September 12, 2019 – Last weekend (9/7) the St John’s Home for Girls was dedicated in Bulgaria.  We were not there to participate in person but through report of those who were and the photos, it was an amazing time. Here is a quote from Kevin Austin – Director of Set Free

“Incredible day here in Bulgaria. Five years ago God gave a vision to Dee Dee Hester Galloway to partner with the Roma and others to establish a safe home for vulnerable Roma girls. It was a HUGE step of faith - but she took it. Today we dedicated the home. It's been a global movement. It was a #freedomsunday project.”

From this quote, you can understand the time and energy it took to bring the idea from a dream to reality.  This week take some time to praise God for what He has done and what will be done to serve the girls that will go through this home!

(all photos taken by Kevin Austin)

Also, pray for an unspoken need we have right now.  I hope to share more of the details soon.

And remember to pray for the Virtual Christmas Gift Box plans and preparations - pray that we have a good number of Churches participating.

Here is our travel schedule for the next few weeks:

September 15, 2019 – Freeport

September 22, 2019 – Taylor/Journey of Hope – AM

            Cornerstone – Battle Creek – 6 PM

September 28 – SAU Vendor Fair Homecoming

September 29, 2019 – Trinity Evangelical - Upper Sandusky, Ohio

September 5, 2019 - Christmas is on our minds as we plan and prepare for all that needs to get done.  One of the ministries that take a great deal of planning is our Virtual Christmas Gift Box program.  This is where we work with our churches to help them connect with the poor and needy in their communities by providing a gift for the kids as well as food for the families.

Here is a video that explains how we do what we do. 

 

We would like to have the funds by early to mid- November (at the latest) to help us plan and purchase the gifts - We are looking to serve 1000 - 1200 children this year with our new church plants.  We usually spend between $10-$12 per child so that means we are needing about $10,000-$12,000 for this coming Christmas Season.

To give online click here

If you need more information  including downloadable fact sheets go to our website: https://almellinger.typepad.com/christmasgift/

Still, have more questions contact me at almellinger@yahoo.com and we will get you the answers.

This week pray for...

... the dedication of the Girls home on September 7th

... the launching of our new church plant cohorts in Bulgaria (September) and Serbia (October)

... continue to pray for Divine appointments to help us expand the livelihood groups and economic ministries.

Praise God for...

... the first harvest of potatoes in the agricultural program.

Our Schedule:

September 8, 2019 – G Free – PA

September 15, 2019 – Freeport

September 22, 2019 – Taylor – Journey of Hope – AM

            Cornerstone – Battle Creek – 6 PM  

August 29, 2019 – Last week we visited a former student and former colleague in Washington State.  They are both in ministry and doing amazing jobs leading two churches in Washington.

Mike & Bethany McCune were both in our youth group while in Kansas and Ryan and Jen Wilson did missionary training with us 14 years ago.  They serve Churches about 30 miles apart. They are growing churches looking at new ways to impact their communities.

We were blessed to meet with them for a short time and see all that God is doing in and through them.

Pray for these two families and the churches they oversee!

With Labor Day coming we will be doing more traveling to more churches than we did in August so pray for safety in travels. 

Pray for the final preparations on the Girls home which will be dedicated in September.

Continue to pray for the financial needs all the work we are overseeing needs.

Our Schedule

September 1, 2019   - McPherson Church - KS

September 8, 2019 – G Free – PA

September 15, 2019 – Freeport - IL

August 22, 2019 – Last week I asked you to pray about connecting with the right folks to expand the work.  This week I want to share more specifics of what we are looking for.

Craft/Vendor Sales – These happen every weekend somewhere near you and are great places to display the handmade items that we produce – we have expanded our line to include a great deal more than knitwear so we have items for the fall, winter and spring as well.  If you would be willing to help us by signing up and manning one near year, we want to chat about how it could work.

Church Display Tables – that would be setting up a display promoting all that we are doing and how folks can get involved and help.  We always are well received when we visit churches but when we have no presence there, people seem to forget what we do and how they can help.  We are therefore looking for someone in each church to be our Ambassador (Poslanik in Bulgarian).  Setting up a display in between our visits to remind folks of what we are doing and how they can help.

Regional Promotion Representatives – We are looking for self-starting, out-going folks who will champion our work in a community or region.  Promoting what we do to others, representing our craftsmen to the community and sharing our story when given an invitation and opportunity to speak.

Pray with us that God would begin to raise up folks to help us expand and engage in the work we are doing.  Pray that God would open doors for us to connect with people to help us maximize and leverage our work.  Pray for wisdom to know how to move forward into new opportunities.

August 15, 2019 – We have reported that we want to establish one livelihood group with every church that we plant in the Balkans.  We currently have 8 livelihood groups but we have 19 churches planted and we are looking to start 15+ more churches in the next year.  What an opportunity.  To do that we need to expand our distribution network so we the new groups’ products have distribution outlets.  We also need to get startup funds to begin the new groups with the people in the churches.

We are looking for supporters (either current or ones we have not met yet) who will help us by investing new donations to this need. 

After our upcoming vacation, we will begin in greater earnest in our weekly travels to partner churches.  In between churches, I am working on connecting with businesses to add our products to their shops, participating in craft and vender fairs on weekends and connecting with business leaders about what we are doing asking for their investments and donations for our projects.

Now I am asking our weekly email receivers to do the following.

• Pray that God would lead us to the right people, in the right place to share our story and need so that we can continue our expansion.
• Connect us with folks you know that could help us develop the livelihood groups, add our products to their shop or help us expand our current marketing programs and outlets
• Think about hosting a display of our products at your church (especially if we are not coming to your church this time around) or a local craft fair this fall (we will send you everything – you just show it, tell our store and sell what you can).

This week I am asking you to pray for the above-mentioned needs. Pray that we would connect with the right folks in God’s timing to accomplish what He wants done.

On a note of praise – Several months ago we asked everyone to pray about a vehicle for us as we are home.  We did end up purchasing one from a family who were becoming missionaries and moving to another country.  It was older but seemed to be in good shape, we took it to Florida and have had some problems with it – but we are getting them fixed.  We knew it helped us for a quick need but were not sure it would be the best vehicle for all our travels.  This past week I received a text asking if we would like the current vehicle we are diving given to us as a donation.  It is a very functional van – one we have been using for several of our partnership tours.  We responded yes.  So now we have 2 vehicles (we will be getting rid of the first one and investing the funds back into the work).  All that said to share that God is faithful and does answer prayers in HIS time!  With that blessing, we know that what we are doing is where we need to be about for the kingdom at this time.   Thanks again for all your support!