The mountain tops and the valleys.......



Clearwater Beach

Once again, thank you for your prayers and specially for those of you who prayed for the team that came from Midtown in March.  There is nothing sweeter than having fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ.  Outside of the huge encouragement that the team was for us here, they were awesome in helping us make connections with people here in Tampa.  We didn't want them to go.  We love you Josh, Toy, Alex, Blake, Corrine, Amanda and Jerri!!!!  You were used by God in many ways, keep serving the Lord!

One of the connections that was made that week was with a guy named Peter.  Mark has met with Peter a few times to study the bible.  Peter is going through some difficult times right now and has not made himself available to meet with Mark.  We already love Peter and have a burden for him so please pray that God will be at work in his life and that he will make contact with Mark again.



Teen bible study

Our teen bible study has been growing and our kids have taken the challenge to keep inviting friends.  We want to see each of them grow in their walk with the Lord and for those that don't have a relationship with God come to know him.  We are asking God in faith to bring a young couple that love teenagers to come and join our team so they can lead the teen bible study.  We love teenagers but we see the need of having somebody else take over.  So please be praying with us for that.

Mark and I were talking this week about the blessings of walking in faith.  What is walking in faith?  The bible says in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  Taking a step of faith is obedience without knowing what's on the next step.  Let me explain how this applies to us personally.  If you remember a year ago we asked you to pray about the possibility of moving from the area where we were living to the area closer to the university.  If you recall that meant that our kids would have to change schools again.  Mark and I were having a hard time with this because we didn't want to move our kids again. (This was going to be the fourth school for Dylan in a period of four years).  It was a big decision, so we started praying and asking God to lead and open doors if this was what he wanted.  He answered as you all know in different ways that was clear he was saying "MOVE".  We obeyed his voice not knowing what that would mean for our kids but trusting and believing that God will take care of them.



Syera in a play at school

 All of that to say, Cambridge Christian (this is the school our kids now attend) has been a tremendous blessing to each of our kids in many ways.  It has also given us ways to connect to other families to make new friendships.  God has taken care of our family in every way as a result of our obedience.  So, if God is asking you to do something in your life, don't be paralyzed by fear but instead take a step of faith and be obedient to His calling.  We finally feel at home after 4 years of feeling unsettled.  I believe this is where God wants us and we're excited to see what he has in store for us and the ministry.

As all of you know, and probably have experienced, life is not always colorful and pretty.  There are difficult and discouraging times too.  Needless to say, we've had those times too.  Making disciples one by one is a difficult task, and one that takes time.  There are times when I feel alone and wonder if there will ever be a body of believers gathered together. I know in my heart that God will take care of that but in my flesh there are times when I want to stop following the vision that God has given us and just take the easy route.  Some Christians stop walking with the Lord because at some point life gets hard, choices they have to make go against what most people do and they take the easy way out and they don't choose to endure.  I'm so thankful for God"s Word because during these times of discouragement and unbelief, I can go to his truth and claim his promises and change my way of thinking and endure the hardships of life, knowing that in eternity, it will be worth it all!!!

We were sad to see Mallory move back to Texas.  She had become a part of our family.  But on the other hand, she is a product of what we're doing here.  Lucy took a year to disciple her and invest in her and she went back to her home better equipped and with a heart to invest in others.  We personally (in numbers) didn't gain anything but in the scope of eternity we did!  God used Lucy to make a disciple that now has a heart to make disciples in her own home town.  Praise God for that because that is what we're all about.   Mark is doing the same thing here with some international students.   He meets with them every week and opens the bible and invests God's Word into men that, in a year, will be gone.  Once again, we won't have numbers to show it, but we are making an impact on the nations from Tampa.  This is exciting!!!  Please be praying for Wei's salvation.  He's one of the men that attends the bible study and he came with zero knowledge of Jesus and now he's asking lots of great questions.  The Totis have also made a connection with a couple that they are building a relationship with but they already have had open doors to share the gospel with them.  Their names are Charlie and Marie so please be praying for their salvation.

There is a lot more I could share but I'll stop here.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  Keep praying for this ministry and for God to give us lost people to invest in.  We covet your prayers everyday!!!


Prayer requests summary:

-Peter to be available to meet again with Mark
-A couple that has a heart for teenagers to come join our team and lead teenagers
-Wei's salvation
-Charlie and Marie's salvation
-Contact with more lost people to join us in bible study (Tuesday nights)
-Encouragement for our team during the hard times



We love you all and please continue to pray.  God is definitely moving and using us here in Tampa to further His kingdom!!!

The Schaffers

Craving spiritual fruit

Thank you for praying for our mission in Tampa, Florida.   The support from our prayer warriors is priceless!  We are trusting God for spiritual fruit this year.  We want to see people come to know Christ and get discipled but the hard thing is that we can only trust him to give us the increase.

We are so excited to welcome the team from Midtown this week!  We are asking God to give us more connections with people around the city that are ready to get saved and grow in the Lord.   The enemy has already been at work.  We've had some gliches with the plans while the team is here.  We don't want to create our own agenda.  We want to be purposeful and intentional so please pray that God will lay out our week for us in the next couple of days.

Let me give you some updates on our ministry:

Teen Bible Study

Teen bible study

Last month we started a teen bible study at our house.  We've had 7-10 kids every week.  Mark is going through the 7 stages of spiritual growth.  We have some kids that already have a relationship with the Lord and some that don't.  The kids lead the worship time and we usually break up in small groups at the end for prayer.  

Discipleship

Lucy is still meeting with Mallory and she's continuing to grow in her walk with the Lord.  I'm still meeting with Danielle and Nora.  It's been  exciting to see Nora invest in her friend Venus.  She's meeting with her once a week to study the bible together.  This is exactly what we're asking God to do, to multiply us.  Mark and Jaime are meeting again after the long break due to his health issues, but now his work schedule seems to be getting in the way. Please pray that Mark and Jaime will have that one on one time every week.  Our ministry need men to be ready to go and teach others also.

Tuesday Night Prayer

Pearsons at Tuesday Night Prayer

We are faithful every tuesday to gather together and pray for our needs, friends, city, missionaries and anything else that arises.  It is a time to regain strength for the rest of the week.  We had Doug Pearson as a guest in January.  The night that he came to speak, Mark invited one of the international students from India and he was able to hear the gospel and be loved by the Pearsons and us!  

Friends of Internationals

Mark has had the opportunity to meet every Monday with a guy from China to study the bible.  Actually, it's been more like pastoral training.  He wants to go back to China and pastor.  We count it a blessing to be able to train a chinese guy from Tampa and have the Lord use him in his own country.  This is awesome!!!  Rebecca Toti was also able to share Christ with a girl from Iran.  She was open to hear about Jesus.  Seeds are being planted and we just need to wait for God to give the increase.  This Saturday while the team is here, we have a sport activity planned with international students but so far we don't have that many signed up.  We need you to pray that students will show up this Saturday.  We want to share the love of Christ with them.  We can't make it happen but we know that God can.  

Our team celebrating Lucy's Birthday

Our team....

As we shared with you last time, the Totis have joined our team!  It has been a blessing for Mark to have another man.  They are here ready to make disciples.  Please be praying for Ron's job.  We know that God will provide.  We are asking God for more team members that are ready to count the cost to be a part of a church planting, disciple making team!  

Once  again, thank you for your prayers and support.  Unless you're in the battle field, you don't realize how much it means to know that others are supporting you.  There are days that I get discouraged and long for the day that we will have a church body and see the fruit that God has given.  I want to be bold and intentional when I'm around people.  People need Christ and they don't know it, I can't waste my time thinking about myself and let people  go on their way.  I have a heavy burden, an urgency to tell others about my Savior.  Please pray that our team will have boldness to speak the good news to people!  I don't want to be discouraged by the enemy.  I want to be focused on what God has called me to do!  

It feels like summer time already in Tampa.  The temperatures have been pretty hot.  We got to go to the beach with our kids last week for a couple of days for their spring break.  It was a great time to get away and just create more memories as a family!  We are greatful for God's blessings in our lives. He is good!  

Continue to pray for the mission in Tampa.  We desperately need him to do a work and lead us to those who are ready to hear!  

We love you!

Tampa Team

Schaffers, Lucy, Totis

I have planted, Apollo watered; but God gave the increase. I Corinthians 3:6

I have a lot to share with you!  God has been doing some awesome things that He can only do.  

Mark and Rajiv getting the fire started

Couple from India

I'm going to have to rewind a couple of months to get you up to date. In
October we had a get together for halloween and we invited a married couple from India to spend the evening with us.  They learned a lot about the american culture by eating chilli and roasting marshmallows.  It was a great evening to love on them and to build our relationship with them.  God has put them on my heart to invest
in them.  God will take care of giving the increase.

Get together in November

The following month in November we also had an evening of games and snacks with some international students and some students from USF.  It was a great night to connect with them and to start to establish some friendships.  One of the girls that came is a close friend of the girl that I am discipling.  She's going through a lot right now and not very open to spiritual things but we're praying for her and we believe God can change her heart and maybe she will be willing to study the bible together. Her name is Brittany, you can pray that her heart would be open to hear God's truth.

Tuesday night prayer

 Danielle and I are moving forward with discipleship and God has been giving her some cool open doors at the USF campus.  Lucy has been meeting with Mallory for discipleship and she's been faithful to come to tuesday night prayer.  Mallory also brought one of her friends to prayer and she's been having some spiritual conversations with a couple of her roommates.  It's awesome to see how she's already wanting to invest in others when she is still growing in her faith.  The bad news now is that Mallory may go back to Texas next semester.  We're praying that God will make a way for her to stay so she can get more grounded in God's word.  Mark and I have not been able to meet with Jaime and Nora due to all of his health issues but we're planning to go back to it next month.  God has taken them through some rough times but I believe this season has been a season of growth in their faith in God.  Nora has been praying for one of her neighbors, finally last week she was able to meet and pray with her.  The awesome thing is that she's willing to meet weekly with her for bible study and her son may come to our teen bible study that we'll start next month at our house.  Her name is Venus so please pray that nothing will come up so that they can have that time in the Word together.  This is one of those things that only God can take credit for because Nora hadn't been able to see this neighbor and the very last day before she moved from that apartment God gave her a divine appointment and allowed them to connect.:)  It's awesome to see how our disciples are catching the vision of making disciples. Praise God for that!

Teen Reunion at our house

 In December we also had a reunion with the teens that were a part of our bible study at the apartments.  We had 9 of them to our house for some snacks and a time just to love on them.  They were very happy to be at our house.  There is one teen in particular, Jason, that has been asking Mark more spiritual questions lately via text.  We believe that our short term investment of the Word of God was not in vain. Somebody else will come in their lives to water that seed and God will give the increase.

Friends of Internationals Christmas Party

A couple of weekends ago we had the Christmas party for Friends of Internationals at USF.  We had more people show up that we had expected so food was very limited.  It seemed a little crazy but it all worked out.  Mark shared the gospel clearly to everyone, some students got up and left as soon as he started to speak but most of them stayed.  One student said that that was the very first time he had ever heard that message and we were told that this student got saved that night but Mark needs to follow up with that.  We'll keep you posted with that, so stay tuned for the next blog!:)

Sunday Morning Service

We have more members in our church planting team!!! This is an answer to prayer! The Toti family arrived in Florida a couple of weeks ago after a long driving journey from Oregon.  We are very excited to have them with us! Please be praying for their transition.


Once again, we got in the spirit of the christmas season. Lucy, Syera, Nykki and myself spent last saturday afternoon baking cookies, and alright, Mark baked some rice krispies too. He wouldnt be happy if I left him out..haha:) The Totis and the Barajas baked some cookies too and brought them to our house to do a cookie exchange.  Each family took some plates filled with yummy cookies to deliver them to their neighbors.  Our family had a blast meeting neighbors and inviting them to tuesday night prayer and if they had teenagers to our teen bible study that we're starting in January.  Pray that God will bring those he wants to be a part of it.

 We are praying for spiritual fruit in 2015.  We want God to connect us with lost people that will be willing to study the bible and through that, they will come to know the Lord.  We can't make that happen on our own, so please be praying with us that God will do it!

A quick update on our family, starting in January Mark will no longer be doing his insurance job, he will be focusing his time in the church plant and Friends of Internationals ministry at USF, I will continue to work as an interpreter as long as I need to. God knows my heart desire is to be more available for my children and the ministry but for the time being this is what God has given me to do and I am thankful that I can help our family during this time.  The kids are doing great in school and God has provided great friends for them.  Mark will be coming to the Focus conference in January to Midtown.  He's looking forward to it and I'm jealous....haha:)

Thank you so much for your love, prayers and support.  We know that we''re not alone here, we know we have a church body behind us!

We love you!  Have a happy New Year!!!

 The Schaffers :)

.......Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Tuesday night prayer

Tuesday night prayer

I hope you're enjoying your fall weather!!! Here in Florida still feels like summer!  We haven't pulled out any of our  cold weather attire, but we will as soon as it goes down to 65 degrees...haha (that's what we do in the sunshine state).

 I want to start out by thanking you for your prayers and financial support.  It is very encouraging to know that people are lifting up this ministry in prayer.  It can't be done without the power of prayer!

We feel like we have been going nonstop.  Mark has been trying to balance 3 very important responsibilities.  His role as a pastor, his role as the director of Friend's of Internationals and his role as a financial advisor.  Added to that, his role as a husband, father and repair guy at the house.  So, needless to say,  he's felt overwhelmed at times and feeling like he can't devote an adequate amount of time to anything.  He's been balancing all these responsibilities the best he can but we know that he can't continue on at that pace.  I know his heart and passion is for ministry and we both want him to dedicate his time doing that.  We have spent the last month asking God for direction to when will be the right timing for Mark to stop working as a financial advisor at Horace Mann.  He wants to finish well and with a good testimony.  God has used that job in many ways to provide for our needs and his boss has been very gracious with Mark.  We believe that God has led him to start phasing out this month (October), tie up loose ends in November and be completely done by December.

Mark in his home repair role.

Mark as Friends of Internationals Director

Once again, it is a step of faith of what we believe God is asking us to do because his job provides for us financially.  We currently don't have all of our support raised to take care of our family needs but we believe that God will take care of our needs, we just need to be obedient to his leading.  I am still working as an interpreter and will continue to do so as long as I need to.  I believe that God knows our needs and our hearts for ministry and the need to minister to people here.  Please pray that God will provide and raise the support that we need soon so we can go full speed here in ministry!:)

 I was so excited Tuesday because Mark and others from BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministry) went to the USF campus to share the gospel with the students.  Take a look at the picture of the board with words written on it, each word represents a person, all those people heard the gospel.  Praise the Lord!!!  Mark also got to make more touches with a couple of international students while he was there.  We're hoping to have them over to our house soon!
 

Sunday Morning service

We haven't added anybody else to our prayer night but we are trusting God that he will add them in his timing.  We need more men for Mark, he's been outnumbered for a while.  Our discipleship relationships are going well.  We haven't been able to meet with Jaime and Nora the last couple of weeks because Jaime has had health issues.  He had surgery today and glory to God that it went well!  This month they joined our Sunday morning service, so our group has grown, praise God for that! We now have a children's ministry  that consists of 2 kids. :) We have shared with them our vision for the ministry and they are on board with us to make disciples!

Children's ministry on Sunday morning

Please continue to pray for Lucy as she keeps looking for a new place to live that is near our house and her job.  She's waiting on the Lord's time but being diligent in her search and wishing for gas prices to keep going down ...:)

Danielle and I are still meeting for discipleship and it's going well!  The college life has been a little trying but I'm keeping her accountable and she continues to spend time in God's Word.  She's had great opportunities to share the gospel with girl's in her dorm.  Super exciting!  I'm already challenging her to be praying for somebody that she can sit down and do the bible discovery method with.

Mallory and Lucy will be starting discipleship very soon.  Mallory just got a new place to live so I believe she's been taking time to get settled.  It's been great getting to know her more and more.

Syera's friends at our house.

Our kids have been busy with school and sports.  We have given them some challenges too for their walks with God.  This has been a transitional time for them and they are having to make some of their own decisions that require taking a stand for God.  We are going to wait until Christmas time to go around our neighborhood to invite teenagers to our house for bible study.  We believe that it will be the best timing.  In the meantime we are opening our house to any of their friends from school to come over.  We were able to host a couple of activities this month and hopefully we can do a harvest party later this month.  We are so excited to have a home again that we can host people in!


I believe that's all for now.  Let me summarize our prayer requests:

1. Jaime's surgery recovery
2. Lucy to be able to find a rental home within her budget near her job and our house.
3. Danielle to continue to stay focused in her walk with God and to take advantage of open doors with others.
4. Mallory to grow spiritually through discipleship
5. Financial support to be raised for the Schaffers by January 2015
6. Mark to be able to have discernment and productivity with time management

A day spent with International students at Kennedy space center

7. Interpreting assignments for Astrid
8. More team members to join us
9. International students connections and conversations about the gospel

In closing, I just want to share with you some important facts about the city of Tampa.  It is the third largest city for human trafficking in the nation, Pinellas county (St. Petersburg, Clearwater) is ranked as the top county in the country for intravenous drug use.  1 in every 220 people in Tampa are infected with HIV/AIDS, Tampa/St. Petersburg metropolitan area has the highest rate of homelessness in the nation.  

Tuesday night prayer

It is a dark place, people need to hear the good news of the gospel, and people need to be delivered from their bondage to sin.  We can't do it alone.  We need you to bear this burden with us, you can do it by praying for this city, joining our prayer team, support it financially, or come join our team.  Let God lead you!  We just know that we need the body with us to see this city changed and turn from sin to Christ!
We love you!  Please feel free to share this blog with others!  We want everyone praying!  Matthew 21:22 "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive"


We love you,

Mark, Astrid, Syera, Dylan, Nykki and Lucy.

In case you don't have our contact info here it is:
jmarkschaffer@yahoo.com
astridschaffer@ymail.com
lucyrakins@gmail.com

If you would like to support this ministry financially please send it to:

Midtown Baptist Temple
3953 Walnut St.
Kansas City, MO 64111
C/O Tampa Missions
(816) 398-8171



    

Reaching the Nations from Tampa, Fl

A lot of exciting things have happened in the last few weeks!!!!   I can't wait to share some of those with you!

Friends of Internationals................
We had the welcome dinner for all of the international students at USF last Saturday.  Lucy, Mark and I were able to make contacts with several students.  We were able to sit down and talk to them and hopefully this one conversation will turn into many more.  Mark already has met with a guy from India, his name is Abi, and he's planning to meet with him more.  Abi wants to help Mark with Friends of Internationals so Mark will start meeting with him to plan things but his ultimate goal is to share the gospel with Abi.  We see great opportunities with this ministry.  We are here to be a family to them and in the process share Christ with them and trust God with their salvation so later, these students can go back to their countries and reach their own people.  I have to share a short testimony that the previous director of Friends of Internationals shared with us.  One of the international students that had come to USF to study a couple of years ago accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior.  His comment to the director was "I came to get my masters but instead I met my Master".  Now he is back in India leading his own people to Christ.  This is the reason why we are here, we want to make disciples that will go and make disciples all over the world!!!.

Discipleship.............

Mark and I started discipleship with Jaime and Nora a couple of weeks ago.  They have a heart for the Lord and to grow in their walk with God.  We are building our relationship with them and we are trying to spend as much time as we can with them.  We are enjoying our time to sit down and open the word of God and just share life and the things that God has taught us.  I also started meeting with Danielle, she is a student at USF.  It's her first time away from home so it's been challenging for her but God has given her already some open doors to share her faith.:)  Lucy is continuing to meet with Mallory and she is continuing to grow in her walk with God.

Tuesday prayer night...........

It was so exciting and encouraging a couple of weeks ago because we had Mallory and Danielle join us for prayer.  We want to see this group grow.  We enjoy our time of getting together in the middle of the week to pray for each other's needs and for others.  This tuesday I was praying with Nykki and asking God to give me an opportunity to share the gospel with a lost person.  We are here to reach the lost and I hadn't had an opportunity lately.  The next day I went to work at the courthouse and one of the other interpreters started asking me questions about our church plant and how we got here.  I was able to share our story with her and also share the gospel with her and explain to her that it's not about a religion but about a relationship with God.  She has a bad taste of "religion" due to her upbringing.  The seed has been planted and I will continue to invest in her so please be praying for her heart to be soften and her eyes to see and understand the Truth, her name is Mary.  God answers prayer! We just need to ask and be ready to speak when he opens the doors.

Family and Kids..............

Our family has been very busy with all the changes that we've had and with the remodeling of the house.  The kids are loving their school and making friends.  This has been one of our prayers for them, that they would make friends.  Due to all the moving around in the last three years they haven't been able to do that very well.  Now, it's a different challenge for Mark and I, that is, parenting teenagers.  We have worked with teenagers for many years but we've never being parents of teenagers.  It is for sure very different.:)  Mark has to be dad and sometimes he has to put on the youth pastor cap on and play the role of their youth pastor.  We want Godly kids not just good kids. We constantly need the Lord to give us wisdom to lead them and that our kids will have a heart of obedience to God and to us.  I do have to say that we are blessed of the relationship that we have with our kids.  We talk about everything and they even ask us the hard questions like, "Daddy, how many girls did you date? and so on....... It is a new stage in their lives but we are enjoying it too!!!
Mark is still juggling all of his responsibilities and trusting that God will raise the financial support that we need so that he can fully focused on the church plant and friends of internationals ministry.  Those two ministries are his passion! I'm still working as much as I can as an interpreter.  God has been faithful to provide through it and we are thankful for that.  But my heart is still to be able to be home more to be more available for my kids and ministry things.  I know this is my season for this and I believe God will take care of it in His timing.  He knows my heart and I believe he has a perfect plan for me.:)

Lucy........

We love Lucy!!!!!!  We have missed seeing Lucy as often as we did before, so we are praying diligently that God will provide her a home near her job and our house.  She is actually looking at a very good option this weekend so please pray that everything will work out with that house.  Her job is going well and she's enjoying it!  The trouble maker has been Brooks, her dog, she had a couple of stressful days dealing with Brooks's naughtiness but I believe she's doing better now.  Good thing she's a cute puppy!!!

Our first fellowship gathering with others.........

Labor day get together

Labor day was an exciting day for us.  We had a cookout at our house and we had guests.  We had some friends from Ocala, Jaime and Nora, a couple of international students, Mallory and Lucy.  It was exciting to see a house full of people eating, playing games and sharing life together.  We want more times like that!!!

Things ahead.............

We are planning a get together with our teen group that we left at the apartments.  We would like to have them over to our house to spend time with them and love on them.  We miss that group and we pray for them.  :)
We are also planning to go around our neighborhood and meet our neighbors and hopefully find teenagers that we can invite to our house and start another bible study.  Just like God did all the work for the bible study we started at the apartments, we are trusting that He will do His work to get this one off the ground too.

Taking in a little extra sugar to get us through the day..haha:)

We can't believe that we've been here a year and all the things that God has done!  There have been many ups and downs, but we have seen God at work in everything.  There are times when it's hard being without a church body and I ask myself how long is it going to take to have a church body? Am I going to be able to do this? There are days that I struggle to believe that God will choose to use me to see people come to know him and to make disciples.  I know that I can't do it on my own, I need God everyday because the enemy attacks my mind and puts negative thoughts in my head.
I want to reach people and make disciples.  I need you to be praying for our ministry and for our team!  We also know that we need more people to join our team to help us reach Tampa and the nations.

Prayer requests:

Discipleship relationships - Jaime, Nora, Danielle and Mallory
New teen bible study in our house
Connections with the lost and international students- Mary (my co-worker)
Financial support to be raised for our family
A home to rent for Lucy near her job and our house
Syera, Dylan and Nykki - keep them away from evil and be willing to take a stand for God
More team members to join us in Tampa

We praise God for how he has led our way. Providing us a home, a school for the kids, a ministry that we can make a difference in many nations, connections with different people, our jobs, prayer team, family and friends.  It is so awesome to be children of the King!!!

Thank you for your prayers and support!  Continue to pray, I can't wait to see what God will do in the hearts of people in the next year!!

We love you!

Mark, Astrid, Syera, Dylan, Nykki and Lucy.


In case you don't have our contact info here it is:
jmarkschaffer@yahoo.com
astridschaffer@ymail.com
lucyrakins@gmail.com

If you would like to support us financially:
Midtown Baptist Temple
3953 Walnut St.
Kansas City, MO 64111
C/O Tampa missions
(816)398-8171

".....The things which are impossible with men are possible with God" Luke 18:27

We have seen God answered prayer in the last few months of things that in our human minds were impossible to come through.  The reason why I haven't posted anything on our blog is because life has been pretty hectic in the last 3 months.  I'll share with you what's been going on with our family, our team and our ministry here in sunny but rainy Tampa, Florida.


Our move..............
As most of you know, we had been praying for a home for our family.  The situation with Mark's job and the requirements to be able to get a loan didn't match up, so it seemed impossible for us to get a house any time soon.  I will not overwhelm you with all of the details of how it came about that those two things came together.  As a result of God being a part of it all, we were able to purchase our home on 7/15/2014.  Praise God!!!!  We feel so blessed and are very excited to start using it for His kingdom without having to worry about the noise level or the small space.  The home needed some TLC.  God knew that we were going to need some extra hands so he blessed us with Ryan, Lindsay and Annie Templeton!  A couple of months before we knew our moving date, the Templeton's had asked us if they could come and serve in some way in our ministry, at the time we really didn't think we would have much for them to do but we told them that we could use their fellowship.  But, the cool thing is that God already knew what we would need during their time here.  They booked their flights a couple of months ahead for the exact dates that God new that we would need their strong muscles to be loading and unloading a moving truck and some extra hands to rip up carpet, strip wallpaper, paint, etc.  They were a tremendous blessing as an encouragement through fellowship but also as a help on our move.
Then, we had Jeff and Kiley Grasher come for a visit, they were also a great help in the painting department but the greatest blessing for us was the time they spent with our 3 kids while they were here.  They were such an encouragement for our kids!!! Following their visit my sister, Frida and her daughter came to help in various ways that I'm not gifted in such as sewing and helping me get things set around the house.  Lucy and her disciple, Mallory were also a great help to us!  During this transition, we had to spend almost two weeks at Lucy's one bedroom apartment.  She was so nice to let a family of 5, plus guests, plus 2 dogs invade her quiet space. Thanks Lucy!!!:)


Teen bible study...................
Along with this transition, sadly, we had to say goodbye to our teen bible study.  We believe God used us in their lives in the last 6 months.  We have planted a seed and we believe He will use others to water it and give the increase.  We plan to get together with them again once we get more settled in our house, but due to the distance and not having a place to meet with them, we won't be able to meet weekly with them.  One of the teenagers was able to go to teen camp with our kids with the church that we used to attend in Ocala, Fl.  Our prayer is that he will take heed to God's word and that he will find a body to connect to.  We want to start a new teen bible study in our new neighborhood.

Friends of Internationals...................
Another prayer request that was answered is the opportunity for Mark to lead the ministry of Friends of Internationals at USF (University of South Florida).  We've always had a heart for international students and this will be a great opportunity for us to get involved in their lives, love them, and share Christ with them.  We believe we will be impacting the world from Tampa.  We are already getting involved in this ministry by doing airport pick ups, helping the students get settled into their apartments and by going to the welcome dinners. This is a full time position for Mark, and due to that we need to raise financial support for our family.  You can read more about it in his prayer letter.  If you aren't receiving his prayer letter but would like to, please let me know. If you would like to support our family financially, you can do so through Midtown Baptist Temple and on the memo line write: Tampa Missions.  Please be praying that we would be able to raise that support by December.

Our kids............................
God also answered our request about the kid's school.  We were heart broken to change them again to another school but God through His grace took care of them and they are looking forward to go to their new school.  They will be attending a school called Cambridge Christian School.  I'm excited that they will all be at the same school.  God provided discounts and scholarships for them to be able to attend.  He can do the impossible!!!!:)

About our team.............

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Lucy started a new job this week!!!!!  This is a praise!  The downside is that she has a long commute between her apartment and job site.  Be praying with us that God will give her wisdom and provision about the timing and the location to move closer to her work (which is right by the university). Being close to USF will allow her to have more time for ministry.  The distances are not the problem in Tampa, the traffic and long stoplights are the problem.  It takes a very long time to get from point A to point B even if it's only 5 miles away. ;/

The Toti's....We had shared with you that Ron, Rebecca and their kids were moving to Tampa to help us make disciples.  God has not allowed Ron to get a job, and their ministry in Portland has been fruitful lately.  They are asking God for confirmation and clarity on what they need to do.  Continue to pray for the Toti's.  We would love to have them with us, but we want what God wants for their family.

Making Disciples..............
I can't remember if I shared with you about a couple that came to Tampa due a job relocation, their names are Jaime and Nora Barajas.  Nora got connected to me through her aunt Angie Anderson (missionary in Mexico).  Long story short, Mark and I will start meeting with them for discipleship this week.  They are already believers but are eager to study God's word and have a heart to make disciples.  They have 2 young children, Ella and Eliam.  Awesome family and we are excited to see what God will do in their lives.

I will start discipling a girl that used to be in our youth group in Ocala that will be attending USF this year. Her name is Danielle.  I'm also going to start meeting again with Estefania, she's a girl that we got connected to when our MBT team was here in march.  Mark will make contact again with the students that he was meeting with before that will be coming back to school.

Our pastor............
Mark has a lot in his plate right now so please be praying for his sanity....haha:) Right now he is still working for the Insurance company, leading our church planting team, painting, building closets and fixing things in our house, training for the position as the leader of Friends of Internationals, being a husband, daddy and discipler, and trying to raise support for this new position.  Phew....he's got a lot going on and sometimes it can get overwhelming.  Please pray that God will give him wisdom and discernment with his time and that he would not allow the flesh to win during the frustrating moments.  He's doing a great job at trying to balance it all but he is only human and he needs God's strength.

Tuesday night prayer............
Our family and Lucy have been meeting on tuesday nights for prayer.  In September we're going to invite our disciples and the people that we're meeting with to join us on tueday nights for a time of worship and prayer.  We want them to have the opportunity to come together with others to pray for each other and to be encouraged through prayer and His word!

Prayer requests...........

1.    Teen bible study in our new neighborhood
2.    Discipleship connections: Jaime and Nora Barajas, Mallory, Danielle, Estefania, Costas.
3.    Lucy's timing and location for a new place to live.
4.    Inner strength and discernment in time management for Mark's responsibilities.
5.    Clarity for the Toti's about God's plan for their family.
6.    More team members to join the mission in Tampa.
7.   Financial support for our family to be raised by December.

We covet your prayers and thank you for being interested in what God is doing here in Tampa.  We have no doubt that He is at work and that He will do great things!  Please feel free to contact any of us if you have any questions about anything you've read or about the ministry.  Thank you to all the visitors that we've had!!!  We love you all and continue to pray because God hears and he answers!!!

Mark, Astrid, Syera, Dylan, Nykki and Lucy :)

In case you don't have our contact info here it is:
jmarkschaffer@yahoo.com
astridschaffer@ymail.com
lucyrakins@gmail.com

If you would like to support us financially:
Midtown Baptist Temple
3953 Walnut St.
Kansas City, MO 64111
C/O Tampa missions
(816)398-8171

.....The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16

Thank you for your prayers for the ministry in Tampa and for our team!

Josh and Nate cooking our dinner!

Last month in March, we were blessed and encouraged to have had a team from Midtown Baptist Temple.  We had been praying for God to use this team to lead us to the fertile hearts (people ready to hear God's Word).  God answered our prayer, each team member was used in many ways while they were here.  While the team was here, we went to different parts of the city to find out where were the people that are wanting to study the Bible.  Our approach was to ask people 3 simple questions: What's your opinion about Jesus, what's your opinion about the Bible and would you like to study the Bible?.  As a result of those questions, we got a list of 40 people that said that they wanted to study the Bible.  Mark, Lucy and I are currently meeting with some of those people weekly.  We are praying that these will be our first disciples that will make more disciples.  We had a great time just having fellowship with the team!  They were great servants and bold to share the gospel!

MBT Team praying for our day.

Our teen Bible study continues to grow and they are asking great questions.  A couple of them are very close to coming into a relationship with God.  We continue to meet every Thursday night and we have between 8-13 kids that show up.  Our love for them has grown rapidly!  Mark has shared the gospel almost every week for the last four months.  Most of the kids have never heard it before and it's all new to them, but it's been so exciting to see how God is starting to open up their eyes to His Truth.  His Word is powerful and sharper than any two edged sword!  Please be praying for their salvation.

Mark teaching during teen bible study.

Along with the victories and excitements of ministry, we've also have had some opposition from the enemy.  We know that we minister in light of spiritual realities.  We have seen that week after week.  The enemy tries to distract us, frustrate us and discourage us with circumstances of life.  We are so thankful that we have our church body at Midtown and others that pray for us constantly.  We need your prayers daily!
It's been difficult financially due to Mark's job being based on commission only.  It's been a challenge to devote the time he would like to ministry and still make it every month with our financial expenses.  We sometimes feel like it distracts from the ministry.  We need prayer that God will provide financially for our needs so Mark can be freed up to devote more of his time in the souls of men and the studying of God's Word.  In the midst of it all, God has been faithful to provide and we continue to be obedient to what He leads us to do.

Lucy has also had some opposition through her job.  Her work load has gone up due to people resigning from the job, so she's been busy and tired with all the work load.  She's meeting with a girl that is very hungry for God's word and God is using Lucy in her life.  She's also investing in a girl from China and she's investing in our 3 kids.  We appreciate her godly example of a woman for our girls! and I admire her patience with all the boy stuff that my son does around her.:)

We celebrated Lucy's b-day in March.:)

We are excited about the Toti's coming to join us.  We are praying that God will provide a job for Ron soon so that they can get here by July.  We need more hands to plow this field.  :)

Looking ahead.................This week we are at a point of making important decisions that are out of our control.  We need God to move to lead us.  Our lease is coming up for renewal on May 6th.  We need to decide if we're going to stay here another year or move somewhere else in the city.  After the team was here, it was evident that the fertile ground was at USF (University of South Florida) which is about 45-50 minutes away from where we live now.  We would like to live closer to USF so we could be more involved with the students.   We would like our next move to be into a house so we can have more room and more freedom to host things for ministry.  In our apartment we are restricted in space and noise levels with our neighbors so it makes it difficult to do some things.  We need God to open a door for us to be able to get into a home, to direct us to the right area to live for our kids, and a place that would be within a reasonable distance from USF.  We trust and believe that He has a plan for us.  We need his direction soon so we can make a wise decision by May 6th.  We need your prayers!!!!!

Fun night with the Mehl's

We had some more visitors the last couple of months.  Other than the team in March, we had the Mehl's over for dinner on Lucy's birthday and just this weekend James Fyffe was here for a visit.  It was great to hear what God is doing in their lives and it's always encouraging to have fellowship with other believers.  We love visitors!!!!:)

Our day at USF.

In summary, here are our prayer requests:

1.  Salvation for the teens coming to the Bible Study
2.  Our one-on-one Bible studies
3.  Decision about our move by May 6th
4.  A job for Ron Toti
5.  Financial provision through Mark's job and outside support
6.  Physical strength for Lucy with her job and discernment moving forward.
7.  Protection for our kids and spiritual growth in their lives.

We are so thankful to have a church that prays for us, cares for us and most important cares about God's mission.  Thank you MBT members for your support in prayer and financially. :)

We love you all!

Mark, Astrid, Syera, Dylan, Nykki and Lucy