But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit......Matthew 13:23
Lots of exciting things to share with you about what God is doing! To start out, let me tell you that we are so glad to have been called out to the sunshine state! I know the Midwest has been hit with some cold weather.;/ We have been carrying your burden with a difference of about 40 degrees warmer! :) Endure, it's almost over! We love visitors so if you want to get away from the frigid temperatures, come see us!On that note, we had a few visitors last month. In the middle of January, Jeremy & Jen Green and their girls, Kate & Ava, came to Florida and we had a very encouraging time with them. We enjoyed hearing about their experiences and work in China. It is always great to fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ. It's awesome to know that we can be miles and miles apart but we have the same heart beat. We love you Greens!!!
We also had the blessing to spend a few days with Ron and Rebecca Toti. We had a full weekend showing them around the city and the work that God is doing here in Tampa. God has confirmed to them to come to this field and join our team. What a blessing that is to us and to the Tampaian's!!!:) We can't wait to have them here!!! Be praying for their family as they prepare to make this transition!
Last month I shared that we wanted to get a teen bible study started. God has answered that prayer and it has been a tremendous blessing to our kids and to us! We had a super bowl party with them and they actually watched the game and of course ate all the snacks and pizza!:)
For the last 5 weeks, Mark's been able to open the Word of God and share the gospel with them. It's taken us some trial and error to know how to relate to this group of kids. This is a group of 7 kids, most of them if not all of them have not been to church or been exposed to bible teaching. They are all lost with lots of questions and a very short attention span for bible teaching. It's been awesome to watch them become more attentive every week. This last week, Mark shared his personal testimony and made more of a personal connection with them. We were amazed of how quiet the room was for about 15-20 minutes because they were listening.:) Our prayer is that God will do the work in each of their hearts and that we would see some fruit. It's amazing how quickly you can get attached to people. We've known these kids only a couple of months and Mark, Lucy and I love them all already! It's been awesome to have them over to our place and spend time with them. Sometimes, we have a full dinner table because most of them come and join us for dinner. Please be praying for their salvation.:)
We are praying for momentum and we believe God has given us that momentum through the bible study, the Toti's coming to join the team, the mission trip scheduled for March, connections with international students and other people. God is at work! We're just being obedient!
Lucy has had an opportunity to spend time with an international student from Russia. She's building a relationship with her and we're praying that God will give discernment on how to minister to her.
On a personal note, Mark's job is still going a little slow but we know that God is faithful and he's providing through it. I've been able to do one to two interpreting assignments per week, hoping to get more connections. I'm still volunteering at the kid's schools and getting to know their teachers and school staff. The kids are doing great! Nykki is almost done with the soccer season. Syera and Dylan have been very encouraged to spend time with the teenagers every week and they do a great job in leading us in praise on Sunday mornings!
We are beyond excited to host the team from Midtown in March. We are already praying for that week and how God is going to use them. We are praying for God to lead us to fertile ground (good ground)......the people that are ready to hear the Word of God and receive it and produce fruit. One of the goal's for that week is to find out where the "good ground" people are. We have some activities planned that will help us accomplish that. We are getting ready for that week and we believe that it will be a blessing to us and we want to be a blessing to the group too.
You can be praying along with us for the following things:
1. Teen bible study - salvation for Trevor, Caleb, Dakota, Jason, Christian, Hailey and Lily.
2. Mission trip in March- team, connection with people, unity, safety.
3. Leading to hearts that are ready to receive the Word. (good ground)
4. International Student (Elena)
5. The Toti's - timing for the move, job for Ron
6. Expansion of our team - others to come join us in this work
7. Financial provision - Mark's job
8. Lucy- ministry to co-workers, protection...by the way, we love having Lucy, she's AWESOME!!!
We have praises too! We are thankful for :
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1. The momentum that God has created.
2. The teens that we are growing to love.3. People willing to spend a week in Tampa for an eternal investment.
4. The Toti's coming to Tampa.
Thank you all for being a part of this mission. God is doing great things and we are excited to see what's ahead!
He is Faithful!
We love you!
Mark, Astrid, Syera, Dylan, Nykki and Lucy :)
