It was a normal Monday, full of to-do lists and all that the beginning of a week holds. We were slowly working through our tasks when Billy received a call from our friend, Rodrigo. Rodrigo is a friend and CCW from Brazil, living in Germany. He runs a Christian non-profit/ministry (All4Aid) that specializes in working with displaced people. We met him as a result of our work with the mass refugee settlement camps in Greece back in 2016, and he has been on the leadership team for the Refugee Highway Partnership. Billy has also been on the leadership team for RHP over the years. We have partnered on several refugee initiatives. When the war broke out in Ukraine, Billy went to help Rodrigo with refugee evacuations (renovating housing for refugees, feeding programs, etc). They also went into Ukraine to make food drops and deliver supplies to churches and pastors who were staying behind to minister to their congregations who could not leave.
 
So, on this seemingly normal Monday, Rodrigo called to say that one of those churches had been caring for 18 orphans, but now needed to evacuate those children. They wanted to get them to the safe house that Billy had helped to renovate in 2022, but needed $10,000 to outfit the house for that many children and to physically provide for moving the kids. The kids needed to be moved as soon as possible, so the question was whether or not we could raise the money fast enough. If not, they would still be moved, but to a mass facility (not outfitted for children who are unaccompanied minors).
 
Billy and I said that we would check our ministry account and see how we could help. We immediately sat down and sent out a video to our donors to ask for help. We put it in the Lord’s hands and trusted that He would touch hearts. Then we went to bed. 
 
We woke up Tuesday morning and waited for the financial office to open in Atlanta so we could check our ministry account.
 
YOU DID IT!
YOU ARE AMAZING!!!
We cannot thank you enough! We went to bed praying that we would have enough donations to be able to help get the 18 orphans out of Ukraine and into a safe and loving home run by safe and trained Christian mission workers. When the finance manager woke up and we got the account information, we found out that YOU DID IT! Over night, while we slept, you did it! Together, we raised more than enough to get the children into a safe house in Romania.
 
We wired the money and our partner team is already working out the details. The children will be moving together to their new home soon.
 
Over the past couple of weeks, Rodrigo and his team have been using your donations to make necessary repairs and upgrades to the house that will soon be home to these children. Painting, plumbing repairs, new beds and bedding and flooring… lots of preparations! In the meantime, 3 of the children were given visas in conjunction with an NGO to evacuate to the USA. The remaining orphans are awaiting final paperwork so they can cross into Romania and into the care of All4Aid. As is typical with legal paperwork and visas, it has gone slower than anyone hoped. We will keep you updated as this progresses.
 
Over the years, we have never lacked for funds for a project or need. God is so good. And our partners (YOU) are so faithful. We feel like we are just the connector piece… we are on the ground and we share the needs with good people who really want to make a difference, they just need to know how. We are so grateful to share in this work with you and to be a part of something big that is Kingdom work. We just share the opportunities and we get to partner with God and with you… and the blessings just happen!
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Thank You so much! This is truly amazing. We will continue to support and sustain these children and this mission effort in the coming months. Billy is in conversation with Rodrigo and we’ll make sure to continue this partnership and support. We love the work of All4Aid and are proud to be able to partner with them as they serve in the difficult places. Thank you so much for your love and your responsiveness to the need.
 

We are making the final preparations before a very busy season of training and travel. We leave this weekend to spend a week in Atlanta to help lead training for college students who will be traveling to Thailand and Cambodia for a few weeks of ministry and cultural immersion. Laurie will be teaching sessions on Cultural Observations and Appreciative Inquiry, as well as teaching on the Community Care Model. Billy will be leading a session on Self-Care for cross-cultural workers.

We will then travel to Kentucky to lead two of our main training events of the year. We will be at Asbury Theological Seminary leading a seven-day training for cross-cultural workers and ministry leaders. We will have several countries and cultures and experienced CCWs represented in the room… Peru, Spain, Kazakhstan, Russia, Kenya, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Turkey, Algeria, USA, Kosovo, France… so much cultural diversity!  We will also have people going through training that are CCWs, pastors, mission leaders, mission support workers, mission organization staff and administrators, and more.  In all, we’ll have 38 in training daily, with an additional 13 pastors who will attend a few sessions with us on one day.

Then Laurie and Karen Couch will be leading a week-long training and retreat for mission trainers and facilitators. This week is the culmination of a 9-month learning cohort for Experiential Learning and Engaging Training. We had 26 mission trainers in the cohort, and we’ll have 18 in attendance for the week of training and retreat in Kentucky.

This week, Billy is leading a community of practice workshop for All Nations Christian College and Redcliffe College in the UK. He will be teaching on Burnout in Ministry Workers. Billy has also been asked to write a couple of articles in the coming weeks for various publications—one on Sabbatical and Sabbath Rest, and another on Walking Retreats. He’ll also be leading a webinar in the Fall on Burnout.

Later in the year, we will be headed to Kenya to lead a training for Kenyan cross-cultural workers! We have an international partner who we dearly love working with. Simon leads a Kenyan ministry called God’s Glory for All Nations (GGFAN) and he has asked for us to come lead some training for his leaders. Simon always tries to send his leaders to our trainings, but we had 5 who were denied visas to attend training in the USA this year, and 2 more who need training this Fall, so it made sense for us to just go to them!

After the training for GGFAN, we will be headed to the Global Member Care Conference (also in Kenya) where Billy will be sitting on a panel of care practitioners to talk about Sustainable Practices for Member Care in ministry.
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It is an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to train others and mobilize people for service all over the globe!!! Our service and training has ripple effects that reach far and wide and impact the Kingdom of God in places that we may never actually go! Thank you for helping us train and serve others so that they can go out and do the same all around the world.