This Partnership-in-Missions Thing

A few weeks ago, we headed to northern Ohio to visit our dear friends, Dave & Marilyn Shaferly. It was, as always, a joy. And it gave us the opportunity to visit with our ministry partners at Findlay E-Free church.

At the end of the worship service, a woman came over to us, eager to thank us for the work we're doing. Her passion bubbling over, she said "We can't do what you do. Thank you so much for doing what you're doing in Haiti."

My response? A big hug, and an equally eager and passionate "No, thank you! We can't do what we're doing without you!"

It reminded me of another similar conversation recently. When unexpected, urgent and expensive repairs were needed on our house, some friends (who partner with us in ministry) helped us pay the bill, saying "We can't do what you do. But we can help you with this." That had me in tears, because we really needed the help, and our friends responded with such a solid understanding of what the Bible says about community, about the church.

These connections are critical for us. We can't do what we do without people gathering around us to prayerfully, financially and encouragingly support us.

Paul hit the nail on the head in Philippians, chapter 1, when he was writing to the young church at Philippi, to people he loved, and he said:

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1 v 3-5)

This partnership in missions thing...it's real, it's essential, it's beautiful.

It's encouraging to see our family featured on the Global Missions board at Findlay E-Free. If you have our photo on your wall, would you send us a picture and let us know that you're remembering us? 

If you have this kind of board in your church/youth group room/kitchen/office/wherever, with missionaries that you support - send them a note letting them know you're remembering them, you're with them, you're praying and giving and helping and encouraging and cheering them on....

We know we're not alone in loving the Shaferly family! Eating lunch here with Marilyn, Dave, Samuel and Michael.

P.S. We're at 87% funded in raising our support. We can’t take full salaries until we are at 100% of what OMS has calculated as our missionary support, covering salaries, travel costs, insurance etc. We still need some new support, with people committing to support us on a monthly basis - 30 people/families/churches/small groups giving $50/month or 15 people/families/churches/small groups giving $100/month would get us to 100%. 

If you'd like to start or increase your support for our ministry, you can do that securely on the OMS website Give to the Michels here in the USA, or in the UK, click the donate button here (and include a note in the donation details "for Storly & Kate Michel"). Thank you! 

England Encore

Bonswa, koman ou ye? (Hi, how are you? - Haitian Creole)

I'm writing from the friends' house we are now staying in on the OMS mission compound in Cap-Haitien, Haiti. We've been here since Monday, and so far, I'm glad to say, the pace of life has slowed down nicely (and necessarily...).

Storly's already accomplished several big things over the last couple of days, just from being here in person, talking face-to-face with people, following up contacts, visiting, networking. A major thing was accomplished yesterday that I can't actually tell you about yet, but it's exciting to see that doors are being opened for the radio ministry. That reminds me that many of you are praying for us regularly, most of the time without many specifics of what we're facing day to day. Thank you for praying for us!

Back to England

This is the last post from our June/early July whirlwind trip around the UK. (See previous posts for England, N Ireland and Wales updates).

We loved our time with the people at Bishop's Stortford Baptist Church, the church we started going to when we stayed with Mum before and after Esther's birth. They've always welcomed us back nicely, and this time was no different. We had a lovely time with Pastor John over cups of tea and biscuits ahead of our time to speak during the Sunday service, and it was great to see them flourishing in the new building they're in, and to hear testimonies of how God didn't answer their prayers earlier on in the building process, because He had something better in mind for them. They're doing some great outreach, and John really encouraged us as he spoke about appreciating our character and our ministry. Nice to hear! (sorry, no photos from BSBC for some reason, too busy drinking tea and chatting, I think.)

After a week in South Wales, we headed north to Preston for the OMS UK North West conference at Crown Lane Free Methodist Church, for two meetings Saturday afternoon. We arrived a little disheveled (as usual) after a four hour drive, but managed to tidy up and get into 'church clothes' before people started arriving.

Both meetings went well, and we were glad to be able to share about Haiti with people who have connections with OMS missionaries in other parts of the world. It was great to hear OMS UK Minister-at-Large Doug Atherton speak too, with his fantastic gift of preaching, in a Liverpudlian-mixed-with-South-Wales-valleys accent. He preached (as did a speaker at the OMS International Conference last week, and as I read in my devotions this morning - hmmm, is God trying to tell me something?) from Isaiah 6. This chapter is famous for the part where the Lord asks "Whom shall I send?" and Isaiah answers, "Here I am, send me." But the real point here is not how great Isaiah is for volunteering, but how awesome and holy is the Lord who calls him. [Check it out, Isaiah chapter 6].

We again relied on the hospitality of others. And were grateful to John and Elsie who looked after us so well. The girls especially loved their corner bath :)

And as we left, John gave us a tour round their chicken farm. We learned a few things about how eggs get from chicken to carton!

 

As we left the chicken farm, and headed for several hours back to Mum's, Storly and I both started dreaming about how we could help chicken farmers in Haiti to be more effective in the eggs business.

Cousins

Back to Mum's for a bit more time with family.

Our girls with my cousin Helen's girls, Evi & Maya. 

Me & my lovely cousin Helen.

Our girls with their cousins, my sister's two, Joe & Betty.

And short but sweet time with my lovely cousins Helen & Jenni. 

Back in the car.

Back in the car, towards south London to pick up a second rental car, so that we could drop off the first rental car on time, all the while following directions in French from the Sat Nav (!), heading to next stop in Swindon, sending emails on the way saying we'll be late for the conference call we're due on with colleagues from headquarters about the upcoming International Conference and the speech we were to give there.

Loved a couple of days in a hotel with a pool, and some time visiting my sister in her new place. Then back on the road to our final stop, good friends Neil and Helen's. I first met Neil when he started at World Vision, and sat across an office divider from me. Since then, I and then 'we' have so appreciated our friendship with Neil and Helen, and their beautiful children Faye and John. Neil's now a Vicar of a lovely church in Earley, and we loved just being there under his ministry and among his congregation.

We also loved being able to slump on their sofa for hours (watching the Wimbledon Men's Final) with no expectations from us, nowhere else to be. And the girls had a great time with Faye, making cupcakes, painting toenails and such. Lovely. LOVELY to be with them for a short but oh-so-refreshing time. 

That's it for the UK update. It was a lovely time of connecting and reconnecting with people. Pray with us that many who heard our story will partner with us by praying and giving towards our missionary support. If that's you, would you make that commitment by filling out the details on our prayer card, if you have one, or by contacting One Mission Society in the UK and letting them know you'd like to support 'The Michels'. Let us know how we can help get you set up as part of our missionary support team. Thanks very much, and ta-ta for now!