch-PNG to establish a recurring gift or to receive directions on how to mail in a recurring gift, and thank you for your pledge!
We still have $620 in monthly need that we will be raising in the next couple months while also preparing to depart. MissionCorps, our sending agency, will expect us to be receiving this recurring support prior to placement to maintain our ministry in the field. I trust that God will provide this, though it stretches me at times to make preparations without seeing all of our "numbers" add up. Please pray for our financial support, but also that beyond that we would have trusting hearts.
Thank you for coming to hear us these past weeks and for encouraging us with your presence and prayers. If you weren't able to attend one of our open-houses but would like to hear about our mission to PNG in more details, remember to check our
Prezi. We will update again in a couple weeks with our funding progress as well as how our preparations are going.
